Under the guidance of SKCTC President W. Bruce Ayers, the school seeks to expand service to the region, offering programs that fill needs of the populace.

“This will be a very rigorous pre-pharmacy curriculum. If they do well, our students would have priority over applicants with similar grades and scores coming from a school that is not part of this agreement” said Dr. Wheeler Conover, interim dean of academic affairs.

Dr. Frank Kilgore, chairman of the Board of Trustees for the University of Appalachia, said, “This is a big moment for us, I’ve been so busy and excited, I haven’t slept much in the last few days.”

The articulation agreement announcement reads in part: “In order for our students to meet pre-requisites of the UACP (University of Appalachia College of Pharmacy) and to allow them to apply as many hours as possible toward SKCTC’s Associate in Science (AS) degree, we have developed the following curriculum for SKCTC students. These courses have more rigor or specificity than those required by UACP to provide the maximum benefit to the potential pharmacist.”

Courses listed vary from Chemistry, Biology, Physics and Mathematics to Public Speaking, Humanities and English Composition. Total hours for the program would be from 80-84 college hours.

Ruby Sparkman, of Gordon, is in her final semester in pursuit of an AS degree, and has worked as a Pharmacy Technician at Rite-Aid in Cumberland since July. “I’m looking forward to applying, a lot more people will choose the field with closer access to these classes,” she said.