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September 28, 2009
Bold thinking, strategic focus propel school and unit plans

Schools and other major academic, research and operating units are Emory’s bedrock, without which it cannot build or aspire to anything of lasting value.

In 2005, Emory’s schools and units developed ambitious and exciting plans that formed the core of the University-wide strategic plan. Emory aspires to transformational leadership on the basis of achievable plans for eminence developed within each of the schools and major units.

Each school and unit has since been charged with reassessing their aspirations, strategies and operating models in light of challenging economic times and smaller resource envelopes to support core operations and strategic investments. Bold thinking, focus and strategic decisions will be essential in propelling schools and units forward to achieve the University-wide vision and goals.

Units

Campus Life
The opening of the new Emory Barnes & Noble Collegiate Superstore in spring 2010 will bring an outstanding, nationally recognized bookstore to campus. With the move of the bookstore out of the Dobbs University Center, the vacated space may be used for a “green” grocery store and student organization space. Adjacent to the bookstore will be the Career Center which will relocate to the B. Jones Building where it will gain enhanced space.

The fourth new residence hall will be completed in May 2010 and will include 200 additional bed spaces for first- year students. In historic Dobbs Hall, Residence Life will be piloting a “World Culture” theme as part of the First Year at Emory program in 2010–11.

The student mental health and counseling fee implemented in fall 2008 helped fund improved office space for the Counseling Center near the Student Health Center. In addition, staff and resources were added to meet the growing needs of students.

Center for Ethics
It has been an eventful year for the Center for Ethics, moving into a new facility and welcoming a new director, Paul Root Wolpe. The Center now has 30 faculty, and through innovative programming has become a go-to resource for undergraduate and graduate students. In September 2009 the first class entered the new Masters of Arts in Bioethics program. The Center is also launching two major initiatives, one on public health ethics (with the Rollins School of Public Health and the CDC), and a collaborative program on medicine and environmental ethics. Reaching out to the Atlanta community, the Center is cosponsoring the Atlanta Mayoral Forum, and initiating collaborative projects with a host of Atlanta universities and institutions.

Next year, the Center for Ethics will celebrate its 20th anniversary. Recognizing innovative programming, popular courses, collaborative partnerships, and a focus on bringing ethics to the Emory community, the Emory Wheel editorialized that “the Center has surpassed many other Emory institutions in its commitment to its mission — that of engaging students in ethical questions and issues.”

Emory Libraries
The Emory Libraries continue building strength in special collections, digital innovations and customer-focused service. An example of that work is Libraries public programming for 2009–10, which will draw from Emory’s own special collections — a cost-saving measure that shares these treasures with the campus and the world.

Two top shows are “Origin,” an exhibition celebrating the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species” and featuring the work of Emory faculty; and the early 2010 opening of the first exhibition from Salman Rushdie’s archives, a portion of which are “born digital.”

Emory Libraries will also host the 10th Annual 12th Night Fundraiser benefitting the Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, with award-winning poet Robert Pinsky as featured reader.

Emory Libraries initiate, manage and support library events and exhibitions through public programming to advance the library’s strategic initiatives, campaign goals, and contributions to the public cultural life of the campus and of the community.

Michael C. Carlos Museum
As part of leading in the new economy, the Carlos Museum is focusing programming on the strengths of its permanent collections, enhancing interdisciplinary collaborations at Emory and expanding the use of technology.

One of the museum’s strategic priorities, the “Five Faiths Initiative,” uses special exhibitions, collections and programs to foster a deeper understanding of how art expresses and explores different world religions and cultural contexts. To expand this programming beyond the five major religions, the “Five Faiths Initiative” will be merged with Emory’s “Religion, Society and the Arts.” This initiative will highlight the work of more than 250 Emory faculty members. It will create linkages across the University to benefit students and the Atlanta community, and position Emory as the center of important interdisciplinary and interfaith discussion and leadership.

In keeping with this strategic goal, the Carlos Museum secured “Scripture for the Eyes: Bible Illustration in Netherlandish Prints of the Sixteenth Century,” opening in fall 2009.

Winship Cancer Institute
As the largest comprehensive center within the Woodruff Health Sciences Center, the Winship Cancer Institute (WCI) is also the center with the most significant public impact. This year WCI became the only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in Georgia, joining a select group of elite cancer centers in the nation.

WCI was recognized for leading the fight against cancer on three fronts — research that allows the center to take cancer advances from the bench to the bedside to the community rapidly and effectively; education programs that prepare the next generation of health professionals to continue these advances; and cancer patient care that is unparalleled in the state. The designation also recognizes the collaborative nature of WCI’s work throughout the University and with key academic, health care and community partners.

The WCI has begun a comprehensive strategic planning process under the leadership of Winship’s Bill Woods and Rollins School of Public Health Dean James Curran in order to position the center to accelerate its impressive momentum over the next five years.

Yerkes National Primate Research Center
Stewardship, excellence, integrity, collegiality and people — these are the values that drive the Yerkes Research Center’s mission to conduct essential basic science and translational research to advance scientific understanding and to improve health and well-being. From nurturing individual brilliance to fostering a community of collegiality, Yerkes researchers are committed to working passionately in the service of humanity.

Positioning Yerkes to do this is the new Clinical Veterinary Medicine Administration and Research building at the Lawrenceville field station. This LEED Gold-certified building is the cornerstone for new programs that rely upon the center’s genetically typed social colonies of nonhuman primates to help researchers understand the interaction between genetics and environment and the roles they play in human health and disease. Such genetic information is also strengthening the center’s longstanding research programs in microbiology, immunology, neuroscience and psychobiology, and providing area high school students with unprecedented opportunities to conduct their senior honors theses under the mentorship of Yerkes researchers. “Our innovation and collaboration will continue to position us as leaders,“ says Yerkes Director Stuart Zola.