Aug. 21--Concordia University has received $1 million from Green Bay-based discount chain Shopko -- the lead gift in the university's $20 million campaign to create a School of Pharmacy that would open in 2010 at the lakeside Mequon campus.
Shopko Chairman and CEO Mike MacDonald and Executive Vice President of Retail Health Services Mike Bettiga plan to present a check at 9 a.m. today to Concordia officials.
"Shopko is proud to be giving the first gift for the creation of Concordia's new pharmacy school," Bettiga said. "Shopko was founded by a pharmacist over 46 years ago, and pharmacy has been pivotal to our business ever since."
The new school is designed to meet the growing demand for pharmacists in Wisconsin and throughout the country. That demand is expected to increase in coming years as more pharmacists retire. The state's only pharmacy school is at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Wisconsin has the highest demand for pharmacists of any state in the country, according to the Pharmacy Manpower Project, a nonprofit corporation that develops data on the size and demography of the pharmacy workforce. Concordia plans to accept 50 to 75 students for each class. UW-Madison, by comparison, graduates about 130 students a year.
The educational model also will be different. Students who have completed two years of a pre-pharmacy program can apply to Concordia. Those who finish two years can earn a bachelor's in pharmaceutical science. Those who stay for four years can get a doctor of pharmacy degree.
School of Pharmacy Executive Dean Curt Gielow said he's thankful to Shopko for the gift, which shows the company's interest in increasing the pool of pharmacists for its stores in urban and rural Wisconsin.
"It's only a small portion of what I need, but, hopefully, it will stimulate others to make a decision as to whether or not a pharmacy school in Wisconsin -- and one in the metro Milwaukee healthcare market -- is of value," he said.
The new building alone will cost about $17 million, based on preliminary estimates from Zimmerman Architectural Studios in Wauwatosa, Gielow said.
The school also needs to assemble a senior leadership team, begin the accreditation process and eventually hire 30 to 40 faculty members. The goal is to raise at least $10 million in the next six to eight months. If school leaders can't meet that target, they will have to re-evaluate the plans to open by 2010, Gielow said.
The 5,500-student Concordia University is affiliated with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and is a member of the Concordia University System, a nationwide network of colleges and universities. Its main campus is on 192 acres at 12800 N. Lake Shore Drive. It also has 16 adult education centers and classroom locations throughout the state.
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