The presidents of the University of Michigan and Grand Valley State
University today signed an agreement establishing a program that
offers preferred admission into the U-M doctoral pharmacy program to a
small number of promising Grand Valley freshmen.
The U-M College of Pharmacy will reserve up to eight positions
annually in its four-year PharmD doctoral program for admittance of
Grand Valley freshmen who complete a rigorous undergraduate program of
pre-pharmacy coursework and other requirements. The initiative is
called the Pharmacy Preferred Admission Program.
“This is an exciting example of two Michigan institutions of
higher education working together to address mutual goals,” said Frank
Ascione, dean of the U-M College of Pharmacy.
“This program allows the U-M College of Pharmacy to tap into a
new pool of in-state talent,” Ascione said. “At the same time, it
creates opportunities for outstanding Grand Valley students who may
not have considered this to be a possible career path.”
The agreement was signed by U-M President Mary Sue Coleman and
Grand Valley President Thomas J. Haas at a meeting of the U-M Board of
Regents in Grand Rapids.
Grand Valley State University does not have a pharmacy school.
But it offers graduate-level programs in health-related fields that
include nursing, physical therapy, physician assistant, occupational
therapy, health science, and health administration.
“This partnership further expands the breadth of health
profession program offerings available to students by bringing
together two premier institutions,” said Jean Nagelkerk, Grand
Valley's vice provost for health.
“As Grand Valley contributes to the development of the future
pharmacy workforce, this agreement will enhance our presence as a
partner in Michigan's growing health care community,” Nagelkerk said.
“It also benefits Grand Valley's students, who will have access to one
of the top pharmacy educational programs in the nation.”
The U-M College of Pharmacy receives about 500 applications
annually for 80 openings in its highly regarded PharmD doctoral
program. Under the new agreement, up to eight of those positions will
be reserved for Grand Valley students who successfully complete the
Preferred Admission Program.
It is the first collaboration of its kind that the U-M College
of Pharmacy has formed with another university. The first group of
participating freshmen will be admitted to the program in the fall of 2011.
“We don't have an undergraduate program on the western side of
the state. But this initiative allows us to work with Grand Valley to
identify talented, motivated students from western Michigan who are
eager to pursue careers in pharmacy,” U-M's Ascione said. “Grand
Valley will identify those high-potential students, then we will work
together to make sure they meet our high standards.”
Grand Valley students will be accepted into the program as
freshmen. To remain eligible to enter PharmD, they must complete a
program of pre-pharmacy coursework, maintain an appropriate grade
point average, and achieve a score on the Pharmacy College Admission
Test that is consistent with the College of Pharmacy's admissions standards.
In addition, they must maintain regular contact with a
pre-professional adviser, complete one year of (paid or unpaid)
health-care work experience, volunteer for community service, and
“demonstrate the professional behavior expectations of competence,
honesty, compassion, respect for others, and responsibility.”
“This gives the students a program to follow, as well as the
support they need to successfully complete that program,” Grand
Valley's Nagelkerk said. “It offers our students a seamless
matriculation into U-M's PharmD program, so it's a tremendous opportunity.”
This is the second preferred-admission agreement between U-M and
Grand Valley. A 2009 agreement enables selected U-M kinesiology
students to enter Grand Valley's master's degree program in
occupational therapy.
More information about the Pharmacy Preferred Admission Program
is available at
http://www.gvsu.edu/UMPharmD.
