College of Veterinary Medicine case statement

COLLEGE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE

From left: Dean Calvin Johnson, former dean and Provost Timothy Boosinger, and Dean Emeritus John Thomas Vaughan

B

ecause This is Auburn is a $1 billion campaign to propel our university forward through a renewed commitment to our students, a continued promise to our state, and a shared responsibility to the world.

As part of the overall campaign, the College of Veterinary Medicine has set a goal of $69 million to benefit students, faculty, programs, and facilities. As the oldest college of veterinary medicine in the Southeast, Auburn’s College of Veterinary Medicine remains dedicated to preparing students for successful careers that include private and public practice, industrial medicine, academics, and research. We also provide our faculty members with the tools to make a difference in research and discovery and to execute dynamic programs that benefit our community, state, and world. The broad scope of our mission enables students and faculty to meet global challenges, such as preventing zoonotic diseases, reducing the threat of terrorism, ensuring safe and sustainable food production systems, and discovering cures to some of the most challenging diseases in animals and humans.

TOTAL GOAL FOR THE COLLEGE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE:

$69 million

“ I often hear alumni say, ‘I owe a large part of my success to the education I received at Auburn.’

Through the support of alumni and friends, we can provide the next generation of Auburn graduates the same opportunities to excel.”

— Calvin Johnson ’86

Dean, College of Veterinary Medicine

PRIORITIES

for the College of Veterinary Medicine We are driven by three strategic goals: to enhance student success, to promote discovery, and to practice the highest standards of veterinary medicine. Private support is critically important as we achieve our goals and advance our mission to train the world’s next generation of veterinarians, discover breakthroughs with meaningful research, and provide the best care possible for our clients and patients.

Your investment in the College of Veterinary Medicine ensures that we continue providing outstanding education and service. Gifts to our college fund scholarships and fellowships to reward our talented, hard-working students and enhance student success, as well as professorships to recognize top-notch faculty members that allow us to build nationally and internationally competitive research teams. In addition, gifts fund dynamic programs that include frontline research initiatives and lecture series and enable us to construct and maintain state-of-the-art teaching and research facilities.

$1

MILLION

in new scholarships awarded annually to talented students

5

NEW ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIPS

to recognize faculty doing outstanding work

5

NEW AND REIMAGINED FACILITIES

to enhance teaching and research

Students

$15,000,000

Faculty

$2,000,000

Programs

$29,000,000

Facilities

$23,000,000

$5 MILLION

to further the mission of the Southeastern Raptor Center

Students Academic demands placed on students in the College of Veterinary Medicine essentially prohibit opportunities for employment while they are enrolled. Thus, our students often graduate with a debt load more than twice their annual income and face a stifling financial challenge. The cost of veterinary education continues to rise, and for the sake of animal health and the veterinary profession, we must find a way to lessen the burden of the expanding costs of veterinary education. One solution to this problem is to increase the number of merit-based scholarships, needbased scholarships, and fellowships we award to veterinary students. To attract the best students and to support them financially at an adequate level while they pursue their degrees, we are dedicated to expanding financial aid through private gifts, with the bulk of these funds committed to endowments that will ensure perpetual funding.

$15 million

Faculty In every generation since Auburn’s veterinary medicine program was established in 1892, Auburn has been known for its outstanding faculty, many of whom rank among the world’s best in their specialties.

Their contributions to teaching, research, laboratory medicine, and clinical services ensure that Auburn’s veterinary education is a transformational, personal, and professional experience for every graduate. Our goal always is to recruit, promote, and retain the finest faculty; they are the mentors who will enable our students to gain the exposure and experience needed to be worldclass veterinarians or scientists. To attract and retain this level of faculty, we must increase the current number of endowed professorships and chairs through private support.

$2 million

Programs

Pictured are the 2015 Brown Scholars, a group of College of Veterinary Medicine students who are recognized each year for their academic excellence through scholarships funded by John and Rosemary Brown. Front row from left are Rosemary Brown, Ed Bailey, John Brown, and Brown Scholar Kayla Waler. Second row includes Brown Scholars Emily Mysinger Tincher and Sarah Foster.

Auburn is home to some of the most unique programs in all of veterinary medicine: the Scott-Ritchey Research Center focuses on diseases that affect dogs and cats, often with human application; the Auburn University Research Initiative in Cancer develops advancements in cancer treatment with direct application to animals and humans; the Canine Performance Sciences Program continually improves animal detection science and technology through research, teaching, and outreach; the Boshell Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases Program enables our scientists to partner with other scientists at Auburn and beyond to find new solutions to complex diseases; and the Southeastern Raptor Center pursues its mission through rehabilitation and public education. Endowments will sustain funding to each of these programs and create new opportunities as we focus our strengths on areas that are vital to animal and human health.

$29 million

Facilities Maintenance and construction of facilities is a never-ending process.

The college has made great strides during the past 10 years through the construction of the Wilford and Kate Bailey Small Animal Teaching Hospital and the John Thomas Vaughan Large Animal Teaching Hospital. We now must direct that momentum toward establishing state-of-the-art research facilities.

Phase one of our plan includes constructing new food animal and equine research barns, as well as renovating research laboratories in Sugg Laboratory and Hoerlein Hall to provide critical research space for faculty research and student training. Phase two includes leading Auburn’s efforts in the construction of a new interdisciplinary biomedical research building with stateof-the-art animal facilities.

$23 million

Your gift to Auburn has

REAL IMPACT I learned from my grandfather, a 1951 Auburn graduate, that Auburn traditionally graduates veterinarians who are, as a rule, ready to “hit the ground running” in practice.

“Dr. Bartlett’s gift has enabled me to learn veterinary medicine in the best way possible.”

One key to learning practical veterinary medicine for me has come from a series of “castration days” for our rotations held at the Pike Road, Alabama, ranch owned by Auburn alumnus Dr. Haywood “Woody” Bartlett ’64. The large animal clinic is fantastic, but the experiences at the ranch helped prepare us for how things are done in the real world. They allowed me to do hands-on work and experience situations that have better prepared me for practicing veterinary medicine upon graduation.

These trips proved invaluable as Dr. Bartlett, an accomplished horseman and cattleman, and our faculty directed us in an array of activities: handling, vaccinating, dentistry, castrating, and hoof trimming. Dr. Bartlett’s willingness to host Auburn students to further our education reinforces for me the sense of family and community I knew I would find at Auburn.

I believe my experiences at these “castration days” — and I feel I can speak for my classmates on this — enabled us to learn practical veterinary medicine in the best way possible.

— Kelcie Theis

DVM Class of 2015

My dad was a successful medical doctor in Montgomery, and he really wanted me to follow in his footsteps. He insisted I go to the University of Alabama, even though I’d always wanted to go to Auburn. I graduated from Alabama with my bachelor’s degree, spent some time in the army, and then I finally made it to Auburn, where I enrolled in the College of Veterinary Medicine. At that time, the large animal clinic was brand new, and I really enjoyed using that facility while I was a student.

“The best four years of my life were the years I spent in vet school, and I felt like I needed to give back.”

By 1999 or so, our large animal clinic was outdated — the oldest in the nation. The best four years of my life were the years I spent in vet school, and I felt like I needed to give back. I decided to contribute to the construction of a new large animal clinic and also to the raptor center.

I also enjoy hosting students on my ranch in Pike Road, Alabama, every year so that they can gain real-world experience before graduation. I have enjoyed working with the students and giving back to the College of Veterinary Medicine, and I encourage others to look for ways they can give back and get involved.

— Woody Bartlett ’64

DVM, Owner, Bartlett Ranch

College of Veterinary Medicine 1500 Wire Road, Auburn, Alabama 36832 (334) 844-1139 | giving@vetmed.auburn.edu www.vetmed.auburn.edu B E C AU S E@AU B U R N . E D U | B E C AU S E . AU B U R N . E D U Auburn University is an equal opportunity educational institution/employer.