St. John's News

St. John’s administrators work tirelessly to ensure that our students are provided with a quality, affordable education that embodies our Vincentian mission. In an effort to give our students, their parents and friends a glimpse into the challenges, responsibilities, and concerns of St. John’s leadership, we’re presenting a series of interviews with those who make a St. John’s education the stimulating, student-centered and rewarding experience that it is.

In this wide-ranging interview, Dean Robert A. Mangione talks about the programs offered in his College, the new science laboratories, and a new study-abroad opportunity that is debuting this spring.

Q:  Tell us about yourself. How long have you been with St. John’s? 

A.: I’ve been associated with St. John’s continuously since 1972 when I arrived as a freshman.  I am a four-time alumnus, I earned my bachelor’s and master’s degree from the College of Pharmacy, became a faculty member in 1979 andassistant dean for pharmacy student affairs in 1990. After that, I earned my P.D. and my Ed.D. at The School of Education.

Q. And about the College you lead. 
 
A: We have approximately 2,500 students in our undergraduate and graduate programs. The Doctor of Pharmacy Program (Pharm. D.) is our largest with 1,625 students, and is the second largest major at St. John’s. Unlike most other pharmacy programs in the U.S., which divide their pharmacy program curriculum into two years of pre-pharmacy followed by a second application for admission to the final four years of the program, ours is a continuous six-year curriculum that admits students into the program as freshmen directly from high school. More than 3,000 high school seniors applied for 300 first-year pharmacy seats in this year’s freshman class.

We also have undergraduate programs leading to a bachelor of science in Physician Assistant, Medical Technology, Radiologic Technology, and Toxicology, as well as programs preparing students to become New York State-certified Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics.

Our outstanding graduate programs include pharmaceutical sciences (pharmacology, medicinal chemistry, industrial pharmacy), pharmacy administration (pharmaceutical marketing, regulatory affairs and quality assurance) and toxicology.  

Q: There’s a critical shortage of pharmacists today. Are your pharmacy students aware of the many opportunities waiting for them?

A:  I think they are. There’s also a great need for physician assistants, our second largest program. National labor statistics projections confirm that there is a significant shortage of practitioners in these two areas and that it will continue for many years.

It’s particularly noteworthy that we seek to “socialize” students in all of our graduate and undergraduate programs to become knowledgeable professionals and, hopefully, the compassionate Vincentian practitioners we want them to become.

While it’s enjoyable to teach science to someone who’s interested in science because they’re going to embrace it, it is far more important to teach students to apply their knowledge of science in a empathetic, caring manner that’s required of a pharmacist, physician assistant, radiologic technologist, clinical laboratory scientist, and toxicologist. We try to remind students that there’s no room for mistakes in their professions.

Q: How do you instill that Vincentian mission in your students?

A:  Our faculty and administration demonstrate mission by their actions.  We schedule activities that emphasize the special responsibility we have to serving the urban poor, in particular.  Students also benefit from a core curriculum that requires philosophy and theology, which distinguishes us from most other pharmacy schools.  When students ask “why do I have to study these courses?” I often respond that it may be the most important thing you learn. In the course of their careers, our students will confront severe illness and care for patients who won’t survive. That’s when courses in theology and philosophy are so very valuable.

Q:  Some of your faculty incorporate academic service learning into their courses, providing students with practical experience in helping the less fortunate. 

A:  Academic service learning activities are extremely valuable. We require all first-year Pharm. D. students to engage in an academic service-learning project that includes visiting and working with nursing home residents.  It’s very important, right from the beginning, for our students to appreciate how challenging it is to be a vulnerable patient in the health care system today.  We want them to develop empathy and always consider how they can apply what they are learning to help their patients.

Q: Tell us about your students.

A:  I believe we have the best in the country, not just in their  academic performance but as great people. The diversity of our student body contributes to creating a very rich environment. We keep them engaged through professional organizations and by celebrating activities that highlight their intended professions. Our White Coat ceremonies and the special recognition periods for the professions such as American Pharmacists Month and National Physicians Assistant Week are special traditions in the College.

The clinical laboratory sciences and toxicology professions are also highlighted at designated times of the year. Our “Lunch with a Leader” lecture series and the Toxicology symposium are great successes. We also enjoy learning from the leaders in sciences who we invite to campus to speak at our symposia. Highlighting the research activities of our graduate students and faculty during “research week” is always a special event.

Q.: And your faculty?

A.: We also have a very diverse faculty. I often say that it’s particularly special, that “we’re enriched by students and faculty of many faiths and, at the same time, we’re all Vincentian.” That’s very important to us. Our Mission Statement must be more than a document that hangs on a wall, it must be the way we approach our teaching and learning, how we live our lives.

Q:  Tell us about faculty research.

A.: Our faculty and students are involved in cutting-edge research. They strive not only to make new discoveries but also to bring the excitement of their research into the classroom. At present, our professors are doing research in St. John’s labs in many critically important areas, including cystic fibrosis, pulmonary toxicity, cancer chemotherapy, drug modeling and other important topics. Our Clinical Pharmacy Practice faculty engage in important research at  patients’ bedsides at  the major medical centers we’re affiliated with. Our adjunct faculty are also outstanding in their fields, either as practitioners or scholars, and we benefit from their expertise.

Q:  So students in the College are actually taught by faculty, not by teaching or graduate assistants?

A:  Yes, professors are teaching students in the classroom. They are excellent researchers and outstanding teachers. We do utilize graduate-student teaching fellows as instructors in our labs—that’s part of our commitment to developing future academicians—but even in that case, every teaching fellow reports to, and is mentored by, a full-time faculty member. 

Q:  You mention laboratories. St. John’s just completed the Science Master Plan.  How do students benefit?

A:  It has transformed us.  Our instructional facilities are cutting-edge, and it’s an absolute pleasure, not only to see our students working in our new labs, but also to see the expressions on the faces of prospective students and their families when they visit.  We’ve also benefited from a number of enhanced research laboratories.  We’re very grateful for the support that science has received from Dr. Upton, Fr. Harrington and the Board of Trustees.  

Looking to the future, my goal is to obtain sufficient external funding that will enable us to add a wing on the building. Right now, we’re engaged in a campaign to build, among other improvements, an industrial pharmacy laboratory. Although our current industrial pharmacy lab is functional, our students could benefit tremendously from a new state-of-the-art model pharmaceutical-manufacturing facility. I’m working with some of our dedicated alumni to make this dream come true.   We’re calling upon the pharmaceutical industry for help because this project will provide mutual benefit to St. John’s and the industry as our graduates become leading pharmaceutical scientists excelling in the discovery and development of new products and dosage forms.

Q: Can your students study abroad?

A:  For the first time, our Pharm. D. students will be able to study abroad this spring while keeping pace with their classmates in Queens. As it’s now being designed, we’ll have a European professor teach biochemistry in Salamanca, Spain or Dublin, Ireland. Students will also spend time in Paris where, through distance learning, they’ll be taught pharmacoeconomics by a faculty member in Queens.  Then, one of our professors will meet them in Rome to teach them anatomy and physiology and public health. 

Q:  They’ll be gone for the whole semester?

A: Yes. We had always recognized the challenge of making this work because the Pharm.D. program has such a highly structured curriculum.  Associate Dean Joseph Brocavich worked with the department chairs to craft this program, which will begin this spring. Right now more than 40 Pharm.D. students have registered to participate, which is a little more than we expected.   Next we’ll be looking at the PA program to find a way to offer these students a similar opportunity.  

Q: Distance Learning facilitates some of the process. 

A:  Right.  And, offering courses like pharmacoeconomics online should work well as these students developed the strong background needed while studying courses offered earlier in the curriculum. I’m particularly pleased that the professor who will be teaching this online course is currently enrolled in the special distance-education instructional program offered by the University. This is a great formula for success.

Q: Do you have an opportunity to interact personally with students?

A: I intentionally walk the halls and visit the laboratories as much as I can. I’m also teaching a course in social aspects of pharmacy this semester which I’m thoroughly enjoying. In addition, I go to the Bartilucci Center as often as a possible and hold town hall meetings with students in that building at least once a semester. I get such pleasure out of working with them.  I want them to know who I am, that’s important to me. 

Q: How do you provide advisement?    

A:  We work very closely with the Freshman Center as they advise all first-year students.   When students transition to this office in the second year, we have an assistant dean and three assistants to the dean, who focus on advising the Pharm.D. students, and an assistant dean who advises the students in the Allied Health Profession majors. Graduate student advisement is done by faculty with the support of an assistant dean. Ultimately, it’s my responsibility to make sure that our students are obtaining the advice and counsel they need. If a student says, “I need to see Dean Mangione,” I always try to see him/her. If my other commitments don’t allow me to see the student immediately, I’ll call the student back that evening. 

We don’t engage in advisement at the counter. Students are welcomed into their advisor’s office to meet one-on-one. If a student needs non-academic support, which may exceed the areas we focus on, we facilitate a meeting with the most qualified person on campus to assist him or her. We work very closely with the University Counseling Center, the Office of Student Affairs and other student service providers at St. John’s.

Q:  Father Harrington has challenged us to provide extraordinary service to students? How do you do that?

A:  We always look for that balance of being a good leader, being empathetic, being available while never compromising our commitment to excellence. It’s always a great joy to engage students who are excelling (as most of ours are); however, I also believe that one of the privileges and responsibilities of being a dean or a faculty member is to help students who perhaps aren’t achieving to the degree they should be or could be. We must be excellent role models who inspire students by our example so that they will share our love of science and commitment to patient care. We support them, guide them and, at times, redirect them.

Q:  You appear to love serving as dean.

A:  I am truly privileged to serve as dean of this great College and hope to serve for many more years. My hope is that when my time as dean has concluded, it will be said that I maintained the school’s high standards of excellence. I would be especially honored if people say that the school embraced our Vincentian mission under my leadership. I recognize that I’m simply a facilitator, I facilitate the faculty’s good works, and do the same for our students.  If I can give them the tools they need, hold the door open for them so to speak, then I know they will do great things. I’m a very fortunate dean, I really am.