£oll~g~ Of Phdrml1£U Board of Trustees approves new graduate program This fall, the Board ofTrustees approved the establishment ofthe College of Pharmacy graduate program. Dr. Julie Hixson-Wallace, dean of the College of Pharmacy, said the program was designed to further the mission of Harding and, in essence, to train C hristian servants. With the creation of the program , the university provided an ourlet for students who wished to study pharmacy in a C hristian environment. "Pharmacy is aimed at helping people through medication," Hixson-Wallace said. "With this program, we will be able to apply pharmacy and medical knowledge and use it from a Christian servanthood concept in mind." Before receiving accreditation, Hixson-Wallace mer with the members of the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education in San Diego. The council also made an on-site visit in the spring before approving accreditation. Undergraduates were eligible to apply for the program in the fall of 2006 with the projected entry date for the first class being the following fall. C reating this program gave students the option to stay at Harding ro cominue their schooling. Studems needed a minimum of th ree years or 90 semester hours ofundergraduate wo rk before applying. After completing the four-year program, a student would receive a DoctOrate of Pharmacy. T he application process required much work. Students were required to rake the Pharmacy College Admission Test, write an essay, acquire three leerers of reference and complete an on-site interview. Hixson-Wallace placed a great emphasis on the on-site interview since the facu lty would be looking at students as a whole. "[Teachers] recognize that scores and grades don't always highlight the srudem's abilities," Hixson-Wallace said. The first admissions class had over 100 applicants, with only an estimated 40 students actually making it through the application process. Undergraduates such as junior Blake Miller showed a great interest in the program and applied with hope of entry. "They're placing a big emphasis oh service, which is really imponam to me," Miller said. Junior Melissa Plunk also applied to the program because of the program's unique setup. "The small atmosphere and teacher to student ratio will be a big plus," Plunk said. Although several undergraduate students who were currently anenciing Hard ing applied ro the program , most applicants we re from outside of Harding and represented all regions, according to Hixson-Wallace. The college moved into the back of the C laud Rogers Lee bu ildi ng in the spring but anticipated moving into a new faci lity projected to be bu ilt by August of2008. Both the Physicians Assistant and Pharmacy programs would be taught from there. T he facility would be adjacent to the Reynolds Center for Communication and Music byRemington and Park Avenue. -Rosa Colon Students on the Searcy campus participate in the Master of Education's distance learn– ing class with the Bentonville,Ark., campus Jan. 22 in the Thornton Education Center. The state-of-the-art technology allowed Dr. Linda Thornton, associate professor of education and administrative assistant to the dean, to interact with students from both the Bentonville, Ark., and Farmington,Ark., campuses. -Brock Williams [86 academics Graduate student Laura Minor plays with Sienna Patten during a play therapy session Jan. 19 in the Counseling Center in the Thornton Education Center. The Masters of Science in Counseling Program was designed to prepare students to counsel across the life span, and play therapy was often used as a therapeutic tool in the counseling process. -Chelsea Roberson
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