Key Findings and Recommendations from the American Association of College of Pharmacy Curriculum Quality Survey of US Pharmacy School Faculty

Abstract

Objective

To evaluate the faculty perspectives on how well pharmacy programs achieve key areas in the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy faculty survey, including administration, governance, faculty development, infrastructure, curriculum, teaching, and student supervision.

Methods

American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Curriculum Quality Survey data from 2016 to 2023 were analyzed. The survey included 40 Likert-scale questions (rated from 1 to 5: Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree). Questions were grouped into the following categories: organizational structure, administration, faculty support, curriculum, and resources. Responses for “Agree’’ and “Strongly Agree’’ were combined to report the overall agreement levels. An Independent Samples t-test was used to compare the mean agreement levels between private and public institutions, and trend analysis was conducted for each item.

Results

Faculty agreements ranged from 49.8 ± 2.5% to 94.8 ± 0.7% in public and 56.2 ± 2.3% to 95.8 ± 0.7% in private institutions. Private institutions exhibited statistically significant higher agreement levels than public institutions in faculty development, while public institutions exhibited statistically significant higher agreement levels in resources, infrastructure, professionalism, and culture.

Conclusion

Faculty concerns include leadership, resource allocation, and professional development across public and private institutions. Recommendations include strengthening cultural competency training, leadership, governance, faculty recruitment, emerging technologies, and interprofessional education. Although based on the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education Standards 2016, these analyses remain relevant to Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education Standards 2025, which incorporate the earlier standards in a reorganized format.