Dean's Message - Fall 2011

Things have changed significantly in Madison and on campus since our last edition of DISCOVERx…to put it mildly. Governor Walker's proposal to establish UW-Madison as a "public authority" was removed from the state budget, but many flexibilities and principles of Chancellor Martin's New Badger Partnership were included.  We will soon be hard at work making changes to our personnel system and many other areas to increase efficiency and better align our policies and procedures with the needs of a Research I university.  The budget cuts that we will be managing are certainly non-trivial, and we will have to downsize and operate differently as we move boldly forward.  Because that's how we do things here.

The other major change is the departure of Chancellor Martin who is moving on to the Presidency at Amherst College in Massachusetts.  I commend her for her vision, courage, and perseverance and will personally miss her leadership and sense of humor.  She will be missed!  On the flip side, UW-Madison is welcoming back a familiar face with the appointment of former Provost and Chancellor David Ward who will serve in an interim role during the search process.  I did not have the pleasure of working with him before and am very much looking forward to it now.  Please join me in thanking Biddy and welcoming David.

In this issue of DISCOVERx, you'll read about numerous special people and events around the school.  Our annual Hooding Ceremony and Commencement was filled with the joy of the Class of 2011 finishing, but also of beginning a whole new relationship with the school as alumni, professional colleagues, and life-long friends.

The UW Pharmacy Alumni Association's (PAA) 13th Annual Scholarship Golf Tournament was more fun than ever! Perfect weather, not-so-perfect golf (so what?), great prizes, and a visit from Bucky Badger all added up to a wonderful event that raised thousands of dollars for our scholarship program.

Speaking of the PAA, our 2011 Reunion Weekend is right on the horizon.  The Dean's Reception on Friday, November 4 will highlight our Citation of Merit recipients, along with the Alumnus of the Year.  Please join us for that event, as well as the tailgate party and football game on Saturday, November 5. Visit the PAA web page for registration information.  Those tickets go fast!  And we have such a great time all weekend.

While I'm on the subject of the PAA, I'd like to make a plug for membership. Membership fees help cover operating costs of your Association so that the focus can be totally on scholarships for our excellent students.  Join today and increase the impact!

We are in the final stages of writing a self-study about the school that is the centerpiece in our process of achieving reaccreditation.  Thanks to all of you who took the time to submit comments on the draft document through our website.  The final version is coming together, which will be reviewed one last time by the Self-Study Steering Committee, and then brought forward to the faculty and staff for final approval before submission.  An external review team will be visiting us in mid- November to validate the self-study, generally poke around, and talk to all the ships at sea.

A delegation of SOP faculty had the pleasure of traveling to Thailand to work with a partner school at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok on many areas of mutual interest.  We then traveled to Phuket to participate in the US-Thai Pharmacy Consortium, which we hosted here in Madison in 2008.  UW has played a leadership role in this effort for almost 20 years, and it is a privilege to continue our involvement.

Thanks for reading and for everything you do as alumni of this amazing school…as clinical instructors, guest lecturers, mentors, donors, and so much more.  And stay connected through the PAA and their events, the website, pharmacy.wisc.edu, SOP alumni events at national meetings, and when I visit your area.  We recently launched a social media initiative.  Stay connected with Facebook and Twitter!

On Wisconsin!