VISION 2025

SCHOOL OF NURSING STRATEGIC PLAN

Letter from the Dean

Dear School of Nursing and UTMB Communities,

The University of Texas Medical Branch School of Nursing (SON) has a long-standing history of excellence and innovation in educating professional nurses for leadership roles in the state, nation, and international arenas. As the first school of nursing west of the Mississippi, UTMB's SON has been a trailblazer in nursing education for 130 years. UTMB School of Nursing was the first nursing school in the United States to become affiliated with a university, the first to establish a Master of Nursing in the state of Texas and the first in the state to offer online graduate education in nursing. With our legacy of "firsts" in mind, UTMB leaders are committed to providing the infrastructure to advance and promote the mission of the School to pave the way for generations to come.

The last few decades have provided tremendous growth for nurses and nursing education. On both the national and state levels, the nursing field will continue to face demands that will change the landscape of the health care industry familiar to us today. It will be imperative for our school to remain strategic, agile and bold as we proactively plan for these fluctuations. As an academic health care institution, we can prepare nurses to be leaders in their field, teach faculty to become inspiring educators, encourage the use of cutting-edge technology, and promote evidence-based practice through research and innovation.

A holistic view of the nursing field is necessary to understand our path forward as an institution and a community. UTMB SON suggests strategies to tackle the gaps in nursing education to help aid anticipated shortages in Texas. Along with the Strategic Plan, Vision 2025, we anticipate that improving our nursing education will in turn advance the quality and safety of patient care throughout the nation. This document serves as a planning tool, not to be mistaken for a strict road map. With this guiding document, UTMB SON aims to shed light on current issues facing nursing education and provide strategies for improvement.

Deborah J. Jones, PhD, MSN, RN

Senior Vice President, Dean and Professor

Rebecca Sealy Distinguished Centennial Chair

Dean Deborah Jones | PhD, MSN, RN

C

Culture

A healthy work environment creates a committed and engaged community, working together to reach our full potential.

R

Research

We are committed to improving health care outcomes and health care systems through high-impact research.

E

Education

Through innovative pedagogies in a student-centered environment, we equip graduates to provide high- quality health care in their communities.

A

Advancing Innovation

We support a culture of innovation and creativity aimed at addressing the challenges facing education and health care today.

T

Transformation

We believe that creating a healthier future for diverse populations begins with transformative education and practice.

E

Engagement

By advancing our professional network and community partnerships, we will increase opportunities for students, faculty and alumni, and foster lasting collaborations.

Our Purpose

We improve the health of diverse populations in Texas and around the world by advancing nursing excellence through leadership, clinical practice, education, research and service.

Our Destination

To create the future as leaders in innovative nursing education, promoters of high-impact research and as transformers of health and healthcare.

Our Committments

We, at the UTMB School of Nursing, will achieve excellence and professionalism through:

Compassion ♦ Integrity ♦ Respect ♦ Diversity & Inclusion ♦ Lifelong Learning ♦ Accountability

How Will This Impact You?

Take a look:

    Our Process

    Vision 2025 will support the mission of the university through educational excellence, impactful research, strong leadership, and intentional goals that aim to support the health and health care of Texans and diverse populations around the world. Our strategic plan will allow our work to accelerate over the next five years and ensure that we remain intentional, bold, and agile as we implement our priorities and CREATE the future for nursing excellence.

    • The initial phase of our strategic planning process involved a collegial effort to bring the SON community together through a shared vision of our future. Working with our colleagues across the UTMB community, we created a strong plan for how to improve the health of Texans and diverse populations around the world through nursing education, research, leadership, service and practice. We established our new mission, vision and values that will serve our School of Nursing, UTMB, and the state of Texas, and beyond.

    • Once we finalized our shared mission, vision, and values, we developed a better sense of our strengths as a community and areas of opportunity. Through internal and external environmental scans, we recognized that our Vision 2025 will provide us with momentum to capitalize on the strengths and perspectives of diverse communities to promote an inclusive culture of collaboration to meet our goals.

    • Our six pillars (Culture, Research, Education, Innovation, Transformation and Engagement) have become the foundation for our future. To guarantee accountability and success, we will assess each current and new initiative to ensure alignment with our mission, vision and values. We are committed to using Vision 2025 as a roadmap, reassessing our progress over the next five years and adjusting our processes to ensure that we meet our goals.

    • Our goal is to use Vision 2025 as a roadmap, to operationalize our goals together. The strategic plan is not a stagnant document, but rather a blueprint of our vision and destination. We will continue to evaluate and assess our successes and our shortcomings to establish a strong culture of accomplishments, constructive feedback, improvement, capitalizing on our strengths, and moving our school forward and contribute to health and health care in meaningful ways. We will continue to hold ourselves accountable as we lead in nursing education, conduct high-impact research, promote leadership and service, and improve the health of diverse populations around the world.

    Feedback

    We would like to hear from you! Please provide your feedback on our goals and provide any suggestions you have for our Vision 2025 Strategic Plan. Dean Deborah J. Jones will view the feedback provided in this short survey and address the questions, concerns and recommendations provided.

    Thank you for all you do for our school!

    Share Your Feedback

    Student Impact

    • Culture

      Our school is committed to educating a work force whose diversity mirrors the populations we serve. By providing professional development opportunities and meaningful recognition to our students, faculty, and staff, we hope to improve retention, promote lifelong learning, and ensure that all members of our community can flourish in their careers.

      We are committed to ongoing engagement with diversity and inclusion– in people, curriculum, research, and the communities we serve and providing resources to students that are inclusive and will help them succeed.

    • Research

      Our goal is to promote and contribute to impactful research that improves health care outcomes and health care systems. We support opportunities for students and faculty to lead interprofessional teams in research and innovation.

      We are committed to expanding infrastructure for faculty and students to engage in research-related activities. By forming collaborative partnerships and providing mentorship opportunities for students and junior faculty to learn more about research productivity, our school will conduct high-impact research and influence health care outcomes.

    • Education

      Student success has been our top priority for over 130 years. Through innovative pedagogies in a student-centered environment we equip graduates to provide high- quality health care in their communities. Our students will continue to receive an exceptional undergraduate and/or graduate nursing education that aligns with market needs. Our emphasis on interprofessional education will ultimately serve to improve the patient experience and population health, as well as reduce health care costs.

    • Advancing Innovation

      By utilizing technology and interprofessional education, we offer an innovative learning environment that accelerates the discovery of knowledge and solutions to healthcare.

      We are committed to integrating technology in learning environments to accelerate the discovery of knowledge. Additionally, we will foster innovative solutions by encouraging student collaborations, and providing opportunities for our students to think critically.

    • Transformation

      By offering robust academic programs that emphasize collaboration, leadership and service, we prepare nurses who will help lead and transform health care systems and policy. Through our exceptional educational programs, we strengthen our student's ability to adapt and quickly adjust to the ever-changing health care landscape.

      We are committed to utilizing the strengths of our academic programs to educate nurses on providing quality patient – centered care and preparing leaders to influence health care systems and policy.

    • Engagement

      Advancing our professional network and community partnerships will increase opportunities for students. Through educational and immersive opportunities, we will foster lasting collaborations and continue to pursue partnerships beyond our community, to increase meaningful contributions to community and global health.

      We are committed to increasing opportunities for students to participate and engage in meaningful research and service-learning experiences. We will increase the number of partnerships and maintain strong relationships with clinical partners for our students to learn in a variety of settings. We will also develop a meaningful global health program to address the needs of populations around the world.

    Faculty Impact

    • Culture

      A healthy work environment creates a committed and engaged community, working together to reach our full potential. Our school is committed to employing and educating a work force whose diversity mirrors the populations we serve. By providing professional development, mentoring opportunities, and meaningful recognition, we hope to promote lifelong learning and ensure that all members of our community can flourish in their careers.

      We are committed to providing professional development opportunities and meaningful recognition, actively recruiting and retaining highly qualified faculty, and ongoing engagement with diversity and inclusion- in people, curriculum, research, and the communities in which we serve.

    • Research

      It is imperative that we create a culture of high-impact research with the necessary infrastructure and collaborative partnerships in order to improve health care outcomes and health care systems. We support and promote opportunities for students and faculty to lead interprofessional teams in research and innovation.

      We are committed to elevating research achievement and productivity, expanding infrastructure for faculty and students to engage in research-related activities, and creating and maintaining internal (UTMB) and external collaborative partnerships.

    • Education

      Our faculty will remain committed to student success. Through innovative pedagogies, our faculty will continue to offer exceptional undergraduate and graduate nursing programs that align with market needs. Our faculty will be prepared to emphasize interprofessional education– to ultimately serve and improve the patient experience and population health.

      We are committed to engaging in interprofessional education that prepares health professionals for collaborative practice, employing innovative and student-centered pedagogies that adapt to all learning styles, and aligning our educational offerings with market needs.

    • Advancing Innovation

      We support a culture of innovation and creativity aimed at addressing the challenges facing education and health care today. Utilizing technology and interprofessional education, we offer an innovative learning environment that accelerates the discovery of knowledge and solutions to healthcare.

      We are committed to integrating technology in learning environments to accelerate the discovery of knowledge and exploring non-traditional partnerships to provide new business models and revenue streams.

    • Transformation

      We believe that creating a healthier future for diverse populations begins with transformative education and practice. By offering robust academic programs that emphasize collaboration, leadership and service, our faculty prepare nurses who impact health care systems and policy. Through data-driven decision-making, we strengthen our ability to adapt and quickly adjust to the ever-changing health care landscape.

      We are committed to utilizing the strengths of our academic programs to educate nurses on providing quality patient–centered care. Through strengthening processes and using data to drive decision–making, we will prepare leaders to influence health care systems and policies throughout their communities.

    • Engagement

      We will continue to pursue partnerships beyond our community to increase meaningful contributions to community and global health. Through fostering long-lasting collaborations, our faculty will emphasize and reiterate the shared mission of improving the health for the people of Texas and around the world.

      We are committed to increasing and maintaining strong relationships with clinical partners to improve our educational opportunities and developing meaningful programs to address the needs of populations around the world.

    Staff Impact

    • Culture

      A healthy work environment creates a committed and engaged community, working together to reach our full potential. Our school is committed to employing and educating a work force whose diversity mirrors the populations we serve. By providing opportunities for professional development and meaningful recognition, we hope to improve retention, promote lifelong learning, and ensure that all members of our community can flourish in their careers. We are committed to providing professional development for our staff and actively recruiting and retaining high-performing team members to thrive in their professional careers.

    • Research

      Our SON Staff are committed to our mission, vision and values through supporting student success, faculty development, and moving the School of Nursing forward. The necessary infrastructure to promote and succeed in high-impact research includes our detail-oriented staff who support our faculty, students, and leadership. Our staff help create the opportunities for students and faculty to lead interprofessional teams in research and innovation.

    • Education

      Our staff is committed to student access and success. Through innovative online technology and student-centered pedagogies, our staff equip and maintain the necessary tools for our students to succeed. We will continue to recruit and retain staff who demonstrate the skills needed to continue providing excellent nursing education, which in turn will ultimately serve to improve health care, the patient experience and population health. Our staff is committed to engaging in interprofessional education that prepares health professionals for collaborative practice, exploring new innovative and student-centered pedagogies that adapt to all learning styles, and researching educational offerings that align with market needs.

    • Advancing Innovation

      We support a culture of innovation and creativity aimed at addressing the challenges facing higher education and health care today. Our staff is committed to utilizing technology and interprofessional education to offer an innovative learning environment that accelerates the discovery of knowledge and solutions to healthcare. We will continue to encourage our staff to stay abreast with the trends in higher education and health care to better support the needs of our students, faculty, and UTMB collaborations. Our teams will seamlessly integrate technology in the classrooms to accelerate the discovery of knowledge and tailor our education to every style of learning.

    • Transformation

      We believe that creating a healthier future for diverse populations begins with transformative education and practice. Through staff support, we are able to offer robust academic programs that emphasize collaboration, leadership and service, and prepare nurses to impact health care systems and policy.

    • Engagement

      Advancing our professional network and community partnerships, we will increase opportunities for staff, students, faculty and alumni. Our staff help foster lasting collaborations to advance the institutional shared mission of improving the health for the people of Texas and around the world. Additionally, we will continue to pursue partnerships beyond our community, to increase meaningful contributions to global health.

      We are committed to promoting positive awareness of our school thorough marketing of program offerings and initiatives, increasing and maintaining strong relationships with clinical partners, and developing a meaningful programs to address the needs of populations around the world.

    Alumni Impact

    • Culture

      A healthy work environment creates a committed and engaged community, working together to reach our full potential. Our school will engage with our alumni through meaningful recognition, professional development and mentoring opportunities. Our goal is to include our alumni base, their professional success and influence, and encourage them to participate in collaborative culture at UTMB. Through alumni engagement, we will together make a greater impact throughout the communities in which we serve.

    • Research

      We support and promote opportunities for high-impact research and innovation. We know that our alumni are working on improving the quality and safety of patient care throughout the globe. By shedding light on our alumni accolades, we will open doors for research collaborations and allow our current and prospective students and faculty to see the impact that our school has on the state of Texas, the nation and global health.

      We are committed to highlighting and elevating the research achievement and productivity conducted by our alumni, which continues to improve health care outcomes and health care systems.

    • Education

      As an SON graduate, our alumni know the value of a degree from UTMB. Through innovative pedagogies, we will continue to equip graduates to provide high–quality health care in their communities. With more than 13,000 alumni, employed in countless health care systems, we will continue to fulfil our reputation as trailblazers in nursing education and high-quality healthcare.

    • Advancing Innovation

      We support a culture of innovation and creativity aimed at addressing the challenges facing education and health care today. We encourage our alumni to get involved in the policies that influence their practice, to become leader in their field, and to know the power of their voice.

    • Transformation

      We believe that creating a healthier future for diverse populations begins with transformative education and practice. By offering robust academic programs that emphasize collaboration, leadership and service, our alumni are prepared to impact health care systems and policy. Through data–driven decision–making, we strengthen our ability to adapt and quickly adjust to the ever-changing health care landscape.

    • Engagement

      By advancing our professional network and community partnerships, we will increase opportunities for students, faculty and alumni. We will foster lasting collaborations to advance the institutional shared mission of improving the health for the people of Texas and around the world, together.

      We are committed to expanding visibility through branding and marketing, providing meaningful ways for alumni to get involved, and developing mentorship opportunities for our recent graduates.