E-Insight

July 2004

Update from the Dean’s Office

Dear Friends,

I trust you are enjoying summer and taking advantage of time for personal activities while maintaining your busy schedules on campus.

I want to take this opportunity to update you on outcomes from activities in June and events scheduled for July. Paul Maffey and I met with staff and faculty for lunch on June 21 to review the South Campus Development Plan. Our goal is to construct and renovate facilities to meet our missions in clinical care, diagnostic services, instruction and discovery. Following approval of our south campus master site plan by campus administration and the Board of Governors, we began a five-year capital campaign to raise needed funds. The first three years will constitute the silent phase of the campaign, during which we will seek several large gifts to jump start the process. We will not publicize totals during the silent phase, but will inform you when sufficient funds have been received to construct or renovate a given building.

I attended the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association Convention in Grand Junction in mid-June and discussed the needs of the Colorado cattle industry for veterinary services. I presented the outline of a plan we are developing in partnership with the Department of Animal Sciences to attract more veterinary students committed to careers in food animal practice in underserved areas of the state. The draft of the plan will be completed in July and will be distributed shortly thereafter. I have been asked to moderate a panel discussion of “Veterinary Services for Underserved Species and Underserved Areas” at the CVMA convention in September. We will describe the plan for a Food Animal Veterinary Career Incentive Program during that session.

You may recall that our Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory was selected to work in partnership with USDA to test cattle for the presence of the BSE prion agent. A single case of BSE was identified in the State of Washington last December, after which several countries closed their borders to beef exports from the United States. On June 29, representatives from the USDA and government of Japan visited Northern Colorado feedlots and our DLab to review procedures used to ensure safety of food products.

President Penley has asked the university community to participate in a strategic planning process to guide decisions and program development at CSU. Five planning committees, including "Discovery,” “Learning,” “Partnerships,” “Financial Stability” and "Culture, Connection and Community,” will work through the summer and submit reports to President Penley in September. Hank Gardner and I have been asked to co-chair the “Discovery” planning committee. Drs. John Belisle and Patrick Brennan represent our college on the Discovery committee. We met for a half-day retreat on June 28, and plan to complete the bulk of our work during a second retreat in early August.

The AVMA Convention will be held in Philadelphia during July. The College will host an alumni reception at the convention and I invite those of you attending to stop by the reception to greet our alumni and enjoy refreshments.

Best wishes for an enjoyable summer.

Lance Perryman, DVM, PhD
Dean, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences