Our People Make Us Great

You are the reason that the School of Veterinary Medicine is as good as it is.

From our technicians, such as Kim Sherman and Kari Wojiechowski, who were the recipients of the 2012 Veterinary Technician of the Year Awards; to our faculty, such as Sheila McGuirk, who was honored at the World Dairy Expo as Industry Person of the Year; to our students, who through the Companion Animal Club have raised over $500,000 for local area shelters through the Dog Jog with Linda Sullivan as their guiding light; to our alumni, such as Heather Wamsley and Vicki Wilke, who were awarded the Student AVMA Teaching Excellence Award and the Student AVMA Community Outreach Excellence Award, respectively, at the AVMA Annual Convention in San Diego this past summer; to our former dean, Daryl Buss, who was recognized with the WVMA Presidential Award at the WVMA Annual Convention in October, the SVM is filled with exceptional faculty, staff, students, and alumni such as yourselves. And these are just a few examples of the contributions you make every day to enhance the school's success.

Some highlights of the past and coming months include:

• In last month's dean's message I thought that we were caught up with folks who have committed 10, 20, or 30 or more years to the school, but as I was quickly informed, we missed a few of those who have contributed decades to the school's success. The following individuals will be recognized at our November 15 SVM Faculty Meeting: Gary Splitter and Wayne Breunig (30 years) and Brett Nemke, Amy Andreas, Zunyi Wang, and Zhengling Hao (10 years).
  
  
• As highlighted by the awards listed above, the SVM had a strong presence at both the World Dairy Expo and the Wisconsin Veterinary Medical Association annual convention this past month. There are a few other items from these events I would like to note. First, a big thank you goes out to Sheila McGuirk and the 60+ student volunteers who once again coordinated the biosecurity check-in of 2,500 head of cattle--a 52-hour, round-the-clock endeavor that represents a significant service to the expo and the dairy industry. Second, at the WVMA convention, Chris Snyder received the Meritorious Service Award in recognition of his efforts as an instrumental leader for the WVMA's small animal wetlabs. Out-of-state interest in the labs has increased significantly in the last two years. Last, thank you to all the students, staff, and faculty who volunteered at the SVM or UW Veterinary Care booths at these events. Your willingness to give your time is much appreciated.
  
  
• The SVM has a few other recent award winners I would like to mention. Congratulations to fourth-year student Lindley Reilly who received the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) Veterinary Student Recognition Award during the association's annual conference last month. In addition, Karen Mier and Jim Rose were recognized by the UW-Madison Police Department for their time and energy in assisting law enforcement. Karen also received an award for her outstanding service and commitment to the safety and security of campus as part of the ten-year anniversary celebration of the Badger Watch.
  
  
• October 14-20 was National Veterinary Technician Week. In addition to recognizing the award winners listed above, I would like to thank all of the veterinary technicians in UW Veterinary Care for their hard work and invaluable contributions throughout the year.
  
  
• We held the first SVM get-together under the overhang on October 26th with a terrific turnout of faculty, staff, and students. Please continue to let me know how we can make this monthly event even better. I would like to acknowledge and thank Morrie Waud for his support of these events.
  
  
• We are close to completing interviews for our Associate Dean for Advancement and Administration position and hope to announce the successful candidate in the coming days.
  
  
• The window for applications for the new Associate Dean for Finance and Business Services (CFO) will close on November 5. The search committee will meet soon after that time with interviews hopefully scheduled toward the end of November.
  
  
• At their November 15 meeting, the faculty will vote on the "selectives" proposal to offer one-week, focused selective educational opportunities in semesters 2-5 to our veterinary medical students. If approved, my hope is that we will develop a wide variety of selectives that can be initiated for the 2013-14 academic year.
  
  
• Our website redesign is ongoing. At the end of the month, we will film seven video vignettes that will highlight important components of the school, including a welcome from the dean and accompanying videos featuring our DVM program, the CBMS graduate program, our research enterprise, our alumni, our advancement efforts, and UW Veterinary Care. To give you an idea of what to expect, videos highlighting Tomotherapy, emergency and critical care, large animal surgery, and theriogenology are already posted on YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/UWVeterinaryCare
  
  
• While we're on the topic of UW Veterinary Care, I'd like to let you know about a couple of imaging equipment upgrades. Thanks to generous donations, we now have a beautiful, refurbished fluoroscopy unit. Our small animal radiograph machine also has been replaced with a refurbished unit. Both of these improvements will enhance our ability to provide rapid and highly detailed patient imaging and diagnostics.
  
  
• Although the campus Share the Wonderful campaign has officially ended, the UW Foundation will continue a focused effort on gathering donations for the campus and school/college annual funds through the end of the year. Faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to participate. You can learn more--and make a gift--by visiting www.sharethewonderful.org. Please note that if you would like your gift to go the SVM, you will need to deliberately select the School of Veterinary Medicine Annual Fund. Thank you for your support!
  
  
• The annual Partners in Giving employee campaign is underway. This is a chance for you to make a difference in someone's life through a donation while demonstrating that the university is full of generous people. Full-time SVM employees and graduate assistants have received donation forms and catalogs listing all the charities that can benefit from donations, which are due by November 30. Forms can be submitted to Susan Christenson in room 2107 or the Department of Medical Sciences Office, room 2027. Not that I think you need an extra incentive, but donors will be entered in a drawing for a basketball autographed by Bo Ryan, a set of four men's hockey tickets, or a set of four women's hockey tickets. You can find more information about the campaign here: giving.wi.gov/section.asp?linkid=24&locid=17

Dean Markel

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Upcoming Events

SVM Get-Together
November 30, 2012
Veterinary Medicine Building (Second Floor Lounge)