School of Medicine & Health Sciences

Purpose, Organization, Strategic Plan & Diversity Statement

The UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences is the only academic institution in North Dakota whose specific purpose is outlined by the North Dakota Century Code. Below is a description of that Purpose, a summary of the School's Strategic Plan, and its Diversity Statement.

The primary purpose of the University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences is to educate physicians and other health professionals for subsequent service in North Dakota and to enhance the quality of life in North Dakota. Other purposes include the discovery of knowledge that benefits the people of this state and enhances the quality of their lives.

  • One UND 2017-2022
    • UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences Strategic Plan (2018-2023)
      • Goals will be reviewed over the course of one year starting in May 2020 (two goals per FC meeting). The roll-up report will reflect the same and is due in December of each year.
      • Pre-meeting distribution of each unit’s strategic plan goal pair (for the upcoming meeting agenda) to the respective unit and ask units to send back their outcomes. That updated information from the units will be sent out to FC participants prior to FC meetings to ensure time for FC members to review material and consider possible synergies with other units.
      • Discussion of goals at FC:
        • How and what progress has been made? (any unit)
        • What challenges or barriers may exist to progress? (any unit)
        • Any examples of particular successes to highlight? (any unit)
        • What are opportunities for collaboration between units? (all units)
      • Encourage each unit to update their own unit’s plan related to that goal (as a result of individual unit progress and the discussion regarding collaboration) and return to Judy Solberg prior to next FC meeting. This allows for updating of the unit plans on a rolling basis over a one-year period.

The University of North Dakota and its School of Medicine & Health Sciences (SMHS) take pride in their mission to meet the individual and group needs of a diverse and pluralistic society through education, research, and service. The people served by and associated with the SMHS vary widely; all are valued for the richness their different cultures, heritages, perspectives, and ideas they bring to the community. The SMHS is, in part, a conduit through which individual perspectives and global interrelationships are enhanced by a working, learning, and teaching environment that is aware of and sensitive to the diversity of its constituents. Diversity in the SMHS is constituted by the full participation of people of different racial and ethnic heritage, age, gender, socioeconomic background, religion, sexual orientation, and disability; and of people from other countries. Of special and particular importance is the SMHS's longstanding commitment to the education of American Indian students and the cultures and traditions of American Indians/Alaska Natives. The SMHS’s commitment to diversity extends to students from rural America, in particular those from North Dakota, Minnesota, and states in the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) consortium. The School has a longstanding commitment to the employment of those with an American Indian background and promotes gender equality across all hires including ensuring gender equality within the full-time faculty and full-time senior administrative staff. The SMHS is committed to providing working, learning, and teaching experiences that promote self-determination, educational advantages, and professional opportunities.

Updated 5/20/2020

UND Strategic Plan: SMHS Unit Goals

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Goal 2

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Goal 6

Goal 7

Goal 8

Scholarship Reporting

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Goal 7

Goal 8

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Goal 6

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Goal 8

Land Acknowledgment Statement

Today, the University of North Dakota rests on the ancestral lands of the Pembina and Red Lake Bands of Ojibwe and the Dakota Oyate - presently existing as composite parts of the Red Lake, Turtle Mountain, White Earth Bands, and the Dakota Tribes of Minnesota and North Dakota. We acknowledge the people who resided here for generations and recognize that the spirit of the Ojibwe and Oyate people permeates this land. As a university community, we will continue to build upon our relations with the First Nations of the State of North Dakota - the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Nation, Spirit Lake Nation, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians. 

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