William & Mary and EVMS continue to explore partnerships
The Boards of Visitors for William & Mary and EVMS passed resolutions this week to request state funding to continue studying possible partnerships and collaborations with Eastern Virginia Medical School. The resolutions request $1 million in funding be included as an amendment to the Commonwealth’s 2013-14 budget so that both institutions can “explore possible increased collaboration and development of integrated academic programs.”
In July, William & Mary and EVMS announced that the two institutions had agreed to explore the feasibility of a partnership. Each institution established steering committees made up of administrators, faculty and board members. Those committees spent the past four months conducting meetings as well as gathering input and feedback from members of both campus communities. The schools also retained Dr. Jordan Cohen, former president and CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), to serve as a consultant during the process.
“The committees have worked hard over the past few months to do the due diligence necessary to get us to this point,” said W&M Provost Michael R. Halleran, who has led W&M’s due diligence effort. Halleran added there is not a firm timeline for decisions. “We think there is a great deal of potential here and this is a meaningful first step,” he said.
“We’ve benefited from the input of faculty, students, alumni and staff,” said James J. Izard, II, EVMS Board of Visitors member and chair of the EVMS due diligence committee. “We owe it to them, to our colleagues at William & Mary and to the people of Hampton Roads to fully explore the possibilities for collaboration and to have a strong understanding of any benefits to EVMS and the community at-large.”
The resolutions request an appropriation so that “the two shall address and evaluate options for the appropriate relationship between the two institutions and the clinical affiliates of EVMS to improve the health of the citizens of Greater Hampton Roads and the Commonwealth and to meet the region’s healthcare workforce needs.”
