Page 24 - Morehouse School of Medicine Magazine

Trees Atlanta and the Washington High With a state-of-the-art ambulatory ciplines, he added, the presidents “are
School Cluster are reaping the benefits. health facility and MSM medical offices, able to bring imaginative thinking and
Primary beneficiaries of AUCC col- a student wellness center, upscale res- creative solutions that would be unlike-
laboration, however, are the 9,000 stu- idential apartments, YMCA and retail ly to happen on their own.”
dents and 3,000 staffers of the four space, Dr. Montgomery Rice said the
institutions. Lee Street facility serves neighborhood THE DATA SCIENCE INITIATIVE
Dr. George T. French, president of needs, gives the AUCC and MSM im- Greene is enthusiastic about their new
Clark Atlanta University and chairman portant community visibility and ex- AUCC Data Science Initiative, a five-
of the AUCC Council of Presidents, emplifies “partnering to bring about year, $8.2 million partnership with
credits his predecessor in the office, needed and desired change.” UnitedHealth Group to bring technical
Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, MSM classes to AUC students in data science
president and dean, with unifying the SUPPORT FOR THE CONSORTIUM and analysis. The advanced analytics
four AUCC institutions and especially In addition to working together and research techniques will focus on dis-
with bringing to fruition the new stu- benefiting as a group from the Lee parities in minority communities.
dent health center at the Lee Street Street project, the four presidents have “The type of skill sets that will be
Development. collaborated on “powerful ideas and needed in today’s world but also the fu-
“She has brought all of the AUC solutions” that have recently attracted ture, many of them are related to having
schools together to embrace the idea millions of dollars in grants and in- the ability to extract value from data,
of a single student health center,” he vestments, according to Todd Greene, data science and data analytics,” Greene
AUCC’s exec- said. Employer demand for these skills
utive director. across business and industry is great,
“It is the benefit of having four The result is a he added, but currently fewer than 2
breathtaking ar- percent of data scientists are African
seasoned leaders who come ray of projects American.
He said AUC faculty, who are includ-
together, who are all committed across all cam- ing data science in their teaching, “rec-
puses.
ognize the potential to make a dramatic
to advancing African Americans la Foundation, difference in the number of African
The Coca-Co-
in higher education.” which supports Americans who possess these skill sets.”
the AUC schools Plans ultimately call for the initiative to
— Todd Greene, AUCC executive director individually with become a data science institute, with
scholarships, undergraduate degrees and certificate
gave the consor- programs in data science and data an-
tium a $4 million alytics.
said. “That just expands our ability to collaboration grant in 2017. Dr. French, president of Clark Atlanta
serve our student population in ways “The purpose of the multiyear grant University and chair of the AUCC Coun-
that none of us could do with our indi- was to help the schools to collaborate cil of Presidents, sees great benefit to
vidual health facilities.” Among the ben- on joint projects in order to achieve the collaboration of AUCC institutions
efits will be the ability to offer stronger economies of scale and improve oper- in the Data Science Initiative.
health services after hours, justifying ating efficiencies,” said Fran Killeen, “Only 1 percent of data scientists are
costs by sharing among 9,000 students, director of global community affairs of color,” Dr. French said. “So we have
he said. for the Coca-Cola Company. an obligation to increase that percent-
Among the projects is a new shared age of African Americans since data sci-
CROWN JEWEL OF THE WEST SIDE procurement system “to streamline ence informs our decisions all day with
Already, the new $52 million Lee Street purchasing processes to improve effi- data analysis and predictive modeling.”
Development, a multiuse facility an- ciency and harness collective purchas- Morehouse College President David A.
choring the entrance to what is some- ing power.” Another was environmen- Thomas said more than 50 faculty from
times called College Town, is seen as a tally focused, updating campus facilities the four schools have been involved in
significant boon to continued econom- to cut operating costs and improving the Data Science Initiative. Students of
ic development in the West End. The water and electrical systems. the 21st century will need skills in data
development is dedicated not only to “It is the benefit of having four sea- gathering and analysis “to be viable as
serving the health and well-being of soned leaders who come together, who workers and intellectuals and entrepre-
students and staff but also off-campus are all committed to advancing African neurs,” he added.
neighborhoods in the West End and Americans in higher education,” Greene Thomas said he looks forward to
Atlanta at large. said. With their range of academic dis- working with Dr. Talitha M. Washing-

22 Primarily Caring Fall 2020

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