Hitting 500

On March 6, 2015, I shared in my first VC Notes message that “One of the top things on my ‘to do’ list is to do a better job communicating with you.” I hope that I’ve fulfilled that promise as I write today’s 500th VC Notes. Wow!

When we first started this, I wasn’t sure how long we could maintain this weekly communication. I thought, surely, we would run out of topics! I say “we” purposefully because, as you may or may not know, this is a team effort. The make-up of the team varies a bit from week to week depending on the content, but a constant is Marc Rolph and his Communications and Marketing team. VC Notes simply would not happen without Marc and his personal attention to the effort.

I feared, early on, that this mode of communication would grow stale, and interest would fade over time. To my amazement, the interest has remained high, and the list of topics to share, often fueled by the questions and comments you submit, continues to be robust. I am really thankful for your continued interest. Over time, the topics have ranged from high-level, important strategic concepts to more focused, narrow topics such as parking.

An ongoing challenge for us at UMMC is effective communications. This is not unique to us; it is a common challenge for academic medical centers across the country. Each of you has a communication method you prefer – email, in-person communication from managers, posts in break rooms or workstations, etc. Despite our comprehensive and at times exhaustive efforts as an organization, we still struggle with effective communication to all our students, faculty and employees at all our different sites.

Based on feedback I get, which includes personal emails sent to me by readers, comments submitted through the VC notes inbox and verbal feedback, the regularity and routine nature of the Friday VC Notes message is one that a lot of you have come to expect and many of you make time to read.

So, for now, we will carry on the VC Notes tradition and continue to share messages with you each Friday covering a variety of topics. The longer I serve in this position, the deeper my gratitude grows for each of you. A great deal has changed over nearly a decade in my communication to you, but much remains the same. And I will end this VC Notes as I did my first one because the sentiment remains true: “So we're off!  The road ahead awaits. We're going to work hard, we're going to have fun, and we're going to learn an awful lot together. Working as a team, instead of as a collection of individuals, I know we'll be unstoppable. And every day, we will get closer to our vision for A Healthier Mississippi.”