Teresa Conner named new College of Health dean

 

Teresa Conner believes the faculty, staff, and students of Idaho State University are all architects - of medicine, that is.

 

“It’s so exciting to look across a campus and see that not only here, but in Meridian, Idaho Falls, Twin Falls, and Anchorage, Alaska, such a breadth of programs,” Conner says. “You have the opportunity for health sciences to engage engineering, business, education, and arts - as well as the community - and do something spectacularly innovative.”

 

Dr. Conner says she knew Idaho State was the right choice, and being on campus has only reaffirmed her belief that the university is truly on the frontier of modern medicine innovation. As part of her new duties, Conner will provide interprofessional leadership to meet the diverse needs of the College of Health (COH) programs in relation to scholarship, teaching, and service excellence.

 

She will oversee and improve COH administration and operations through facilitating strategic and facilities planning. Conner will also support a robust research profile, promote faculty development in teaching, scholarship, and service, as well as build and maintain collaborative relationships within the COH, community organizations, business and industry, civic and government, and educational systems.

 

“We don’t even know what the next decade will bring us when it comes to healthcare,” Conner said. “ We don’t even really know what the next decade brings, or what careers in healthcare are going to be, because technology is going to change the way we conduct precision medicine.”

 

Conner says she is looking forward to building working relationships with other colleges and departments. As the new dean, she is responsible for ten departments, and about 90% of the programs in the Kasiska Division of Health Sciences are housed in the College of Health.

 

“I believe students are at their best when we craft a culture where people can move and create, where they get excited about what you’re doing and where they want to be,” Conner said. “I hope we continue the work to become the innovative healthcare college of the nation, and students come here to want to innovate and experiment and do it better than other places.”

 

Conner added that she hasn’t been at a university with a football team in a while, and sees the opportunity to build a community through supporting the football team and coming out to tailgate events. She added that this also helps her get to know what people are like in Idaho.

 

Conner is making plans to expand her availability to students, and is hoping to hold a meal with the dean on certain days of the month, where she will choose a table at the student union and have students join her and communicate their goals, ideas, and concerns.

 

“I want students to have that access point, to know they have a dean that is responsive to them, and I want to make sure they feel at home here,” Conner said.

 

Dr. Teresa Conner is the past inaugural associate provost of Health Sciences at Radford University/Carilion and Dean of the College of Health Sciences and Professions at the University of North Georgia. In those positions, she spent time developing core research laboratories, international programs and a curriculum focused on health
innovation.