Pillars of Progress
The College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences was first established as a College of Pharmacy to provide a high quality, and highly personal, approach to advanced learning. This is the hallmark of Western New England University to students seeking to earn a Doctor of Pharmacy degree. In February 2008, Dr. Evan Robinson became the founding dean of the College, and by July 2009 he began assembling his core administrative team.
Pivotal to the success of the new program was construction of a new academic building that would house the new College and expand the University's facilities for its science and psychology programs. In August 2009, plans were drawn for the Center for the Sciences and Pharmacy, the largest construction project undertaken by the University to that date—construction began in September 2009.
In July 2010, Dean Robinson began actively recruiting faculty for the College. With the faculty in place, a curriculum was developed. Collaborating with the College of Arts and Sciences, which offers the Pre-pharmacy program, the Pharmacy Admissions Office staff began recruiting the inaugural Class of 2015.
Once building construction was completed, the University celebrated the grand opening of the Center for the Sciences and Pharmacy with a ribbon-cutting ceremony held in December 2010. Preparations for the first class continued throughout the spring and summer with the addition of technology for multi-media classrooms, a model pharmacy, laboratory equipment, and a simulation lab.
In August 2011 members of the first class arrived at the College of Pharmacy. The inaugural White Coat Ceremony was delayed by Hurricane Irene and ultimately held in October. In May 2011, the College hosted its first Continuing Pharmacy Education and Preceptor Development Conference.
By spring of 2012, College of Pharmacy students were ready to begin applying classroom learning to introductory experiential rotations.
In March 2013, the College celebrated the success of the Make Your Mark student-produced video which won best film in APhA’s annual PharmFlix contest. The video celebrated the diverse backgrounds of the student body with students talking about their experiences in the program in their native languages above subtitles.
By May 2014, learners in the inaugural class began their advanced pharmacy practice rotations. One year later, the University celebrated the graduation of the inaugural PharmD class graduates on May 17, 2015.
With the successful graduation of the first class, the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) granted full accreditation status to the Western New England University College of Pharmacy in July 2015.
In 2021, a 0-6 Doctor of Pharmacy program format was implemented to allow high school seniors to be guaranteed a seat in the PharmD program after two years of study.
More information on our history can be found in our annual reports from previous years: