Published on January 14, 2020 by Sarah Waller  

“Every endeavor or ‘game’ in life has its own rules and its own definition of what it means to win. Some teams measure their success in points scored, others in profits. Still others may look at the number of people they serve. But no matter what the game is, there’s always a scoreboard. And if a team is to accomplish its goals, it has to know the score.”

Michael Crouch, dean of Samford University’s McWhorter School of Pharmacy, shared this devotion from John C. Maxwell’s book, A Leader’s Heart, during the school’s annual State of the School Address. First established in 2015, this annual event speaks to the accomplishments of the past year and shares a vision for the year to come. 

But with Maxwell’s devotion in mind, Crouch challenged the students, faculty, staff and alumni in attendance to view the school’s accomplishments through a new lens.

“If I’m working with our accrediting body or deans of other pharmacy schools, they’ll tell you that our scoreboard is our outcomes. While this is important—and we are doing tremendously well in this respect—this is not how we measure our success,” Crouch said.  “We measure our success based on how well we achieve our mission: to prepare students in a nurturing, Christian environment to be exemplary pharmacists and improve health worldwide through innovative pharmacy practice, scholarship and service.” 

“This is what we are here for,” he said to students. “We are here for you.”

Alumni featured at annual State of the School address.

Crouch then explained how he composed the school’s scoreboard for the past year:

  • 460 The number of outstanding student pharmacist enrolled in the school’s Doctor of Pharmacy program.
  • 234,552 The number of service hours Doctor of Pharmacy students provided in the community last year, including pharmacy practice hours and co-curricular outreach.
  • 45 The number of students who traveled internationally through study abroad courses, mission service trips and international rotations.
  • 60 The number of remarkable faculty and staff who live the school’s mission
  • 5,000+ The number of the school’s alumni throughout the country and around the world, transforming lives through pharmacy practice.

As a part of the presentation, Crouch featured several alumni who were also in attendance, including Bill Box ’83, Brenda Densen ‘98 and David Bush ’91.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 5,791 students from 49 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.