University administration finds strong support for Dean’s leadership among school stakeholders.

By Gabrielle Olya

As the end of R. Pete Vanderveen’s fourth year as dean of the USC School of Pharmacy neared, President Steven Sample and Provost C. L. Max Nikias announced Vanderveen’s appointment to an additional five-year term beginning in 2010.

Toward making the reappointment decision, the university administration met with faculty, staff and students at the school, querying them about the dean’s leadership. Among the findings were strong support among stakeholders for Vanderveen’s accessibility, participation in and support of student activities, beneficial reorganization of the departments from four to two, public relations efforts to improve the school profile and participation and leadership in national pharmaceutical associations.

Earlier this year, under Dean Vanderveen, the School’s Pharm.D. program received full re-accreditation through 2015, an action that speaks to its overall quality. The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education cited the school’s curricular design as a model of best practices in pharmacy education and uses it as an example for schools nationwide.

Vanderveen has also worked to enlarge the role of clinical pharmacy services in various practice settings, including the expansion of partnerships with the JWCH Clinic at the Weingart Center and QueensCare clinics, where faculty, students and residents provide medication therapy management to patients.

This commitment to community outreach has led the school to win some of the most prestigious national awards in pharmacy practice over the last few years. These include the American Pharmacists Association Foundation Pinnacle Award, the American Society of Health System Pharmacists Best Practices Award and the AACP Inaugural Award for Transformative Community Service.

Vanderveen has also supported the school’s research units by providing bridge funding when scientists await grant dollars and enhancing core facilities throughout the school. He has also successfully promoted interdisciplinary hires and collaborations with other USC schools.

In addition, the dean launched the school’s Diversity Initiative to increase the diversity in the school’s student body. This program proactively recruits high-school students to join the school’s Pharmacy Explorers Program (PEP), a track of MEDCOR designed to introduce LAUSD students to the health professions through a Saturday enrichment program and mentoring activities.

Prior to coming to USC, Vanderveen was the dean of the Mylan School of Pharmacy and the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Duquesne University. He currently serves as a member of corporate board of directors of the Mylan Laboratories.