Moving the Mission Forward: Cross Collaboration at Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine Dean's Office

With the increase in class size & curriculum changes, SFESOM has more specialized offices & roles. Cross-collaboration is needed to pursue the SFESOM mission of social change. Staff from 5 offices implemented Skendall's Seven C's of Social Change to enhance the effectiveness of interdisciplinary collaboration in reviewing & revising educational policies. This group Collaborated; agreed upon a Common Purpose of promoting student mental health & education, was Conscious of words & actions in discussions, presented with Congruence, engaged in discourse with Civility, & maintained drive toward Change. Together, they advocated for Student Handbook review by SFESOM directors, & accomplished change within individual offices, including revising the Admissions GPA-MCAT Matrix to support admission of mission-aligned candidates; implementing diversity, equity, inclusion, intersectionality, power-analysis and anti-racism principles to Wellness Office policies; creating equity in application criteria to the medical student national honor society; and reviewing committee decisions & course surveys for trends of bias. In line with Skendall's expectations, the group concluded cross-unit collaboration increases members' abilities to see strengths, weaknesses, & unobserved potential within units; diversity of experience improves ability to identify gaps in policy; & specialties working together provides the best chance to achieve "strategic recruitment, retention, & recognition of efforts."