E-Insight

March 2005

Update from the Dean’s Office

Dear Friends,

We have quite a bit to cover in the Update from the Dean’s Office, so I appreciate your taking the time to read through the items.

First, as mentioned in the University News article in this edition of E-Insight, the University is in process of revising its policies and procedures to ensure that the University does not purchase alcohol with state-appropriated funds. As a response to these new measures, the College is reformulating its own alcohol policy. On Feb. 17, the Executive Council met and held preliminary discussions on a revised alcohol policy. I’ve asked department heads to discuss the College’s alcohol policy with their faculty members to get their input. Once the College policy is finalized, we’ll be publicizing it in E-Insight and on our web site. The University implemented its new policy on March 1 and will formally begin enforcing the policy on April 1.

The second item of discussion is a proposed federal budget cut that will affect several programs at Colorado State University. The President’s Budget Request for F.Y. 2006 proposes to phase out and eliminate funding for several entitlement programs that provide base research for land-grant universities, to be replaced with a competitive grants program. The Agricultural Experiment Station at Colorado State University receives nearly $3 million per year from the federal government in Hatch ($2,452,724 million for agricultural research, of which a minor portion goes to CVMBS), McIntire-Stennis ($347,276 for forestry research), and Animal Disease funds ($170,175, all of which goes to CVMBS). The College uses its funding primarily for research seed money, and food and fiber animal research. The final outcome of this budget proposal will not be known until Congress approves a budget. The Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges will meet in Washington D.C., March 11-15, to discuss the ramifications and opportunities from this budget proposal.

At that same meeting, the veterinary deans also will discuss the AAVMC’s legislative initiatives including the “Veterinary Education and Workforce Act of 2005.” Sen. Wayne Allard has agreed to sponsor the bill and the deans will be working together to obtain additional legislative sponsorship for the program. The bill would allow veterinary colleges to increase student capacity within existing schools, and provide federal funding to help build that capacity, as well as expand the workforce of veterinarians engaged in public health practice and biomedical research.

Now, to update you on progress of the University Strategic Plan. Last month in E-Insight we anticipated that task force reports would be published shortly after Feb. 15. Since then, the Board of Governors has become heavily involved in the process and wanted time to devise a vision, mission, and value statement for the Colorado State University System. CSU has slowed down the Strategic Planning Process while waiting for these documents from the Board of Governors. We now anticipate that the University’s Strategic Plan will be posted sometime in March.

In other University news, we are wrapping up the search for the Vice President of Administrative Services and I want to thank those who participated in the interview process. The search committee has completed its report and will deliver its recommendations to President Penley on March 4.

Finally, I want to recognize the PVM Admissions Committee for their hard work. The committee has completed the difficult and time-consuming task of selecting members of the PVM Class of 2009. Letters have gone out to the 134 students accepted into the program and I’d like to thank Dr. Sherry Stewart (McConnell) and all the committee members for their efforts. To everyone, have a safe and enjoyable spring break, and please get in touch with me if you have questions or concerns regarding any of the topics we’ve touched on in the Update from the Dean’s Office.

With Best Regards,

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