Five-day Notification of Electronic Division Vote
April 11, 2018

I. Background Justification for Modifications to School of Pharmacy Regulations

During the 2015-2016 term, the School of Pharmacy’s Curriculum Transformation Team in consultation with the Faculty Council began planning the implementation of the three-year (12  quarters) curriculum. Aligning the courses offered in the PharmD curriculum under a pass/no pass policy evolved as an effective way to assess students under the proposed competency-based curriculum.

Beginning with the entering class in summer quarter of 2018, the School of Pharmacy (SOP) will implement the new curriculum, using a pass/no pass grading system that follows grading systems adopted by the UCSF School of Medicine and peer institutions, including the Skaggs School of Pharmacy at UC San Diego. Students registered in the SOP prior to the summer quarter of 2018 will continue to be assessed under the SOP’s existing letter grade system.

II. Background Justification for Second Divisional Vote

A second Divisional Vote requests authorization to modify San Francisco Regulation (SFR) 775 for the adoption of modifications to sections I, III, IV and V of the SOP Regulations.

On March 7, 2018, UCSF Faculty voted to approve two proposals put forth by the SOP: adoption of a three-year, PharmD degree curriculum and amendments to the SOP’s bylaws to support this new curriculum.

A third SOP proposal to modify its Regulations was removed from the March 7 ballot by the Senate office, due to questions raised by the Senate Rules and Jurisdiction Committee and the Registrar’s Office, which included:

  1. The location of the online reference to the School’s Technical Standards for purposes of admissions.
  2. The definition of “satisfactory completion of coursework.”
  3. A clarification of special-study units by the number of credit units – rather than by the percentage of total unit requirements.
  4. A clarification on grades and credits, including the circumstances under which the faculty may assign a grade of I, or NP, and requirements to convert a grade of Y or I to a Pass or Honors grade.

A second Divisional vote is justified due to subsequent revisions to the SOP’s Regulations proposed by the Rules and Jurisdiction Committee. The Committee on Educational Policy and the SOP Faculty Council reviewed and adopted the revisions on April 4, followed by the Senate’s Executive Council on April 5.

Follow this link to review: School of Pharmacy Modifications to Faculty Regulations.

III.  Procedural Justification
  1. SFR 775 establishes a letter grade system for UCSF’s professional schools. Granting a modification to SFR 775 to the School of Pharmacy is justified to facilitate:
    • Adoption of modifications to the School of Pharmacy regulations I, III, IV and V.
    • Authorization for the School to offer all PharmD curricula on a pass/no pass grading system, beginning with the entering class of 2018.
    • Authorization to its faculty to assign or not assign an Honors grade under a pass/no pass grading system, beginning with the entering class of 2018.
  2. Per bylaw 35F: a vote of the Division is justified because faculty in the School of Medicine teaching courses in the PharmD curriculum are affected by the regulations’ implementation.