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Strategic Plan 2018-23

Beyond 125: Connecting Our Legacy to the Future

This page is an ADA compliant version of our strategic plan. A PDF version with added visual interest is available on our main strategic plan page.

In our 125th year, the VCU School of Nursing faculty, staff, students and stakeholders enthusiastically have engaged in conversations about our future, the future of nursing and the future of health care. Beyond 125: Connecting Our Legacy to the Future builds on our legacy and guides us into the future toward our vision as a destination for those committed to transforming health care.

Strategic Plan Overview

Beyond 125: Connecting Our Legacy to the Future aligns with the VCU Strategic Plan, Quest 2025: Together We Transform. It integrates education, research and scholarship, and practice as pillars to support leadership, innovation and high-quality student  experiences within an academic health science center. These pillars are central to   our work and are embedded within each of the strategic themes.

The strategic drivers provide a strong organizational foundation to advance our work within a supportive environment. Strategic drivers create a platform for the execution  of our strategies.  

Themes guide our path to the future and represent our unique attributes that set us apart. Themes identify strategic focus areas with related objectives that will be achieved through targeted strategies. Outcomes will be measured with metrics, and progress toward goal attainment will be communicated through dashboards.

Pillars

  • Education: Provide transformative experiences that develop exceptional nursing leaders who are well-prepared to impact health care
  • Research and scholarship: Develop and conduct innovative research and scholarship that advance nursing and health care
  • Practice: Promote clinical expertise to advance professional nursing practice and improve human health

Strategic Drivers

  • Organizational culture: Cultivate a culture that embraces our core values so that all students, staff and faculty can thrive
  • Organizational effectiveness: Pursue continuous improvement and organizational effectiveness
  • Economic model: Optimize and sustain an economic model to support the mission and vision of the School of Nursing
  • Visibility and stakeholder engagement: Enhance visibility of School of Nursing achievements and increase stakeholder engagement

Strategic Themes

Innovation

Encourage and reward a culture of innovation that leads to diverse opportunities, collaborations and partnerships.

Objectives

  • Develop academic offerings with a focus on innovation
  • Support opportunities for innovations in education strategies, research and scholarship, and practice

Collaboration and Interdisciplinary Work

Engage in collaborative efforts with various disciplines, systems and  locations to improve education, research and scholarship, and practice.

Objectives

  • Increase intentional interdisciplinary learning opportunities for students
  • Expand academic-practice partnerships and collaborations within VCU and with external organizations
  • Promote domestic and international collaborative interdisciplinary research partnerships
  • Collaborate with a variety of organizations to cultivate innovative interdisciplinary clinical practice in diverse settings

Diversity and Inclusion

Build on the School of Nursing Diversity and Inclusion Plan to cultivate an environment with opportunities to experience diversity and inclusivity in all aspects of nursing education, research and scholarship, and practice.

Objectives

  • Recruit and support a diverse and inclusive student body, faculty and staff
  • Enhance diversity and inclusion perspectives and competencies across the curricula
  • Ensure that education, research and scholarship, and practice efforts are inclusive of the needs of diverse populations

Community Engagement

Partner with communities to advance and improve health outcomes.

Objectives

  • Create, implement, evaluate and disseminate effective community-based models for education, research and scholarship, and practice
  • Expand successful programs for long-term sustainability

Quality Pipeline

Create and sustain a pipeline of well-prepared nursing leaders who will transform health care and meet workforce needs today and in the future.

Objectives

  • Create robust mechanisms and infrastructure to support student success
  • Assess, adapt and expand education programs to assure quality, relevance, sustainability and impact
  • Adopt transformational education and teaching practices, clinical learning opportunities and program delivery models to optimize student learning and preparation for practice in diverse settings
  • Strengthen the developmental pathways for those seeking careers in research and academia

Vision, Mission, Values and Promise

Our vision is to be the destination for those committed to transforming health care. 

Our mission is to shape the future of nursing through the power of education, discovery and collaboration.

Our values are:

  • Integrity: Adhering to the highest standards of honesty, respect and ethics
  • Compassion: Identifying and understanding the perspective, experiences or motivations of others; acting on a desire to alleviate the suffering of or help others
  • Diversity: Ensuring a climate of trust, honesty and integrity where all people and ideas are valued; recognizing differences as an asset (see Diversity, Equity and Inclusion)
  • Innovation: Cultivating discovery, creativity, originality, inventiveness and talent
  • Collaboration: Fostering collegiality and cooperation to advance learning, entrepreneurship and inquiry

Our promise is creating collaboration, advancing science and impacting lives.