The need for effective communication avenues within the School continues to grow due to the sheer volume of activity and the pace at which we all operate. With that in mind, I'm pleased to introduce a new monthly electronic newsletter... The First of the Month. I hope to use this vehicle to keep everyone up to speed on many activities and milestones during the prior month (including how I spend my time), as a way to make important announcements, and as a reminder about on-going and upcoming events. I hope you will find it useful.
Before I lose people due to the length of this first edition, a note to Executive Committee members... To establish a regular rhythm, Executive Committee meetings have been scheduled for the second Tuesday of each month from 12:00 to 1:30 throughout the 2006-07 academic year. Thanks very much to Dick Peterson, Chair of PharmSci, for his willingness to adjust Division meetings to accommodate this schedule. Please make the second Tuesday a habit.
Also, don't forget to save the date for our fall School-wide retreat: Monday, August 28.
We received the final determination of our accreditation status from ACPE in July. I'm pleased to tell you that the UW Pharm.D. program received the full 6-year reaccreditation, with an interim report due in November 2007 to address progress on specific items that need improvement. The ACPE document is attached for your information. It will also be posted on our web site with all the other self-study and accreditation documents at http://www.pharmacy.wisc.edu/ACPE_SelfStudy/index.cfm. Thanks again to all of you who participated in one way or another. Well done!
July marked the time for the annual meeting of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), this year in San Diego. The SOP was represented by Joe Bonnarens (SAS), Bob Breslow (PPD), Ruth Bruskewitz (ESP), Betty Chewning (SAS), Al Hanson (ESP), Anna Legreid Dopp (ESP), Marty Kieser (PPD), Karen Kopacek (next year's faculty representative, PPD), Beth Martin (PPD), Jeanine Mount (SAS), Denise Walbrandt Pigarelli (this year's faculty representative, PPD), Gerri Wanserski (Ebling Library), Henry Young (SAS), and me. (I hope I didn't miss anyone...) Several made presentations and otherwise participated in sessions, SIGs, workshops, round tables, seminars, etc. I also finished my year as dean facilitator for a group of six faculty from various institutions enrolled in the AACP's Academic Leadership Fellows Program who formally "graduated" at the meeting. I was even asked to run for chair of the Women Faculty SIG, which I am honored to do.
New leadership positions at the School officially began in July. Dave Kreling was elected chair of the SAS Division, and Beth Elliott was elected vice chair of PPD. Warren Heideman (PharmSci) shifted to the Associate Dean for Research, and Ron Burnette (PharmSci) stepped into the role of Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs. I'm also pleased to let you know that Chuck Lauhon (PharmSci) has recently accepted the position of Assistant Dean for Graduate Studies. Thanks very much to Jeanine Mount (prior chair of SAS), Dan Rich (prior Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies), and Warren Heideman (prior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs) for their excellent service to the School in these roles. The Dean's Advisory Council (division chairs and associate deans) held a half-day retreat at my home in July to look back on the past year and forward to the next.
For many of us, the journal, Science, represents one of the preeminent (and difficult) journals in which to publish our research. Please join me in congratulating Jon Thorson and coworkers (PharmSci) for the success and importance of their work, marked by the acceptance of a manuscript by Science in July.
Faculty promotions officially take effect in July. Congratulations to Maureen Barr (PharmSci), promoted to Associate Professor with the award of tenure; Mel de Villiers (PharmSci), granted indefinite appointment status; Marty Kieser (PPD), promoted to Clinical Associate Professor with indefinite appointment; and Connie Kraus (PPD), promoted to Clinical Professor.
July marked the official retirement of two members of our PharmSci Division, Dan Rich and Dexter Northrop. On the other end of the continuum, I'm pleased to note the July start dates of Eva Vivian, Clinical Associate Professor in the Pharmacy Practice Division, and Beth Rosen, Assistant Faculty Associate with the PharmSci laboratory courses. Welcome to the SOP family!
Orly Vardeny (PPD) was selected to join the second cohort of scholars in the multidisciplinary TEAM (Training and Education to Advance Multidisciplinary Clinical Research) Program, which started in July. TEAM is an NIH-funded interdisciplinary program dedicated to training more and better clinical researchers to lead translational science in a powerful new way. John Dopp (PPD) started his second year as a TEAM scholar.
I'm pleased to report the results of the July e-ballots by the faculty for various elected positions and annual appointments. Anna Legreid Dopp (ESP) was elected next year's alternate faculty representative to AACP, meaning she will serve in a "back-up" role to Karen Kopacek (PPD) next year, and then become the faculty rep in 2008. Gordon Sacks (PPD) was selected to be the faculty liaison to the School's Board of Visitors. Paul Hutson was elected to represent PPD on the Academic Planning Council for a 3-year term; Dave Kreling was re-elected to represent SAS. Glen Kwon (PharmSci), Barry Gidal (PPD), and Betty Chewning (SAS) will represent their respective divisions on the Faculty Activities Review Committee. All Clinical Instructors, Affiliate, and Adjunct appointments were renewed. The academic staff elected Bob Moore, Chris Spencer, Tom Stringfellow, and Amy Zwaska to the Committee on Academic Staff Issues (CASI).
Many of you know that my research interests focus on selenium and cancer chemoprevention. In July, UW-Madison hosted Selenium 2006, an international conference on all aspects of selenium in human health. It was quite wonderful to reconnect with collaborators in the area and think about research for awhile. I also had the opportunity in July to provide a couple of lectures in the herbal medicine area to the DPH-4 students as part of their clerkship seminar series. I do miss the classroom as well as the lab.
In the development and alumni relations arena, I conducted a series of "visits around the state" throughout spring semester, gathering together alumni, practitioners, technicians, students, and prospective students for an update about the School, some time for connecting with each other and the School, and 1 hour of complimentary CE credit, thanks to Al Hanson and ESP. Thanks also to Skibby, Pam French, Madelyn, Katie, and Olivia for orchestrating all the details of the visits with local "point people" and for Linda Halsey for her excellent service as chauffeur. (I need additional training as navigator.) In July, I held one of these visits in the Bayfield area at the Red Cliff Community Health Center while on vacation in this beautiful part of Wisconsin with my husband, Dave Francetic. One main point of these visits was raising awareness about the Pharmacy Alumni Association Scholarship Fund and the growing importance of scholarship support for our excellent students. On the way back to Madison, we stopped by several pharmacies and met a number of SOP alumni, including Gerry Huhn at Huhn's Pharmacy in Ashland, Donn Rowe at Rowe's White Cross Pharmacy in Hurley, Michelle Langheim at Walgreen's in Minocqua (Joe Mastalski was on vacation), and Blain Nyberg, Scott Joswiak, Lloyd Glenn, Larry Caldwell, and Cheryl Burley (not all Badgers) at the Marshfield Lakeland Clinic in Minocqua. Dave and I had the wonderful opportunity to stay at the "cottage" of Steve Skolaski, President of the Oscar Rennebohm Foundation, on Papoose Lake, north of Minocqua. It was my first experience with kayaking...I'm now hooked. Lenor Zeeh was visiting the Skolaski's too, but I couldn't connect with alumni Milt Henrichs who also has a summer residence in the area. On the way to San Diego for the AACP meeting, I made a detour to Tucson to visit Leona Sonderegger. While in San Diego, I contacted two alumni there, Roger Tung and Pauline Chan. Mike Anderson and his family from Wisconsin Rapids (an alumni and practitioner I met on an earlier "visit") recently stopped by the School while in town for a Brewer's game, and Linda and I gave them a tour of Rennebohm Hall. We also visited Dave Sanders in northern Illinois to welcome him into the Van Hise Circle of UW benefactors.
There are many, many other things in progress, but I think that's enough for the first "issue"! I welcome your comments about the value of this communication and suggestions about the quality and quantity of information you receive from the Dean's Office. And remember...I don't know about things unless you tell me about them.
Thanks...Jeanette