How does AACP assist members in attracting, motivating, developing and retaining the highest quality and most diverse faculty, students, administrators and professional staff?
To help schools promote American Pharmacy Educator Week, AACP distributed toolkits that included booklets featuring exemplary Academy members and a large banner for display. A CD with downloadable Web site materials, stickers and table signs were also sent to schools. Stories publicizing faculty appreciation programs during American Pharmacy Educator Week were featured in AACP’s Academic Pharmacy Now magazine.
AACP exhibit booth. During the past year, AACP used its exhibit booth multiple times to promote not only the Association’s programs and services but also careers in academic pharmacy. AACP staff and volunteers were on hand to talk with attendees at five national meetings, including events hosted by the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, in Pittsburgh, and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists and the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), which were both held in New Orleans. Two new national meetings were added to AACP’s booth initiative: Collaborating Across Boarders, in Phoenix, and the American Public Health Association in Washington, D.C. AACP also set up table-top displays at four regional APhA-Academy of Student Pharmacists meetings in fall 2011.
The AACP Walmart Scholars Program continues to focus on developing future faculty. The program brings students to the AACP Annual Meeting to strengthen their commitment to an academic pharmacy career.
The number of scholarships increased from 65 in 2010 to 75 in 2011—the number of scholarships in 2012 was also 75. (Walmart supports 67 of these scholarships, and AACP supports the other 8.) This brings the total number of recipients during the program’s eight-year history to nearly 400.
Team spirit spreads through many AACP activities, and this year’s Interim Meeting was a prime example. An outstanding development program mid-February in San Diego attracted 281 deans, department chairs, project managers and aspiring leaders to learn techniques for working together. Teams That Work: Effective Group Leadership in Pharmacy Education underscored the fact that, no matter your position at a pharmacy school, mastering interpersonal and management skills for teamwork is essential to your institution’s success.
Academy for Academic Leadership Founder and President Dr. N. Karl Haden—and members of his team—led Interim Meeting attendees through multiple interactive sessions. Participants explored key team principles, debated concepts and collaborated on case studies.
A CEO Deans pre-session focused on creating value in healthcare. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg, president of the Institute of Medicine, and Dr. Denis A. Cortese, president of the Healthcare Transformation Institute, led a robust discussion of where pharmacy education, practice and research align with emerging health delivery system and policy changes. Acknowledging the strengths of team-based care, Fineberg urged the deans to address challenges to interprofessional education and practice.
A major AACP faculty development program set records this year. The Academic Leadership Fellows Program (ALFP), which prepares the most promising pharmacy faculty for roles as future academic leaders, received a record 61 applications for the 2012-13 academic year.
Deans play invaluable roles in this premiere program. They nominate faculty, mentor fellows during their ALFP year and facilitate development sessions.
The ninth ALFP cohort begins in August, bringing the total number of participants to more than 260 since the program began.
PharmCAS applicants and applications. The Pharmacy College Application Service (PharmCAS) completed its ninth cycle this year with 103 participating institutions, up from 96 last year. In the 2011–12 admissions cycle, PharmCAS experienced a 0.3 percent decrease in the number of applicants and a 5.0 percent decrease in the number of applications submitted, with an average of 4.65 applications per applicant. That decrease was mainly due to applicants applying to fewer schools. The accompanying tables display additional data.
Promoting student diversity and access to pharmacy education, AACP continued the PharmCAS fee waiver program for financially disadvantaged applicants.
Applicants (Number of Schools)
2009–10
2010-11
2011-12
17,730
17,451
17,406
(86)
(96)
(103)
Applications (Number of Schools)
86,350
85,253
80,977
Centralized Drug Screening Program. During the PharmCAS 2012 application year, AACP initiated a Centralized Drug Screening Program, which is performed on a random basis at the point of acceptance. This augments the Centralized Criminal Background Check Program. All pharmacy schools that participate in PharmCAS were offered this valuable service.
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