E-Insight

June 2006

Update from the Dean's Office

Dear Friends,

We are pleased to announce the State of Colorado has chosen to provide $35 million for our new Diagnostic Medicine Center that will house Diagnostic Laboratory personnel, the Clinical Pathology Laboratory, the Office of the State Veterinarian, and other south campus programs. The first $3.5 million, to be allocated July 1, 2006, will allow us to hire an architectural firm that will prepare construction drawings for this important new facility. We anticipate the firm will be identified this summer, with design work to begin shortly thereafter. I look forward to providing regular updates in future newsletters.

This was a wonderful announcement to kick off our summer, a time when things usually quite down around the Colorado State University campus. Most students have left town for summer break, though some remain to take summer classes, work in research labs, or enjoy the calmer atmosphere of Fort Collins in the off-academic season. This is a time for us to work on some of those projects and planning efforts that are hard to fit in between August and May.

In May, I spent a bit of time on the road taking care of College business. From May 19-23, Dr. Sherry Stewart and I traveled to Bismarck, North Dakota, where we participated in a series of WICHE meetings at which support fees were set for Fiscal Years 2008 and 2009. The meetings were productive with a positive outcome on fee setting, helping us to maintain our high quality educational and clinical programs.

Drs. Martin Fettman, Barbara Powers and I attended the Colorado Veterinary Medical Association's (CVMA) Spring Leadership Conference May 20 and 21, where the order of business was finalizing plans for the association's annual conference in September, over Labor Day Weekend, in Keystone. I encourage all faculty members who are veterinarians to attend since all are members of the CVMA. Several of our faculty members also will be presenting at the conference.

On May 31 and June 1, the first of two Foresight Workshops for the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges was held in Fort Collins. I participated in this workshop, as president of the AAVMC, and Kendra Flood, PVM 2007 and past SCAVMA president, contributed from a student's perspective. For more on the Foresight Project, please refer to the March E-Insight.

Later this month, on June 20, I'll be attending the Colorado Cattlemen's Association Meeting in Pueblo to give an update on the College.

Before I close, I would like to congratulate again all of our undergraduate, graduate and Profession Veterinary Medical students who graduated during commencement weekend May 19 and 20. I'd also like to congratulate two of our faculty members who have been honored by their peers. Dr. Herbert Schweizer was elected a Fellow to the American Academy of Microbiology, and Dr. Joel Bedford was selected for the Excellence in Mentoring Award by the Radiation Research Society (see accompanying articles in this edition of E-Insight).

Best wishes for a safe and productive summer, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

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