UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND
Kingston, Rhode Island
Faculty Senate
January 30, 2004
Faculty Senate Curricular Affairs
Committee
Four Hundred and Twentieth Report
Proposal to Reorganize the
Department Structure of the College of Pharmacy
At its meeting of January 26, 2004, The Curricular Affairs
Committee approved the following proposal for the reorganization of
the department structure of the College of Pharmacy and recommends
confirmation by the Faculty Senate. The proposal is in the format
required by the Board of Governors for Higher Education.
Proposal to Reorganize the Department Structure of the
College of Pharmacy
A. Program Information
1. Name of Institution
University of Rhode Island
2. Name of Administrative Units
College of Pharmacy
Department of Applied Pharmaceutical Science
Department of Biomedical Science
Department of Pharmacy Practice
3. Proposed Name of Administrative Units
College of Pharmacy
Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Department of Pharmacy Practice
4. Intended Date of Implementation
July 2004
5. Anticipated Date for Granting First Degree
N.A.
6. Intended Location of Administrative Units
University of Rhode Island, Kingston Campus
7. Institutional Review and Approval Process
Date Approved
College of Pharmacy October 2003
Curricular Affairs Committee, Faculty Senate January 2004
Faculty Senate
President of the University
8. Summary of Proposed Organizational Change
The College of Pharmacy presently consists of three Departments:
The Department of Applied Pharmaceutical Science (APS); The
Department of Biomedical Science (BMS) and the Department of Pharmacy
Practice (PHP). The Department of APS consists of two sections, a
Pharmaceutics Section and a Pharmacoepidemiology / Pharmaceconomics
Section. During the 2002-2003 academic year the Dean of the College
established a committee with representation from all three
departments. The committee was charged to consider ways of optimizing
the administration, research program and teaching activities of the
College. After discussions with the Dean of the College, it was
recommended that the College be reorganized into two departments. It
was proposed that the Pharmaceutics Section of APS and the whole of
BMS should be merged to form a new Department of Biomedical and
Pharmaceutical Sciences (BPS). It was further proposed that the
Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics section of APS become part
of the Department of PHP.
9. Resources
No additional resources will be needed to effect the
proposed change.
10. Signature of the President
_________________________________
Robert L. Carothers
11. Person to Contact During the Review
Judith Swift
Interim Vice Provost for Academic Programs and Services
874-4408
B. RATIONALE
The College of Pharmacy presently consists of three Departments:
The Department of Applied Pharmaceutical Science (APS); The
Department of Biomedical Science (BMS) and the Department of Pharmacy
Practice (PHP). Faculty in PHP are primarily clinicians, who are
directly involved in patient care and as a result are primarily based
at clinical sites throughout the state. In contrast, faculty in APS
and BMS are based at the Kingston campus. Furthermore, with the
exception of the Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics (PE/PE)
Section of APS, the research activities of APS and BMS are primarily
laboratory based. As pharmaceutical science and biomedical science
has evolved in the last decade there has been an increasing overlap
in the research activities of the two departments. However, the
present departmental structure discourages collaboration and hinders
interaction between and among faculty. The proposed departmental
structure would address this problem and hopefully lead to
cross-fertilization of research efforts between the two existing
departments. Owing to the more practice oriented research activities
of the PE/PE section of APS, a more logical placement for this
section would be within the department of PHP.
These organizational changes will also enable the College to
address its graduate program and consider ways to make the program
more cost-effective and to better prepare the graduates for careers
in pharmaceutical and biological science.
The new structure would have minimal effect on the courses
offered in College of Pharmacy. The College of Pharmacy's main
teaching responsibility is delivery of the Doctor of Pharmacy
curriculum. Since this is a College-wide integrated curriculum, the
proposed restructuring would only lead to some recoding and
renumbering of courses. It is anticipated that the improved
communication associated with the proposed changes will enhance the
coordination of course content and reduce overlap between courses.
Overall it is anticipated that the proposed re-structuring would:
increase collaboration between and among faculty in the College of
Pharmacy; promote cross-disciplinary research projects; improve the
quality and cost-effectiveness of the graduate program and improve
the delivery of the Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum. Finally, given the
size of the College of Pharmacy, which has about 35 full-time
faculty, a two department system would be more in-keeping with other
College structures on campus. The net loss of one chair in the
College will result in the following annual savings:
$3,000.00 chair supplement
1/9 to 3/9 of the contract salary for a summer salary.
C. INSTITUTIONAL ROLE
The merger is consistent with the University's efforts to promote
efficiencies and increase productivity through restructuring.
D. INTERINSTITUTIONAL CONSIDERATIONS
None
E. CONTENT
No change in content
F. EVALUATION
The functioning of the Departments of BPS and PHP will be
monitored by the Chairperson of each department, the Associate Dean
for Research, the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs in the College
of Pharmacy, the Dean of the College of Pharmacy and the Provost of
the University in accordance with the standard management practices
of the institution.