Dear Alumni,

These are truly exciting times for the University of Saskatchewan, its health sciences colleges, and our College of Pharmacy and Nutrition. Since joining the college in August 2009, I have seen remarkable advances for our college. On the horizon, I see further growth in our faculty complement, our research and graduate education programs, and increasingly exciting opportunities for interprofessional and interdisciplinary initiatives, as we leave the Thorvaldson Building and relocate to the new Health Sciences facility over the next two years.

I have had the opportunity to engage with many of you and have gained much insight to the exceptional value of our graduates to the health care system of Saskatchewan and beyond.

Many of the exciting initiatives now in place in the college would not be possible without the support of our alumni. The new Health Sciences building and the leadership provided by the Council of Health Sciences Deans will enhance our capacity to educate dietitians and pharmacists with enhanced skills in interprofessional health care practice and health promotion and to promote excellence in interdisciplinary health research for our graduate students. This is, indeed, an exciting time for alumni, our faculty, staff, students and many of our  partners and friends.

The college is embarking on a number of major initiatives at this time.  The first of which is the implementation of a systematic program evaluation process for our two undergraduate professional programs, a process that is required to meet accreditation standards for the two programs. We are also in the process of developing a discussion paper on the redesign of the pharmacy program. We are linking both of these initiatives to a quality assurance plan for both our pharmacy and nutrition programs. The college will be celebrating its centennial in the 2013-2014 academic year. We will begin our planning in the coming months and are looking to our alumni to help us celebrate this magnificent milestone. This will be a year to celebrate our past, embrace the present and look ahead to our future.

Our alumni are essential components of the College family. Without the support of our alumni, we would not be able to provide high-quality education, clinical experiences, and research environment to our pharmacy and nutrition students and faculty. Through generous financial support that is given by many of you, we are able to provide our students with scholarships and bursaries that help them focus on their academic pursuits and career goals. The college relies on our alumni to be our pulse on the fields of pharmacy and nutrition. I thank each of you for your continued wonderful support and engagement with the College.

Sincerely,
David S. Hill, Ed.D., FCSHP
Professor and Dean