FY 2017-2022
The College of Veterinary Medicine at Iowa State University has a rich heritage and was the first public veterinary college in the United States. We integrate science and practice through collaboration with numerous national and global partners. Our partnerships further our College vision to advance animal, human and environmental health, and also to provide a safe and secure food supply. We embrace and envision to advance animal, human and environmental health, and also to provide a safe and secure food supply. We embrace and value the animal-human bond through our dependence on animals for companionship, well-being, service, food and livelihoods.
Mission: The College of Veterinary Medicine is dedicated to the enhancement of the health and well-being of animals and human beings through excellence in education, research, professional practice and committed service to the State of Iowa, the nation and the world.
A primary mission of the College is to be a magnet institution for students to attain their career aspirations, support life and career success, engender professionalism, ethical service, life-long learning, and dedication to the principles of the Veterinarian’s Oath, which include: societal benefit, welfare, relief of suffering, resource conservation, public health and advancing medical knowledge. The College is also committed to increasing diversity of faculty, staff and student populations.
Vision: The College of Veterinary Medicine will be a pre-eminent institution recognized for: excellence in professional and graduate education; application of knowledge to promote animal and human health; and scientific leadership to provide a safe and sustainable food supply with state, national and global impact. The College is committed to the advancement of comparative health and medicine through an integrated One Health Research Initiative engaging local, national and global health science professions to obtain optimal health for people, animals, plants and the environment. We will provide a caring, safe, diverse and supportive work environment where each of its members may reach their full career potential.
We encourage and support a diversity of faculty, staff and students that encompass a full range of ethnicity, gender, race, under-represented groups, and varied perspectives and experiences to reach their full potential to serve and lead the profession. We currently employ and also educate the future leaders in animal disease diagnosis, prevention and treatment, and research to benefit the welfare and health of animals, people and the environment. We accomplish this through the discovery and application of science and novel technologies with continual improvement of knowledge and competence.
Goal 1: Become opinion leaders in clinical and diagnostic medicine
Subgoal: Improve the quality of hospital care provided to small and large animals
- Metric: Animal patient numbers
- Metric: Clinical trials numbers
Subgoal: Be the internationally recognized leader in diagnostic/clinical medicine
- Metric: External funding, patents and citations related to diagnostic/clinical medicine
- Metric: Comparison to our peers in the AAVMC Comparative Data Reports
Related Actions
- Action: Establish centers of excellence in small animal medicine
- Action: Create clinical research lab
- Action: Create clinical trials service
- Action: Establish Clinical/Diagnostic Scholars Doctoral Program
- Action: Establish international service program with China
- Action: Increase number of endowed chairs for diagnostic/clinical medicine
- Action: Build a new VDL
Goal 2: Continue to lead in One Health/Translational Medicine Research
Subgoal: Grow the impact and scope of college’s graduate programs
- Metric: Graduate student enrollment and number of postdocs
- Metric: Number of PhD and master’s degrees conferred
- Metric: Number of research opportunities for professional students
- Metric: Reduce time to graduate with PhD to 4-5 years
- Metric: Increase diversity/number of underrepresented graduate students
- Metric: Tracking career advancement of graduates
- Metric: Graduate student annual presentations, publications and awards
Subgoal: Build on the outstanding research profile of college researchers in One Health/Translational Medicine
- Metric: External funding, patents and citations
- Metric: Number of endowed professorships
- Metric: Increased faculty recognition for prestigious awards
- Metric: Increased diversification of faculty research portfolios
Subgoal: Improve the college’s research infrastructure
- Metric: Increased research space/facilities in the College
Related Actions
- Action: Strengthen PhD programs, including creation of a new PhD program in Animal Population Health
- Action: Diversify funding sources for the Summer Scholar Research Program
- Action: Expand the freezer facility
- Action: Increase research capacity through renovation of existing space and increase in number of research staff
- Action: Increase and diversify funding sources for research projects
- Action: Increase number of endowed chairs for research
- Action: Explore the possibility of reducing graduate student course load
- Action: Offer training opportunities for career development
- Action: Increase diversity of faculty, staff and students
Goal 3: Become leaders in veterinary teaching and curriculum development
Subgoal: Be a national leader in shelter medicine/surgery education
- Metric: Student evaluations
- Metric: Successful hires of surgical educator positions
- Metric: Peer-reviewed publications, national and international presentations
Subgoal: Increase the small and large animal caseloads to augment teaching
- Metric: Caseloads at the Lloyd Veterinary Medicine
- Metric: Caseloads at the ISU CVM Field Services
- Metric: Caseloads at Iowa Veterinary Specialties and Blank Park Zoo
Subgoal: Be the internationally recognized leader in veterinary instruction
- Metric: Peer-reviewed publications, national and international presentations
- Metric: By comparison with our peers in the AAVMC Comparative Data Report
Subgoal: Support educational/curricular research
- Metric: Peer-viewed publications, national and international presentations
Related Actions
- Action: Develop in-house grants program to support educational/curricular research
- Action: Enhance the college’s teaching infrastructure
- Action: Repurpose a portion of the vacated VDL for instructional space
- Action: Fund presenters’ travel to national and international conferences
- Action: Increase the number of endowed chairs and professors for instruction
Goal 4: Become the top veterinary college to grow and make a career
Subgoal: Maintain accreditation through COE, AAVLD, AAHA and AALAC
- Metric: Achieve COE and AAVLD reaccreditation in 2017
Subgoal: Continue efforts to provide an exceptionally high value educational experience
- Metric: Total cost of education compared to peer institutions
- Metric: Student debt at graduation
- Metric: Student placement rates
- Metric: Increased student study areas
- Metric: US News and World Report rankings
Subgoal: Invest in the recruitment of top students
- Metric: Qualified student applicant numbers
- Metric: Under-represented student applicant numbers
- Metric: Scholarship dollars offered
- Metric: GPAs of qualified student applicants
Subgoal: Invest in the recruitment of top faculty and staff
- Metric: Open position applicant numbers
- Metric: Successful recruitment of college’s top choices for positions
Subgoal: Reward current faculty and staff for their achievements
- Metric: Recipients of campus, national and international awards
- Metric: Wellness and career satisfaction of employees
- Metric: Climate surveys
- Metric: Safe and secure working environment
Related Actions
- Action: Maintain full accreditation through COE, AAVLD, AAHA, and AALAC
- Action: Improve ranking of veterinary colleges in US News and World Report rankings
- Action: Identify the “Most Economical Path to a ISU Veterinary Degree”
- Action: Grow our scholarship pool
- Action: Create new student study spaces
Goal 5: Fiscally sustainable and capable of investing in the college’s future
Subgoal: Enhance the marketing of the college, its personnel, programs and service units
- Metric: Media placement
- Metric: Social media hits
Subgoal: Ensure all college revenue-generating units contribute to the bottom line
- Metric: Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center annual revenue
- Metric: Veterinary Diagnostic Lab annual revenue
- Metric: Diagnostic Pathology Services annual revenue
- Metric: Iowa Veterinary Specialties annual revenue
Subgoal: Create new revenue streams to offset tuition and enable reinvestment
Related Actions
- Action: Administrative structure reorganization
- Action: Develop customer-oriented climate
- Action: Create media communications plan
- Action: Create social media communications plan
- Action: Re-brand Iowa Veterinary Specialties
Approved April 4, 2017 by College of Veterinary Medicine Cabinet