Des Moines Register
09-09-06
ISU tries to put new life in vet school
Full accreditation, higher ranking sought
By LISA ROSSI
REGISTER AMES BUREAU
Ames, Ia. - Iowa State University's College of Veterinary Medicine is fighting
for its future.
At a time when Iowa State is trying to position itself as the nation's top
agricultural institution, the decision in 2004 by the American Veterinary Medical
Association to place the ISU college on the rare status of limited accreditation is
hanging over the heads of university officials.
The association was critical of the college's isolation area for animals with
infectious diseases, a prime concern "particularly in the days of bioterrorism,"
said Don Simmons, the director of education and research at the veterinary
association.
"The first place a disease would show up is in animals," he said.
The College of Veterinary Medicine - the first public veterinary college in the
United States - is also struggling to raise its national ranking. The Ames
veterinary college was ranked at No. 17 in 2003, the most recent year that U.S.
News & World Report evaluated schools that offered advanced degrees in
animal medicine.
This fall, the Ames veterinary college will start a $48 million project to renovate
and expand its facilities. The project will provide better isolation of highly
contagious large animals from the rest of the college's facilities, the key piece
needed for the College of Veterinary Medicine to regain full accreditation.
The project is expected to be finished by 2008. College leaders also say they
hope to add 30 faculty members in the next five years.
The second phase of upgrading the college will expand and improve areas for
work on small animals and pets. That work will cost an estimated $19 million
"Right now we're at a tipping point - from good to great," said John Thomson,
who took over as dean of the ISU veterinary college in July 2004, shortly after the
school was put on alert that its accreditation status had been lowered.
Thomson said that when he took over at the Ames college, ISU President
Gregory Geoffroy gave him the responsibility for regaining full accreditation and
raising the college's national ranking to the top 10 in five years. Geoffroy also
charged him with moving the ISU college into the top 5 in 10 years.
The focus on improving the veterinary school comes as public demand is
expected to increase for more medical specialists to work with pets and for more
veterinarians to work with large animals that need to be monitored for diseases
that can be passed onto humans, ISU leaders said.
With the growing nature of global travel, Thomson said, there is more opportunity
for dangerous organisms to move between countries, too.
There is extra pressure on the Ames college to finish construction quickly. ISU
announced a new program in July in which it will cooperate with the University of
Nebraska to allow up to 25 students from the Lincoln school to spend their last
two years of study in Ames and receive their doctorate of veterinary medicine
degree from Iowa State.
That effort is designed to increase enrollment at ISU and enhance opportunities
for qualified Nebraska students. The Ames veterinary college wants 530 students
enrolled by 2010 - almost 100 more than were enrolled in 2005.
In May, Smith, the official from the American Veterinary Medical Association,
visited Ames again to evaluate that agreement and the school's progress in
keeping infectious animals better isolated.
According to a report from that visit, he cautioned the school against delaying
work on its small-animal work spaces. He recommended that phase two of the
construction program, which has been approved by the university but not yet by
the Iowa Board of Regents, start in 2009.
"The addition of UN-L students will add very serious pressure on already
cramped facilities if an expanded clinical facility is not in place by the time they
arrive," Smith's report said.
David Hardin, an associate dean for the cooperative program in veterinary
medicine at the University of Nebraska, said Nebraska students won't arrive at
ISU until 2010.
"Barring any major delays in construction, you know the renovated facilities
should be available," he said.
Leaders of the ISU College of Veterinary Medicine said they are also working to
raise the rest of the money needed for the first phase of the construction
program. That phase needs $9.3 million in donations. The school still needs to
raise $3.8 million by 2008, officials said.
Accreditation
The Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine was placed on limited
accreditation in 2004 for deficiencies in its facilities. Here's what that means and
how ISU leaders expect to regain full accreditation.
LIMITED ACCREDITATION: This accreditation status means a college has
specific deficiencies in one or more standards that affect students' learning or
safety. The deficiencies are such that they can be corrected in no more than two
years.
FULL ACCREDITATION: The College of Veterinary Medicine wants to achieve
full accreditation by the year 2010. Full accreditation lasts for seven years,
contingent upon satisfactory review by the American Veterinary Medical
Association each year.
BENEFITS: Full accreditation represents the highest standard of achievement for
veterinary medical education in the United States. Accreditation means the
institution has a commitment to quality and continuous improvement through the
rigorous, comprehensive peer review. Graduation from an accredited institution is
a prerequisite for obtaining a license or certification for professional practice
through the majority of state licensing boards.
Source: American Veterinary Medical Association