June 18, 2019
Over the past two years, the college has completed more than 25 renovation projects, ranging from updates and painting, to full-scale demolition and rebuilding. These improvements were necessary to equip our spaces properly for training tomorrow’s healthcare leaders.
“These renovations were not only desperately needed, but beautifully done,” said Dean Henry J. Mann, PharmD, FCCP, FCCM, FASHP. “We have always had great confidence in our incredible faculty and dedicated students, but our facilities were aging and insufficient for our new curriculum.”
Implemented in 2015, the College of Pharmacy updated its Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) curriculum to develop a more patient care focused pharmacy professional. To assist in students learning the skills needed to succeed in the modern profession, the second floor of Parks Hall was completely reworked. More than 100 donors came together to help fund these spaces for our students, including:
- The Mark and Linda Sirgo Counseling Suite, a 11 technology-enhanced counseling rooms;
- The Ric Mora Pharmacy Simulation Classroom;
- The Meijer Foundation Pharmacy Skills Classroom, a technology-enhanced classroom that is set up for active learning;
- The Maryann Z. and Larry Kennedy Sterile Compounding Room; and,
- The Health Care Logistics, Inc. and the Gary and Connie Sharpe Family Pharmacy Skills Laboratory, a 40-workstation skills lab.
The Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences (BSPS) program has also experienced significant growth over the past few years, seeing a 30% increase in students enrolled in undergraduate credit hours. To accommodate the increase in students and active learning practices, the college created new modern learning spaces, including a 150-seat technology enhanced classroom on the first floor of the Riffe Building, overlooking the Ohio Stadium and allowing improved faculty interactions. The classroom has technology around the room and mobile tables, giving faculty members the opportunity to design the room in a way that best facilitates each lesson.
The college also refreshed the BSPS laboratory and added an undergraduate advising suite near the lab so undergraduate students have a place to go that is specifically designed for their needs.
Before these renovations, the college was set on improving spaces not only for students, but research faculty as well. In 2017, the college celebrated the opening of the Natural Products Laboratory. Drs. Jinn and Diana Wu sponsored the renovation of the lab after Jinn Wu studied in it himself under Drs. Jack Beal and Ray Doskotch. With the addition of Dr. Blake Peterson to the Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy in August, the college will undergo further renovations to numerous lab spaces in both Parks Hall and the Riffe Building.
What’s next?
The college is committed to continually improving the facilities as times change. Future projects include:
- The creation of an active learning classroom in Parks Hall
- The renovation of the classroom 200 Parks Hall
- The creation of a quiet student study space on the first floor of Parks Hall
- The renovation of the second floor restrooms
- The addition of a meditation room
- The addition of a lactation room
- The creation of an Experiential Office Suite
These projects would not have been made possible without the incredible support of the college’s generous alumni, donors and friends. Philanthropy gives the college’s students and faculty access to great facilities, and ensures they have the tools they need to thrive in the classroom and beyond. The gifts that made these spaces possible will impact hundreds of students each year for years to come – preparing them to work in the tech friendly world in which we live. We look forward to keeping up on these trends as the world changes around us, equipping our spaces, students, faculty and staff with the right tools to move the profession of pharmacy forward.
You don’t have to visit campus to experience the strides we’ve made. Take a virtual tour of the Riffe Building and Parks Hall: