Representatives of Tusculum College and East Tennessee State University signed an affiliation agreement on Monday, November 15, that gives qualifying Tusculum College graduates priority candidate status for entry into the Doctor of Pharmacy program at East Tennessee State University’s Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy.
The signing was held at 2 p.m. in the Brotherton Board Room at the Thomas J. Garland Library on the Tusculum College campus.
Under the agreement, Tusculum College students who meet coursework and grade point average requirements as well as meet required scoring on the Pharmacy College Admission Test will be guaranteed an admissions interview for the next entering class of the pharmacy program at the Gatton College of Pharmacy.
“This is an opportunity to further support Tusculum College students with their goal of continuing their education in graduate school, as well as an opportunity for East Tennessee State University to keep our best and brightest students right here in East Tennessee,” said Dr. Nancy B. Moody, president of Tusculum College.
The agreement went into effect immediately after the signing.
“Each year during the admissions process, we are always eager to receive applications from the region’s best and brightest undergraduate students – and that makes this partnership with Tusculum College a natural for the Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy. I am confident our institution will benefit through an increase in the number of Tusculum students who aspire to become pharmacy students at ETSU, and, in turn, we will provide qualified Tusculum students with a competitive boost by ensuring they will receive an interview for admissions consideration,” said Dr. Larry D. Calhoun, dean of the Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy.
Tusculum College currently has two former students enrolled in the Gatton College of Pharmacy program, Brittany Bible ’10 and Stacy Parks ’09, both of whom were in attendance at the signing.
Tusculum College, the oldest college in Tennessee and the 28th oldest in the nation, is a liberal arts institution committed to utilizing the civic arts in developing educated citizens distinguished by academic excellence, public service and qualities of Judeo-Christian character. Approximately twenty-two hundred students are enrolled on the main campus in Greeneville and three off-site locations in East Tennessee. The academic programs for both traditional-aged students and working adults served through the Graduate and Professional Studies program are delivered using focused calendars whereby students enroll in one course at a time.
East Tennessee State University’s Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy is a fully accredited college of pharmacy by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education. The college is guided by a mission to prepare pharmacists who can improve the health and quality of life of residents of Northeast Tennessee and the Appalachian region. To learn more about the Gatton College of Pharmacy, visit www.etsu.edu/pharmacy.
Pictured below at the signing ceremony were, front from left, Dr. Wilsie S. Bishop, ETSU vice president for health affairs and chief operating officer; Dr. Larry D. Calhoun, dean of the Gatton College of Pharmacy, and Dr. Nancy B. Moody, president of Tusculum College; and back row, from left, Alan Corley, a member of the Tusculum College Board of Trustees and the Gatton College of Pharmacy Advisory Council and Admissions Committee; Dr. Kim K. Estep, Tusculum provost and academic vice president; Steve Ellis, assistant dean for student affairs and director of enrollment and student services for the Gatton College of Pharmacy; Stacy Parks ’09 and Brittany Bible ’10, Tusculum alumni and current Gatton College of Pharmacy students; Dr. Debra McGinn, Tusculum assistant professor of biology, and David Hawk, state representative (R-5) and an alumni of both Tusculum and ETSU.
