Fearful of being sanctioned by the AVMA following accreditation review in April, College leadership has embarked upon a crash course renovation campaign, hoping to improve the Teaching Hospital facilities just in time for the AVMA site visit scheduled to take place in April, 2024.
According to one source inside the College, leadership "has moved away from the toxic workplace topic and are more focused in passing accreditation inspections. There's construction everywhere trying to get the hospital in tip top shape. It's all anyone talks about."
CVM Independent has previously reported that the College of Veterinary Medicine is at risk of being sanctioned again by the American Veterinary Medical Association following its April accreditation review.
"A lot of reputations ride on this accreditation review," said one former faculty member. "Dean Risco came on board after the College was put on probation the first time, and he has made it a signature claim of his tenure that he was able to lead the College out of probation, and rightfully so. But the past three or so years have been rough, and (University President) Shrum and others have backed him all the way. If they fail this review, especially if things are worse than before, there might be egg on some faces."
A former employee of the College who claims that things are in worse shape put it this way: "They have less faculty, less doctors, less staff, no emergency service, no specialists, and everyone who works there is miserable. All they can do now is make things look pretty."
Still, this former employee went on to say that, "they had to renovate the place, that will actually help things. It's a good thing. Everyone wants to pass inspection for sure."
But, this person continued, "Why did they wait to do it until just before [accreditation review]?"
Back in 2017, after touring the campus and investigating the college, the AVMA Council on Education determined that OSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine was deficient in 6 of the 11 standards required of all veterinary colleges to achieve and maintain accreditation, with "major deficiencies" in vital categories. All 11 standards are listed below, with CVM deficiencies highlighted in red and “major deficiencies” highlighted in bolded red.
- Standard 1: Organization
- Standard 2: Finances
- Standard 3: Physical Facilities and Equipment
- Standard 4: Clinical Resources
- Standard 5: Information Resources
- Standard 6: Students
- Standard 7: Admission
- Standard 8: Faculty
- Standard 9: Curriculum
- Standard 10: Research Programs
- Standard 11: Outcomes Assessment
The standards found to be deficient at CVM in 2017 are those which are core to quality education: poor finances, poor facilities and equipment, poor student-faculty ratios, substandard curriculum, and lack of focus on individual outcomes for students.
An analysis of these standards and areas of deficiency conducted by CVM Independent last year suggests that further sanction of the College is likely following AVMA review in April.