UC-San Diego Directs Funding for New Faculty to Pharmacy School
UC-San Diego's Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences will receive emergency funding from the university to help reduce the faculty-to-student ratio in preparation for the school's application to renew its accreditation, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Currently, the ratio is about 19-to-one, significantly above the ratio at other state pharmacy schools.
Skaggs Dean Palmer Taylor said the program needs an annual funding increase of $3 million to reduce the faculty-to-student ratio to eight-to-one, the ratio included in the proposal for the school that UC regents approved in 2000.
UCSD spokesperson Leslie Franz said that UCSD leaders announced a proposal last week that will channel funds earmarked for other programs to the pharmacy school. Franz said the plan will lead to about 14 new permanent faculty positions at the pharmacy school.
The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education is making a special visit to UCSD next month to review the funding situation, according to Taylor. The school received a two-year accreditation in 2007 and is gearing up to seek a renewal (Saavedra, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9/15).