A note from Linda Garrelts MacLean

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

The last few weeks have come as a complete shock to many of us. Unprecedented is the one word that describes what is happening worldwide, in our nation, and the state of Washington. As destructive as this pandemic has been to so many families, students and businesses, I am in awe of the creativity, community, and resolve that it has brought out in our faculty, staff and students.

In so many ways, our faculty and staff have gone above and beyond to help each other to design a plan so that our students can continue on successful learning paths. Looking forward to the next few weeks and months, I would like to share with you my communication to faculty and staff about facing fear and doing the right thing during uncertain times.

One of the main challenges we face during this pandemic is not only to get our students to successfully complete their degrees, but to ensure they graduate on time. Several students have been displaced from their rotations, but for the majority of our students, their final blocks have been their first real-world tests as health care providers and a once-in-a-lifetime experience in treating patients during a time of crisis.

With a heavy heart, we have also had to cancel commencement this year. Given the current situation in Washington state, we cannot safely hold this celebration in good conscience without impacting the efforts by public health officials to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. While this year’s challenges have been unprecedented, it should not diminish our students’ accomplishments in any way. Conversely, I hope it reinforces their roles as health care providers and their important responsibility to protect the health of the communities they serve.

On behalf of the leadership at the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, we hope that you and your families are doing well during these challenging times. Leading our students, colleges, businesses, families and communities requires courage, but I am certain that it will all make us stronger when we come out at the other side of this. Whether you are a partner in our school, alumni, or colleagues at other pharmacy schools, you are in our hearts and we will get through this together.

You can read all the latest announcements from our college to our students, faculty and staff on our COVID-19 webpage.

Creativeness, flexibility, visionary thinking and problem solving, willingness to work hard, and an unparalleled dedication to our program and each other is what I see day in and day out at our college. I have every confidence that we will work through these bumps without trepidation.

With best regards and much respect,

Linda Garrelts MacLean, Interim Dean
WSU College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences