UCSF School of Pharmacy

Update from the Dean

February 2003

Dear UCSF School of Pharmacy Family and Friends:

This has been quite a calendar year for the School. It seems that, even more so than usual, we have been dealing with facts and figures of all types -- budget projections and realities, assignable square feet of space to meet our needs for the future, fundraising dollar goals, percent increases in student applications, survey data. The list goes on. It is an important list because, to a large extent and just like the business sector, we calculate the pace and success of our strategic plans on numbers. I share in this update a few of the most important numbers we are dealing with now.

State of California Budget

It is headline news. California's budget deficit could reach US$35 billion by next December.

For UC, this means a $378 million cut for the period January 2003 to June 2004. This puts the UC system's state-funded budget nearly $1 billion below the level the University had expected under its Partnership Agreement with the governor, an agreement that outlines the University's basic funding requirements.

Of the $378 million cut, the governor is recommending a $179.1 million reduction in instructional programs, which he anticipates will be offset by student fee increases.

In response to preliminary budget cut announcements, the UC Board of Regents approved on December 16 an across-the-board increase in student fees beginning with the spring 2003 term and an additional increase in select professional student fees:

• A $135 per quarter systemwide student increase. One-third of this will be sent directly to financial aid to mitigate the impact on lower-income students.
• Additional per quarter increases for professional school students. For professional students, they are $150 in nursing, $250 in pharmacy and optometry, $350 in veterinary medicine, and $400 in medicine. Currently, fees for these programs at UC are significantly lower than the average at comparable public universities.

These fee increases are not enough to cover the governor's final announcement regarding budget cut totals.

As a result, the governor proposes an additional mandatory systemwide student fee increase of another $265 per quarter in 2003-2004 for resident undergraduates, another $285 per quarter for resident graduate students, and more for some professional school students.

The Board of Regents will not set 2003-2004 student fee levels until later this spring.

The governor's budget proposal includes no funding for salary increases for faculty and staff in 2003-2004.

All in all, the situation is not good for us here at the pharmacy school. We already are strapped and stretched to find the money we need to excel -- to expand clinical and research programs and to come up with the faculty recruitment and retention packages essential for us to lead in so many fields -- clinical pharmacy, quantitative biology, pharmacogenomics, chemistry and chemical biology just to name a few.

Yet, our vision and drive remain explosive, regardless of the news from Sacramento. As a result, we are becoming innovative in all ways financial. Innovation is essential because as we now begin to fill long-vacant faculty positions with stellar new talent and as the cost of our new PharmD pathway curriculum becomes clear, money is at the top of my mind -- morning, noon, and night. For the first time since I assumed the deanship, we have had to dip into our reserves -- specifically the interest on our unrestricted endowment.

We welcome our new Associate Dean for Administration, Rob Duca, to help us manage our operations responsibly. Rob hits the ground running as the fiscal ground itself continues to shift.

Visit UC and the State Budget for the latest on the UC funding picture.

Funding our Needs

What are we doing in anticipation of continued budget quakes? We are exploring how to better capitalize on our expertise. It is clear we must be nimble and quick in the marketplace to succeed. Our graduates, friends, and contacts in business and industry are advising us. We are looking at entrepreneurial models that are compatible with our mission and have worked well at other universities, and we are raising funds as part of an important $25 million fundraising campaign for the School, which is an important part of the UCSF campuswide fundraising campaign.

Pharmacy Building at Mission Bay

In the midst of all this, we continue to look out and beyond the immediate and plan for the future. This is why I am committed to a prominent building at the UCSF Mission Bay campus. The building would be the flagship for pharmacy research, but true to the way we work at UCSF, the building would model interdisciplinary, interschool collaboration. At a cost of about $90 million, we need a farsighted partner for this idea to take physical form.

The Probability of Patient Care at Mission Bay

As discussions for a new UCSF hospital or hospitals move ahead, we see many possibilities for establishing new models for pharmaceutical care as well. As you will recall, hospital operations in Moffitt Hospital must stop in 2030 because the structure does not meet earthquake standards. Long Hospital is newer, but not ideally configured to meet the needs of tomorrow's clinical practice. Discussions about hospital needs are under way. Many sites are being considered, including Mission Bay. Chancellor J. Michael Bishop discusses hospital needs in his campus e-mail "Happy Holidays: UCSF at the Turn of the Year 2002."

Our Scientists at Mission Bay

In early January and February 2003, several of our scientists were the first to move in to the new Genentech Hall building at UCSF Mission Bay. Others follow on their heels. More than 1,000 scientists and staff will be working in Genentech Hall as it ramps up to full capacity within a few months. Take a moment and visit the Mission Bay Web site for an online tour of the campus and the latest information on building progress.

Applications and Admissions

The statistics for our PharmD program are bright. To begin, we had 644 applicants for 122 slots in the class that began their studies in fall 2002. This is up 35% over the year before. For the class of 2003, we have 847 applicants, a 32% increase over last year. Why? We are not sure, but it likely has to do with a fresh approach to our recruitment and perhaps the faltering economy. As you know, pharmacists are in demand. Starting salaries in California of $90,000 are not uncommon. Here are a few interesting statistics about our PharmD class just entering fall 2002.

PharmD Entering Class

New Faculty Positions

The statistics that I shared in the last update about our graduate programs all hold true. Applications there are up as well. It is because of the strength of our graduate programs that we received official word in mid-November of funds to support 3 new faculty positions within the School and one-time funds to help defer the spiraling costs of recruiting each position. These positions are among a number of new positions for the campus designated to support the growth of graduate enrollment.

Accreditation

When I wrote to you last we had not yet received official word on the reaccreditation of our Doctor of Pharmacy program. I now let you know that in fact, we have been reaccredited by the American Council on Pharmaceutical Education (ACPE) for another 6-year cycle. I am quite pleased with the accreditation report as it speaks highly of our curriculum, students, faculty, and administration. Of the 5 recommendations made by the ACPE evaluation team visiting our School, 3 dealt with the need for resources -- faculty positions, space, and administrative infrastructure. The team commented that we must now focus our energies on reviewing, refining, and maturing the PharmD curriculum and that diversity of the student body and the faculty should be our continuing priority. Be sure to contact me if you would like a copy of the full report.

Contact me as well for a copy of the Graduating Seniors' Exit Survey and the PharmD Postgraduate Survey conducted by Barbara Sauer, PharmD. This research is part of the continuous quality improvement process for the PharmD curriculum. Results each year are reported to the School's curriculum committee, which monitors the academic program and suggests adjustments based upon the data we collect. The senior survey is conducted the last quarter before graduation. The alumni survey is conducted in the fall and surveys classes 3, 6, 10, and 20 years post-graduation. The results below are general. The actual surveys are quite detailed.

Graduating Seniors' Exit Survey

92% of seniors graduating in June 2002 responded to this Web-based survey. They were the first to have completed our new pathway curriculum.

PharmD Postgraduate Survey

Classes surveyed were 1982, 1992, 1996, 1999. The overall response rate was 41%.

Honors and Awards

I end this letter by bragging just a bit.

When evaluated by perception, funding for science, and scientific publication rates, the UCSF School of Pharmacy ranked number 1 in all criteria according to a September 2002 survey reported in Ranking of US pharmacy schools based on perception, funding, and publications, The Annals of Pharmacotherapy, Volume 36, Number 9, pages 1477-1478, September 2002.

Irwin Kuntz, PhD, pharmaceutical chemistry, was honored by the Biophysical Society with the 2003 Founder's Award for his contributions to computational modeling in biology and chemistry. Search for more about Irwin Kuntz.

Andrew Pohorille, PhD, pharmaceutical chemistry, received the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal, NASA's highest scientific award, for his application of high-performance computing and computer science to studies of the origin and evolution of life. Search for more about Andrew Pohorille.

UCSF PharmD resident Nancy Nguyen, PharmD (Western University alumna) and University of Washington resident Kelly Whitely, PharmD (UCSF alumna), received California Society of Health System Pharmacists Student Leadership Awards for their respective alma maters.

Have a peaceful, healthy, and productive 2003. I will be in touch again soon.

Yours Sincerely,

Mary Anne Koda-Kimble, PharmD
Professor and Dean
Thomas J. Long Chair in Community Pharmacy Practice

Go To: Information for Current Students

Dean Mary Anne Koda-Kimble, PharmD
School of Pharmacy
University of California, San Francisco

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Archive

• Spring/Summer 2008
  PharmD Program reaccredited through 2014 and funding problems; Science Squad; Program for Investigation and Training for Careers in Health; Summer Science Camp; Huntington & Schweitzer Fellowship; #1 in NIH funding again; California Poison Control System at risk; tobacco ban legislation; Ambrose in Beijing; New faculty: Galonic Fujimori, Jorgenson, Ashton, Balano, Feigal, Hessol, Greenblatt; Wells succeeds James as chair, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry; Youmans: appointed Associate Dean of Diversity, Malawi; Dill: elected to National Academy of Sciences, The Chemistry of Life; APhA-ASP Chapter of the Year Award; 1st place in AMCP National Pharmacy and Therapeutics Competition; Bero appointed to Advisory Committee on Health Research; Retirements: Finley, Rice, Sauer, Shetlar, Weibert.
• Fall 2007/Winter 2008
  New Strategic Plan: Pressing Ahead in New Directions: Strategic Course 2007-2012, Advancing Health Worldwide, PharmD Student Fee Increase, Honors and Awards: Day, Yokoyama, Ortiz de Montellano, Stroud, Dill, Shane, Vogt, Soller, Chan, Wang, Voigt, Wells. Papers: Sali, Sarino, Dang, Dianat, Djihanian, Natanian, Ambrose, Hudmon, Youmans, Shoichet, Feng. New faculty: Ahituv, Ikediobi, Kreager, Robinson, Shin. New Director of Pharmaceutical Services: Paulsen. In memory: Mizuno.
• Spring/Summer 2007
  Fresno program to boost number of pharmacists. UCSF ranks 3rd in the United States in overall faculty productivity. California Poison Control System receives IN-AWE for "Don't guess. Be sure.". Preceptors survey and Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs). Drug Information Analysis Service closes. New Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience (IPPE) requirement. Articles of Interest. Tenure: Jacobson, England. Retirements: Hoener, Whitney, Winter. New Members of the Board of Advisors: Dow, Rodondi, Shane, Stalker. Honors and Awards: Wells, King, Brodsky, Szoka, Benet, Agard, Stroud, Tan. Campus Strategic Plan.
• Fall/Winter 2007
  In Memory: Dean Jere Goyan. Student and staff honors and awards: Chinn, Farm, Almas, Beverage. Clinical scientist news and awards: Lee, Giacomini. Partners in D Outreach: Stebbins, Levens Lipton, Amgen. Chemistry and Chemical Biology Chemistry-Biology Interface grant renewal: Craik. American Course on Drug Development and Regulatory Sciences. Lee is new director of Center for Drug Development Sciences. New faculty: Ferrone. Diversity report: student URM down, faculty URM higher than United States average, staff URM up but behind UCSF overall, mission statement revised to formalize commitment. Fresno Satellite Pharmacy Education Program 5-year anniversary. American Pharmacist Association-Academy of Student Pharmacists receives Outstanding Chapter Award for the AA Division.
• Spring/Summer 2006
  Seeking new funding sources for PhD programs. Thank you for alumni contributions. Meeting with PharmD alumni in industry. Faculty honors and awards: Ortiz de Montellano, Voigt, Wells, England, Hunt, Bero, Day. Global activity: McGee and Drysdale (Uganda), Nguyen (Ho Chi Minh City), Guglielmo, Gwaza, Monera, Benet, Wolfe, and UCSF ranked 9th among the top 100 global universities by Newsweek International. Li Foundation becomes partner in systems biology research (Peng, Tang). Helping seniors understand Medicare Part D (Stebbins, Cutler, Levens Lipton). Center for Consumer Self Care contributions: ClearRx Study, breast and prostate cancer screening, new residency program, telepharmacy service. Louie awarded Chancellor's Award for Public Service. Preparing for 2008 accreditation review. 40th Anniversary of clinical pharmacy.
• February 2006
  Guglielmo named new department of clinical pharmacy chair. New faculty members: Boyd, Burchard, Cutler, Lee, MacDougall, Nkansah, Orrico, Tang, and Wells. Parfitt Pattie now oversees alumni relations in addition to fundraising. Research highlights. Honors and awards: Langridge, Giacomini, Herfindal, Gibson, Day, Nguyen, Zlott, Drysdale, and Allday. New PhD training program in systems biology. Postgraduate education of PharmD students. Employment trends of PharmD graduates. Homecoming scheduled for November 4, 2006. School at work in China, Vietnam, Japan, Uganda, and Guatemala. Lipton finishes sabbatical at One World Health. Victoria Hale to deliver commencement address to 2006 PharmD graduates. Strategic planning delayed by multiple factors. For 25th consecutive year, School tops other pharmacy schools in research funding from the National Institutes of Health. For second consecutive year, UCSF receives more federal funding for chemical research and development than any US peer. School exceeds campaign fundraising goal by 18%.
• March 2005
  Special Report / Fall-Winter 2005: An overview of School accomplishments based upon a written report that Dean Mary Anne Koda-Kimble, PharmD submitted to a UCSF faculty committee as part of a review of her performance as dean from 1998 to 2003. Includes updates from 2003 through March 2005. "My first 5 years as dean...and since" and more.
• July 2004
  Bay Area Screening Center and Center for Chemical Diversity, Breathe Easy Education Program, Center for Computational Proteomics Research, AIDS epidemic in Viet Nam. New faculty members: Veenstra, Vogt, Yokoyama, Kortemme. PharmD professional fees double, governor's compact. First year using PharmCAS. Graduate program funding for international students in jeopardy. Honors, awards, standings: Giacomini, Voigt, Jacobsen, Rudd. We're #1 in NIH funding again. UCSF Medical Center is 6th with U.S. News & World Report. Lew Sheiner. Homecoming 2004. New strategic plan forthcoming.
• February 2004
  New faculty members (Sali, Voigt, Chen, Schwarz). Systems biology and complex systems. Results of the school retreat and strategic planning. Awards and appointments (Benet, Shoichet, Winter, Ignoffo, Louie, Soller). Reactions to Governor Schwarzenegger's state budget proposals. US$6 million gift from Carl Lovotti.
• July 2003
  Reactions to Mission Bay moves. Ideas for generating revenue to offset the California budget deficit. How we gather input and advice to shape our planning. Awards and retirements (Kuntz, McCart, Ruggiero, Sutherland). Relocation of the Office of Student & Curricular Affairs. New School of Medicine Dean David Kessler, MD. Harry W. and Diana V. Hind Distinguished Professorship in Pharmaceutical Sciences.
• July 2002
  ACPE accreditation preliminary feedback is encouraging. Governor Gray Davis calls for reductions in spending. 2002 PharmD applications up 40% over 2001.
• January 2002
  Reactions after September 11. The State of the School Address provides a concise summary of our recent history and our future plans. Nilofar Shah completes a relief project for Afghani refugees.