The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) Board of Directors reviewed the Doctor of Pharmacy program at the University of Louisiana at Monroe and granted the College of Pharmacy accreditation through 2008.

Since the last focused onsite evaluation in November 2003, ULM’s College of Pharmacy has “experienced a major transformation and the College enjoys a new vitality and sense of purpose,” according to an on-site evaluation conducted by the ACPE in November 2006. The ACPE Board of Directors further stated, “because the College has demonstrated substantial progress in addressing deficiencies identified during previous on-site evaluations, Cautionary Notice is removed.”

Also according to the report, the College of Pharmacy has met the growing needs of its faculty and students who now work and attend classes in the new 132,000-square-foot Bienville Building that ULM administration purchased from State Farm Insurance in 2005.

The recently-remodeled Bienville Building, which will undergo future renovations, is possible because the state of Louisiana and the local community recognizes the importance of Louisiana’s only state-supported pharmacy program, said Lamar Pritchard, College of Pharmacy dean.

“We are so grateful for the support of Gov. Blanco, the Northeast Louisiana Legislative Delegation, the Louisiana Legislature, the Board of Regents, the University of Louisiana System, and of course the teamwork of our faculty, staff and President Cofer and his administration.”

Louisiana’s state-supported pharmacy program has made “great strides” in the past few years, but much work remains to be done, Pritchard said.
“We’re on stable footing again. However we won’t be willed into complacency. We need to continue to obtain more funding, and we need to address the escalating pharmacist shortage in Louisiana.”