Cecilia M. Plaza, PharmD, PhD is currently the Director of Academic Affairs and Assessment for the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP). Her activities in the area of academic affairs focus on curricular and institutional quality improvement, instructional design, and assessment. She has program development responsibilities for the annual AACP Teachers Seminars and Education Scholar. Prior to her current position, Dr. Plaza maintained an active part-time community pharmacy practice while attending graduate school, serving as a staff pharmacist and then as an assistant pharmacy manager for Fry's Food & Drug.

Dr. Plaza received her doctor of pharmacy degree in 2000, her masters in pharmaceutical sciences in 2003, and her doctor of philosophy degree in 2006 from the University of Arizona. Her M.S. and Ph.D. had a concentration in pharmaceutical education with a minor in Educational Psychology and included research in experiential education and curricular evaluation. She is a 2000-2002 Kappa Epsilon-American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education Nellie Wakeman Graduate Fellowship Scholar as well as 2005-2006 American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education Pre-Doctoral Fellow.

Relevant Presentations:

Plaza CM, Draugalis JR. Implications of Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience Placements, presented at the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy; San Diego, California, July 11, 2000.

Plaza CM, Retterer J, Draugalis JR, Herrier RN. Curricular Evaluation Using Self-Efficacy Measurements, presented at the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy; Toronto, Canada, July 10, 2001.

Plaza CM, Draugalis JR. How to Instill the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Graduate Students: A Case Study, presented at the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy; Kansas City, Missouri, July 16, 2002.

Plaza, CM, Draugalis JR, Skrepnek GH, Slack MK. Administrative Career Planning and Mentoring: A Ten-Year Update of the Pharmacy Deanship, presented at the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy; Minneapolis, Minnesota, July 22, 2003.

Plaza, CM, Draugalis JR. Epidemiology Scene Investigators: Pop Culture and the Medical Literature, presented at the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Annual Meeting; Salt Lake City, Utah, July 11, 2004.

Plaza, CM, Draugalis JR. Implications of Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience Placements, presented at the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Annual Meeting; Cincinnati, Ohio, July 11, 2005.

Plaza, CM, Draugalis JR, Skrepnek GH, Slack MK, Sauer KA. The Application of Transformative Learning to Curricular Evaluation, presented at the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy; San Diego, California, July 9, 2006.

Huynh D, Haines ST, Sturpe D, Layson-Wolf C, Watson K, Plaza CM. Readiness for Self-directed Learning and its Association with Traditional Instructional Outcomes, presented at the 108th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy; Orlando, Florida, July 15, 2007.

Huynh D, Haines ST, Sturpe D, Layson-Wolf C, Watson, K, Plaza CM. Predictors of Readiness for Self-directed Learning Among Fourth Year Student Pharmacists, presented at the 108th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy; Orlando, Florida, July 15, 2007.

Relevant Publications:

Plaza CM, Draugalis JR. Implications of advanced pharmacy practice experience placements. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. 2000; 64: 404-409.

Plaza CM, Draugalis JR, Retterer J, Herrier RN. Curricular evaluation using self-efficacy measurements. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. 2002; 66: 51-54.

Plaza CM, Draugalis JR, Slack MK, Skrepnek GH. Administrative career planning: a ten-year update of the pharmacy deanship. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. 2004; 68(1): article 8.

Plaza CM, Lofgren BD, Draugalis JR. Curricular evaluation using clinical practice guidelines: a hypothyroidism exemplar. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. 2004; 68(3): article 59.

Plaza CM, Draugalis JR. Keeping it real (or reel). inventio. 2004; 6(1): article 12.

Plaza CM, Draugalis JR, Skrepnek GH, Slack MK. Administrative mentoring and career planning in the pharmacy deanship. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. 2004; 68(4): article 86.

Plaza CM, Draugalis JR. Implications of advanced pharmacy practice experience placements: a 5-year update. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. 2005; 69(3): article 45.

Draugalis JR, Plaza CM. Emerging role of epidemiologic literacy. Annals of Pharmacotherapy. 2006; 40: 229-233.

Plaza CM, Draugalis JR, Slack MK, Skrepnek GH, Sauer KA. Curriculum mapping in program assessment and evaluation. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. 2007; 71(2): article 20.

Plaza CM, Draugalis JR, Slack MK, Skrepnek GH, Sauer KA. Use of reflective portfolios in health sciences education. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. 2007; 71(2): article 34.

Plaza CM. Progress exams in pharmacy education. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. 2007; 71(4): article 66.

Bradberry JC, Droege M, Evans RL, Guglielmo JB, Knapp DA, Knapp KK, Meyer SM, Poirier TI, Plaza CM. Curricula then and now: an environmental scan and recommendations since the Commission to Implement Change in Pharmaceutical Education: report of the 2006-2007 academic affairs committee. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. 2007; 71(4): article S10.

Draugalis JR, Plaza CM. Programmatic assessment of student experiences using a longitudinal survey. Pharmacy Practice. 2007; 5(3): 109-114.

Maine LL, Plaza CM, MacKinnon GE. Pharmacy education in the United States. International Pharmacy Journal. 2007; 22(1): 17-19.

Draugalis JR, Plaza CM. Preparing graduate students for teaching and service roles in pharmacy education. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. 2007; 75(5): article 105.

Draugalis JR, Coons SJ, Plaza CM. Best practices for survey research reports: a synopsis for authors and reviewers. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. 2008; 72(1): article 11.