Article: Budgetary & ACPE problems at UL Monroe SOP?

[LVPharm]

An interesting article on troubles in the pharmacy program at University of Louisiana at Monroe. Seems as though their teency budget, old facilities, and their difficulty in attracting and retaining faculty has drawn the concern of the ACPE. Unless things change, they could face probation.

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/capital/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1117175358309850.xml

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[ButlerPharm.D.]

All I have to say is this could happen at SIUE, keep your eyes and ear open.

 

[Caverject]

It seems like they got good faculty on board at SIUE. I wish Dr Reaka was my teacher. She looks hot!

http://www.siue.edu/PHARMACY/RxFacultyStaff.html

 

[jmhousem]

I interviewed at SIUE. Going in, I had deep misgivings about the future of their program. Coming out, I felt like they really had their stuff together. I can't speak to their budget, but the staff are well-qualified and really passionate about starting a top-notch pharmacy school. I think they'll be just fine.

 

[Triple P]

An interesting article on troubles in the pharmacy program at University of Louisiana at Monroe. Seems as though their teency budget, old facilities, and their difficulty in attracting and retaining faculty has drawn the concern of the ACPE. Unless things change, they could face probation.

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/capital/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1117175358309850.xml

Hey I went to the site you posted and an article did not show up. Do you possibly have another link or did the article move? LA Monroe is not one of my top choices, but I've got an interview there in April for the College of Pharmacy...I hope to hear from my top school next wk. My dad is encouraging me to go interview at all of the schools I hear from. I'm in the process of researching more about the program at Monroe. Also, you said that the school is having difficulty in attracting faculty...are the current faculty members not as qualified?

 

[Caverject]

Things have significantly changed at LA Monroe. They have sinced moved into a new (well new to them) building that is pretty much state of the art. State Farm built the building but moved out after a few short years leading the way for the school to buy it. They restructured the faculty, got rid of the old leadership and hired new people. They raised teacher salary so they are now competitive with other schools. They are also now looking for more accomplished faculty members and they are getting them too

If you haven't been accepted anywhere else, it wouldn't be a wise decision to blow off this interview. It may not be your top choice, but it maybe your only option. It's quickly turning into a great school and you shouldn't have any problems making the decision to go to ULM.

 

[Caverject]

http://www.ulm.edu/universityrelations/news/june06/pharmacy.html

$1.3M set for ULM College of Pharmacy
By Greg Hilburn



The University of Louisiana at Monroe's College of Pharmacy would receive $1.3 million in federal funds through a budget earmark secured by 5th District U.S. Rep. Rodney Alexander on Tuesday.

"This will help take us to the next level in research and graduate level teaching," said ULM College of Pharmacy Dean Lamar Pritchard.

Alexander, R-Quitman, also secured earmarks for the following three other northeastern Louisiana projects: $130,000 for the Aviation Historical Museum of Louisiana in Monroe; $550,000 toward rebuilding the LaSalle High School, which a tornado damaged in 2004; and $350,000 for the Louisiana Regional Even Start, a comprehensive family literacy program. Alexander said $1 million will be used for renovations at the College of Pharmacy's new building on Bienville Drive in Monroe.

The state bought the 132,000-square-foot building from State Farm for $6 million last year, but $6.5 million more was needed to retrofit the building for ULM. The $1 million will complete funding for the renovations, Pritchard said.

"Our universities in north Louisiana faced tough times in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita," Alexander said. "Now our universities and students can get back on track and move forward."

The other $300,000 will be used to buy an electron microscope for the college.

"That piece of equipment allows us to move into areas we've not been able to work in before on a molecular level," Pritchard said.

Pritchard said he expects classrooms, offices and teaching labs to be ready in December, while he hopes construction of research labs within the building will be ready by late 2007.

 

[Caverject]

http://www.ulm.edu/universityrelations/news/jan07/accreditation.html

ULM's College of Pharmacy accredited through 2008

The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) Board of Directors reviewed the Doctor of Pharmacy program at the University of Louisiana at Monroe and granted the College of Pharmacy accreditation through 2008.

Since the last focused onsite evaluation in November 2003, ULM's College of Pharmacy has "experienced a major transformation and the College enjoys a new vitality and sense of purpose," according to an on-site evaluation conducted by the ACPE in November 2006. The ACPE Board of Directors further stated, "because the College has demonstrated substantial progress in addressing deficiencies identified during previous on-site evaluations, Cautionary Notice is removed."

Also according to the report, the College of Pharmacy has met the growing needs of its faculty and students who now work and attend classes in the new 132,000-square-foot Bienville Building that ULM administration purchased from State Farm Insurance in 2005.

The recently-remodeled Bienville Building, which will undergo future renovations, is possible because the state of Louisiana and the local community recognizes the importance of Louisiana's only state-supported pharmacy program, said Lamar Pritchard, College of Pharmacy dean.

"We are so grateful for the support of Gov. Blanco, the Northeast Louisiana Legislative Delegation, the Louisiana Legislature, the Board of Regents, the University of Louisiana System, and of course the teamwork of our faculty, staff and President Cofer and his administration."

Louisiana's state-supported pharmacy program has made "great strides" in the past few years, but much work remains to be done, Pritchard said.
"We're on stable footing again. However we won't be willed into complacency. We need to continue to obtain more funding, and we need to address the escalating pharmacist shortage in Louisiana."

 

[acetyl]

It seems like they got good faculty on board at SIUE. I wish Dr Reaka was my teacher. She looks hot!

http://www.siue.edu/PHARMACY/RxFacultyStaff.html

I wouldn't mind learning about geriatrics with Dr. Kerr.

 

[spacecowgirl]

I wouldn't mind learning about geriatrics with Dr. Kerr.

Damn SIUE stole her away from us She's great.

 

[Triple P]

http://www.ulm.edu/universityrelations/news/jan07/accreditation.html

ULM’s College of Pharmacy accredited through 2008

The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) Board of Directors reviewed the Doctor of Pharmacy program at the University of Louisiana at Monroe and granted the College of Pharmacy accreditation through 2008.

Since the last focused onsite evaluation in November 2003, ULM’s College of Pharmacy has “experienced a major transformation and the College enjoys a new vitality and sense of purpose,” according to an on-site evaluation conducted by the ACPE in November 2006. The ACPE Board of Directors further stated, “because the College has demonstrated substantial progress in addressing deficiencies identified during previous on-site evaluations, Cautionary Notice is removed.”

Also according to the report, the College of Pharmacy has met the growing needs of its faculty and students who now work and attend classes in the new 132,000-square-foot Bienville Building that ULM administration purchased from State Farm Insurance in 2005.

The recently-remodeled Bienville Building, which will undergo future renovations, is possible because the state of Louisiana and the local community recognizes the importance of Louisiana’s only state-supported pharmacy program, said Lamar Pritchard, College of Pharmacy dean.

“We are so grateful for the support of Gov. Blanco, the Northeast Louisiana Legislative Delegation, the Louisiana Legislature, the Board of Regents, the University of Louisiana System, and of course the teamwork of our faculty, staff and President Cofer and his administration.”

Louisiana’s state-supported pharmacy program has made “great strides” in the past few years, but much work remains to be done, Pritchard said.
“We’re on stable footing again. However we won’t be willed into complacency. We need to continue to obtain more funding, and we need to address the escalating pharmacist shortage in Louisiana.”

Thank u for the info! I've already gotten accepted into a pharmacy school in my home-state...I just wanted to keep my options open. I know this sounds lame, but I don't even know too much about LA Monroe...I only applied there b/c I thought I wouldn't hear from other places. In fact, I wasn't even sure I would hear from this school! I applied to a total of 7 pharmacy schools and I've heard positive from 4. I've decided to go ahead and go to the interview I have w/ Monroe next month so that I can see the school and meet some faculty! Again, thanks for the information!

 

[Caverject]

Thank u for the info! .... Again, thanks for the information!

Just wanted to quote that for the C-ject haters out there....

 

[pharmacology]

Between 1996 and 2005 ULM had 1 - 2+ faculty leave each and every year. There was tremendous turnover. In 2004 -2005 there were approximately 6 faculty who chose to leave the program.

This following comment that Carverjet made is unfounded , "They are also now looking for more accomplished faculty members instead of joe blow...."

The current Dean of Texas A&M-Kingsville was a former ULM faculty. The current Dean of SIUE was a former ULM faculty and Dean of Students. The current BPS dept head at SIUE was a dept head at ULM as well as some of the faculty at SIUE. Heck the Dean of the UC school of Pharmacy was a ULM graduate which says something of the faculty.

Even with all these faculty defections, the pass rate on the NAPLEX for their students was around 98-100%.

Looking at their faculty now I am not so sure those pass rates will remains as high, IMO.

 

[Caverject]

Between 1996 and 2005 ULM had 1 - 2+ faculty leave each and every year. There was tremendous turnover. In 2004 -2005 there were approximately 6 faculty who chose to leave the program.

This following comment that Carverjet made is unfounded , "They are also now looking for more accomplished faculty members instead of joe blow...."

The current Dean of Texas A&M-Kingsville was a former ULM faculty. The current Dean of SIUE was a former ULM faculty and Dean of Students. The current BPS dept head at SIUE was a dept head at ULM as well as some of the faculty at SIUE. Heck the Dean of the UC school of Pharmacy was a ULM graduate which says something of the faculty.

Even with all these faculty defections, the pass rate on the NAPLEX for their students was around 98-100%.

Looking at their faculty now I am not so sure those pass rates will remains as high, IMO.

Okay, so what was the point to your post? To call me out and raise doubt about the current status of the school? If you want to be skeptical about NAPLEX passing rates thats fine and you have a right to do so, but why not worry about your own institution first before you speculate on ULM? I hate it if you took my comment of "joe blow" personally. If the poster in question was in school or was an academic type, I would of further specified the situation. However, I'd be willing to bet any pre-pharm person has absolutely no idea what it means to work for an academic institution which is why I described the past employees "joe blow"

Fact is, yes they have had a huge turn over in the past few years. One reason why that is is because they have now gone to the publish or die format for faculty. (to those that dont know, that means in order to renew your contract to work at the school, you must publish something in a scholarly journal) This was new to ULM and many at the school were not willing to conform to the new standards, which were "highly" recommended by ACPE by the way. The school was or was about to go on academic probation from ACPE if they didn't raise standards. The way they were paying teachers back then didn't allow for the school the opportunity to raise the standards. (56-60K was their going rate in 2003) There were also a lot of other challenges ULM was facing outside the school of pharmacy and so ULM brought in a new dean. That dean then got a new dean for the college of pharmacy. The new dean came from the University of Georgia and set new standards and goals. As you may know, change can be hard especially if you are set in your ways, and many of the faculty there were set in their ways, thus the departure of many. I hope this clears up any confusion.

Okay, so Dr's. Reddy, Medon, Crider, and perhaps SDN poster pharmacology used to work at ULM. What's your point? That information doesn't mean a whole heck of a lot to me. Yeah, they all have accomplished careers and all have left ULM to go onto bigger and better things. Many faculty members do that to receive promotions and/or pay raises and research opportunites. If you think that "Joe Blow" meant every single person that ever worked at ULM, you misinterpreted me. Joe Blow is a generalization. Just like Republicans are Pro-Life and Democrats are Pro-Choice, they are generalizations as well. The label certainly doesn't apply to everybody that has worked at ULM, call themselves a Republican or call themselves a Democrat.

Oh and before I forget regarding your numbers, does that include any faculty members that left between 1996-2005 and have since come back to the school now that the problems of the school have been addressed? Just curious...

 

[sdn1977]

Between 1996 and 2005 ULM had 1 - 2+ faculty leave each and every year. There was tremendous turnover. In 2004 -2005 there were approximately 6 faculty who chose to leave the program.

This following comment that Carverjet made is unfounded , "They are also now looking for more accomplished faculty members instead of joe blow...."

The current Dean of Texas A&M-Kingsville was a former ULM faculty. The current Dean of SIUE was a former ULM faculty and Dean of Students. The current BPS dept head at SIUE was a dept head at ULM as well as some of the faculty at SIUE. Heck the Dean of the UC school of Pharmacy was a ULM graduate which says something of the faculty.

Even with all these faculty defections, the pass rate on the NAPLEX for their students was around 98-100%.

Looking at their faculty now I am not so sure those pass rates will remains as high, IMO.

I'm not quite sure what your point is? Caverject, I believe, was making the point, that the Dean also made & that is the school did indeed have trouble & was making significant attempts to turn their troubles around. The NAPLEX pass rate, IMO, is not a significant marker for this. However, faculty retention, why faculty leave, how much faculty is paid (which previously at this school was very, very low for a pharmacist in any setting) all affect the schools credibility. But, thats just me - I come from both sides - having been a student & instructor.

The fact is, this post is almost a year old, the school has more money & is accredited. Just because there were problems & they are working to correct them does not indicate a failing program and the ACPE indicated that. Caverject was pointing out the whys behind the previous years.

But...what UC school are you referring to? The dean of UCSF is Mary Ann Koda-Kimble - she graduated from UCSF in 1969. The dean of UCSD is Palmer Taylor, PhD who received his PhD at the University of Wisconsin. The associate deans at UCSD are David Adler (academics) who graduated from UCSF in 1970 & Charles Daniels (clinical) who graduated from Univ. of Arizona.

What other UC school of pharmacy is there with a dean who graduated from ULM????

 

[Caverject]

But...what UC school are you referring to? The dean of UCSF is Mary Ann Koda-Kimble - she graduated from UCSF in 1969. The dean of UCSD is Palmer Taylor, PhD who received his PhD at the University of Wisconsin. The associate deans at UCSD are David Adler (academics) who graduated from UCSF in 1970 & Charles Daniels (clinical) who graduated from Univ. of Arizona.

What other UC school of pharmacy is there with a dean who graduated from ULM????

He's talking about Dean Richard Stull at the University of Charleston...don't know much about him other than he goes to new(er?) schools and leaves to build up more new schools

 

[sdn1977]

He's talking about Dean Richard Stull at the University of Charleston...don't know much about him other than he goes to new(er?) schools and leaves to build up more new schools

oh - my bad!

I guess its a regional thing - me not knowing Univ of Charleston & being in CA & all......

 

[pharmacology]

Pritchard did not come from the Univ. of Georgia as Carver proclaims. He came direct from an industry position. He had previously held a clinical faculty position at UGA.

My comments were not directed at the article...which is an older article. My comments were based on something Carver posted on 3/31/07 regarding the abilities of previous ULM faculty.

Carver is correct in that the University is attempting to increase it's research productivity. However, it should also be noted that a number of prior faculty who left ULM had grant monies....from NSF and NIH and had multiple publications

I am not here to denigrate the school nor the program. I was simply commenting on something Carver said that I knew was incorrect.

Further the major situation with ACPE revolved around faculty retention, salaries, and programmatic budget rather than the concept of "publish or parish" as Carver indicated. If ULM has solved these problems then I applaud them as it will go a long way to stabilizing the program for the long haul.

From a cursory look at the faculty and admin, and my basic knowledge of the schools history, I don't see anyone who has returned to the program. This is not unusual as most people that leave a university (any university) for other positions usually don't return to a previous program.