Report of the 2009-2010 standing committee on advocacy.

INTRODUCTION According to the Bylaws of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), the Advocacy Committee: "will advise the Board of Directors on the formation of positions on matters of public policy and on strategies to advance those positions to the public and private sectors on behalf of academic pharmacy." COMMITTEE CHARGE President Jeffrey N. Baldwin charged the 2009-2010 Advocacy Committee to: "examine the Academy's ability to align education to support and enhance the strategic goals of the federal government's agencies focused on meeting public need for primary health care." The strategic plan of the Health Resources and Services Administration contains seven goal statements: As the Nation's Access Agency, HRSA focuses on uninsured, underserved, and special needs populations in its goals and program activities: GOAL 1: Improve Access to Health Care. GOAL 2: Improve Health Outcomes. GOAL 3: Improve the Quality of Health Care. GOAL 4: Eliminate Health Disparities. GOAL 5: Improve the Public Health and Health Care Systems. GOAL 6: Enhance the Ability of the Health Care System to Respond to Public Health Emergencies. GOAL 7: Achieve Excellence in Management Practices. The committee conducted its business through a face-to-face meeting in October 2009, conference calls, a dedicated Google-site to facilitate the sharing of information and e-mail. Each member of the committee was asked to select one of strategic goals of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) as their primary report submission effort. The committee determined that Goal 7 was not appropriate for consideration due to its focus on the internal management of HRSA. The committee agreed to a format for reviewing the Academy's ability to support and enhance the HRSA strategic goals that included: 1. an assessment of evidence that the Academy is actively engaged in areas relevant to the goal; 2. determining that, if the Academy is not directly engaged in areas relevant to the goal, should it be?; and 3. a review of the literature, including American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) educational policy and recommendations, and suggestions of AACP standing committees, to assist in the determination that if the Academy should be involved in areas relevant to the goal, what should that engagement be or how should it be presented to the Academy to create engagement? Through a consensus process the committee agreed to a set of information-seeking questions that each would ask a self-selected group comprising 51 colleges and schools of pharmacy. The committee member selections took into consideration the diverse membership of the Academy. Information gained through contacting faculty at the selected institutions provided the appropriate response to the three questions listed above (Appendix I). Institutions participating in the information collection activity include: Auburn University Butler University Campbell University Creighton University Drake University Idaho State University Loma Linda University Mercer University Midwestern University-Chicago Northeastern University Ohio Northern University Oregon State University Pacific University Purdue University St. Louis College of Pharmacy Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Texas A&M Health Science Center Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center The Ohio State University The University of Arizona The University of Findlay The University of Montana The University of New Mexico The University of Tennessee The University of Texas at Austin The University of Toledo The University of Utah Touro University Union University University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences University of California, San Diego University of California, San Francisco University of Colorado Denver University of Florida University of Illinois at Chicago University of Michigan University of Minnesota University of Missouri-Kansas City University of Nebraska Medical Center University of Southern California University of Southern Nevada University of the Incarnate Word University of the Pacific University of Washington University of Wisconsin University of Wyoming Washington State University Western University of Health Sciences West Virginia University BACKGROUND The Health Resources and Services Administration was established in 1973 and is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. …