E-Insight

June 2004

Update from the Dean’s Office

Dear Friends,

Graduation in now behind us and the campus is abuzz with summer activity. While many of the students have gone, the dorms are quickly filling up with people attending conferences and summer seminars, and campus maintenance work has kicked into high gear for the next few months. At the Office of the Dean, we continue to be busy with administrative details, and planning and organizing for the coming year.

On the budget front, the good news is that reductions for the coming academic year are much less than expected. Each of the University’s colleges was initially asked to prepare two budgets incorporating reductions of 1.59 percent and 2.65 percent. The actual reduction turned out to be 0.317 percent. We appreciate the efforts of the Provost and other vice presidents to bring in a low number and preserve academic programs to the greatest extent possible. On the salary front, I expect to provide in July a summary of the final process for determining merit pay increases and one-time salary increases for faculty, administrative professionals, and state classified staff.

I also have good news to report from the WICHE meeting in Boise, Idaho, May 17 and 18. The WICHE commissioners authorized an increase in WICHE support fees to the College for the academic years 2005/2006 and 2006/2007. This will help with budgets for our Professional Veterinary Medical program and provide a level of security regarding continued support from WICHE for the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Much of the thanks for this turn of events goes to David Longanecker, WICHE executive director, for his bold and dynamic leadership. Improving economies in surrounding states also helped to create a climate where support fees could be raised.

In activities this month, Paul Maffey and I will be making a presentation on the South Campus Development Plan during a brown bag luncheon on Monday, June 21, 12-1:30 p.m., at the James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Animal Cancer Center, Room 120. On June 13-16, I’ll be attending the Colorado Cattleman’s Associations meeting in Grand Junction, and on June 30 I’ll attend the meeting of the Colorado Livestock Association.

Finally, I’d like to say congratulations to the many faculty members who have received prestigious honors over the past several months. Several stories in this edition of E-Insight touch on those awards, and previous editions have featured others, but it is quite incredible to me how gifted our faculty and staff are. I’d also like to take a moment to recognize the student volunteers of VIDAS who received wonderful coverage of their veterinary missions to Mexico on local and national print and broadcast media. I can’t help but brag a bit about all of you when I am out and about meeting with friends and donors, government organizations, peers from other institutions, and private foundations. Thank you for all your efforts and for making my job such a pleasure. I hope you enjoy these early days of summer and, if you are planning to travel, please do so safely.

Best Wishes,

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