President Marilyn K. Speedie convened the Board of Directors by conference call at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, February 26, 2007. The following Board members participated on the call: Rodney A. Carter (Council of Faculties), Patricia A. Chase (Council of Deans), Brian L. Crabtree (Council of Faculties), Barbara E. Hayes (Council of Deans), Lucinda L. Maine (Executive Vice President), Cynthia L. Raehl (President-elect), Virginia “Ginger” Scott (ASCC Chair), Kenneth A. Skau (Council of Faculties) and Victor A. Yanchick (Council of Deans).
Guests included: Bobby Bryant (Council of Deans Chair-elect designate), Joseph T. DiPiro (Editor AJPE), Keith Herist (Treasurer-designate) and David Zgarrick (ASCC chair-designate). AACP Staff included Daniel J. Cassidy, Melinda D. Colon, Arlene A. Flynn, Barbra A. Gustis, Will G. Lang, George E. MacKinnon III, Kenneth W. Miller, Jennifer M. Patton, Cecilia M. Plaza, and Elisabeth J. Ross.
2. Conflict of InterestPresident Speedie read the AACP Conflict of Interest statement. President Speedie identified two candidates for AACP awards from her institution. It was noted that there would be a conflict only if the nominees forwarded by the respective awards selection committees were not accepted by the Board. Joe DiPiro noted that he was a nominator for one of the potential award recipients but he is not a voting member of the Board.
3. Minutes of the October 16-17, 2006 MeetingOn Motion (Skau/Chase) the October 2006 minutes were approved as distributed.
4. Selection of 2007 AACP Award WinnersOn Motion (Hayes/Scott) Victoria F. Roche (Creighton) was selected as the 2007 recipient of the Robert K. Chalmers Distinguished Educator Award.
On Motion (Raehl/Skau) Julie A. Johnson (Florida) was selected as the 2007 recipient of the Paul R. Dawson Biotechnology Award.
On Motion (Chase/Raehl) Vasu Nair (Georgia) was selected as the 2007 recipient of the Volwiler Research Achievement Award.
On Motion (Raehl/Carter) Article 85, Issue 4, “Development of an Instrument to Measure Professionalism” by Marie A. Chisholm PharmD, Henry Cobb PhD, Lori Duke PharmD, Charles McDuffie PharmD, and William K. Kennedy PharmD, from the University of Georgia was selected as the paper that would be recognized with the Rufus A. Lyman Award for 2006.
During the discussion of the Lyman Award, Editor DiPiro reviewed a proposed scoring form recommended by the 2006-07 Lyman Award Committee for use in reviewing and scoring finalist papers in subsequent cycles of award review. There was discussion about adding a bullet related to the writing style. It was the consensus of the Board to affirm the use of the scoring form in the 2007-08 review cycle and to give future selection committees the latitude to revise the form as warranted.
5. Financial UpdateDaniel Cassidy, AACP Chief Operating Officer, provided a review of the six-month financial results, noting that both revenue and expense projections were on budget. There were over 300 registrants for the 2007 Interim Meeting which exceeded budget projections. AACP managed reserve funds continue to perform at or above benchmark metrics for the year.
The Board was provided a summary of the current candidates for a new headquarters property. Dan noted that the Braddock Street office which the Board had toured in October was likely to be removed from the condo sales market due to occupancy by a large leasing client. A 56,000 square foot property on Slaters Lane is available for sale with a high rate of occupancy by current tenants. Its purchase price is approximately $14 million and the building would be an investment property in addition to offering AACP and the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy new office space. The property generates approximately $1 million annually in net revenues though this figure would be lower due to the occupancy by the two associations. One additional property on King Street is potentially coming on the market for sale soon with availability in late 2007. Otherwise the market continues to be extremely limited for property in the size range that AACP, alone or in partnership with AMCP, could purchase. Moving from the existing headquarters to leased space is being explored as a potential option, either for the short (2-5 years) or longer term. The Board also encouraged a final evaluation of whether any modifications could be made to the existing property to accommodate current and future staff and achieve a reasonable return on investment. By Consensus the Board encouraged staff to continue pursuing all available options as described.
6. PBRN Conference DebriefingPresident Speedie, Cindy Raehl, Ginger Scott, George MacKinnon, Lucinda Maine and Ken Miller had participated in the AACP conference on pharmacy-based practice research networks funded partially by a grant from the Agency for Health Research and Quality in Charlotte, NC on February 22-24. Faculty and practitioners representing approximately 25 colleges and schools of pharmacy and leaders from several pharmacy associations/foundations were the primary participants at the conference which drew upon the experiences with PBRNs in medicine and dentistry. The plenary sessions of the conference were digitally recorded and will be available to members via streaming video. All who had attended the conference agreed that it was highly successful and is likely to stimulate significant activities by faculty in the establishment of new research networks or affiliation of pharmacy faculty with existing primary care research networks. Further discussion on AACP's role in stimulating and/or supporting PBRNs will be on the March 2007 retreat agenda.
7. PharmCAS Fee WaiverLibby Ross, Vice President for Student Affairs, reviewed a proposal for a waiver of application fees for eligible students applying for admission to PharmCAS participating institutions beginning with the 2007-08 admissions cycle. Students would be approved by Liaison International based on the DHHS Low-Income Chart used by other application services.
On Motion (Chase/Carter) the Board approved the Fee Waiver proposal up to an aggregate of $40,000 allowing up to three free designations for eligible applicants. It is estimated that approximately 186 will be supported by the fee waiver in the 2007-08 admissions cycle.
8. AACP Congressional/Legislative Agenda for the 110th CongressWill Lang, Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, outlined the proposed agenda for policy and advocacy efforts in the first session of the 110th Congress. On Motion (Carter/Crabtree) the Board approved the agenda which includes efforts to reauthorize the Higher Education Act and Title VII of the Public Health Service Act and advocates for sufficient funding for key programs within the federal budget.
9. Subcommittee for the Appointment of the 2008-2014 ACPE DirectorPresident Speedie identified the need for a subcommittee of the Board to review criteria for selection and nominees to serve as a member of the ACPE Board of Directors for the term 2008-2014. The charge to the subcommittee will be to review the current policy and procedure for making such appointments with attention to guidance on appointments provided by ACPE; construct a rubric for selection of the new appointee; and examine current appointees in relation to any change that may be proposed to the policy and procedure. The subcommittee is to provide the AACP Board three nominees for consideration at the October 2007 meeting.
Brian Crabtree, Barbara Hayes and Victor Yanchick were identified to serve on the subcommittee with George MacKinnon serving as staff liaison.
Further discussion of the criteria for this selection will be held in March along with a discussion of what should be done with directors' appointments in the event that a substantive change in academic role occurs within the six year term of appointment.
10. Recognition of Staff EffortPresident Speedie called for any final announcements or items of interest. Executive Vice President Maine noted that between November 2006 and February 2007 three unique membership meetings were planned and implemented. These included the encore Institute on experiential education, the Interdisciplinary Cultural Competence Institute and the PBRN conference. The Board acknowledged that each was a highly successful event and commended the staff on their efforts that yielded productive learning and networking sessions for AACP members and other participants.