July 2014

Faculty Data Focus: Rise in Number of Faculty Tracks Student Increase

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The total number of full-time faculty employed by U.S. colleges of veterinary medicine stood at just under 3,900 during the 2013-2014 academic year. Faculty ranks have increased by nine percent over the last five years, which tracks closely with the rate of growth in DVM student enrollment during the same period. The number of women faculty increased by nearly 21 percent, with much of the growth focused among non-tenured clinical faculty and administrative positions. Overall, the percentage of women faculty increased about four percent. Unfortunately, efforts to increase racial and ethnic diversity among faculty have not resulted in similar increases. Learn more.

Baker Becomes Dean at Michigan State CVM

Dr. John Baker

Dr. John Baker is the new dean at Michigan State University's (MSU's) College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Baker, who has been a professor in MSU's Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences for the past 30 years, served as the university's associate director of AgBioResearch. He is board certified by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, with primary research interests in viral respiratory diseases of livestock species. He succeeds Dr. Christopher Brown, who has served as dean since 2006. Learn more.

AAVMC's VEC Sharpens Skills, Celebrates Teaching

The lead organizers for the past AAVMC VEC Symposia. Click to learn more.

About 180 veterinary medical faculty members and related stakeholders attended the AAVMC's Veterinary Educator Collaborative (VEC) Symposium June 13-14 at Iowa State University. The event, designed to foster teaching excellence in academic veterinary medicine, provides an opportunity to get ideas for improved teaching and learn about how to deal with practical challenges, such as conducting communications assessment on a budget or running effective medical rounds. Expert instructors and educational specialists make presentations on what works and why. Learn more.

American Veterinary Medical History Society to Focus on Education

The American Veterinary Medical History Society will hold its 37th annual meeting and program on Monday, July 28, 2014 from 8:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. in Capital Ballroom 7 of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Denver, Colorado. The meeting is being held in conjunction with the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Convention. The theme of the meeting is "History of Veterinary Medical Education in the United States." Learn more.

LGVMA Hosts Keynote Address on LGBTQ Rights and Strategy

The Lesbian and Gay Veterinary Medical Association (LGVMA) will host a keynote address by Jeremy Pittman of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Fund on "Current Update of LGBTQ Rights and Strategy" at 6 p.m. on Sunday, July 27, 2014, in Denver, Colorado. The lecture, sponsored by the HRC and Zoetis, will be held in the Hyatt Regency Denver Convention Center, Capitol 1, in conjunction with the AVMA Convention. Learn more.

University of Georgia Professor Named to COE

Dr. Spencer Johnston

A five-member selection committee established by the AAVMC reviewed candidates and selected Dr. Spencer A. Johnston, the James and Marjorie Waggoner Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, to serve as a member of the Council on Education (COE). He is a former professor at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine (VMRCVM), where he had a clinical specialty focus in orthopedic surgery. He left Virginia Tech in 2003 for private surgical practice, but returned to academic veterinary medicine when he joined the UGA faculty in 2007. He begins his term in July 2014. Learn more.

Important Dates:

July 18, 2014: Deadline for submitting proposals for educational sessions and posters for the 2015 AAVMC Annual Conference and Iverson Bell Symposium
July 28 2014: Assembly Meeting, Denver, CO
March 13-15, 2015: AAVMC Annual Conference and Iverson Bell Symposium, Washington, DC