The Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences has received full accreditation once again.
"Nineteen days after I arrive, I get a report that says the school is fully accredited," Dean Eleanor Green said. "So what a wonderful way to start a deanship here."
The council reviews documents from schools explaining the state of the programs, visits each one to get a first-hand look at the program, and determines accreditation the school.
During the visit, the council examines each of the criteria covered in the documents, tours the facilities, attends presentations on various projects going on in the school, and speaks with students and faculty. Joanna Horany, a third-year veterinary medicine student and president of the A&M student chapter of the American Veterinary Medical Association said the visit was successful and beneficial.
"Students were very pleased to be represented at the council's site visit, and the site team asked very thoughtful and insightful questions, and also allowed an open forum for students to discuss areas of concern and areas where the college excels," Horany said.
The council has 11 criteria in which schools must be competent; if a school is lacking in any area, it will not receive full accreditation. Schools are re-evaluated every seven years.
"We're obviously unbelievably proud of this veterinary school, and it was wonderful for us again to have an outside body come in and state the strengths of this college," said Kenita Rogers, the associate dean of professional programs at the veterinary medicine school. "They mentioned a lot of strengths, but for us it's about the student and for them it's about the student."
Green said all credit goes to the faculty employed within the last seven years.
"This accreditation is mainly about the education of students, so it's really a tribute to [Rogers] and the faculty," Green said. "The thing that attracted me to A&M was the quality of this program, and it was definitely the quality of the faculty, staff and students and the national reputation it holds."
The accreditation has an effect on everything to do with the CVM, from student recruitment to faculty recruitment.
In its report, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has made a recommendation to the 2011 legislature to expand the program at A&M. The board recommended the addition of a $60 million academic building and expansion of the small animal hospital.
"The better support we have, whether through the legislature or through the money we raise ourselves, the better we can be, and that's very exciting," Green said.
A&M is ranked third in the nation in terms of class size, but if the 2011 legislature accepts the recommendation, A&M will become the largest veterinary medicine school in the country by more than 50 students per class.
If passed, students should see progress and the proposed expansion should become a reality within six years, Green said.
"Not a week goes by that I do not read an article in a newspaper somewhere about the critical shortage of veterinarians in food animal veterinary medicine in rural areas of the country and in others areas of public health significance," Horany said. "Efforts are being made both on a national and on a state level to identify ways to address the shortages and I believe expanding class sizes is a positive step in fulfilling the country's need for more veterinarians."
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