VIAGRA NEWS

Source: Charlotte Observer

Date: 10-May-2007

Author: Cliff Harrington

Wingate University is living its own version of a famous line from the movie "Field of Dreams": "If you build it, they will come."

Wingate built a school of pharmacy and the applications have come. You could actually say they've flooded. This year the school has 1,112 applications for 72 seats.

The program is in its fourth year. So today Neighbors of Union County is honoring the school's first graduating class.

Fifty-six students will get their doctoral degrees this weekend from the School of Pharmacy. You've probably seen them working as interns in area pharmacies, dressed in their white coats with the Wingate logo.

"These students were the pioneer class," said Robert Supernaw, dean of the School of Pharmacy. "They came in not knowing how the program would run and they've been resilient."

Supernaw said the students were mature. Some had been waiting for the school to open. The average age was 24. They were able to cope with changes along the way.

"All of the course work was not detailed when they arrived. We built the program as they went along and they were quite accepting of a program in evolution," he said.

And it's still evolving.

The school is not fully accredited. However, it has candidate status, which is the highest rating a school can get until after a class has graduated. Accreditation will come from the American Council for Pharmaceutical Education, based in Chicago.

Supernaw said they expect to get full accreditation in June. Wingate President Dr. Jerry McGee said the council has been very supportive of Wingate, even before the school opened.

The program is a doctorate-only program, and the school's first doctoral program.

"This really is the culmination of dreaming and hard work," McGee said. "We began dreaming and talking about seven years ago. We knew there wasn't a school of pharmacy between Chapel Hill and Memphis (Tenn.)."

The school of pharmacy has brought attention to the little campus just off U.S. 74 that you pass traveling east and west across the state. The evidence is the flood of applicants seeking entry.

"This is the little school that could," McGee said. "This has elevated us to another level and we're pleased ... We knew there was a lot of interest, but we didn't know there was that kind of interest."

He credited Supernaw for putting together an innovative curriculum.

In one of my columns last fall, I said Wingate was a hidden gem in this county. Well, it's becoming less and less hidden and more and more of a gem. in my opinion Cliff

Harrington