Over the past several dean's messages, I have highlighted the priorities outlined within the School of Veterinary Medicine's new strategic plan. Our fifth and final strategic priority is to create and support a vibrant community for all. We have four specific goal areas to help achieve this priority:

You can read more here about our efforts to support each of the above goal areas. The school, its leadership and each of us need to remain dedicated to this important priority. As we all know, this past year has been extraordinarily challenging with the COVID-19 pandemic and social and racial justice issues at the forefront of our lives. As I've highlighted previously, the school has created a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) strategic plan in order to better focus our efforts around creating a vibrant community.

In addition, I recently highlighted the results of the school's climate survey, which overall were positive, particularly considering that the survey was conducted in the middle of the challenges we faced with COVID-19.

We have also created a wellbeing task force, led by Associate Dean Lynn Maki, that will provide recommendations, anticipated by the end of the year, regarding how best to address the wellbeing of our faculty, staff and students.

As we approach the fall semester, the school is preparing to return to much more typical in-person instruction and activities in accordance with campus guidance. The Class of 2022 has been actively working in the hospital since May. In September I look forward to welcoming the Class of 2025 and welcoming back our Classes of 2023 and 2024.

We'll have our first in-person Dean's Get Together on Friday, September 10, under the Veterinary Medicine building overhang, and I look forward to seeing all of you in person again. Enjoy the rest of your summer.

Welcome also to our rotating interns, who started with us in June – Mary Carter, Danielle Creamer, Sienna Drizin, Allysa Galloni, Lizabeth Lueck, Callie Rogers, Daniel Rothschild, Sara Saikalis and Annie Showers – and to several new employees: Kimberly Crauswell, a vet assistant with the ER; Hannah Evert, CVT, joining Anesthesia; Amy Hippen, an administrative specialist in the hospital admin office; and Katrina (Kate) Lafferty, CVT, a surgery ward night technician.

And congratulations to Ana Cecilia Escobar Lopez (Ceci), a former necropsy technician, who is stepping into a new supervisory role this week as the new Anatomic Pathology Lab Manager.

Director, UW Veterinary Care

The SVM welcomes Andrea Kunze to the Office of Academic Affairs as the new assessment and curriculum specialist. Andrea is a PhD candidate in Educational Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In her new role, Andrea will work with faculty to further develop assessment and evaluation strategies to improve student learning. She will also play a pivotal role in the incorporation of Competency-Based Veterinary Education into our revised DVM curriculum. Andrea’s expertise lies in understanding how to assess evidence of learning and engagement in traditional and non-traditional Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medical (STEMM) classrooms. Her current research interests include exploring student success within DVM programs.

The PREPARE Graduates task force continues to move forward with curriculum revision efforts. Two proposed curricular structures have been shared with the SVM community through a series of town hall sessions during July. Feedback gathered from these sessions and other interactions with faculty, staff and students is being incorporated into a single proposed curricular structure. The next steps in the revision process will be directed towards individual course development to align with the revised structure. Look for more opportunities to get involved in the revision process this fall.

Colleen Crummy-Mousseau, a faculty management specialist, is one of several university staff members honored for their outstanding dedication and commitment to excellence with a 2021 University Staff Recognition Award.

Following preference voting, Jon McAnulty and Gillian McLellan will serve as co-chairs of the Department of Surgical Sciences beginning July 1 of this year, with Jon planning to step down from his chair role on June 30, 2022. Related: McLellan has also been appointed to the National Institutes of Health Pathophysiology of Eye Disease Study Section.

Mary Thurber DVM'14, clinical instructor of zoological medicine, presented a Badger Talks LIVE presentation in July titled A Day in the Life of a Zoo Vet. View a recording. Thurber also recently spoke with the Wisconsin State Journal about plans to vaccinate select species at Dane County’s Henry Vilas Zoo against the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Recent alumna Melissa Sheth DVM’21, recipient of the Patricia L. Lowrie Diversity Leadership Award, was a guest on the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges podcast Diversity & Inclusion On Air. Sheth discussed her efforts to promote diversity and inclusion in veterinary medicine as a student at UW.

Comparative Biomedical Sciences graduate student Abbey Williams, in the lab of Assistant Professor Lisa Arendt, was selected for funding for a James H. Gilliam Fellowship for Advanced Study from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.