UF veterinary college accreditation renewed

The University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine has been granted a full seven-year accreditation renewal by the American Veterinary Medical Association’s accrediting council.

The council’s evaluation report lauds the college for everything from effective financial management, cleanliness and security, to the college’s “strong commitment to pursue ethnic diversity of the professional student body.” The college’s Charlie Bild VIP program, which brings private practitioners to UF for three months to exchange ideas, also drew praise.

College faculty were noted as a “major strength,” while simultaneously the council expressed concern about the number of open positions in large animal clinical sciences.

The wildlife and zoo medicine program was commended, with the caveat that small animal and equine clinical services may need to develop additional sources of primary care cases.

UF President Charles Young praised the council’s upbeat tone publicly at a board of trustees dinner April 4 at the college.

“I have sat through a couple of hundred accreditation site visits in my career, and I have never participated in an exit interview in which there were absolutely no negative comments,” Young said.

“Achieving full accreditation is a collegewide endeavor that involves the hard work and cooperation of the entire faculty, staff and administration,” said college Dean Joseph DiPietro. “The very positive nature of the council’s report speaks to the excellent program we deliver.”

UF’s College of Veterinary Medicine---the only veterinary school in Florida---admitted its first class of students in 1976. Ranked for several years as ninth among veterinary schools nationwide, the college now has 133 faculty members, including 85 tenured or tenure-accruing positions, and 318 students.