Faculty members in the Departments of Pharmacy Practice and Pharmaceutical Sciences have joined together to support a new Faculty of Pharmacy Endowed Scholarship in the Wayne State University (WSU) Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (EACPHS). With 100 percent of faculty members in both departments contributing to the scholarship, the fund has reached a balance of more than $110,000 in cash and pledges. The first scholarships will be awarded in May.

"Our Pharmacy Practice and Pharmaceutical Sciences faculty members have made a powerful statement with their generous support," said Lloyd Young, dean of the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. "Achieving 100 percent participation is a demonstration of their commitment to their students. Their generosity will forever impact the doctor of pharmacy program."

The idea for the scholarship took shape last fall. Randy Commissaris, associate professor in Pharmaceutical Sciences, is chair of the college's scholarship committee and familiar with the endowed scholarships in the college. "We had received word of a few new scholarships including the Board of Visitors Annual Scholarship, and the Hanley and Young Hee Abramson Scholarship and the Melvin Dunker Scholarship created by Pharmaceutical Sciences faculty member Hanley Abramson and his wife," said Commissaris. But there was one particular announcement that struck a chord, a recent graduate, Shadi Saad, had established an annual scholarship in honor of Linda Jaber, PharmD. "It made me think, if a young graduate can honor a faculty member, why don't we as a faculty consider creating a scholarship to support our students?" In talking with several colleagues, it became clear to him that there would be support for a Faculty of Pharmacy Endowed Scholarship.

After consulting with Dean Young and Associate Dean Richard Slaughter, Commissaris asked for faculty volunteers to serve on a steering committee. In December and January, Steering Committee members personally contacted their faculty colleagues. Faculty made gifts to the scholarship via payroll deduction, cash contributions and through multi-year pledges.

"The faculty response has been wonderful," said Commissaris. "I expected support from our faculty because we are committed to our students. Nonetheless, I was amazed by how positively this was received by the faculty. Within the first couple weeks of the campaign, over 95 percent of the faculty members had verbally committed to the idea. Mind you, these are 48 faculty colleagues, all smart, independent thinkers. Typically, if you ask their opinion about a subject, you can expect 48 different answers. But in this case, the answer was always the same: YES! I could not be more pleased with the outcome of this initiative."

The scholarship committee members have seen an increase in available scholarships over the past several years. However, they still are unable to provide scholarship support to some very deserving students. By supporting more students through the Faculty of Pharmacy Endowed Scholarship, the committee hopes to encourage new alumni to contribute, thereby multiplying the efforts of the faculty to support pharmacy students.

"Teaching and training pharmacy students is a combined effort of faculty in Pharmacy Practice and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and there is a highly collegial relationship among the faculty within the two departments," said Commissaris. "It is a testament to this strong connection that both came together to support this important effort."

April 5, 2013