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Strategic Roadmap

In March 2023, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School began to engage our community in a process of defining strategic priorities in each of our mission areas. These priorities will guide the work of our school for the next three years. Working with the Rutgers Office of Organizational Leadership, Dean Amy Murtha has appointed an executive steering committee to guide the work of this planning and priority setting process.

Executive Steering Committee

Céline Gélinas
Senior Associate Dean for Research
Professor and Chair, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Eric Jahn
Senior Associate Dean for Community and Global Health
Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health

Keith Lewis
Vice Dean
Professor and Chair, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine

Rhonda Smith
Associate Dean for Faculty and Staff Affairs

Annie Steelman
Senior Vice President, System Strategy, RWJBarnabas Health

Carol A. Terregino
Senior Associate Dean for Education and Academic Affairs

Courtney Vose
Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH)

Patricia N. Whitley-Williams
Senior Associate Dean for Inclusion and Diversity 
Professor and Chair, Department of Pediatrics
Division Director, Pediatric Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Infectious Disease

 

Community Input

In May 2023, a survey was administered to the medical school community inviting faculty, staff, students, residents, and administrators to share input about the school’s strengths, aspirations, and priorities. This data was used to inform follow-up focus groups with students, faculty, staff, alumni, and RWJUH partners. Informed by this input, several priorities were identified in each mission area (education, research, clinical, and community and global health), along with four priorities that extend across all mission areas.

FAQs

  • The strategic planning process affords an opportunity for reflection and engagement regarding where an organization has been and the goals it intends to pursue in the future. The process of engaging in a strategic plan can help to foster collegiality and collaboration, unlock creativity, and create a sense of ownership in the direction of the organization.

  • Robert Wood Johnson Medical School has not engaged in a formal planning process since prior to the pandemic. With Dean Murtha’s arrival in August 2022, the opportunity allows us to develop a compelling strategic roadmap for the next three years. Additionally, as we undergo a full accreditation review in March 2026, it is important for our school to adhere to this Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) standard:

    "1.1 Strategic Planning and Continuous Quality Improvement: A medical school engages in ongoing strategic planning and continuous quality improvement processes that establish its short and long-term programmatic goals, result in the achievement of measurable outcomes that are used to improve educational program quality, and ensure effective monitoring of the medical education program’s compliance with accreditation standards."

  • In July 2023, the Board of Governors passed a resolution to seek a single accreditation for Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and New Jersey Medical School. A separate planning process is underway to support this effort. Robert Wood Johnson Medical School is currently accredited as a single institution, and the proposed entry of the first class of the integrated school is in 2028. Thus, these priorities detailed in our strategic roadmap will serve as a guide for the immediate work ahead.

  • Thanks to the many of you who completed the survey and participated in focus groups to support this planning process. The next steps are to identify the specific outcomes we hope to achieve in three years and to develop action plans that address these goals. Information about volunteering for working groups that review and draft priorities, strategies and specific goals, will be posted here. Announcements calling for volunteers will be included in the Dean's Weekly View and emailed to the medical school community.