Alumni increasingly report disappointment in the trajectory of CVM and mistrust of the college's leadership, according to a recent survey.
"You'll get two different results if you poll the most active alumni vs all alumni," said an alumn who has been a leader in national alumni efforts in previous years for OSU. "The less active you are, the only things you really know about the current state of affairs might be an email from the Dean, which are always positive. But the more active you are, the closer you are to the college on a regular basis, you'd have an entirely different perspective and that's what this survey shows."
This alumnus cited a recent announcement from the Dean that framed the shuttering of key medical services as as an enhancement to the primary care department. "All it was, really, was putting lipstick on a pig. We don't have 24 hour emergency or cardiology anymore, there's no staff left at the Teaching Hospital, but anyone who's not really engaged would only know 'hey, the Dean just said we did something new!'"
"Our school has real problems to solve, and a lot of us have resources and relationships that can help. But certain people here are threatened by that. No one who challenges the status quo is ever in the room with those people. Ask yourself why? What's more likely that all of us suddenly turned against the college, or that the common denominator is one person who's got an enemies list a mile long?"
This so-called lipstick-on-a-pig strategy is common for CVM and University leaders, according to alumni. "We finished at the bottom of the national rankings this year, damn near the worst program in America, and OSU put out a press release, 'We're the best! Just outside the top 25!' which is just lying to people." They were referring to a University press release entitled, "OSU named among the best in US News and World Report’s 2023 Best Grad School rankings" in which they celebrated being "just outside the Top 25" - in a field of just 33 vet schools - in the 2023 US News and World Report rankings of North American veterinary colleges, as voted on by deans, administrators and faculty of other veterinary schools. CVM received the 6th lowest peer score out of 33 programs and was the worst performing large program on the continent.
"It's embarrassing to celebrate our fall from grace," said another prominent alumnus, who recalled that it wasn't that long ago that OSU's vet college was respected as among the best in the country. "We have been slow to change for a while now, but things have gotten so much worse in the last few years."
"This chart should be all green. How hard is it to make alumni happy? Communicate with them, show some respect, value their opinions. Find ways to get them involved if they want to be. They don't do any of that, not with anyone who isn't a 'yes' person."