Office of External Affairs

 

Who We Are
The Office of External Affairs (OEA) is headed by Senior Associate Vice President, J.L. Osei Mevs, whose appointment was confirmed by the President & CEO in 2007. Mr. Mevs previously served as leading member of Medstar's Health and Government Relations Team. Our office works in close collaboration with the various Offices of Governmental and Federal Relations.

What We Do
Meharry Medical College contributes to the community and society through education, public policy, and outreach. The mission of External Affairs is to facilitate and coordinate the use of university resources to support existing university/community partnerships and engage new partnerships that contribute to the educational, health, social, and economic progress of the community, region, and state.

The Office of External Affairs is comprised of:

  • Public & Community Affairs Division
    College’s liaison with the public and with Community, community, and public interest groups. The Division also disseminates general information to the public and Community’s regarding the College’s activities, initiatives and policy directions.
  • State & Regional Affairs Division
    College’s liaison with state and local governments.
  • Federal Governmental Affairs Division
    College’s liaison with the Congress and Federal government departments and agencies. It is responsible for developing and maintaining an effective working relationship with the Senate, the House of Representatives, Congressional committees and Committee staff, and Federal government departments and agencies.
  • Administration & Operations Staff
    Responsible for providing and coordinating administrative, personnel and management support services; prepares special ad hoc studies, analyses and/or reports as required; and provides advisory and implementation support in the development of policy and procedures encompassing any of the OEA program responsibilities

 

Mission
The Office of External Affairs is responsible for supporting and promoting activities related to teaching, research, public policy and outreach, the core mission of Meharry Medical College. To fulfill this mission, the Office of External Affairs must proactively build and maintain relationships between neighboring communities; local, state, and federal officials; civic, corporate and community organizations; alumni and internal constituents.

Vision
Through strategic and innovative marketing and communications techniques, the Office of External Affairs will actively engage all of its units in helping Meharry Medical College attain recognition as a leading urban based research institution. The Office will also be readily identified by the campus community and external partners as the place where issues that affect all of these constituents can be effectively addressed and resolved.