SECTION 153.
There shall be a special commission to study the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the University of Massachusetts at Lowell jointly establishing a public school of pharmacy. The commission shall consist of the president of the University of Massachusetts system or a designee who shall be the chair; the commissioner of higher education or a designee; the chair of the board of higher education or a designee; the chair of the University of Massachusetts board of trustees or a designee; a member of the University of Massachusetts board of trustees or a designee; the chancellor of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst or a designee; the chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Lowell or a designee; the commissioner of public health or a designee with experience in pharmaceutical science and the senate and house chairs of the joint committee on higher education. The commission shall convene its first official meeting not later than September 1, 2010.
The commission shall make a comprehensive study of the feasibility of establishing, as a joint venture between the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, a public school of pharmacy. The study shall include, but not be limited to, establishing a doctor of pharmacy degree program as well as graduate degree programs in pharmaceutical science; the needed additional resources and infrastructure necessary to build the appropriate curriculum and establish a school of pharmacy; the tuition and fees necessary to support a pharmacy program; a timeline for establishing a school of pharmacy; the start-up costs for establishing a school of pharmacy; a plan for the sharing of resources and costs by the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the University of Massachusetts at Lowell; and the cost of any recommendations the commission may make.
The commission shall prepare a report of the findings and recommendations together with recommendations for legislation to implement those recommendations by filing the same with the clerks of the senate and house of representatives, the chairs of the house and senate committee on ways and means and the chairs on the joint committee of higher education not later than April 1, 2011.