A gift from the DuBow Family Foundation is changing the classroom learning experience for University of Florida College of Pharmacy students in Jacksonville. In the fall of 2016, the college opened a state-of-the-art, interactive classroom that connects pharmacy students in Jacksonville with their professors and peers in Gainesville and Orlando via video conferencing. The virtual environment supports the college’s new team-based learning curriculum, as the classroom features space for 10 teams to assemble for lectures and discussions while surrounded by television monitors on the walls and cameras throughout the room.
“As we restructured our curriculum to meet the educational needs of a 21st century pharmacist, we saw the need to design a classroom that would support a collaborative and virtual learning environment for our pharmacy students,” said Julie Johnson, Pharm.D., dean and distinguished professor of the UF College of Pharmacy. “The DuBow Family Foundation enthusiastically embraced our vision of improving pharmacy education in Jacksonville, and we are grateful for their support in establishing this new interactive classroom for our students.”
Lawrence DuBow, a registered pharmacist, has spent more than 50 years working in the drug industry. He, along with his wife, Linda, and their two children, Michael and Susan, established the DuBow Family Foundation in 1988. For nearly three decades, they have generously supported charities, community organizations and educational programs that make an impact in their communities and state, including the UF College of Pharmacy.
“There are few gifts in life more gratifying than an education,” said Lawrence DuBow at a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the grand opening of the classroom on Oct. 10. “My family and I appreciate the opportunity to work with the College of Pharmacy and support the exceptional education programs and students that exist here. These efforts are what make UF a world-class institution.”
The interactive classroom allows professors to lead lectures in one location and have pharmacy students join the discussion remotely. Each student table features a microphone for communication and automated cameras throughout the room will immediately focus on a team once a microphone is turned on. Jacksonville students can also share content and video over a secure network with classmates at other campuses.