Accreditation News

In December, the College started a policy initiative to coordinate policy development and dissemination at the College. (See Dec 4, 2009 Blog Entry.) Using a Policy Brief developed by Dr. Erin Sperling (AHC Policy Analyst) a core group was convened to discuss goals. From that meeting, it was determined that:

1) There should be one central person to coordinate the various owners of policy within the college. This person would ensure policies were regularly reviewed, available to those that need them, etc.. In addition, this person should have a backup. 2) A liaison/"owner" should be named in each area for the coordinator to work with. 3) A policy on policy should be created to codify the procedures for proposing, reviewing, updating, revising and withdrawing policies 4) The University's Policy Format was feasible, particularly if movement to this format was completed as policies were up for review.

In completion of items #1 and #2, the College of Pharmacy policy point person and policy owners are:

Point person/coordinator: Fodness
HR: Owens/Cameron
Finance: Thomas
Students: Haeg
Prof Educ Program: Stouder
Communications: Leslie/Carrigan
PPPS: Fosnacht
PCHS: Cremin
ECP: Jenkins
Pceutics: McDermott
MedC: Knickerbocker
Outreach Education: Kast

All new policies are now being developed using the University's Policy Format. In addition, Central Council has reviewed a draft Policy on Policy, which will be completed this fall.

Thanks to all the owners, along with Amy Leslie and Danielle Carrigan for working to centralize our policies onto a policy website, which was officially launched at the June College Assembly Meeting. Suggestions for updates and changes are welcome!

http://www.pharmacy.umn.edu/faculty/policies/home.html

Posted by Kristin Janke PhD at 10:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Also at its July 18th meeting, the College Assembly approved the Student Performance Assessment Plan (SPAP). Based on the College's professional outcomes, the SPAP contains two primary sources of information. Curricular Level Assessments, such as an Objective Structure Clinical Exam (OSCE), are specifically conducted to assess the program's outcomes. Embedded Course Assessments (ECA) are select measures from courses that represent student performance that is isolated and tied to a particular standard (e.g. documenting), as well as directly observed and scored.

The 2008-2009 SPAP contains a variety of types of measures, including measures that have been routinely collected by faculty for years, but not summarized or reported centrally. It also contains new measures that were specifically designed for this plan and conducted for the first time this year (e.g. Public Health Self Assessment).

Each section of the SPAP (e.g. Pharmaceutical Care) represents the College's best evidence of student performance. When collected and triangulated, the measures provide an excellent evidence base for judgment of the learning effectiveness of the curriculum in producing our desire professional outcomes.

Posted by Kristin Janke PhD at 10:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

At the June 18th meeting, the College Assembly approved five mission-based evaluation plans, which had been developed under the leadership of the associate deans. The five plans cover:

• Professional Education
• Clinical Affairs
• Service and Engagement
• Research and Scholarship and
• Graduate Education

Each of the mission evaluation plans describes its major programmatic outcomes of eachmission. (For example, the Research Plan's programmatic outcome #2 is to "sustain and expand a financially viable and productive research enterprise.") Each outcome is followed by a series of carefully selected metrics (e.g. number of sponsored projects proposals submitted and awarded) designed to measure the achievement of that outcome. The plans also identify the individuals or groups responsible for collection of the outcome data. At the end of each fiscal year, the plans are updated with the year's data and, after consulting with Central Council, targets are set for the next year along with recommendations for action. This process will provide valuable input into annual compact planning.

Thanks to Drs. Taylor, Schroeder, Larson, Mann, Janke and Speedie for their work in shepherding these plans through many discussions and drafts. Thanks also to the departments for facilitating discussion and input on the plans.

Posted by Kristin Janke PhD at 10:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)