Presbyterian College School of Pharmacy Reaches First Accreditation Milestone

CLINTON, S.C., Feb. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) has granted the Presbyterian College School of Pharmacy in South Carolina pre-candidate accreditation status, which will allow the school to admit its first class for the fall of 2010.

"I am very happy to announce that we have reached this significant benchmark," said PC president Dr. John Griffith. "I am proud of the leadership team and every member of our faculty and staff whose commitment to excellence helped us achieve this remarkable moment in PC's history."  

Dr. Richard Stull, dean of the School of Pharmacy, said the first students are likely to be admitted as early as the first week of February as interviews get underway almost immediately upon hearing the good news. Approximately 600 prospective pharmacy students have applied to the PC School of Pharmacy. Stull said he expects the pharmacy school's admissions team will interview approximately 250 of those applicants -- 80 of whom are expected to enroll and begin taking classes this fall. The program will be housed in a 55,000 square-foot facility in downtown Clinton which is currently on track for complete renovation in May.

The ACPE's decision to grant the School of Pharmacy pre-candidate status was based largely on the findings of a five-person evaluation team that visited PC's campus last October. Stull said the group measured the pharmacy school's processes for planning, recruiting and developing faculty, developing a well-defined curriculum, facilities, financial resources, and plans for students, including policies and experiential and practice opportunities.

Following a report from the evaluation team, Stull and Griffith were invited to meet with the ACPE in Phoenix, Ariz., this month to answer questions and clarify plans.  The resulting decision based on the evaluation and this month's meeting yielded a decision on Jan. 25 to grant pre-candidate status.

"The council's decision not only validates all our hard work and success in attracting quality leadership and a quality faculty to develop our curriculum but also the support on campus and in the community," Stull said. "It means they've deemed us successful in meeting standards that, over the years, have changed and improved."

A veteran of four preceding pharmacy school start-ups, Stull declared, "the institutional commitment that we have enjoyed from Presbyterian College and the community has made this the perfect start-up."

SOURCE Presbyterian College

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