Call to Order:
Immediate Past Chair David D. Allen called the meeting to order at 3:45 pm.
Report of the Chair
On behalf of Chair Robert Blouin, Immediate Past Chair David Allen welcomed the council members, and he began the meeting with the following updates:
• The Task Force on Accelerating Change completed its work in December 2015. A report was presented in a special session of the interim meeting.
• The Task Force on Recruitment/Admissions work is ongoing and progress of the work was presented at a special session at this meeting.
Report of the Secretary – Sharon L. Youmans (Secretary Designate)
The minutes of the Council of Deans Business Meeting at the July 2015 Annual Meeting are posted on the AACP Website under Governance/Council of Deans and have been published in AJPE Volume 79 Issue 9, Article S18.
Report of the Immediate Past Chair on The Board of Directors Activities – David D. Allen
• President-elect Joe DiPiro outlined the top priorities in the emerging AACP strategic plan at the town hall meeting this afternoon. Everyone is encouraged to provide input into the strategies that our pairs of planning committee and staff members will develop prior to the release of the plan to the delegates. A copy of the priorities will be posted to the AACP web site and a dedicated email box will be available next week to collect member input.
• Additional input is welcomed on the strategy outlined for accelerating change in education and practice – two key priorities in the plan. The Board thinks that conducting a pilot of at least one priority over the next 18 months will help us all understand how this might enable the needed transformation in our programs and the profession.
• At the November Board Meeting, the Board evaluated the feedback on the proposed Cooperative Admissions Guidelines (CAG) and found the academy split 50-50 on the topic. Without some level of consensus, the Board could not act on the proposal and therefore a new CAG taskforce, chaired by Schwanda Flowers, was appointed. The task force will continue to collect additional feedback and provide forums on the topic and present a new proposal for action at the July Board meeting.
• The selection process for awards that takes place at the February interim meeting is complete with awards to be presented at the July annual meeting. The Board is in the process of notifying the recipients as well as the other nominators and will be making the public announcements by early March. The Board acted upon a recommendation to establish a Lifetime Achievement Award. The criteria for this award will be added to the Awards section of the AACP Web site and nominations for the inaugural presentation will follow the same schedule as AACP’s other major awards.
• AJPE Editor Gayle Brazeau provided an update on the Journal; the 80th volume of AJPE will be published in 2016. Submissions remain strong and the editors invite additional interest among members to serve as responsive reviewers for manuscripts. A revised Instructions for Authors resource will soon be completed which the editorial team hopes will provide a better guide to authors so that manuscripts will be received in need of fewer rounds of revision and editing on the part of the editors and staff.
• The Board reviewed the midyear financial performance for our operating budgets that continue to be affected by the application dynamics. They also reviewed the status of Mimycx, the multiplayer game for interprofessional learning, and discussed key questions related to sales and the potential for attracting educational technology investors to help us fund the continued development of this learning resource.
The following Dean changes were announced:
• Dr. Renee Chesnut appointed Dean at Drake University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.
• Dr. J. Scott Mohrland appointed Interim Dean at Palm Beach Atlantic University School of Pharmacy.
• Dr. Carmita Coleman appointed Interim Dean at Chicago State University College of Pharmacy.
• Dr. Carolyn Ma appointed Interim Dean at University of Hawaii at Hilo Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy.
• Dr. David A. Ralph appointed Interim Dean at Southwestern Oklahoma State University College of Pharmacy.
• Dr. James Halpert appointed Dean at University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy.
• Dr. Edward Fisher appointed Dean at Marshall B. Ketchum University College of Pharmacy.
• Dr. John Murphy appointed Interim Dean at University of Arizona College of Pharmacy.
• Dr. Henry Cohen appointed Dean at Touro College of Pharmacy New York.
• Dr. Serrine S. Lau appointed Dean at Wayne State University Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.
• Dr. Melissa Hogan appointed Interim Dean at Roosevelt University College of Pharmacy.
• Dr. Kristen A. Keefe appointed Interim Dean at University of Utah College of Pharmacy.
• Dr. George MacKinnon III named founding Dean at the Medical College of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy.
• Dr. Canio Marasco appointed Dean at D’Youville College of Pharmacy.
• Dr. Hieu Tran appointed Dean at California Northstate College of Pharmacy.
• Dr. Ron Carter appointed interim Dean at Loma Linda University.
All new Assistant and Associate Deans were asked to stand and be recognized.
Legislative Update and Advocacy – William G. Lang
Will provided an update on the current activities in Washington, DC.:
• The NIH most likely will not get additional funding due to reallocation of funds needed to address other competing public health issues.
• During this time there is a focus on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding tobacco cessation programs. We need to educate the CDC on what schools of pharmacy do to address this problem and other public health issues.
• AACP is committed to helping the White House address the issue of opioid and heroin addiction. AACP is interested in how schools of pharmacy are addressing this issue. All schools are asked to email Will describing what the school is doing on campus and in the curriculum to address this issue. These activities can become part of the White House’s messaging that schools of pharmacy can help in this effort.
• An email will be sent by Will asking schools to submit descriptions of their cancer research initiatives. This will allow the White House to better understand how schools of pharmacy participate in cancer research.
Update on Research and Graduate Education – Joan M. Lakoski
• Survey sent to all schools to capture the research and graduate education work at the schools. All are asked to participate. Focus groups will be conducted to assess the affordability, accountability and accessibility of graduate education. A report will be forthcoming in July at the annual meeting.
• Fourteen New Investigator’s Awards were given out this year. The impact of the award is being studied as the awards process has been in place for over 20 years.
• The Fellows Leadership Development program will be offered so please consider applicants for the coming year.
• The National Cancer Moonshot conducted the fiscal 2017 budget meeting. The academy will receive ongoing updates on the status of this initiative.
Update on PharmCAS and Admissions – Jennifer L. Adams
Jen provided the council with an update on data presented at annual meeting 2015. Detailed slides are posted on the AACP website under Governance/Council of Deans. Some of the key highlights:
• The application to applicant ratio is decreased from 4.3 in February 2015 to 4.07 in February 2016.
• The turn around time of the application verification process from the time of submission is now at 5 business days. To expedite the verification process students can pay to have their course work entered in to the PharmCAS system.
• There is a decrease in PharmD applicants in PharmCAS from February 2016 (3.66%).
• Eighty-four schools are participating in the early decision program with 1512 applicants receiving early acceptance in 2016.
• Profile data for the 2015 entering class was presented that included demographics of GPA, PCAT composite scores, gender, Underrepresented minorities, and US citizenship from 118 schools.
• Standardized End-Of-Year reports that are available from PharmCAS and listed the top feeder institutions for pharmacy programs.
• An update on the PharmDirect program was given. The program allows students to apply out of high school (early assurance or early entry programs).
• Katie Owings, who serves as the Associate Director of Student Affairs, also serves as a resource for PharmCAS.
• An update on Echo Targeting: there are now 35 schools participating in the program. The ads are for colleges of pharmacy and the priority audience is students interested in pharmacy as they visit the PharmCAS website.
• 2016 Fall institute on Admissions in September in Charlotte, NC.
• AACP is sponsoring monthly Admission Webinars (last Monday of every month) as a method to increase the pipeline of perspective pharmacy student. Volunteers are needed to help with the seminars. The focus is on K-12 students.
Committee/Task Force Reports
Nominations Committee ............................................................................................David D. Allen
• Deadline to submit nominations for Chair-elect is February 29, 2016 to nominate someone or yourself. The slate of nominations will be submitted to the Council of Deans this summer. Thanks to all the committee members for their service.
Resolutions Committee .......................................................................................Russell B. Melchert
• There are no resolutions.
Joint Council Of Faculties and Council of Deans Task Force on Accelerating Change in Curricular and Practice Transformation ........................................................Patricia D. Kroboth
• A report presented at a special session during the interim meeting. The works continues and thanks to everyone for providing feedback.
Update on AACP Strategic Planning – Natalie D. Eddington
Chair elect Natalie Eddington presented the five goals of the AACP strategic plan. The goals are:
• Enriching the applicant pipeline
• Creating a new portrait of pharmacists and pharmacy careers
• Innovation in education and practice
• Expanding research and graduate education
• Sustaining member services and programs
There will be opportunities for the academy members to provide feedback on the plan goals and for other areas to be considered for the strategic plan.
Old Business – David D. Allen
No old business presented.
National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements – Hershey Bell
Hersey Bell provided a detailed presentation to update the council on the topic of Statue Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (SARA). The take home message is that all schools must be aware of the regulations for sending pharmacy students out of their “home state” for experiential rotations or trainings. Detailed slides are posted on the AACP website under Governance/Council of Deans. Key highlights included:
• The state authorization/application process is complex. The applications vary in length and complexity and the fees vary widely from state to state.
• Schools (any degree-granting postsecondary institution from any sector that is accredited by an agency recognized by the United States Secretary of Education) and states can become members of SARA, however, a school of pharmacy cannot join unless the sate is a member.
• Schools that send their students out of state for training must check to determine if the state is a member of State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA). AN important note is that the penalties for noncompliance of the law are severe. Pleading ignorance of the law will not be accepted.
• More information can be found at the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements website – HTTP://NC-SARA.ORG
New Business – David D. Allen
No new business presented.
Open Forum – Open Microphone – David D. Allen
The following item was discussed in this portion of the meeting:
• The discussion began as a series of questions related to Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) in response to the presentation on EPAs given earlier in the day. How will the EPAs come into being? Is this a change that will happen to schools or will schools have a voice?
• The development of EPAs is a work in progress with no established timeline for completion. The goal of EPA document is to take competencies and translate them into tasks that can be measured. At this time the academy is not close to making any decisions to mandate any actions about EPAs.
Adjournment – David D. Allen
The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Sharon L. Youmans, University of California San Francisco, COD Secretary Designate
- © 2016 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy