Meeting & Agendas

Meeting called to order by the chair, Terry Guilbert.

The board members agree to meet in August of 2008 before Zach Corbell leaves. Meeting date will be emailed later to all members.

Terry Guilbert adjourns meeting.

Committee members reviewed last meeting minutes of August 6, 2007. The committee members accepted the minutes with no corrections.

Jason Sparks presented an update regarding the latest marketing materials used for program outreach. The program now has banners that will be used at outreach events to promote the program. The information session online is finished and students will be able to access it through the program’s website. Once students submit online information to the program, a postcard will be mailed to them as a follow up. All students, former or current, in the program, will be added to an email List Serve and will be receive notices of program changes and job postings. Zach Corbell, Department Chair for the Pharmacy Technician program indicated that the online session has received 60 students who have participated in the session. This amount is larger than those who attend live sessions. Kirk White, Continuing Education, suggests that the program may want to look into using the Yellow Pages to advertise. Eileen Klein, Executive Dean, requested that in the fall, the program administrators should ask the students where they got their information about ACC’s Pharmacy Technician program. This information could be helpful in identifying where students go to find their information.

Utilizing Blackboard- Jason Sparks announced that he has started using blackboard for the Pharmacy courses. Zach Corbell opened the discussion regarding what to do about students who do not know how to use a computer. Alicia Hynum stated that in job placing at retail pharmacies, she is finding that students do have problem with the computers. Development of an online practice exam- Zachary Corbell announced that students are now able to access online practice exams. In addition, with the Respondus software, this summer students will be able to test online in a secure browser. Eileen Klein suggested that the program may need to set aside a mandatory 2-3 hours block to teach computer training. This could be done in an orientation session.

Program enrollment and graduate update- Zachary Corbell reported that the program has 24 students who entered the program in the spring. There are ten students graduating in May 2008. QSI Software- Jason Sparks announced that the QS1 software is now being used in the program. It is well received by the students because it reflects the same software presently used in the pharmacy market. Jason Sparks has applied for some funds to purchase a dispensing cell for the computer system. Brackenridge has donated two hoods to the Austin Community College Pharmacy Technician program. Jason Sparks announced that he is looking for a newer automatic compounder. Jason Sparks will look into leasing cost to get a Pixus machine. Eileen Klein requested that the research be done as to how often the equipment will be used before deciding to lease or purchase. She suggested that in teaching the usage of this equipment, the program may look into training videos or field trips if cost is too high. Renee Acosta also recommended assimilating as an option.

Results of Curriculum Review Subcommittee- Zach Corbell provided updated results from the Curriculum Review Subcommittee. He stated that he found that there seemed to be lots of overlap of the materials being taught in the program. The final program changes starting in the Fall 2008 session are: Students will be taking a Medical Terminology, HPRS 1106. This class requirement is now 1 hour credit instead of two. The PHRA 1301, Introduction to Pharmacy, will be used as a recruiting class for the program. The program’s “prerequisites” are PHRA 1301, Introduction to Pharmacy and PHRA 1205, Drug Classification. PHRA 1309, Pharmaceutical Math, will replace PHRA 1209. Students will also see take PHRA 1313, Community Pharmacy Practice and PHRA 1349, Institutional Pharmacy Practice, instead of PHRA 1413 and PHRA 1449, which were 4 hours credit. Teri Guilbert, Chair, recommends that every year the program take course inventory. Attainment of education goals and objectives set forth in Part VII of standard- Renee Acosta motioned that changes be made to the student handbook. She noted that there are 35 objectives that need to be reviewed and changed in order to meet objectives and Part VII of accreditation standards. The committee voted unanimously to make the changes to the objectives in the student handbook.

Changes to completion criteria (semester two prerequisites, and reduction in allowed time to complete)- Jason Sparks stated that there are changes to the practicum class. He has cleaned up the language to help student develop pace and to get consistent with sites. The program changes of two semester prerequisite and reduction time to complete should help students finish the program. Eileen Klein suggested that evaluations of students could help students comply and finish the program. She suggested that the evaluations be reviewed with students and have the students sign off after the review. Renee Acosta motioned to accept the changes to the curriculum. The members voted unanimously to adapt the curriculum as presented in the meeting by Zach Corbell, Department Chair.

Department Chair postion- Eileen Klein announced that Zach Corbell had resigned as Department Chair at the end of the summer session. Eileen Klein announced that the department chair position has been posted and is asking the committee to recommend and spread the word regarding the vacancy.

Jason Sparks announced that St. David’s is taking students for their practicum and North Austin Hospital has stopped taking students. Jason Sparks has several new possibilities for new sites and will be contacting them.