S.C. College of Pharmacy splitting into USC, MUSC programs

The University of South Carolina’s board of trustees Friday approved splitting the S.C. College of Pharmacy into two programs, one each at USC and the Medical University of South Carolina.

The S.C. College of Pharmacy, a joint program between the two universities, was created in 2004, merging the two schools’ pharmacy programs under one executive dean in what was heralded then as an efficiency move.

However, after the pharmacy dean left last year, the schools decided that for efficiency reasons and to satisfy students’ desire for a “campus-specific pharmacy identity,” the two schools should be split and accredited separately, according to a news release.

MUSC’s trustees will take up the proposal Aug. 14.

“While we are dissolving the administrative coupling, we continue to be strongly committed to collaboration with education and research,” USC campus pharmacy dean Randall Rowen said in a news release.

The schools plan to continue the joint degree program until the last class now enrolled in the joint program graduates in 2019. The schools also will work to establish a time line for the independent accreditation of each school’s program.

“We will fully communicate our action plan with staff, students and faculty at both campuses,” MUSC provost Mark Sothmann said.

This story was originally published August 7, 2015 at 5:48 PM.