This document is a casual and broadly informative tract, written with the intention of providing potential employees, particularly faculty applicants in Pharmaceutical Sciences, with additional information about ETSU, the new Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy, the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and living in Northeast Tennessee.

Positions have recently been filled in Pharmaceutics, Pharmacology, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Physiology, Biochemistry, Medicinal Chemistry. We are currently seeking to another position in Pharmaceutics.

East Tennessee State University is a regional state-supported institution serving approximately 13,000 students. ETSU is located in a beautiful, prosperous, Appalachian Mountain Community. East Tennessee State University’s stated goal is "to become the best regional university in the country." The new ETSU College of Pharmacy is one of five colleges in the ETSU Division of Health Affairs. The College of Pharmacy is still in its early stages of development. The third class of pharmacy students began the professional program in August 2008. Initially, instructional duties in Pharmacy have been performed with the very able assistance of faculty in basic sciences departments in the College of Medicine and the College of Health Sciences. These teaching responsibilities are being assumed by College of Pharmacy faculty as positions are filled and as the curriculum develops.

The ETSU Gatton College of Pharmacy is under the accreditation authority of the Academic Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE). Accreditation for new programs is a three-step process, with each step being achieved only with the approval of ACPE. The first step Pre-candidate standing was granted by ACPE in January 2007, prior to the admission of the first class of students. The second step, Candidate status was awarded in June, 2008. All new colleges of Pharmacy, including ours, are eligible for the final step of Full Accreditation only with the graduation of the first class. For us, that will be in May, 2010. To this point, all of our accreditation issues have been competently address in a timely manner and we are in good standing with ACPE at this point in our development.

DEPARTMENTAL FACULTY: At full staffing we expect our faculty to consist of 9 regular members, including the chair. Six new faculty joined the department in July of 2007. The range of previous academic experience among the new faculty is considerable. More information about them can be found of the Department’s website. Faculty positions are fully funded by the college as 12 month appointments, however, this is negotiable if candidates are interested in a shorter appointment.

SALARIES AND BENEFITS: Salary levels are nationally competitive for 12 month positions in public institutions in the US, consistent with the salary data published by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP). Benefits are comprehensive and the package is attractive. Health insurance is paid at 80% by the university. There is no state income tax in Tennessee. Employees are vested in the state retirement program in 5 years. There is an optional retirement plan through ING, TIAA-CREF, and AIG Valic. The university will pay up to $5,000 in moving expenses.

Three predominant themes will determine the selection of candidates.

1. The ability to teach effectively, now and in the future. We place a distinct emphasis on teaching quality. The department’s number one priority is to provide an excellent basic science education to students in the professional program. Proficiency in quality instruction is highly valued. We take seriously the admonition that our students should become life-long learners and we feel that being, or becoming a life-long learner requires an enthusiasm for learning that should be modeled by the faculty.

2. The ability to develop an independent research program, or integrate successfully into existing programs in the institution, of which there are many. The infrastructure supporting research activities at ETSU is well-developed and is supported by the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs. ETSU has a long-range research development plan: Turning Toward 2011 (link coming soon, pending the President’s approval of the recent revision.) This plan has been in place since 1989 and many of its goals and expectations have been exceeded. The document has been successful and its tenets will continue as a valuable guide. In the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, research and scholarly activities and productivity are expected to be consistent with the available resources, and consistent with the recent upward trajectory of the university as a whole. We do not expect faculty to spin straw into gold, however, to the extent that we provide lab space, start-up funds, a travel budget and assistantships for graduate students, results should be tangible and measurable. We place a strong value on academic freedom in scholarly pursuits. We believe that it is critically important to maintain an intellectually vibrant environment and that the scholarly activities of the faculty are essential for the success of statement #1, above.
3. Evidence of collegiality and flexibility. Because we are a new program, many of the tasks that face the founding faculty will be unlike those encountered in an established program. The faculty workload and job descriptions will change over time, just as our physical plant and work-spaces change. While the ETSU College of Pharmacy benefits tremendously from existing infrastructure, policies and procedures of the university in general, and the College of Medicine in particular, there will remain the need for faculty to be amenable in adapting to a variety one-time tasks, and to cope with both unanticipated frustrations and predictable change. As a result, successful applicants will need to be flexible and collegial in order to maintain workplace excellence and academic prosperity. Occasionally, academic departments become unhealthy and we believe the best solution to such a situation lies in prevention, by hiring the right individuals who can be both independent scholars, and cooperative members of a team.

For applicants who may have previous academic experience in public institutions of higher education: The department of Pharmaceutical Sciences will operate under of policy of deliberate unified intent. By this policy all guiding documents and statements will reflect a high degree of internal consistency and will be optimistic and realistically achievable. This means that the mission statement, strategic plans, goals and objectives, tenure and promotion requirements, annual evaluations, workload policy, resources for the accomplishment of the department’s required teaching, research and service will be continually monitored to optimize long-term productivity and to maintain the welfare of the faculty and the academic prosperity of the department as a whole.

Points of note:

• The spirit of the department assumes that individuals come to work predisposed to do a good job.
• There is a strong emphasis on high-quality work-life.
• Tenure is to be viewed not as a barrier to success or a hurdle, but rather a goal to be achieved with the help of the administration and colleagues. Tenure should serve to insure the retention of valued members of the faculty. Baring evidence to the contrary, we will assume we have hired the right people and we will do our best to keep them.
• The ability to perform constructive teamwork in a collegial manner is important.
• We place a strong value on individual academic freedom in scholarly pursuits.
• We believe that it is critically importance to maintain an intellectually vibrant environment.
• The department will allow some faculty-determined flexibility in defining elements of workload – how much teaching, how much research, how much service.

Research: Start-up funds, laboratory space and graduate assistant support will be provided. There are numerous opportunities for both independent and collaborative research in several departments in the College of Medicine, in Clinical departments and those in the basic sciences including: Anatomy and Cell Biology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Microbiology, Physiology and Pharmacology. Potential collaborations may develop with other departments of the main campus including Environmental Health Sciences, Biological Sciences, the Institute for Quantitative Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physical Therapy, Nursing and the Appalachian Center for Translational Research Disparities. This list is not exhaustive.

The population of Johnson City and it immediate communities is greater than 150,000. The tri-cities area (including Johnson City, Kingsport and Bristol) have a total population of greater the 400,000. For more information, try this link: (www.gotricities.com).

Demographic/population data (zip code 37615)

Weather is moderate, No hurricanes and tornadoes are rare.

Good educational opportunities

Back