MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT AND PROVOST
MCPHS prioritizes creating and sustaining a climate of inclusive excellence, as it is vital to our collective success and commitment to a thriving community. Our community is enriched by our various professional and personal backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. This in turn positions MCPHS as a global leader in healthcare education. We depend on the engagement of all community members. As we educate our students to be compassionate leaders and effective citizens in the 21st century, we must prepare them to navigate differences in experience and perspectives in a manner that would enrich their engagement and collaboration as healthcare providers and members of our global community.
As a campus Community, we condemn language and actions that try to blame, dehumanize, or demean anyone based on their background, identity, or perspectives. MCPHS is an institution committed to compassion, kindness, and respect—that commitment will not be compromised. Our highest priority will be strengthening our academic and social experiences to align with the particular challenges our students face in their academic and personal lives. These challenges have become more complex as our society evolves. Yet our commitment is undeterred. Kindness, respect, engagement and empathy will bind us together as we support our entire Community and shape our students into future leaders in healthcare.
A healthy and vibrant campus Community is characterized by people who value individual and group differences, maintain a high level of respect for each other, and communicate openly. As we look toward a more just future, we will reinforce the attributes that are at the core of our identity and differentiate us from others. We will do this by cultivating a culture of inclusive excellence in our programs and activities. This will take time and a focused effort on everyone’s part. It is incumbent upon each of us to be actively involved in helping MCPHS continue to grow stronger in our educational mission. We invite you to join us in ensuring that our campus is one where everyone feels included and valued for who they are and their contributions.
Richard J. Lessard, President
Caroline Zeind, PharmD, PhD, Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
MCPHS is proud of its heritage, accomplishments, and unique culture, which contribute to its success as a first-rate educational institution. The University’s unwavering commitment to advancing a campus environment where everyone feels respected, valued, and engaged enhances our employees’ careers and enriches our students’ educational and personal experiences. All of our Community members bring value to our University. Our Community members’ unique identities, experiences, and perspectives are essential to advancing collaboration and excellence in everything we do. Our values of respect, kindness, and compassion anchor MCPHS’ Community Engagement Plan’s strategic goals, workshops, initiatives, and programs.
Through the following priorities, the University strives to build engagement and collaboration to create a healthier, more equitable world.
Priority 1: Engagement
Priority 2: Transparency
Priority 3: Fairness
Priority 4: Accountability
PROCESS
The University, under the leadership of the President and Provost, and in collaboration with the University’s Office of Community Engagement, centers for excellence, schools, programs, and departments, strives to create, implement, and periodically assess the University’s Community Engagement Plan (CEP). The CEP advances the University’s strategic priorities and goals to foster a welcoming and respectful environment that supports the institution’s mission, strategic objectives, and values, ensuring our students’ and employees’ success in an ever-changing world.
The Community Engagement team (CET) represents a cross-section of MCPHS Community members who serve on faculty, staff, and student teams. Together with the President and Provost, they assist in developing, goals, objectives, and metrics—supporting inclusive and engaging programs and activities across all three MCPHS campuses and online programs. In 2022-2023, the University administered its first Inclusive Climate Assessment (ICA) for students, faculty, and staff. The ICA results serve as a guide for our community engagement efforts and provide a benchmark against which we can monitor progress. The team works closely with senior leaders to ensure close alignment with the University’s overall educational and business strategy and to help institutionalize practices that support and accelerate the institution’s goals. The team also helps create strategic accountability for results, provides guidance, and promotes University-wide communication on topics that are inherently important to all MCPHS Community members. Lastly, the team works to support the mission and vision of MCPHS and takes responsibility for upholding the University’s commitment of fostering a culture of support, collaboration and fairness.
The Chief Community Engagement Officer, Clara I. Reynolds, and the Associate Provost for Institutional Research and Effectiveness, Henriette Pranger, co-chair the team.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
The principles guiding the development, implementation, and assessment of this plan are:
» Align with the mission, vision, core values, and strategic priorities of the University.
» Focus on advancing the institution’s community engagement goals.
» Recognize the importance of strategic programmatic growth.
» Strengthen planning and evaluation of new and existing programs, events, policies, and procedures.
» Consider the changing landscapes in higher education and healthcare.
» Remain grounded in MCPHS’s values of integrity, community, engagement, collaboration, support, and innovation.
» Recognize the value and impact of embedding Engagement Principles into the curriculum, policies, procedures, and recruitment and retention efforts to promote fairness and accountability.
» Adhere to accreditation standards and best practices in higher education.
» Foster University-wide and interdepartmental collaborations.
» Leverage communication across the schools and key administrative units.
» Value engagement, transparency, honesty, and fairness.
» Be driven by stakeholder feedback and data analysis.
MCPHS operates with transparency, fairness, and honesty while leading as a health and life sciences educational institution to ensure all Community members are engaged in creating a healthier, more engaged campus community. The CEP is centered on advancing a more engaged campus culture and enhancing the experiences and cultural capacity of all our students, faculty, and staff to ensure their success as healthcare providers serving our diverse communities around the globe.
PLAN PRIORITIES AND GOALS
The future of advancing health and life sciences professions requires a focus on engagement, collaboration, collegiality, fairness, and stability. A respectful and engaged environment supports our faculty, staff, and students as they strive in their education and professional and personal lives while also advancing the University’s core values and strategic priorities.
The priorities and goals included in this plan align with MCPHS’s purpose, mission, vision, values and commitment to embedding respect and engagement in the fabric of our institution by collaborating with the University’s various strategic committees, centers for excellence, departments, and schools across our three campuses and online programs.
Priority 1: ENGAGEMENT
As a health and life sciences educational institution, MCPHS strives to ensure the success of all members of our Community in today’s society by providing educational opportunities and resources to promote psychological safety and the skills to understand perspectives in an ever-changing world. We also encourage faculty and staff to work collaboratively with others, feel that they are valued, and engage with the larger MCPHS Community.
Professional development and educational opportunities for our faculty and staff are imperative to establishing a welcoming community. Cultivating collaboration amongst our employees is essential to achieve academic excellence while supporting our student body, which in turn promotes engagement by all members of the MCPHS Community. These opportunities provide our members with the knowledge, skills, and resources to navigate and effectively contribute to a more engaged campus Community.
GOALS
1. Provide University-wide programming to all campuses and online programs with a focus on engagement and collaboration, promoting transparency and improving communication between MCPHS schools, programs, and departments and centers for excellence.
2. Cultivate partnerships and collaborations throughout our campuses to guide and support the various schools, programs, and departments in establishing and accomplishing their community engagement goals.
3. Provide opportunities for collaboration on curricula, assessments, and pedagogical methods.
Priority 2: TRANSPARENCY
As an institution committed to fairness and engagement, MCPHS values transparency and open communication, sharing information with students and employees about the University’s resources and the rationale for its decisions.
GOALS
1. Create a sustainable communication system that allows for a bidirectional flow of information.
2. Schedule Community Conversations for students, staff, and faculty to discuss topics and initiatives and obtain feedback to advance our community engagement goals.
Priority 3: FAIRNESS
3. Identify and develop metrics and assessment tools consistent with the overall MCPHS Strategic Plan.
The future culture of advancing health and life sciences professions requires a focus on engagement and fairness.
GOALS
1. Provide University-wide programming to all campuses and online programs, focusing on engagement and collaboration, which promotes transparency and improves communication between MCPHS schools.
Priority 4: ACCOUNTABILITY
2. Model integrity and respect at all leadership levels and provide educational opportunities for employees, students, schools, programs, departments, and centers for excellence.
A positive climate is a continual process driven by stakeholder feedback and data analysis. To move MCPHS from assessment to strategic action, we will revise strategic goals and priorities for engagement and collaboration as necessary.
GOALS
1. Ensure that data analysis and feedback from stakeholders, as well as other sources (e.g., metrics, indicators, or benchmarks) are utilized to identify areas for improvement.
2. Continue to assess and revise priority areas as needed to design action plans with data points defined to monitor progress.
3. Track the progression of community engagement goals with reporting that is aligned with the University’s communication strategy.
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
The Community Engagement Plan’s priorities and goals are essential to advance MCPHS’s commitment to ensure all its members are respected, which in turn allows them to contribute their whole selves to creating a healthier, more equitable world.
To advance our priorities and goals for community engagement on all our campuses, MCPHS must invest in and periodically assess these strategies. In addition, ensuring the success of this plan requires the commitment, engagement, and collaboration of all MCPHS programs, schools, departments, centers for excellence, and members of our community.
Several areas of financial support include training and professional development opportunities, such as mentoring programs, speaker series; mixers for students and employees; and workshops for employees about engaging in constructive conversations, climate surveys, and assessments.
CLOSING
The MCPHS Community Engagement Plan supports the University’s commitment to creating a welcoming and respectful environment for all students, faculty, and staff. The University, under the leadership of the President and Provost, will monitor the plan’s progress toward meeting its goals, collaborate with all schools, programs, and departments; and provide guidance and support to advanced their individual goals. This plan is a living document will be assessed annually.
At MCPHS, advancing collaboration and engagement is everyone’s responsibility.
BOSTON | WORCESTER | MANCHESTER