Lipscomb College of Pharmacy approved for accreditation site visit in late spring
Janel Shoun |
Davis, Associate Dean Tom Campbell, Provost Craig Bledsoe and President L. Randolph Lowry appeared before the ACPE board last week in Tampa, Fla., to present the application for the visit. A team of ACPE staff and academic peers will come to the Lipscomb campus to review the totality of the pharmacy program, including facilities, financing and curriculum, Davis said. A date for the visit has not yet been finalized.
“During the site visit, we’ll have to demonstrate the ability to carry out our curriculum and the program we have designed, along with the necessary resources to support it,” Davis said.
After the site visit, Lipscomb officials will go before ACPE board again in June to request pre-candidate status, which is necessary to enroll the first class in the fall.
Student interviews are ongoing and continue through March, said Paige Akers, associate dean of student affairs for the College of Pharmacy. College officials expect to have most, if not all, of the 75-person inaugural class admitted by mid-March, she said.
“We’ve been very pleased with the response from the community, having received a significant number of applications so far. Our applicant pool is of an extremely high quality. We’ve been pleased with the preparedness and credentials of the applicants,” said Davis. “Based on the quality of applicants who have come to our two interview days so far, we expect to enroll a very well-prepared inaugural class.”
In fact, around 45 percent of the applicants so far already have one degree, Davis said. Not only does that indicate the applicants are of high-quality, but it shows the pent-up demand in the local area for more programs in pharmacy, a field that will experience a major shortage in the next decade, he said.
Students accepted so far are hailing from Tennessee, North Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, Iowa and other locales, with the majority coming from Middle Tennessee. Students accepted to the pharmacy program must have at least 66 hours of college credit and prerequisites in order to be admitted to the doctoral program. The application deadline continues through Feb. 4.
In response to the growing need for highly qualified pharmacists throughout the nation, Lipscomb University announced in November that it would create the third pharmacy college in the state, the first in Middle Tennessee.
By the time of the site visit in late spring, Lipscomb expects to have admitted its first class and to be near occupancy in its new facilities – the A.M. Burton Building, one of the oldest buildings on campus that is currently being renovated specifically to house the pharmacy colleges’ numerous labs and classrooms. The Burton building is also expected to be a “green” building, certified by the U.S. Green Building Council.