Message from the Dean

The TEACHER-Scholar Model

In higher education there are three academic models that can be implemented:

(1) The scholar-teacher model. Faculty members are required to focus on scholarship over teaching and are expected to generate some portion of their salary from research grants or clinical practice site. This model runs the risk of the faculty member’s focus moving away from teaching.

(2) The teacher-only model. Faculty are expected to focus only on their teaching and are rewarded for their teaching efforts. In this model, however, the faculty member runs the risk of not staying current within their discipline. Consequently, the faculty member’s teaching (although good) suffers as a result.

(3) The teacher-scholar model. Faculty members are rewarded for excellence in the classroom but are expected to be professionally active in scholarship through research and/or maintaining a clinical practice site. This model allows the faculty member to focus on the importance of teaching while staying current within their discipline.

Here in the Raabe College of Pharmacy, we have adopted the TEACHER-scholar model. Last year our students won numerous state and national awards and competitions: the national regional award for the APhA-ASP Heartburn Awareness Challenge, APhA-ASP Project Chance Award, OPA OTC Challenge, OPA Pharmacy Olympics, the AMCP Elite 8 (National P&T Competition), Red Cross Youth of the Year Award and NCPA Student Chapter of the Year (national runner-up). Our faculty received the national advisor awards from Kappa Epsilon and NCPA and the Public Health Services Excellence in Pharmacy Practice Award.

We always welcome the opportunity to meet prospective students and families and to catch up with alumni and friends. If you visit campus, please schedule a tour of the college so you can see the TEACHER-scholar model first hand.

Dr. Jon Sprague
Professor of pharmacology and dean
College of Pharmacy