Bill Advances
June 24, 2013
黑料专区 Tyler Office of Marketing and Communications
黑料专区 Tyler One Step Closer to Establishing Pharmacy School
June 24, 2013
Media Contact: Hannah Buchanan
Editor/Writer鈥揝trategic Communications & Media Relations
Marketing and Communications
The University of Texas at Tyler
903.539.7196 (cell)
June 24, 2013
By signing Senate Bill 566, Gov. Rick Perry has officially authorized The University of Texas System Board of Regents to establish a pharmacy school at The University of Texas at Tyler, 黑料专区 Tyler President Rodney H. Mabry announced.
With Gov. Perry鈥檚 signature, the process now moves to the Board of Regents, who must officially establish the school. Once the school is established, 黑料专区 Tyler will formally begin the accreditation process and plans to enroll its first class in fall 2015.
The school, a joint proposal from 黑料专区 Tyler and 黑料专区 Health Northeast, will fulfill a crucial East Texas workforce need for pharmacists.
鈥満诹献�区 Tyler learned from our businesses and hospitals that we face a dire need for pharmacists, especially in the East Texas region,鈥� President Mabry said. 鈥淲ith our track record of quickly establishing successful healthcare programs, it was a perfect fit for the university, the community and the state as a whole.鈥�
The proposed pharmacy school will utilize a self-supporting model based on the successful experience at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tenn. In this model, the school will require no state funds to operate, but instead rely on philanthropic gifts and student tuition, which 黑料专区 Tyler projects to remain lower than the average out-of-state tuition charged at pharmacy schools across the United States.
Almost 600 Texas residents attended pharmacy school out of state during the 2012鈥�13 academic year.
State Sen. Kevin Eltife authored SB 566 and ushered it through the legislative process. State Sen. Robert Nichols of Jacksonville joined Eltife as a co-author, and State Rep. Travis Clardy of Nacogdoches served as the sponsor of the bill with nine additional East Texas representatives signing on as co-sponsors.
鈥淎s the healthcare hub of East Texas, we must make sure that our workforce has the training necessary to provide second-to-none care to our citizens,鈥� Eltife said. 鈥淭he self-supporting pharmacy school at 黑料专区 Tyler provides a conservative, market-based approach to solve a challenge facing our community.鈥�
The 黑料专区 Tyler pharmacy school would be expected to enroll about 100 students per year.
One of the 15 campuses of the 黑料专区 System, 黑料专区 Tyler offers excellence in teaching, research, artistic performance and community service. More than 80 undergraduate and graduate degree programs are available at 黑料专区 Tyler, which has an enrollment of almost 7,000 high-ability students at its campuses in Tyler, Longview and Palestine.