Hi there, Huskies,

Thank goodness for the upcoming break. This one is so well deserved, and I wish you all fun, good health, and REST!

First (queue up Queen’s classic hit, “We Are the Champions”), WINNING seems to be a theme this week. ROCK ON basketball, UConn Equestrian, track, Biochem midterms, internships applications, O-Chem labs … all of you faced challenges over the course of the past week.

Midterms are hard. The Big East is hard. COVID is hard.  Yet all of you are finding your way to success.  As a friend at the Graduate School often says, success is rarely a straight line. We zig, we zag, but we get there nonetheless.

In the meantime, I’ve been in meetings. A few highlights:

Task Force for Combating Sexual Violence and Supporting our Students: We had our first meeting last week. We reviewed all relevant policies as well as important past work on this subject. The Task Force website is live and will include information from past meetings.

Bias Action Group: This incredible group of students, faculty, and staff met for the first time on Monday. This group is working towards its purpose of reviewing incidents and determining opportunities for increased dialogue on campus. Dr. Tuitt and I are grateful to the members of the group for their insight and guidance in identifying opportunities for our community to address hate and develop trust at UConn.  On a more immediate note, members were struck by the InForm site that was created and encouraged me to make it more broadly available to students.  Check it out.

This works matter and it will be impactful.  I hope you all know that these groups are filled with members of the University community who care deeply for all of you and for UConn.  What is abundantly clear to all of us is the work that needs to be done to regain trust, address harm, and restore UConn as a community that cares for the well-being of all of our students.

I wish you all a healthy and happy break. COVID tests are available to you at the Student Union on the Storrs campus and on each of the regional campuses before and after break. Please remember that it is important to test when ill and observe a period of isolation regardless of your vaccination status.  If you test positive using an at-home or outside lab test, please upload your positive test results to the SHaW patient portal.

Be well, Huskies. I’m looking forward to seeing you back on campus.

Eleanor JB Daugherty, EdD
she/her/hers
Associate Vice President and Dean of Students

Dear Colleagues,

Diversity is vital to UConn Health as we continue to advance medicine academically, clinically, and scientifically. This is why we are excited to announce that Jeffrey Hines, MD, will take the new role of Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) at UConn Health. He joins us from Wellstar, one of the largest not-for-profit, integrated health systems in Georgia.

The CDO position is an important milestone for UConn Health and our schools. The position allows UConn Health to follow in the University’s footsteps of having a leader focused on our health system’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) needs in a time of unprecedented growth. The CDO ensures our professional healthcare community reflects the diverse patient population we serve and the diverse student population we train.

We look forward to Dr. Hines’s leadership in building upon our diversity commitment and efforts. For nearly two decades, UConn Health has led the way in increasing underrepresented groups in medicine. Our Health Career Opportunity programs have been key to diversifying the student bodies for our dental and medical schools. In fact, the U.S. News & World Report recently named UConn School of Medicine as one of the nation’s top-10 medical schools for diversity. We look forward to working with Dr. Hines to build a stronger and more diverse workforce, as well as a more diverse pipeline of healthcare professionals for our state and nation.

Dr. Hines is board certified in Obstetrics /Gynecology with special competence in gynecologic oncology. He earned his Bachelor of Science and medical degree at Brown University and completed his Obstetrics and gynecology residency training at Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center and gynecologic oncology fellowship training at Georgetown University Medical Center. In addition to his expertise in the most up-to-date care for women’s cancer, Dr. Hines brings to UConn Health a wealth of experience in developing DEI strategic plans; implementing frameworks for achieving health excellence through health equity; addressing disparities in healthcare; and in facilitating university and healthcare leaders’ efforts to implement best practices that align diversity and inclusion strategies with core business objectives.

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Hines to UConn Health! We know he will make great contributions to our missions.

Sincerely,

Bruce T. Liang, MD
Interim Chief Executive Officer | UConn Health
Dean | UConn School of Medicine
CEO@uchc.edu

Dr. Frank Tuitt
Office for Diversity and Inclusion
VP | Chief Diversity Officer
Professor of Higher Education and Student Affairs
franklin.tuitt@uconn.edu