Community, Value, and Gratitude
Community
AUPHA is the professional community that has been most important to me for more than two decades. In her regular “Culture” column in a 2017 issue of The Atlantic, Megan Garber wrote “‘Community,’ after all, the Old English Dictionary notes, is rooted in the Middle French communité. The word may have come to suggest a ‘body of people who live in the same place,’ but, initially, it meant something much simpler and much more powerful: ‘joint ownership.’” I find this original meaning extremely appealing in the context of AUPHA.
Value
It is to a large extent AUPHA members’ strong sense of “joint ownership” that brings great value to our community. The ideas, innovations, best practices, solutions, lessons learned, and resources that make AUPHA a great value proposition are provided by you, the community of educators and scholars in healthcare management and health policy.
I think every day about AUPHA’s value to our field. That value is about providing programs and services; meetings, workshops and webinars; opportunities for engagement and collaboration; and, continuing education and professional development. Also consider the indirect impact: the value of shared learning to fellow faculty and staff; to students of curricular and extracurricular improvements and innovations; to alumni of career achievements; to healthcare organizations of better management and leadership; and ultimately, to communities with regard to improving the health.
Gratitude
In his most recent book, The Calling: Why Healthcare Is So Special, my friend Quint Studer begins with one of my favorite of his quotes: “A heart full of gratitude has little room for anything else.”
I continue to be grateful for all of you - my cherished academic and practice colleagues and friends. You are a source of inspiration and encouragement. I am grateful for the AUPHA staff. They are consummate professionals, each expertly qualified in their specialty areas of association management. I am grateful to the AUPHA Board of Directors, for their consistent and persistent focus on mission and vision, philosophy and values, and strategy. And for their support of me and the AUPHA staff.
I am grateful for my own “calling,” which like most of you has been focused on healthcare - as a teacher and mentor, a researcher; an academic leader; and now as someone who’s been given this gift of serving our field of healthcare management and health policy education. My heart is full.
AUPHA’s Priorities for 2021-2023, 75th Anniversary, and Future
Priority: Full Implementation of the AUPHA Strategic Plan
The four pillars in the new AUPHA Strategic Plan emphasize programs, individuals, the profession, and association governance and management. The plan includes new initiatives to update the AUPHA Body of Knowledge (BOK); monitor and disseminate trends in healthcare management and health policy, and higher education; promote and recognize excellence in teaching; promote and recognize excellence in academic leadership; be globally recognized as the voice of our profession; and, communicate AUPHA’s mission, vision, values, initiatives, and success effectively.
AUPHA has engaged 140 member volunteers in the Strategic Plan work. Implementation is going as planned and deadlines are being met. The new AUPHA Biennial Trends Report will be released in December 2021. The new AUPHA BOK will be completed by June 2022. The AUPHA Art of Teaching Institute and AUPHA Leadership Academy will enroll their first registrants in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
Priority: Excellence in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice
AUPHA’s core values include diversity, and the association’s philosophy statement has diversity at its core. AUPHA will work across our full membership, and with important partners such as ACHE, NAHSE, the AHA’s Institute for Diversity and Health Equity, and NALHE. Our broader efforts will leverage the combined work of these partners and others engaged in the “Better Together” movement led by ACHE. For AUPHA more specifically, our work will focus on curriculum content and competencies; faculty and student talent and professional development; social responsibility and public advocacy; and AUPHA governance and management.
Priority: Excellence in AUPHA Member Value
AUPHA is a mission- and vision-driven, and values-centered, community. The AUPHA membership is at the center of everything we do. Over the past 18 months, AUPHA has not only continued to provide all member benefits already in place, we responded with additional programming and resources to meet the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The AUPHA Board and management also leaned forward assertively to implement the 2020-2023 Strategic Plan.
2020 was, and 2021 has continued to be, unprecedented with regard to COVID-19’s impact on healthcare and higher education. AUPHA has been resilient - growing membership, lowering expenses, and increasing member engagement; strategies that have led to increased member value. AUPHA continues to be sensitive of, and responsive to, our academic and individual program members needs.
AUPHA’s 75th Anniversary
We look forward to celebrating 75 years of AUPHA achievements in 2023. AUPHA has a rich history, a legacy that includes service by thousands of member volunteers, and enduring partnerships with the ACHE, AHA, and others that have remained strong. AUPHA has advocated for public policy, strategically partnered with other associations, and led initiatives that have grown and strengthened our field.
Ensuring our legacy, building on our past, and boldly moving forward into AUPHA’s future requires sustainability in resources. Heading into 2022, AUPHA continues to be is a strong financial position, despite challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. There are numerous opportunities for individuals, partner organizations, and affiliates to contribute to AUPHA’s lasting legacy and future. Please contact me at dgentry@aupha.org to discuss your personal priorities for meaningful contributions to support AUPHA.
An AUPHA Renaissance
Throughout history, there have been periods of renewed energy, growth, and enlightenment following darker times of war, epidemics, and economic collapse. We look forward to a future, post COVID-19, of unprecedented growth - characterized by a renewed passion for learning and a thirst for new knowledge, increased curiosity for new ways of thinking and doing, and a culture of inquiry and discovery.
AUPHA’s renaissance will have as its foundation AUPHA’s vision to be recognized as the global leader in advancing higher education and scholarship in healthcare management and health policy, and AUPHA’s mission to foster excellence and innovation in healthcare management and health policy education. A renaissance guided by AUPHA’s values of excellence, innovation, collaboration, diversity, and learning; and, with a philosophy of diversity that is both at the core of who we are and influences everything we do.
Very best,
Dan