THE PURDUE
PHARMACIST
a
PURDUE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PHARMACY AND PHARMACAL SCIENCES
Vol. 65
Fall 1987
No. 1
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I welcome this first opportunity to communicate with graduates and supporters of
the School of Pharmacy and Pharmacal
Sciences. I take pride in being chosen to
continue the tradition of excellence established in this century by Deans Jordan,
Jenkins and Tyler. The first three months
have gone extremely smoothly largely due
to the efforts of the Associate Deans,
Department Heads and my new Administrative Assistant. I have been very impressed with the "State-of-the-School"
which is a legacy left by Varro Tyler. The
faculty take their teaching responsibilities
very seriously and continue to make substantive gains in the various fields of research related to pharmacy. They are assisted by an able secretarial and administrative staff in the various department
offices. The professional staff in the Office of Student Services provide excellent
advice and counsel to prepharmacy and
pharmacy students. The students here
mtfkit a pleasure to come to work. Not
o JHfre they dedicated to their courses but
they also find time to participate actively
in the many student organizations. The increased efforts toward student recruiting
are now paying off with a markedly increased number of students in the prephar-
creased efforts toward student recruiting
are now playing off with a markedly increased number of students in the prepharmacy program and a higher GPA of students admitted to our professional pharmacy programs. Our graduate programs
are also filled to capacity with a total of
132 graduate students presently enrolled.
With the current programs progressing so
well, it is now time to look to the future.
During the month of July, the Associate
Deans, Department Heads and I participated in a number of planning sessions as a
starting point for developing a strategic
plan for the school. After considerable discussion it was clear that a number of
changes were occurring in the profession
of pharmacy and its subdisciplines that will
lead to a markedly altered practice and research environment by the 21st century.
We decided to use the faculty to examine
four "Forces of Change" and to evaluate
their impact upon our professional programs. The entire faculty and professional staff were assigned to one of four task
forces each to examine one of the Forces
of Change. The Biotechnology Task Force
is studying the impact of the increasing
number of drugs which are the result of
recombinant DNA technology upon research and delivery of pharmaceutical
products. The High Technology Task
Force is studying computers, robotics and
other technological advances. Cost containment which has markedly altered the
work environment of our graduates is being examined for its influence on the skills
and services necessary for practice. The
fourth task force is involved with several
societal changes affecting pharmacy. The
societal changes being studied include: (1)
aging, (2) lifestyle diseases such as AIDS,
alcoholism and hypertension, and (3) consumerism. Each task force is led by one
of the four department heads and each has
met several times using key references as
starting points. The findings of the task
forces will be presented to the entire
faculty at a retreat to be held on October
15. The outcome of the retreat will be the
development of specific goals for the strategic plan. We will then examine our current programs and develop new programs
as vehicles for implementing these goals.
There is an overall excitement about our
planning activities. We will keep you informed as we progress. If you have ideas
which you would like to share with us,
please contact me directly. I hope to get
to know each of you.
WORKING WITH INDUSTRY
Recently Dr. Garnet E. Peck of the School
of Pharmacy and Pharmacal Sciences was
appointed to serve with the Technical Assistance Program (TAP) which was created 14 months ago to facilitate the transfer
of Purdue's technical resources to the service of Indiana businesses, industries, and
governmental institutions. Prior to Dr.
Peck's joining the program, the activity of
TAP was primarily in the areas involving
engineering and management. When he
joined the group, the contact with the
Schools of Pharmacy and Pharmacal
Sciences and Health Sciences were brought
into the group, as well as Food Sciences.
TAP's analyses and recommendations
have led to new or improved methodologies, projected increase in profits, and saving of jobs as well as the opening of new
jobs within the State of Indiana. It is hoped
that contacts could be made with Dr. Peck,
especially in those areas involving pharmaceutical processing. However, other
projects may come under the activities of
this program. Please feel free to contact
him here at the School of Pharmacy and
Pharmacal Sciences if you have any questions regarding the work of the assistance
program.