Supporting a Thriving Organization |
I hope everyone is enjoying their summer. In this dean's message, I want to highlight the fourth strategic priority of our new strategic plan – supporting a thriving organization. The school has five goal areas we will initially focus on within this priority:
- Increase awareness of the School of Veterinary Medicine with internal and external stakeholders
- Practice ethical and sustainable use of resources (physical, human, animal)
- Increase organizational agility and adaptability to lead and meet new challenges
- Plan for integration of SVM expansion with current infrastructure
- Build financial stability
These goal areas are broad and encompassing of all that the School of Veterinary Medicine pursues, whether it is our educational excellence, research that benefits both animal and human health, or the clinical care we provide within our hospital. You can read more about each of these goals here.
A little less than two weeks ago, on Friday, June 18, the school celebrated the groundbreaking of the SVM expansion project. You can find a video of the ceremony and pictures here. We were thrilled to have many important stakeholders and friends at the event.
I want to thank all of you for your support during this exciting phase of the school's history. As many of you know, work on the driving and pedestrian bridge across Willow Creek will soon be completed to provide access to our current building during the construction phase of the new building (what we're calling the north building). Kristi Thorson and others will regularly communicate with the school regarding construction of the north building and renovations within our current (south) building. If you have questions about the project, you can direct those to Kristi Thorson, who is the school’s liaison to the construction project team.
We will face many challenges during the construction phase, and I ask for your patience and support while we work through these complexities in order to complete this exciting project. Have a fantastic July and enjoy the summer.
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UW Veterinary Care Updates from the Director |
Welcome to new UW Veterinary Care employees Tehya Crego, a veterinary assistant in the Large Animal Hospital, Heather Maxwell, a greeter/cashier, Patty Perowitz in the call center, and Sarah Schmid DVM’14, a new small animal internal medicine clinical instructor.
Welcome also to Lisa Converse, who joins Emergency and Critical Care as a long-term locum tenens in the service. And congratulations to several certified veterinary technicians who have begun new roles in the hospital: Amanda Brooks and Rebecca Marecek with Small Animal Internal Medicine and Hali Huff in the surgery ward/operating room.
Congratulations to residents Anna Sirochman (Cardiology), Dylan Djani and Tess Smith (Neurology), Caitlin Heaton, Sam Keepman, Kara Magee and Diana Sanchez (Oncology), and Mari Gelatos, Martin Granick, Kelsey Johnson and Alex Saver (Small Animal Internal Medicine), who passed their general board exams with the respective specialty colleges. Congratulations also to Diagnostic Imaging resident Kaitlin Jones, recipient of an American College of Veterinary Radiology resident research grant award (mentor: Samantha Loeber).
Thank you to Ken Waller for his service the past many years as the assistant dean for clinical affairs. He transitions out of this role today, July 1.
To all of our hospital faculty and staff, thank you for your ongoing exemplary efforts. I know you all work so hard to meet the needs of our patients, clients and referring veterinarians. The below comment from a veterinarian who recently referred an emergency patient to the Dentistry and Oral Surgery Service in coordination with colleagues from other hospital services reinforces your great work.
“I wanted to take a moment to send a huge thank you, and let you know how in awe I was (and still am) that you were willing to stay so late and accept her as an emergency Monday night! I was really concerned about her, and … I was sure I was stuck managing her myself – which would have meant getting steroids in BEFORE a CT or muscle biopsy. Then if she didn’t respond appropriately I could be in a very difficult position to try to help her. I cannot adequately convey my gratitude and awe in the timely and excellent care you’ve given our patient.” -Jessica Kowaleski, DVM, Veterinary Village, Lomira, Wisconsin
Christopher Snyder, DVM, DAVDC
Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs
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History is made as ground is broken for the UW School of Veterinary Medicine in 1981. From left to right are several key people involved in the creation of the school and its facility: William O'Rourke, executive secretary of the Wisconsin Veterinary Medical Association; Jan Grignano of the Anthony Grignano Company, which constructed the building; Wisconsin Rep. Gervase Hephner; Susan Hyland, the school’s first associate dean for academic affairs; Bernard Easterday, founding dean; and Wisconsin Sen. Thomas Harnisch. (Photo courtesy Bernard Easterday.) |
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Forging history: John Hallett DVM’90, who throughout his career has pursued sculpting alongside veterinary medicine, will create a bronze sculpture for the School of Veterinary Medicine building expansion project. Hallett is donating his time and talents for the sculpture and incorporating input from alumni, faculty, staff and students in the multi-step, multi-year process. Margo and Jack Edl, long-time friends, clients and donors to the SVM, have committed up to $100,000 to match all gifts directed to the new bronze sculpture. All gifts to the project will go to the physical costs of creation and installation.
Preparing for biweekly pay: This month, all UW System employees who are paid monthly — including UW–Madison employees — will be moved to a biweekly pay schedule. Visit hr.wisc.edu/single-payroll to find resources and checklists to help with the transition to biweekly pay, including information related to benefits deductions and deductions for direct deposit into multiple accounts, contributions or withholdings. Related: UW–Madison is offering short-term, interest-free loans to employees to help with this change.
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Diversity, Equity and Inclusion News
An update from Richard Barajas, director of diversity, equity and inclusion
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Thank you to those who have so far expressed interest in the new professional development opportunity available to all SVM employees, the Intercultural Development Inventory assessment and development plan.
- The next discussion for SVM participants of the Purdue Certificate on Diversity and Inclusion in Veterinary Medicine will take place July 13, from noon-12:50, related to the persons with disabilities module.
- Planning has started for the Midwest Regional Iverson Bell Diversity Summit to take place in May 2022 on the UW–Madison and School of Veterinary Medicine campus.
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Ruthanne Chun DVM’91, clinical professor of oncology, has been named the winner of this year’s LaMarr Billups Community-University Engagement Award. The award recognizes a member of the Greater Madison community who has made outstanding contributions to campus-community partnership initiatives.
Professor Nigel Cook will continue to serve as chair of the Department of Medical Sciences following preference balloting by department members.
Courtney Halbach, outreach specialist with The Dairyland Initiative, presented a Badger Talks LIVE virtual talk on June 29 as part of a special June dairy month series. Halbach shared how dairy farmers and members of their dairy team are optimizing cow comfort and welfare through recommendations from The Dairyland Initiative. View a recording.
Lisa Forrest, professor of radiation oncology and diagnostic imaging and Radiation Oncology section chief, is now assistant exam director for radiation oncology for the American College of Veterinary Radiology.
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Welcome to seven new Ross and St. George’s University students who began their clinical year with us in June and join the Class of 2022: Olivia Allen, Dallas Astrin, Corinne Bricker, Katelyn Grenager, Justin Le Mahieu, Abigail Michelson and Lindsay Popp.
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As part of efforts to create an international pandemic prevention institute, the Rockefeller Foundation will support Regional Accelerators for Genomic Surveillance, which includes UW–Madison and the AIDS Vaccine Research Laboratory (AVRL). Since last year, AVRL researchers, including School of Veterinary Medicine Professor Thomas Friedrich, have performed a high level of genomic sequencing on the virus that causes COVID-19. Related: Friedrich was part of a team of UW–Madison researchers that taught nurses and personnel at more than 100 Dane County schools how to conduct rapid antigen testing for COVID-19.
Researchers in the U.S. and Japan, led by School of Veterinary Medicine Professor Yoshihiro Kawaoka, have found that vaccination with an mRNA vaccine induces antibody responses that would protect humans from infection with the gamma/P.1 variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which has now spread across the world. The findings suggest that previous SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccines that are based on earlier strains of the virus still provide protection against infection with gamma.
Professor Nigel Cook is co-principal investigator on a project funded by the university’s Research Forward initiative, supported by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. The multidisciplinary team, which comprises experts in animal welfare science, veterinary medicine, social psychology and behavior change, human health, and multilingual education and extension, will produce and test a safety training game for dairy farm personnel related to proper cow handling.
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Bucky Badger and Chancellor Rebecca Blank stand with donors and other members of the campus and state community as they take shovels in hand during a UW School of Veterinary Medicine building expansion and renovation groundbreaking on June 18 — 40 years after the school broke ground on its current building. (Photo by Bryce Richter / UW-Madison)
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August 10
SVM Education Day
8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Mendota Room, Dejope Hall
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Dairy Herd Management
Wisconsin State Farmer
PopSugar
Los Angeles Times
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“Today we celebrate the beginning of a new era in veterinary medicine at UW–Madison. The construction of this new facility is going to provide the school with a home that befits its reputation and its importance to the university, the state and the nation.”
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