For the first time since taking the job as UConn’s President in June, Susan Herbst held a “town hall” type meeting with Health Center staff Monday. Approximately 150 employees attended the hour-long lunch-time forum in Keller Auditorium.
Herbst’s main goal was to get feedback from Health Center employees but she did talk briefly about Bioscience Connecticut and the search for a new vice president for health affairs and medical school dean. “These are the two forces that are going to determine our future in, I think, an incredibly positive way,” said Herbst.
Herbst said that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s $864 million Bioscience Connecticut initiative, aimed at making Connecticut a leader in the health and bioscience industries, will be transformational for the Health Center. She said plans were moving forward and still “evolving from the architecture to the kind of program mix that we’ll have as this starts to get moving faster.”
Herbst was complimentary of Malloy and appreciative of his efforts in championing the project. She said “he understands the role that the Health Center and UConn play in Connecticut’s economy. He doesn’t want us just to be a follower he wants us to be a leader nationally, and that’s why he took up the Bioscience Connecticut project.”
The second major issue, the search for a new VP/dean of the Health Center, is going extremely well according to Herbst. The Bioscience Connecticut initiative has made the position extremely enticing and there has been interest from many superb candidates throughout the country.
Herbst said she’s looking for someone who has more than just the typical leadership qualities. “There are some special skills we need here. They need to be a very hands-on person, very high energy.”
The next VP/dean also needs to understand the importance of the educational mission, know how to build upon our research infrastructure and tackle the many challenges a hospital faces in the 21st Century, added Herbst. Fundraising and being able to work with the legislature are other qualities vital for the position.
In response to a question about retaining relations with area hospitals, Herbst said she’s been in contact with their leaders. “We have good relations with Hartford and St. Francis Hospital and we’ll try to figure out new productive relations with these institutions in the future.”
Herbst also addressed the issue of collaboration between the Storrs and Farmington campuses. She emphasized the importance of one university but said, “I do think we need to be realistic about our physical separation and not try to create some artifice that we’re connected in ways that we are not.”
She added there are things to explore such as a bus service between campuses or a joint email system but most connections begin with the faculty. “Faculty who have research in common who want to collaborate will find a way to bridge the gap. We’ll force it where we think it is appropriate or necessary like compliance or ethics but I really do rely on the faculty to come up with ideas on how we can connect the campuses.”
Herbst gave an update on the search for the new position of vice president for economic development. She said they have had many inquiries and expect to fill the position within a month or two. The job will entail helping faculty with ideas and inventions set up a business and find venture capital. It will also require interfacing with the legislature and governor’s office and filling the incubator space at both the Farmington and Storrs campuses.
Herbst concluded the meeting by saying this was the first of many and that she intends on spending more time at the Health Center as Bioscience Connecticut moves forward.
