News from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Chancellor
Reviews the State of the Campus:
“It’s
Time To Get Back on Track”
 SEPT.
27, 2001 | Sounding an upbeat tone, UAMS Chancellor I. Dodd Wilson, M.D.,
chronicled “an interesting year” during his first State of the Campus
address on September 24. He
embraced the responsibility of tackling challenges and outlined how to
move the institution forward.
“You
may be pleased to know – I certainly am pleased – that I’m enjoying
my job,” Dr. Wilson said. “It’s appropriately challenging. It’s
not overwhelming, but it’s got some big challenges.”
Referring
to the terrorist attacks of September 11, he was proud of the fact that
there has not been an anti-Arab backlash on campus.
“We’re the most diverse place in Arkansas. Our goal is to make sure that our diversity works in positive
ways. We should treat
everyone on the basis of what they do and who they are; not on the basis
of stereotypes.”
His
50-minute talk in Pauly Auditorium focused on three main points: the
dramatic financial turnaround at UAMS, the implementation of Act One as a
road map for Arkansas’ tobacco settlement proceeds, and the
establishment of the first new college at UAMS in decades – the
College of Public Health. Wilson
praised former College of Medicine Dean Thomas Bruce, M.D., for accepting
the appointment of Dean Pro Tem of the new college that was created
with funds from the state’s tobacco settlement.
He
included in a list of achievements the opening of the Donald W. Reynolds
Center on Aging, the plan to open seven satellite Centers on Aging
operated in conjunction with the Area Health Education Centers (AHECs)
around the state, and the addition of a seventh AHEC in Helena. He cited
the successful recruitment of a new dean for the College of Medicine, E.
Albert Reece, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A, who comes to UAMS from Temple University
School of Medicine.
Most
of his remarks were directed toward the Phoenix-like financial comeback of
UAMS in the past year. “We
were in trouble,” Wilson said of the period between July 1998, and June
2000, when UAMS showed a shortfall of $50 million. “In
retrospect, 1998 to ’99 was probably worse than the accounting figures
indicated.”
The
turnaround followed austerity measures that affected the entire campus.
Wilson explained that hiring a new Director of Patient Billing
Services (Joe Haney), and a new Chief Financial Officer (Dan Riley), and
retaining a “big six” accounting firm (Arthur Anderson, Inc.) as a
consultant helped UAMS turn the corner.
“This
last year and the year before we hunkered down. And now it’s time to get back on track and think about what
we want to be,” he said. Wilson wants UAMS to have the technology and
necessary tools to “become more of a learning institution.” A new contract between University Hospital and an outside
firm will be a first step toward fully computerized patient records.
He
predicted that the institution faces a worsening shortage of personnel in
many teaching positions. Wilson
said the tobacco settlement funding presents great opportunities for
university researchers. He
envisions an increased emphasis on genomics and proteomics; and also on
bio-informatics to assist scientists in their analysis of research.
He’s also exploring the possibility of creating a new position of
Vice Chancellor for Research.
To
hear audio clips from the Campus Address, click here.
Links
in this Article:
Audio
Clips: http://www.uams.edu/today/092701/audio.htm
08/08/03 |
