Evaluation of a Council Structure and Meeting Format for Pharmacy Student Government in the Co-Curriculum.

Objective. To evaluate student perceptions of a transformed pharmacy student government structure and meeting format. Methods. The structure and general assembly meeting format of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) Eshelman School of Pharmacy Student Senate (ie, student government) underwent a transformation from that of a forum to that of a council in an effort to address concerns regarding limited information exchange, minimal discussion, and unengaged meeting participants. To evaluate student perceptions of the new senate council format, members who attended at least one council meeting during the academic year were asked to complete a 12-item survey evaluating interorganizational relations, communication, collaboration, and efficiencies. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize students' agreement with 10 survey items. Thematic analysis was employed to identify common themes in students' responses to the two open-ended survey items. Results. The majority of students agreed or strongly agreed that the senate council facilitated interorganizational relations (86%), communication (93%), and collaboration (86%). Ninety-three percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the senate council improved efficiencies, while 96% preferred the new senate council meeting format over the previous senate meeting format. Common qualitative themes included improved engagement during council meetings because of the "no laptop" policy and facilitation of open conversation by having a roundtable format and smaller number of members in attendance. Overall, 93% of students indicated they were satisfied or highly satisfied with the new meeting format. Conclusion. Student perceptions suggest that the new senate council structure and meeting format was effective at improving interorganizational relations, communication, collaboration, and efficiencies within student body government.

Design and evaluation of a two-phase learner-centered new student orientation program.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To identify student perceptions associated with a learner-centered, multi-stage, flipped, new student orientation for a doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) program. EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY AND SETTING: First-year PharmD students over three years (2012-2014) were engaged in a two-phase learner-centered orientation process designed to allow students to customize the transition experience. After orientation, students completed a survey to assess programming and their perceptions of readiness to begin the PharmD program. Utilizing student feedback, the orientation program evolved each year to better meet the needs of incoming students. FINDINGS: In 2014, 78.9% of students felt confident in their ability to transition to the PharmD program after orientation, an increase from 55.7% in 2012 when the changes in orientation were first implemented. Additionally, student perceptions of readiness to transition to the PharmD program improved each year. DISCUSSION AND SUMMARY: Implementation of a learner-centered, flipped, new student orientation may improve students' perceptions of readiness for study and decrease anxiety of transitioning to a PharmD program. Additionally, it may be an effective tool for increasing orientation program efficiency, while improving student engagement.

How we transitioned to a comprehensive professional and graduate student affairs office.

BACKGROUND: Contemporary student affairs units arm students with professional skills, abilities and dispositions as they promote student learning, growth and development, as opposed to providing only administrative services. AIM: To describe the process for designing, planning, implementing and assessing a comprehensive student affairs unit that serves graduate and professional students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Eshelman School of Pharmacy. METHOD: A student services office that served only professional students was transformed in 2011 to an office of student affairs. The goal of the expanded, comprehensive unit is to work, in collaboration with academic affairs, to promote holistic student growth and development through proactive, intentional planning of co-curricular experiences. RESULTS: The comprehensive student affairs model has allowed for more student programming and mentoring opportunities, improved graduate students' feelings of connectedness to the School and improved efficiency of processes. The next steps include thorough assessment of the model and monitoring of the strategic plan. CONCLUSIONS: A comprehensive, centralized student affairs unit, working in partnership with academic affairs, can help professional and graduate health affairs programs meet their goals for student development, while improving the efficiency of administrative processes. This model can be easily implemented in other schools.