Xavier University News August 2015 Xavier University Receives $8.3 HRSA Grant for Pharmacy Program New Orleans LA - Xavier University of Louisiana's College of Pharmacy has been awarded an $8,362,190 grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources. Over the next three years, the grant will support activities designed to impact the recruitment and retention of underrepresented minority students in the pharmacy profession - particularly African Americans - and to provide an educational opportunity focused on the development of culturally competent health professionals who are prepared for leadership in health care practice, education, and research. Further, the grant will provide opportunities for underrepresented minority faculty to develop in an environment that positions them for leadership in education, research, patient care and public service. Unique to this funding opportunity is a focus on inter-institutional collaboration with health profession programs from other historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Xavier's College of Pharmacy will partner with Tuskegee's School of Veterinary Medicine and Meharry Medical Colleges' Schools of Dentistry and Medicine through an ePortal system to share best practices in recruitment and retention of students, the development of culturally relevant educational materials, mentoring and faculty development. "This grant will enhance our on-going efforts to recruit students with the capacity and skills necessary to successfully complete the pharmacy curriculum, and then help to ensure that those students are nurtured and developed by faculty members who are responsive to their needs and committed to their success," said Dr. Kathleen Kennedy, dean of the XU College of Pharmacy and the program director of the grant. "It will also allow the College to provide an environment in which faculty members can grow professionally to serve as positive role models for students." Xavier's College of Pharmacy, one of only two pharmacy schools in Louisiana, annually ranks among the top four producers of African American pharmacy graduates in the nation. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org www.hbculibraries.org 404.592.4820 1438 West Peachtree Street NW Suite 200 Atlanta, GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (Lyrasis) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org Honor the ancestors, honor the children.