Insight

Fall 2003

Class Agent Survey Shows Strong Support for Veterinary School

As the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences prepares to embark on a major building campaign to improve and expand the South Campus, class agents report they are firmly committed to the College and its desire to continue to offer one of the best veterinary medical educations in the United States.

Recently, the College conducted a survey of class agents from the classes of 1940 through 2002. Class agents are the representatives from their respective veterinary classes and act as liaisons between their class and the College. The survey asked agents to rate their education at Colorado State, as well as rank the importance of good facilities to good education, among other questions.

This fall, the College hopes to begin fundraising for the 25-year master plan to develop the College's South Campus, including the James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Because most of the funding for the new facilities will come from private donors, the College was interested in assessing how class agents felt on a number of issues regarding the College; its programs in teaching, research and outreach; and the impact of existing and planned facilities. The overall result of the survey was strong support for expansion, especially regarding the positive effects these plans would have on the teaching and clinical programs.

Highlights of the survey include:

•  90 percent of those surveyed were extremely pleased or very pleased with their education from Colorado State University.

•  89 percent believe it is extremely important or very important for the College to retain its role as one of the top veterinary colleges in the country.

•  94 percent believe it is important for D.V.M. alumni to be informed that funding from the state of Colorado provides less than 25 percent of the overall cost of operating the College. Continued excellence in education, service and research can only come with private funds.

•  77 percent believe D.V.M. alumni would be willing to support the building of new facilities; 62 percent believe D.V.M. alumni would be willing to provide corporate sponsor contact information; and 71 percent believe D.V.M. alumni would be willing to provide contact names of potential donors.

"The responses indicate that it is important for the College to retain its role as one of the top veterinary colleges in the country, and there is almost unanimous agreement that the quality of educational facilities can significantly impact the quality of education and research," said Dr. Lance Perryman, Dean of the College. "The response as to how willing D.V.M. alumni would be to support the building of new facilities is encouraging and the suggestions for other avenues to solicit support are very helpful."

Dr. Perryman also noted that there was a strong message from many respondents that while new facilities and expansion for research are important, teaching and clinical training should remain a high priority for the College.

"In every aspect of our vision for the future, a key motivation is to enhance and expand our capacity to enrich the education and clinical training of our students," Dr. Perryman said. "The initial phase of the South Campus expansion is dedicated to improving the infrastructure of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital to create a better training environment, improve animal care, and allow for greater learning opportunities."

The College would like to thank all the class agents who took part in the survey. Your voices will help to shape our future. To learn more about the College's 25-year master plan, you can go to the College's Web Site and read the article, "25-Year Plan Takes College into the Future," in the Spring 2003 edition of Insight at www.cvmbs.colostate.edu/insight.