February 22, 2006
North Carolina Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight (District 1) and Representative Bill Owens (District 1) visited Elizabeth City State University on Friday, February 24, to see the UNC/ECSU Doctor of Pharmacy Program in action.
The legislators, along with UNC chancellor James Moeser and ECSU chancellor Mickey Burnim, were given a tour of the innovative video-conferencing technology that links the classrooms of the two campuses. UNC School of Pharmacy dean Bob Blouin explained how everything worked as the group watch both UNC and ECSU students being taught by Ken Bastow, associate professor of medicinal chemistry and natural products, in Chapel Hill.
Launched in fall 2005, the UNC-Chapel Hill and Elizabeth City State University Doctor of Pharmacy Partnership Program enrolls between ten and fifteen students per year at ECSU. This partnership enables the PharmD program to graduate more pharmacists each year with the specific goal of increasing the number of pharmacists working in the underserved area of northeastern North Carolina.
Admission and curriculum requirements are the same for students on both campuses. Pioneering students in the ECSU-based program are co-enrolled in a bachelor of science in pharmaceutical sciences program at ECSU and the doctor of pharmacy program at UNC-Chapel Hill and remain on the ECSU campus for the first three years of instruction in the PharmD program, with the exception of orientation and special events held in Chapel Hill. Students complete the experiential component of the program through a network of nine Area Health Education Centers, as do students based in Chapel Hill. Students will have a variety of opportunities to interact with faculty and advisers on both campuses.
Upon completion of degree requirements, graduates of the program receive a bachelor of science in pharmaceutical sciences with acknowledgement of the partnership with UNC-Chapel Hill and a doctor of pharmacy degree from UNC-Chapel Hill with acknowledgement of the ECSU partnership.
The trip to Elizabeth City was part of Moeser’s “Carolina Connects” initiative, launched in the spring of 2004. Since that time, the chancellor has visited each region of the state to highlight the many ways in which UNC-Chapel Hill serves North Carolina’s people and its communities.
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