FYI for COP: March 7, 2012

College to participate in book festival
Going to the Tucson Festival of Books March 10-11 on the UA Mall? Be on the lookout for exhibits from the College of Pharmacy in Science City. In The Natural World tent, the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center will have a display. In the Health Professions tent, see a COP demonstration of making hand sanitizer. Watch for two college programs in the Student Science in Action tent: the KEYS high school internship and PharmCamp summer programs. For more information, visit the Tucson Festival of Books website. 

What’s happening in Phoenix?
Where is the program at the College of Pharmacy in Phoenix headed? COP employees and students are invited to attend a forum to find out. Associate deans A. Jay Gandolfi and John Murphy will present an update and answer questions. The forum is set for Monday, March 19 from 3 to 5 p.m. in Drachman A114.

COP faculty to host prestigious medicinal chemistry symposium
Scientists from academic institutions and pharmaceutical companies across the country will present at the 33rd National Medicinal Chemistry Symposium May 20-23 at the Hilton El Conquistador resort in Tucson. The event will be hosted by Danzhou Yang and Christopher Hulme, faculty members in COP’s Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. For more information and to register, go to the symposium website.

Quality improvement poster showcase set for April 30
All second-year PharmD students will present posters at the Quality Improvement Poster Project Forum April 30, 2 to 5 p.m. on the AHSC plaza near the College of Medicine. The posters are a result of the course PhPr 863b, Quality Improvement and Medication Error Reduction Lab.

At the showcase, 21 teams of three to five students each will present the results of their quality improvement projects. For these projects, each team is working with a healthcare provider-preceptor to implement quality improvement and medication error reduction techniques in a real-world healthcare setting.

The course is taught by Terri Warholak, assistant professor in pharmacy practice and science. Four faculty members (from the College of Pharmacy and the College of Medicine) and 26 preceptors are assisting with the projects. The preceptors include pharmacists, physicians and nurses who work in hospitals, community settings, industry and consulting.

Be aware of boundaries for political activity
With the upcoming special and general elections, UA employees need to be aware that there are boundaries for use of university time and resources for political activity. Because the university is a state governmental entity, it does not take a position on electoral issues.

Fortunately, there are guidelines to help employees know how to help UA remain neutral. For example, Arizona law prohibits the use of university personnel, equipment, materials, building or other resources for the purpose of influencing the outcomes of elections. Read more on the university’s Political Activity Fact Sheet