Published February 8, 2018
The Doctor of Pharmacy program at the University of Louisiana Monroe is accredited
through June 2022.
Accreditation is granted through an agency that develops evaluation criteria and conducts
evaluations to assess whether those criteria are met. Probation status is given when
the agency has concerns about compliance with its criteria.
At the June 2017 meeting of the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, the
ULM Doctor of Pharmacy program was reassigned from Accredited to Accredited with Probation.
The change in status is only to the Doctor of Pharmacy program. Pharmacy students
and faculty were provided this information by email in July 2017 and the requisite
notification was placed on the ULM web site.
The temporary reassignment is not regarding educational standards, but based on issues
largely related to budget constraints which began in 2008. In response to continued
budget cuts, ULM reduced its administrative costs by combining two colleges into one
with the ACPE’s full knowledge. This consolidation was one of the factors that led
to ULM’s rank as second in fiscal stability among all public institutions in the state
per the Louisiana Board of Regent’s evaluation process at that budget time. ULM is
now reallocating existing funds to address challenges.
President Nick J. Bruno commented on the decision by stating: “The School of Pharmacy
continues to produce the finest professionals in the field. The Pharm.D. accreditation
issues are based on administrative, budgetary and hiring challenges which are being
corrected. I am confident that the probation qualifier will be removed very soon.”
H. Glenn Anderson, Pharm.D., who began in August 2017 as Dean of the College of Health
& Pharmaceutical Sciences, initiated policies and methods to correct these issues
before he even arrived in Monroe.
Two out of 25 standards were cited for being non-compliant and two for being partially
compliant.
The probation is based on issues with standards related to: organization and governance,
financial resources, interprofessional education, and faculty and staff-quantitative
factors.
Since the ruling, the following steps have been taken to address the issues:
- A thorough assessment of the college and school’s organizational structure.
- A detailed description of the comprehensive interprofessional education plan.
- A pro forma budget covering the next five to seven years, which includes a plan to
address faculty and staff salary compression.
- A plan to strategically address open faculty positions.
Leaders from the School of Pharmacy appeared before the ACPE in January to present
all of the changes that have been implemented, the restructuring that is in place,
and a plan that will return the school to full compliance in the future. An on-campus
visit by ACPE staff and board members will occur in April.
The ULM School of Pharmacy continues to produce high-quality professional pharmacists
while conducting important research to benefit society.
