Veterinary college awarded full accreditation by the American Veterinary Medical Association
The Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine has been awarded full accreditation from the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Council on Education for a seven-year period.
All colleges of veterinary medicine accredited by the association must undergo a comprehensive evaluation by the association’s Council on Education every seven years. The accreditation process includes a detailed institutional self-study that includes extensive surveys concerning programs and outcomes, the publication of a comprehensive accreditation document, and a major site inspection visit conducted by site evaluation team from the association.
“This affirmation of the quality of our college’s programs in learning, discovery and engagement is a direct result of the talent and dedication that our employees and our students bring to our college every day,” said Dr. Gerhardt Schurig, dean of the veterinary college. “I’d like to recognize them all for the role they have played in helping our college achieve this important distinction.”
The accreditation process measures how well colleges of veterinary medicine meet certain standards that have been deemed essential to helping veterinary academia provide a quality educational experience for the profession.
Specific criteria evaluated during accreditation include organization, finances, physical facilities and equipment, clinical resources, library and information resources, students, admissions, faculty, curriculum, research programs and outcomes assessment, according to the association.
A nine-member team visited the College Park, Md., campus, the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center in Leesburg, and the Blacksburg campus at Virginia Tech during their six-day evaluation conducted in October 2007.
The site-visitation team conducted a rigorous inspection and evaluation of the physical plant and facilities, budgets, operations, and policies; and they conducted extensive interviews with faculty, staff, students, alumni, and university administrators in order to develop their perspectives on the strengths and weaknesses of the college’s programs.
“The report was overwhelmingly positive,” said Dean Schurig, noting that it did state that the college’s faculty office situation urgently needs improvement. “While the [American Veterinary Medical Association’s Council on Education] understands the challenges we face with respect to the necessary expansion of our physical plant, they were very impressed with our college and their assessment included several references to the excellence of our students and faculty.”
The Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine is a two-state, three-campus professional school operated by the land-grant universities of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg and the University of Maryland at College Park. Its flagship facilities, based at Virginia Tech, include the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, which treats more than 40,000 animals annually. Other campuses include the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center in Leesburg, Va., and the Avrum Gudelsky Veterinary Center at College Park, home of the Center for Public and Corporate Veterinary Medicine. The school annually enrolls approximately 500 Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and graduate students, is a leading biomedical and clinical research center, and provides professional continuing education services for veterinarians practicing throughout the two states. Virginia Tech, the most comprehensive university in Virginia, is dedicated to quality, innovation, and results to the commonwealth, the nation, and the world.
