Meeting & Agendas

Meeting called to order by Joe Rascati. Philip Johnston, Advisory Board Chair, welcomed the board members and asked them to introduce themselves. Members and guests introduced themselves.

Lisa McCartney announced that students are having problem getting financial money for the certificate program. Lisa asked community representatives to see if they could find contacts for scholarships for students.

Lisa McCartney announced that the next meeting scheduled for Friday, March 30, 2012. Tentative time noon – 2 p.m. She invited everyone to please attend.

Renee Acosta motioned the meeting to adjourn and Richard Espinosa seconds the motion. The committee members voted to adjourn the meeting.

Committee members reviewed last meeting minutes from March 25, 2011. Joe Rascati motioned to accept minutes as written. Veronica Velasquez seconds the motion. The committee members voted to accept the minutes as written.

Lisa McCartney, Department Chair for the Pharmacy Technician program stated that that it is becoming more and more challenging to find sites for students because of U. T. student’s rotation. She stated that sites are drying up. Philip Johnston said that there does appear to be a problem at his site. It is getting crowded. Lisa McCartney stated that Brackenridge will be coming back soon. Renee Acosta gave Lisa her U. T. rotation schedule and hopefully by knowing U. T.’s schedule it will help Lisa with her scheduling.

Lisa McCartney stated that ACC Pharmacy Technician program is accredited for another 6 years. Richard Espinosa noted that he had already made changes to his course teaching by adding lessons about immunizations and investigations. Marcy May said that she too has made changes and is now using the cash register to help students get the feel of working with customers and working with money.

Lisa McCartney announced that she had mailed off the application for the ACPE Providership. She said she should have a respond by January 2012. She stated if approved she should be having CE courses as early as next spring. She also stated that she has had inquiries from representatives from the Army and other pharmacy technician associations around the state. Elizabeth Huss stated that the instructor course was already in the course schedule for the spring 2012 semester. She said all that was needed was 10 students to enroll. Eileen Klein commented that this application was a very large financial commitment. Eileen commented that the college must be sure to generate students. Nancy Laudenslager, CE Director, stated that she had a meeting that she was going to attend to find out more about the program and the status of the program. Nancy stated that our community partners could help to make the program successful by helping to recruit students from their employee pool. Renee Acosta said that she would let the surveyors know. Lisa McCartney said that the opportunities were great and besides offering the instructor course she could see potentials for offering other courses such as Chemo and TPN Compounding,

Macy Moreno, Administrative Assistant to the Pharmacy Technician program, presented the numbers for past semesters and current enrollment. For spring 2011 the program had 14 graduates and for summer 2011 the program had 13 graduates. For fall 2011 the program accepted 32 students into the program and expected 7 to graduate in the fall. Macy also reported that for spring 2012 she already had 22 applications for the spring 2012 semester and still expected more to apply until the deadline of November 1. Lisa McCartney announced that she had bumped the required compass math scores to 28. This score should help students understand that if they do not have the 28 score they will have to pass Math 0370 before they can apply to the program. Lisa McCartney worked with the counselor for Health Science, Sandra Elizondo, to make this change. Changes have been posted online and will apply to all spring 2012 applicants.

Lisa McCartney presented the 2009 NABP Task Force recommendations on Pharmacy Technicians, PPMI and PTCB C.R. E. S.T. Summit recommendations and updates, and the TSBP position. Renee Acosta commented that from the upcoming recommendations and updates that it seems that there is evidence to support an AAS degree for the pharmacy technician program. Renee Acosta suggested that the PHRA program should look into setting up courses to move to the future. Philip Johnston agreed with Renee and made the comment that it looks like ACC is ahead of the game with the ACPE Certification and Providership application and the discussion towards the AAS Degree.

Lisa McCartney opened discussion for summer PHRA cohort entries. Lisa stated she plans to recruit new sites. Marcy May stated that the advantage for summer is that labs are usually available in the summer. Renee Acosta commented that 12 hours may be a heavy load for 11 weeks. Lisa McCartney asked the members to think about cohort and to be ready to discuss at the next SWOT meeting.

Lisa McCartney stated that there is a national movement to move to creating tiers and AAS degree. The advantage being that students will be able to transfer to U. T. College of Pharmacy. Students want degrees and not certificates. Lisa McCartney asked the members to think about the AAS degree and to be ready to discuss at the next SWOT meeting.