NYMC Unveils 2021-2026 Strategic Plan

Building on the tremendous success of the previous strategic plan, Edward C. Halperin, M.D., M.A., chancellor and chief executive officer, charged the College with initiating a College-wide strategic planning initiative to chart a course for the next five years. Under the guidance of Strategic Planning Chair Jennifer Riekert, M.B.A., vice president of communications and strategic initiatives, and Co-chair Dana Mordue, Ph.D., associate professor of microbiology and immunology and vice chancellor for middle states accreditation, an inclusive and transparent planning process was developed.  

“I truly appreciate the dedication, thoughtfulness and insight of all of those who participated to create an achievable and practical five-year roadmap for the College to achieve its mission and strategic priorities,” said Dr. Mordue. “I look forward to working with all College stakeholders to put our vision into action in order to meet the goals and tactics that have been set forth in the 2021-26 strategic plan.”  

Campus-wide participation in the planning process was fostered with multiple information sessions, town hall meetings and surveys that were sent to the NYMC community to gather feedback and recommendations on the College mission and vision, as well as to assess our strengths and opportunities that would ultimately help determine our long-term and short-term goals. More than 30,000 members of the NYMC community were invited to share their insights and recommendations to shape the planning process. 

More than 80 representatives from across all schools and areas of the community including faculty, administration, students, alumni and board members, served on strategic planning committees that functioned as the backbone of the planning process. The committees were organized into five strategic pillars:

• Champion Excellence in Education and Diversity and Inclusion
• Promote Biomedical Research and Innovation
• Elevate Transparency in Governance and Commitment to Ethics, Mission, Vision and Core Values
• Foster Community Outreach
• Enhance Strategic Planning, Resource Development and Institutional Improvement

“NYMC’s most valuable resource is the people who make up the organization,” said Ms. Riekert. “We recognized that in order to solidify our mission and creatively forge a path on which the College can thrive, it was essential that we listen to our diverse community and work together to envision a successful future.”  

This strategic plan builds on NYMC’s long history of education, research, health care, public health and diversity and inclusion. Special attention was given during the strategic planning process to ensure that it not only promotes the College mission and goals but that it includes tactics and defensible assessments to ensure that the College is able to responsibly deliver on those goals while assessing our progress in real-time to allow for adjustments as needed. 

Over the next five years, we will further establish NYMC as a leading health sciences institution. We will achieve this by investing in and empowering faculty and students to promote their successes. This includes strategic initiatives to promote and build sustainable and competitive research, as well as curate areas of research excellence and partnerships that provide educational research opportunities for students—providing opportunities to promote the College and fundraise based on research successes and areas of strengths that are recognizable to the public. We will strive for enhanced transparency and open communications so that our entire community is invested in working toward our institutional vision, mission and goals. We will also increase our focus on community outreach that will continue to help address important issues including health disparities and social determinants of health. To drive these initiatives, we will continue to cultivate support through strengthening ties with our extensive network of alumni and trusted community of donors, as well as leverage our expertise in research to pursue grant funding, that will allow us to achieve excellence in financial performance and manage our resources in a deliberate manner in support of programs and services aligned with our mission, vision and core values.

“Our College deserves a living, breathing strategic plan that serves as a blueprint for action rather than a volume to occupy space on a shelf. Our process has delivered the former and we, as an academic community, are grateful,” Dr. Halperin said.   

As we implement this plan, we will monitor and measure our progress as well as nourish partnerships with the entire NYMC community that brought this plan to fruition and will help achieve its success.