OAKWOOD, VA (September 2, 2022) – A strategic plan, setting goals and projected outcomes for the Appalachian College of Pharmacy was recently approved by the college board of trustees. The plan was shared with existing and incoming students earlier this month and focuses on four core goals: education; service and outreach; scholarship; and development and sustainability.
“The strategic plan is designed to map out a plan for our future here at ACP while holding true to our mission as a college,” said ACP Dean Susan Mayhew. “Specifically, the mission of the Appalachian College of Pharmacy is to provide academic, scientific and professional education to address the health-related needs of rural and underserved communities, particularly those in Appalachia, through education, service and scholarship. The philosophy of the college is to cultivate a learning community committed to education, community outreach and professional development.”
The college’s core goal in education includes the creation of a learning community that provides educational programs producing graduates capable of addressing the health-related needs of rural and underserved communities.
Additional goals include to provide curriculum with excellence in didactic, experiential and inter-professional education; to graduate students competent to deliver quality health care and who contribute to the advancement of the profession; and to promote ACP as an expanding platform for professional development and pursuit of higher education.
Service and outreach goals are also defined in the strategic plan and include to create a mission-focused college community committed to providing service and outreach to rural and underserved communities; to promote faculty and student involvement in community service and international outreach programs; to expand and strengthen partnerships, collaborations and strategic alliances that further the service and outreach mission; to promote faculty and student involvement in professional organizations and healthcare advocacy; and to promote faculty involvement in service to the college and pharmacy practice.
In the area of scholarship, goals include to expand and support mission-focused research, scholarly activities and publications in the area of biomedical sciences, pharmaceutical sciences and clinical pharmacy, individual and population health and the scholarships of teaching and learning; to expand laboratory and research infrastructure and facilities; and to increase research productivity, publications and funding.
The final core goal area is in development and sustainability. Specifically, the ACP plan notes the college will develop and sustain resources to support mission-focused operations and expansion of infrastructure, programs, facilities and grounds; to recruit and retain qualified and diverse personnel sufficient to support the institutional mission; to provide resources and infrastructure to enable mission-focused operation and expansion of the institution; and to expand diversity of revenue sources.
“Development of the strategic plan involved input from our faculty, staff and students,” Mayhew said. “We held a number of meetings to discuss where we are now as an institution and where we would like to grow in the future and then put it all down in a guiding document to define our goals. An exercise like this helps to keep us on track as we continue to guide the development of the Appalachian College of Pharmacy.”
The Appalachian College of Pharmacy is the only three-year Doctor of Pharmacy program in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Founded in 2003, the college accepted its first students in 2005. It is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). Its mission is to cultivate a learning community committed to education, community outreach and the professional development of pharmacists. Its graduate pharmacists are now practicing throughout the United States.
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