CHSU Moves Closer to Accreditation

California Health Sciences University in Clovis has received notice that it is a step closer to institutional accreditation by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC).
CHSU received the good news following the WSCUC annual meeting in July. The university now moves from “eligibility” status to “candidate” status, the second of three steps to full accreditation. WSCUC is one of six regional associations that accredits schools, colleges and universities in the United States.
CHSU initiated the accreditation process with the WSCUC shortly after the university was founded in 2012. It opened the Valley’s first College of Pharmacy and began offering classes in August 2014.
Under revised WSCUC accreditation procedures adopted in June 2014, CHSU was one of the first new universities to undergo a more streamlined process, that’s less prescriptive with respect to the number of visits and more focused on outcomes.
Also in July, the university learned that the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), the national agency that accredits all Doctor of Pharmacy programs, has continued “pre-candidate” accreditation status for the CHSU College of Pharmacy. ACPE will visit the university next spring to consider advancing the pharmacy program to the second of three steps toward programmatic accreditation.
“We’re proud to achieve this important university milestone with WSCUC, within our aggressive timeline,” said Florence Dunn, founding president at CHSU. “We were hoping, best-case scenario, to also reach candidate status for our College of Pharmacy with ACPE this summer. But we’re not surprised to learn that we need more time to have everything in place for the next accreditation step in our pharmacy program.”
“With the recent appointment of Dr. Wendy Duncan, our new Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Provost, and Interim Dean of Pharmacy, and with the benefit of learning from the experienced ACPE evaluators who visited us this year, we’re confident that we will achieve ACPE accreditation on schedule, upon the graduation of our first class, and that our students will be well-prepared to practice,” said Dunn.
The achievement with WSCUC was made possible by support from the entire campus community — from the Board of Trustees and Administration to the faculty, staff and students at CHSU — many of whom served on committees to help prepare the accreditation self-evaluations, Dunn said.
The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) granted the CHSU College of Pharmacy pre-candidate accreditation in January 2014 — the first of three steps leading to accreditation by the ACPE.
The university and its College of Pharmacy will be eligible for full accreditation by WSCUC and ACPE upon graduation of the first class in 2018.
About California Health Sciences University
California Health Sciences University was founded in 2012 and is the first university of its kind in the Central Valley. Envisioned by the Assemi family, CHSU offers a local option for health care professionals seeking doctoral and continuing education programs and to help remedy the shortage of health care services offered in the Valley. Students can enjoy the unique combination of high quality of life, affordable cost of living and plentiful career opportunities the Valley provides.
The College of Pharmacy was the first program offered because of the demand for pharmacists in the region and will employ more than 50, mostly faculty, and intends to train over 300 student pharmacists within the 4-year program at full capacity. The current campus is located at 120 N. Clovis Avenue near Herndon Avenue and freeway 168. Plans for a master campus on 179 acres in Millerton are currently under review with the County of Fresno.
The fall 2016 admission cycle for the CHSU College of Pharmacy began in July and applications for the Doctor of Pharmacy program are now being accepted. Visit the Admissions page on the university website for details.