Binghamton University is going forward with their effort to open a pharmacy school on campus, and if all goes according to plan, it could be open as soon as the Fall of 2017. After months of research, BU recently submitted a letter of intent to the SUNY system, outlining how the new program would benefit both the university and other SUNY schools. BU officials hope a full proposal which must be submitted to SUNY officials will be sent in the spring. A number of hurdles need to be clear by BU for the school to become a reality, including approval from SUNY as well as the state Education Department, along with earning an accreditation from the American Council of Pharmacy Education. Creating a new program and school on campus also requires new faculty and staff members, including finding a dean for the school sometime during the 2014-2015 academic year, and assembling a faculty the year after that to help develop curriculum. That schedule would keep BU right on track for an opening in 2017. Currently the University of Buffalo is the only other public school in New York state with a pharmacy school.
