School of Pharmacy Recognized for Leadership at Virtual Symposium

Written By: Andrew Coop, PhD, Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

The University of Maryland School of Pharmacy is facing one of its largest challenges in its more than 175-year history with COVID-19, but I am convinced the School will thrive due to the excellence of its faculty, staff, students, and alumni. In traditional times, our faculty are sought as national experts to present their accomplishments at a range of national and international conferences and events that the pandemic has disrupted. But this has also created new opportunities. Many organizations are transitioning to “virtual annual meetings,” with the traditional presentations and posters delivered online.

The virtual environment has therefore led to new opportunities to showcase the outstanding achievements of the School and its faculty, staff, and students, including the 2020 Virtual Symposium of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Leadership Development Special Interest Group (LD SIG). The virtual symposium represents the very best in leadership from AACP, and the strength of the School of Pharmacy is clearly shown by the fact that more 15% of the accepted presentations were submitted by 10 members of our faculty and staff.

As opposed to a traditional live presentation or poster, this symposium is utilizing an approach where contributors pre-record and submit a 5 to 10 minute presentation, which will be available for a full week for viewing. Viewers leave questions through a message board, with the presenters answering questions and continuing the conversation periodically throughout the week. This approach allows great flexibility for viewing, and aims to expand the reach and impact of the presentations. Everything from creating presentations to viewing them can be completed on your computer at a time that suits your schedule!

The symposium runs from June 1 to June 5, 2020, and can be accessed through the AACP LD SIG Connect page for members of AACP (you do have to join the LD SIG). School of Pharmacy presentations include:

• Mr. Chemistry Goes to Washington: A Case Study on Congressional Testimony: Andrew Coop, Lisa Lebovitz, Shannon Tucker, Sandra Harriman, Rebecca Ceraul
• Pharmapreneurship™ – Leading Change in Pharmacy Education: Magaly Rodriguez de Bittner, Lisa Lebovitz, Ken Boyden, Peter Swaan
• A Model for Assessing Professional Association Engagement: Andrew Coop, Lisa Lebovitz, Shannon Tucker, Emily Gorman
• After the Crisis is Managed: Exploring the Well-being of Student and Academic Affairs Leadership: Cherokee Layson-Wolf, Shannon Tucker, Andrew Coop

The fact that the School of Pharmacy continues to be recognized for leadership in these difficult times is a testament to the excellence and commitment of its faculty and staff, and I encourage everyone to take advantage of the virtual symposia and conferences to promote their outstanding accomplishments!