Town Hall-State of the School 2025
Last week, Dean Mark Stetter presented town halls to highlight some key 2024 accomplishments and a general overview of the state of the school as we go into 2025. (Listen here.) Key topics included updates on our strategic initiatives, information on our upcoming accreditation process, and recent master planning for our Veterinary Medical Complex.
Before he launched into the key topics, Stetter acknowledged two current emergencies in CA: impacts of the recent wildfires in LA and the avian flu outbreak, which have kept many teams very busy. He announced that Dr. Denise Imai-Leonard has been appointed as new Special Assistant to the Dean to help coordinate the avian flu response.
Strategic Initiatives
Last January, Stetter announced four key Strategic Initiatives to bridge the transition from a Strategic Plan designed to sunset in 2024 and a new five-year Strategic Plan that will be developed later this fall in preparation for the re-accreditation process in 2025. Those initiatives evolved with the help of working groups comprised of more than 150 volunteers from across the school to help inform the school’s top priorities. They include: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; People First (employee engagement/satisfaction); Facilities; and Research.
Over the past year, the school implemented the first-ever “Stars of SVM” Awards for staff and faculty. It also added new recruitment resources, including a link to current job openings on the SVM homepage, and a new mental health counselor.
On the DEI initiative, the school launched a new Community Council newsletter, and greatly expanded the diversity-focused summer camps for middle, high school and undergraduate students—thanks to generous donor support. Read more about how these programs impact students’ lives in our Synergy issue focused on diversity.
The school also received the 2024 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from Insight Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education. In August, when the school welcomed the new Class of 2028, a record high 58% of those individuals are first generation college students with a 29% increase in Underrepresented in Medicine (UIM) students.
In terms of the Research initiative, the school hired a research and strategic partnerships coordinator to help identify and secure large, cross-campus research grants, and continues to increase support for AI infrastructure that will assist with patient diagnostics research.
Stetter addressed the ongoing concerns of aging research facilities such as Tupper Hall, and provided an overview of the future Veterinary Medical Complex. This $700+ million plan will be funded through a mix of philanthropy, state support, and revenue.
He celebrated the opening of the Advanced Veterinary Surgery Center, the Meadowview Foundation Dentistry and Oral Surgery Center, the equine arena, and barn area renovations. He discussed the transition of the former Carlson Health Sciences Library into new offices for faculty and wellbeing counselors.
Upcoming major facility projects underway include: All Species Imaging Center, a bird flight research center, and a CEH Equine Rehabilitation Center.
Budget and financial overview
Stetter discussed the total SVM budget of $333M before permanent budget reductions, of which the state currently funds approximately 25%. That percentage is anticipated to decrease, so continued revenue growth (through clinical services, extramural research funding, philanthropy, tuition/fees) will be critical to ensuring the school’s long-tern financial sustainability.
Research updates
Thanks to robust research projects at the school, Stetter said there are always many more to highlight than can be mentioned. He included funding for the transdisciplinary Innovation for Insight into Pandemic Threats; CDFA support to evaluate feed additives in dairy herds; vaccine development for Lactococcosis in rainbow trout; support for several cancer-related projects; the study of parasite ecology in coastal ecosystems and additional funding for the CounterACT Center.
Accreditation 2025
Every seven years, the American Veterinary Medical Association evaluates veterinary schools and colleges to ensure they meet accreditation standards. UC Davis is preparing for a comprehensive site visit in October of 2025. The accreditation team will evaluate physical facilities and equipment, finances, curriculum, and research programs among other categories. Stetter thanked the various teams who are preparing for this visit.
Admissions & Students
As mentioned under the Diversity initiative, the incoming Class of 2028 represents new milestones with a record high 58% first generation college students and a 29% increase in Underrepresented in Medicine (UIM) students. Read more about the new class of 150 students. In some good news for DVM graduates, starting mean salaries have doubled in since 2017 and now outweigh mean educational debt.
Additional program updates
The school will soon make various programs more accessible for international students by implementing an online certificate in One Health & Global Security and eMPVM programs.
Philanthropy
UC Davis closed an ambitious 8-year campaign at the end of June that raised $2.25 billion across the university. Donors to the School of Veterinary Medicine were integral to the campaign, giving almost $470 million to the support the school’s mission. This included more than $50 million in the past year alone, when the school was celebrating its 75th anniversary. $850,000 of that total went toward a 75th Anniversary scholarship endowment fund, bringing the school’s total scholarship endowment above $120 million.