In order to further facilitate open communication between the Dean's Office and the School of Dentistry community, I am initiating a periodic email to all students, staff and faculty (as well as to campus leadership and other friends of the School). I'm calling this "A Letter from the Dean," and this is the first version. I'll use this platform to share items of interest within the Dean's Office and Administration, update you on happenings in your dental school and solicit your feedback and input on items of concern in our institution.

"If it isn't broken, don't fix it." This is an old maxim in corporate America that many time-tested companies have stuck to for years. Companies maintaining this viewpoint tend to be very reactive to change, only making emergency modifications when absolutely necessary. And usually, such cosmetic change is grudgingly implemented after it is already too late.

Conversely, more forward-thinking organizations are embracing and seeking out change, finding new ways to re-invent techniques, and bringing about paradigm shifts in the way business as usual is conducted. In fact, this is the best time to implement new programs, before the environment around you has changed too drastically for you to adapt. I like to call it "Change before you peak" or "If it isn't broken, improve it."

A Time for Change
The School of Dentistry is in an unprecedented state of change from forces both internal and external. Continued state budget cuts, the changing nature of the dental and oral health professions, and greater scrutiny on higher education in the state of California are converging at exactly the same time, forcing us to adapt to a new landscape.

Economic realities have forced us to make a number of difficult decisions that we never thought we would have to make, including:

• The closure of the Family Dental Center at SF General Hospital;
  
  
• A moratorium on admissions to the Dental Hygiene program;
  
  
• An increase in fees charged to dental students; and
  
  
• Discontinuation of the Advanced Education in General Dentistry program.

And while the realities of today's budgetary woes have caused hardship (as detailed in President Dynes' letter to the UC community this week), both to us as a dental school and to the patients we treat, it has also caused us to innovate more than in the past. By focusing on the areas of our mission that are most important and formulating new funding sources, we are still able to implement new programs, and educate students in different, forward-thinking ways. This allows us to stay ahead of the crest of change and to proactively, rather than reactively, adapt.

Our Successes
Indeed, in many ways, despite the economic realities, things at the School of Dentistry have never been better. Our reputation as a premier institution of dental and oral health education is unassailable, with the school enjoying its 13th consecutive year as the top NIH research-funded dental school. The School of Dentistry remains one of the most competitive dental schools in the country, with more than 16 applicants for each position in the DDS program.

But rather than get complacent with these successes, we have chosen to innovate and grow, and face challenges as we see them on the horizon, rather than when they are upon us. Myriad recent improvements in the school will keep us well ahead of the curve for many years to come, including:

• This fall's implementation of the new curriculum, the culmination of a multi-year, $1.6 million effort to organize didactic and clinical coursework into five thematic streams, and better prepare students to provide patient care grounded in scientific and technical knowledge;
  
  
• The ongoing preclinical lab renovation. The second phase of fundraising (of three phases) is currently nearing completion thanks to a recent gift of real estate in excess of $100,000 from Gino Battagin (School of Dentistry graduate, 1943) and his wife Mary (School of Nursing graduate, 1943). The completion of this phase of fundraising means that we have already raised approximately $400,000 in private funds (to go along with an additional $400,000 from the Chancellor's office) for the renovation. We still need to raise $1 million in private funds for the third phase of fundraising to complete the renovation. Once that money is raised, the original lab benches and floor will be replaced.
  
  
• The completion of the $7 million reconfiguration of the old oral biology research laboratories occupying the entire sixth floor of the Health Sciences West (HSW6) tower. This will allow basic science faculty to enjoy greater research capacity in state-of-the art facilities.
  
  
• The new Center for Craniofacial and Mesenchymal Biology (CMB) will occupy new lab space on the 15th floor of the HSE tower. This center will include researchers and programs from the School of Dentistry and the School of Medicine, and will be the first such interdisciplinary center to be hosted and administered by the School of Dentistry. It is anticipated that CMB will generate new funding, new treatments, new cures and a greater understanding of the biological foundations of the oral and craniofacial sciences.
  
  
• The school's departmental re-alignment is proceeding as planned. The name proposed for the basic sciences department is the Department of Cell and Tissue Biology, pending the Chancellor's approval. The name for the clinical sciences department is still being determined by the faculty. A search for the head of the clinical sciences department is ongoing. Both departments are expected to provide personnel and infrastructure that will keep UCSF at the forefront of the dental, oral, and craniofacial sciences. The remaining two departments, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences, will be unaffected by this departmental re-alignment inasmuch as they were restructured in early 2000.

While all of these changes, as well as others, are crucial to our continued success as a dental school, the money to support new programs and facility and equipment upgrades must be raised primarily from private sources. Thus, we are not only changing the ways we are dong things, we are also shifting our entire outlook to one that is more outward focused, and less reliant on funding from the state of California. It is true that the current economic climate mandates innovative fundraising streams. But I also feel that, in the long run, our willingness to bring about such changes proactively will make us a stronger, more self-reliant institution, better able to implement the programs we deem important, and cultivate an environment of student-centered learning.

Best regards,

Charles N. Bertolami, DDS, DMedSc

Dean