UF Veterinary College's 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 gave the college "substantial compliance" for its adherence to the AVMA's curriculum standard. Council members noted that certain changes needed to be made within two years for full compliance designation in that area.

"In light of current and anticipated decreases in state funding, the curriculum committee must work with faculty and administration to define overarching curricular learning objectives," the council noted in its report, adding that the college also needed to develop a separate method for students to evaluate their courses.

The college's dean, Glen Hoffsis, noted that progress had already been made toward the curriculum objectives with the faculty assembly's recent passage of recommendations from its curriculum committee to reduce the number of required clinical rotations.

Hoffsis congratulated fellow administrators, faculty and staff for their hard work in making this achievement possible.

"We are very pleased to be fully accredited by the AVMA Council on Education," Hoffis said. "Achieving full accreditation is a collegewide endeavor that involves the hard work and cooperation of the entire faculty, staff and administration. The very positive nature of the council's report speaks to the excellent program we deliver."

UF's College of Veterinary Medicine admitted its first class of students in 1976 and is one of only 28 accredited veterinary colleges in the country.