A Strategic Plan that Lives and Breathes

The majority of us have lived through strategic planning processes that result in a document that ends up somewhere in a drawer until it is dusted off seven years later to see what was accomplished in the interim. This six-month progress report is meant to let you know that our strategic plan will not sit in a drawer but rather will guide what we do and where we go in the coming years. 

In the following, I will highlight some of our major accomplishments in each of our eight strategic priorities; a more comprehensive presentation of all that we’ve done in the past year is available on our website and in a printable format you can download. In addition, our 2013-2015 initiatives matrix has been updated and now is our 2014-2016 initiatives matrix. Annually, we will update this document by removing those initiatives that have been accomplished and adding or modifying any new initiatives that will be pursued.

Some of last year’s highlights include increasing our class size from 80 to 87, acquiring increased financial resources from the UW-Madison campus in support of many of the school’s building and remodeling needs, and the hiring of six new faculty members in 2013. The school remains focused on strengthening UW Veterinary Care and its strategic priorities.  UW Veterinary Care has just completed its strategic planning process, and I look forward to partnering with Ruthanne Chun, our Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs, in implementing many of the hospital’s initiatives in support of their educational, clinical service and clinical research needs. 

I’d like to conclude with emphasizing that none of these accomplishments could have been achieved without the creativity, hard work, and dedication of our faculty, staff, and students who have been instrumental in thinking outside of the box to help solve current challenges or address important needs within the school.

In the following you will find some of the highlights from our six-month progress report.

Strategic Plan Links

» Strategic Plan (web)
» Strategic Plan (print)
» Strategic Priorities and Initiatives Matrix
» Six-month Progress Report (web)
» Six-month Progress Report (print)

Important Links

» UW SVM
» UW Veterinary Care
» Give to SVM
» Message Archive

Upcoming Events

Wisconsin Exotic Animal Veterinary Conference
March 1-2, 2014
Veterinary Medicine Building

All-SVM Gathering
March 7, 2014
4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Veterinary Medicine Building
Second Floor Lounge

10th Annual Global Health Symposium
April 1, 2014
5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Health Sciences Learning Center

Check the SVM Calendar for other upcoming events and seminars.

Six-Month Progress Report Highlights

Strategic Priority 0: Initiatives that cut across all strategic priorities

Revenue Enhancement

• We increased our DVM class size from 80 to 87 students, starting with the class of 2017, yielding greater tuition revenue to put toward the education of all of our students and need-based scholarships. We also submitted an enhanced funding proposal to campus in January 2014 to increase resident and nonresident tuition up to the median of Big Ten schools of veterinary medicine, beginning with the class of 2018.

• We also raised approximately $3.75 million in gift support during 2013, including more than $1 million for scholarship endowments. When estate gifts are excluded, the school raised 25% more dollars than in 2012. Unrestricted gifts increased 50% in 2013, and the number of households giving $5,000 or more to the school increased by 17%. Alumni participation grew 29%.

Strategic Priority 1: Retain, recruit, and develop high-caliber and diverse faculty

Faculty Orientation and Mentorship

• A Faculty Mentorship Task Force chaired by Karen Young was appointed to enhance the mentorship we provide to our faculty. During the fall of 2013, the task force members interviewed junior and senior faculty to determine what has and hasn’t worked throughout their mentorship experiences. Karen Young and Chad Vezina also created a draft of a New Faculty Orientation Document, which we have been providing to faculty since the fall of 2013. The document is part of a larger Welcome and Orientation Program that will be rolled out in the spring of 2014.

New Faculty Hires and Searches

• We recruited five new clinical instructors and six new faculty members in 2013. Additional faculty searches have been initiated in parasitology, bacteriology, radiology (two positions), anatomic pathology, small animal internal medicine, and comparative biosciences.

Strategic Priority 2: Strengthen programs in basic, translational, and clinical research

Supporting Clinical Research

• We appointed a Clinical Research Task Force, chaired by Lauren Trepanier, to enhance clinical research through resource and infrastructure improvements; appointed Lauren Trepanier as the school’s Director of Clinical Research; and hired Cecilia Robat as Clinical Trials Coordinator to facilitate clinical studies in UW Veterinary Care.

Increased Revenue for Research

• The Dean’s Office made available an additional $30,000 for the Companion Animal Fund Grants program and $10,000 in research support for pilot project grants. In addition, the UW-Madison campus provided $236,000 in bridge funding for 2014-15, and 11 faculty were funded through these resources. Our grant funds for 2013 totaled $18.9 million, an increase of 34% from the 2012 total of $14.1 million.

Strategic Priority: 3. Design an innovative professional curriculum that evolves to prepare students for a breadth of careers and professional opportunities

Selectives Courses

• We launched the Selectives Curriculum the week of August 26, 2013. The new program exposes our DVM students to hands-on experiences earlier in the curriculum and provides flexibility for learning in specific areas of student interest.

Web-based Core Competency Modules

• The Office of Academic Affairs hired Tyler Gregory as an instructional designer to create web-based modules to teach core competencies for each specialty within UW Veterinary Care. Five modules have been created to date and were made available to students in February 2014, with the goal of creating about 150 modules over the next 5 years.

Strategic Priority 4: Recruit a diverse and high caliber population of students and support their success

Student Diversity

• We recruited our first class of 87 students for the class of 2017, and it included almost twice as many students from underrepresented cultural groups than in last year’s class. Looking ahead to future classes, Carmen Reamer and Lynn Maki from the Office of Academic Affairs visited eight UW System campuses to meet with pre-vet clubs and pre-vet advisors to strengthen recruitment relationships and efforts across the state. Carmen also participated in campus-based recruiting events such as the Majors Fair, the Graduate and Professional School Fair, and the Multicultural Orientation Reception and Resource Fair.

Student Success

• Lynn Maki, Shelly Waller, and Ruthanne Chun attended the first Health and Wellness Summit at the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine to meet with associate deans, directors, and counselors from other colleges of veterinary medicine and discuss issues related to mental health for DVM students.

Strategic Priority 5: Support UW Veterinary Care in achieving its strategic priorities and enhance its integration with the school

Strategic Plan

• UW Veterinary Care staff worked with the campus Office for Quality Improvement to refresh its mission and vision statements and define its fundamental principles and strategic priorities. They will identify initiatives for each strategic priority by April 2014

Funding for Renovations and New Equipment

• We used campus financial support to make several remodeling improvements within UW Veterinary Care, including construction of a small animal isolation unit, expansion and renovation of the pharmacy, and replacement of the Large Animal Hospital flooring. We also put Dean’s Office funding, campus funding, and gift funds toward the purchase of new equipment, including an eight-slice CT scanner, five new ultrasound units (one large scanner and four portable units), a phacoemulsion unit to surgically treat cataracts, an ophthalmology operating microscope, dynamic endoscopy for horses, a TomoTherapy couch (a moving platform for patients to lie on during treatment), a laser therapy unit, and an arthroscopy tower and scopes for orthopedic surgery.

Strategic Priority 6: Foster a community that stimulates professional enthusiasm, collegiality, and continuous engagement within the school and throughout the University of Wisconsin System

Employee Welcome and Orientation

• After reviewing other programs and resources on campus and meeting with department administrators and Mark Oglesbay, Kristi Thorson, and Becky Badimassoud created the New Employee Welcome and Orientation Program, to be launched in spring 2014. The program will ensure all new employees begin their job with the information and resources they need.

Dean's Communication

• Our monthly get-togethers were expanded to other SVM locations across the UW-Madison campus. In addition, I have continued sending out monthly messages and initiated mid-month Strategic Plan updates to make the decision-making that affects you more transparent. I also continue to meet one-on-one with each faculty member, each department, and each DVM class (year one through three) on a yearly basis.

Strategic Priority 7: Train the next generation of academic veterinarians to advance veterinary medicine through their skills, teaching abilities, and research capabilities.

Professional Development for Interns and Residents

• In June we initiated a program on professional development in teaching for interns and residents, who were observed in their interactions with fourth-year students and then engaged in discussions about best practices in teaching in this setting. In October, we offered the Clinician Scientist Training Workshop to enhance interest and applicable skills in applied research among veterinary residents and to promote collaborations among veterinary medical schools for bench-to-bedside research.

Interactive Curriculum Enhancements

• Tyler Gregory, our instructional designer, has collaborated with faculty to package their content on web-based platforms such as Moodle, case scenario builder, Learn@UW, Desire2Learn. Photography, videography, Google Glass technology, and more are now available to allow instructors to deliver information in the most effective way possible.

Dean Markel