Compass Knowledge Group Helps University of Florida Reach Milestone in Distance Learning Program

Compass Knowledge Group or "Compass" proudly announces a milestone in its relationship with the University of Florida's (UF) Working Professional Doctor of Pharmacy (WPPD) Program. With the help of Compass, UF's WPPD distance learning program recently graduated its 1,000th student.

Orlando, FL (PRWEB) September 5, 2006 -- Compass Knowledge Group or "Compass" proudly announces a milestone in its relationship with the University of Florida's (UF) Working Professional Doctor of Pharmacy (WPPD) Program (http://pharmd.distancelearning.ufl.edu). With the help of Compass, UF's WPPD distance learning program recently graduated its 1,000th student.

On Aug. 12, Lt. Cmdr. Teresa Watkins, a pharmacist at the U.S. Public Health Service in Washington, D.C., traveled to Gainesville to attend her graduation ceremony in which Watkins was named the 1,000th graduate of the UF WPPD program (www.pharmd.distancelearning.ufl.edu). Her by-chance ranking was secondary to her personal achievement of graduating with top honors and receiving the college's Outstanding Leadership award.

"The program was incredibly rigorous. I continue to be amazed by the quality of the faculty as well as the caliber of student the program attracts," Watkins said. "My success is due, in large part, to the support of my family and classmates. I am grateful for the friendships that developed over the last three years."

Since 1996, Compass has provided end-to-end services in marketing, student recruitment and retention, and instructional design to the University of Florida's distance learning WPPD program (http://pharmd.distancelearning.ufl.edu). This support allowed UF faculty to concentrate on teaching their students, while growing the national-and international-student enrollment from 40 to 600 by 2005.

Compass is a leading provider of distance learning services to colleges and universities across the country. The partnership between Compass and UF's WPPD was one of the Orlando-based company's first ventures into distance learning and helped build the foundation for many of Compass' successful partnerships in higher education.

As a business service provider acting for the university, Compass launched an aggressive marketing campaign to target prospective students. After increasing national awareness of the UF distance program for working pharmacists, Compass recruited prospective students and helped them through the admissions process, said CEO Dan Devine, a UF engineering alumnus.

"After enrollment, Compass continues to provide a complete range of proactive student services to keep students in the program through graduation," Devine said. "A retention rate of more than 90 percent and steady increases in student enrollment every term are evidence of our successful partnership with UF."

The need for the WPPD program (http://pharmd.distancelearning.ufl.edu) began in the mid-'90s when college and university pharmacy programs nationally began phasing out baccalaureate degrees in pharmacy and began offering the Doctor of Pharmacy Pharm.D. degree (http://pharmd.distancelearning.ufl.edu) as a first professional degree. This left working pharmacists in a difficult situation. Despite many years of work experience, they lacked advanced education and some of the clinical skills of new pharmacy graduates entering the workforce, said Sven Normann, Pharm.D., an associate dean for distance education in the College of Pharmacy.

For more information about the Working Professional Doctor of Pharmacy distance education program (http://pharmd.distancelearning.ufl.edu), contact a University of Florida Enrollment Advisor at 1-800-431-6687 or visit the program Web site, www.pharmd.distancelearning.ufl.edu.

About Compass Knowledge Group (www.compassknowledge.com)

Founded in 1993, Compass Knowledge Group, Inc. or "Compass" located in Orlando, Florida partners with higher education institutions to create successful distance learning programs. Our industry-leading consultants assess institutional readiness and degree program viability. Using best-in-class marketing, recruitment, and student retention services, Compass Knowledge Group introduces degree programs to the world and enables colleges and universities to succeed in the competitive online education marketplace.

###