Departmental Plan for Veterinary Sciences

2003 Academic Plan

October 1, 2003

Executive Summary:

The Department of Veterinary Sciences has two core missions: instructing undergraduates who pursue careers in microbiology and veterinary medicine, and operating the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory as mandated under Wyoming Statute 21-17 – 308.   The department proposes to reorganize as the Department of Microbiology and Veterinary Diagnostic Medicine.  We will house the interdepartmental microbiology program and foster its growth in undergraduate and graduate education, as well as in research.  Given the growth in interest in the pre-veterinary medical program and the relatively small numbers of students admitted to veterinary school each year, we will strengthen the microbiology program with those pre-veterinary students who want to remain in the medical biology field.

Key actions:

·   Support, invigorate and expand Medical Microbiology program offered at University of Wyoming.

·   Strengthen capabilities in wildlife research by obtaining endowed chair in wildlife-livestock disease.

·   Partner with Department of Renewable Resources to obtain a mapping scientist-vector biologist for the College of Agriculture to monitor, investigate and document insect disease vectors and animal diseases of regional concern.

·   Renew national accreditation by the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians for the WSVL as a full-service, all-species animal health laboratory.

·   Work to expand the USDA’s National Animal Health Reporting Network (NAHRN) and, if expanded, to become a member laboratory.

·   Develop new electronic diagnostic laboratory data management system for the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory.

·   Develop residency program in diagnostic veterinary medicine as part of our academic mission.

·   Submission to upper management of an annual depreciation schedule for major equipment items.

·   Develop Select Agent laboratory for high-consequence animal and zoonotic pathogens.

·   Explore physical expansion of the WSVL-Department of Agriculture Analytical Services laboratory to provide additional office and laboratory space, including space for ABADRL personnel, and the need for a functional biosafety level-3 building for live animal work.

·   Develop separate dedicated service laboratory for transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) agents.

·   Increase number of faculty with formal USDA foreign animal disease training.

Introduction:

    Much of the recent history of our department was determined by a legislative decision in 1978 to transfer the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory (WSVL) from the Wyoming Livestock Board to the University of Wyoming.   As a land-grant institution, it was appropriate UW embraced the role of operating an animal health laboratory in the public interest.  This meant a commitment to provide professional services to citizens of Wyoming and to conduct applied research to address practical problems.  Over the past quarter century, the department’s service and research focus expanded to include greater engagement with wildlife diseases, particularly those that are exchanged between livestock and wildlife.  Our focus on diseases at the wildlife-livestock interface is unique in the United States.  No other veterinary science department in the country has such a close, productive relationship with its state’s wildlife management agency.  The department, through the WSVL and applied research activities, undertakes a higher proportion of wildlife work than most publicly funded laboratories of comparable size.  The potential of this work was realized this year when a $2.0M grant proposal by two members of this department with collaborators in Molecular Biology and in the Colorado Division of Wildlife was funded by the Department of Defense.  The proposal was successful in large part because it was grounded in and documented by consistently high quality professional service work provided by the department to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and to natural resource agencies in other states. 

    Unresolved issues remain.  Perhaps the greatest is suboptimal integration of professional service with undergraduate instruction.  Symptomatic of this is that diagnosticians on faculty tend to identify their organizational unit as “The vet lab,” whereas those who are primarily teachers regard it as “The department.”   The department’s identity is at times blurred by the requirement to operate the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory, which draws on 4.26 FTEs, compared to 2.08 and 2.45 FTEs devoted to teaching and research, respectively.  Another challenge is the unrelenting pressure of the professional service.  This work comes to our doorstep regardless of research and teaching commitments, and must be done in a timely way, regardless of staffing levels.  Other issues are the ongoing necessity of upgrading laboratory equipment, unfunded federal mandates for handling high-consequence infectious agents, disposing of laboratory waste, and better laboratory security, the necessity to develop a staff position in quality assurance/quality control by 2004, the cost of attracting and retaining talented diagnosticians who have the opportunity of more remunerative jobs in private industry, limited synergistic interaction with the USDA’s Arthropod-Bourne Animal Disease Research Laboratory, and state support of $97,620 that remained flat since FY94   While the department has a strong reputation in wildlife disease, it is essential that critical mass is built around this over the next five years.  The laboratory needs to switch from diagnosing disease on an animal or herd basis, as has been the case to date, to being able to map diseases state wide by GPS coordinates in order to make the best use of our animal disease archive, particularly since this drives sound management and political decisions about animal health state-wide.

    The goal of this plan is to get us to a point where we make the most efficient use of existing resources to meet our primary obligation to instruct, regardless of whether the educatee is a student, a veterinarian operating a private business, an animal owner, a hunter, a wildlife manager, or a policy maker.  Continuing to operate a nationally-accredited veterinary laboratory will remain a core function of this department.  Our challenge is to make the best possible instructional use of access to the caseload and professional expertise existing in a nationally accredited animal health laboratory located in a land-grant university.   In our view, the most effective graduates in microbiology and pre-veterinary medicine are those who have good theoretical grounding and practical bench skills.

• Workforce:  There are currently 9 faculty and 20 staff members in the department.  One faculty position will shortly be filled (November 2003) after a year-long search.  Of the faculty, 4.26 FTEs are devoted to professional service to operate the WSVL, 2.08 FTEs support teaching, and 2.45 FTEs support research.  The remainder (1.21 FTEs) is split between extension, student advising, administration, and non-professional service.  Of 20 staff members, 14 FTEs are dedicated to professional service, 2.5 FTEs to office support (largely professional service), 2.0 FTEs to research, and 0.5 to editorial tasks (international wildlife disease journal).   Seven of 20 staff members are supported by the WSVL’s income account (3 FTEs), research dollars (2.5 FTEs), faculty startup (0.5 FTE) or central administration (1 FTE).

• Programs:  The department shares with Animal Science the advising of Pre-Veterinary Medicine Option students, and with other partners a substantial portion of the Medical Microbiology program.  Faculty members are involved in instruction in the WWAMI program.  It operates a masters program in pathobiology.

• Research effort: The focus effort of the department is animal disease, particularly infectious and toxicological diseases endemic to livestock and wildlife in western United States.  There are 2.45 FTEs devoted to research in the department, which brought in an average of $280,500 external support per annum (FY99 – 02).  This translates as $28,050/FTE and $114,489/research FTE.  We do not have cumulative departmental data for peer reviewed publications, but in 2002 the department had 39 publications (published or accepted peer-reviewed papers and book chapters).  This translates as 19.1 peer-reviewed papers or book chapters/research FTE.  In the same year the department presented 46 papers at regional, national and international meetings.  This corresponds to 22.5 papers/research FTE.

• Extension and professional service:  In the department there are 4.26 FTEs devoted to professional service (disease diagnosis).  There are 0.39 FTEs involved in extension.   The professional service work is necessary to operate the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory.  It is a major mechanism whereby the college addresses and solves disease problems confronting animal owners in Wyoming.  In 2002 the WSVL ran 55,319 tests on 13,954 accessions.   The laboratory tests tissues from animals that are suspected of infection with rabies and West Nile virus (in cooperation with the Department of Health).  It performs regulatory testing for brucellosis and equine infectious anemia, as well as for four other controlled diseases (in cooperation with the USDA and the Livestock Board).  It undertakes regulatory testing for chronic wasting disease in cervid species and scrapie in sheep in a cooperative agreement with the USDA.  The laboratory is currently working with the Public Health Laboratory in the Wyoming Department of Health so that it can serve as a “surge capacity” laboratory for environmental samples containing high-consequence pathogens such as plague, Q-fever, brucellosis and tularemia.  Isolates from diseases of public health importance, such as salmonellosis, are shared with the public health laboratory so that the occurrence of human disease can be traced to agents of animal origin.  Laboratory confirmed cases of diseases of interest to the livestock board are reported to the state veterinarian at the time of identification.  Large scale disease outbreaks are investigated by laboratory staff, such as large die-offs of livestock and unexplained vaccine failures.

Plan

    I.  Progress on Action items – 1999 Academic Plan

University-wide:

·   Item #10:  Enhance UW’s web site.  The web site of the WSVL was revamped in 2003 (http://wyovet.uwyo.edu/).  Clients of the laboratory can access records on the web, download forms, and see timely disease updates and press releases.  The departmental web site is currently being redesigned.

·   Item #35.  Limit baccalaureate requirements to 128 credits. In conjunction with the Department of Animal Science, the Pre-Veterinary Medicine option was adjusted so that it requires 128 credits to graduate.

·   Item #61:  Strengthen computing, information technology and information management.  The department purchased and implemented a laboratory data management system, acquired the hardware, and hired a data management specialist (2000).  A replacement laboratory data management system was developed in house and is now being tested (October 2003)

·   Item #122: Strengthen research in natural resources, materials and composites, and computational science and information technology.  The department of Veterinary Sciences, together with the Research Office, the Wyoming Department of Game and Fish and other parties, persuaded the Wyoming legislature to establish a Wyoming wildlife/livestock disease research partnership (House bill 0160; 2001).  The partnership received funding from state and federal sources.  It has been used by the department to leverage grants received for wildlife-livestock research.

·   Item #151: Develop incentive bonuses for faculty and staff.  The classification system of staff was changed so that most staff members are classified as Laboratory Technicians I, II or III.  This action brought many salaries close to market rates.  It greatly improved our ability to complete with the health industry to attract and retain competent professionals.

College of Agriculture:

·   Provide professional animal disease diagnostic services to citizens, veterinarians, and agencies of Wyoming consistent with Wyoming Statute 21-17-308 and disseminate disease information.  The department received national accreditation for the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory (1999), acquired new molecular diagnostic equipment and additional diagnostic capability (1999 – to date), amended its fee schedule (2003), and established a computerized laboratory information system for case coordination, case reporting, records and data storage (2000).

·   The general public, the state’s agricultural producers and industries, and the university will view the college as a primary source of credible, research-based information.  Through the WSVL and research efforts, the department generates substantial laboratory-based data on diseases of public health and political import (brucellosis; trichomoniasis; CWD; rabies; plague; tularemia; Q-fever; West Nile virus in mammals and birds).

·   Maintain economically viable and sustainable forage, crop, and animal systems consistent with Wyoming’s resource base, environment, and public demand.  The laboratory offers timely and accurate diagnoses for diseases in animals in Wyoming.   In 2002, the laboratory examined and reported on 13,954 accessions from all 23 counties in Wyoming.

·   Information on natural resources provided by the college will be based on science and research and designed to assist the public, industry, and government in using and managing natural resources while maintaining environmental quality.  Faculty members in the department provide information on the presence and management of diseases in wildlife in the region.

·   Acknowledge students (both traditional and non-traditional) as clients pursuing knowledge and lifelong learning opportunities from the College of Agriculture.   The department now presents at all summer and most winter meetings of the Wyoming Veterinary Medical Association.  It generally presents one half day of material which can be applied to continuing education credit by attending veterinarians (15 presentations at joint UT-ID-WY state veterinary meeting in June 2003)

·   Conduct basic and applied research that discovers and verifies knowledge addressing the problems and issues of society.  The department has active research programs in infectious diseases of wildlife and livestock, and intoxications endemic to the western United States 

·   Increase public scientific literacy and understanding of agriculture, its characteristics, its constraints, and its relationship to communities and natural resources.  A major effort has been made within the department to communicate more effectively with constituents (quarterly newsletters; annual report), the Wyoming public (press releases; media interviews), and industry (participation in meetings of the Stockgrowers and Woolgrowers Association; Livestock Board; commercial veterinary product meetings aimed at veterinarians or producers; continuing education meetings for veterinarians)

Department:

·   Item #1: Merger of undergraduate and graduate degree programs with Animal Science for pre-veterinary majors.  The number of undergraduates in this program has grown each year since its inception in 1999.  In 2002 they numbered 151.

·   Item #2: Seeking funding from Wyoming Wildlife Disease Research Partnership.  In collaboration with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, the Wyoming Department of Agriculture, and the Wyoming Livestock Board and with support from the Wyoming Stockgrowers Association and Wyoming conservation organizations, the Partnership was awarded $200,000 from the Wyoming Legislature to be used for match with extramural funding. These funds were leveraged by the Wyoming congressional delegation to provide an additional $500,000 of federal funds for wildlife/livestock disease research.

·   Item #3. National re-accreditation sought and need for replacement equipment.  The WSVL was reaccredited in 1999.  A depreciation schedule was developed for the laboratory.  As a result, and thanks to support from the VPs of Finance, Research and Academic Affairs, new equipment purchased for the clinical pathology, histology, virology, bacteriology and toxicology laboratories.  Critical new teaching and storage space was developed in 2002.

·   Item #4.  Development of new and elimination of redundant courses.  Two courses, Parasitic Protozoology and Introductory Virology were eliminated.  Four new courses, Medical Virology, Diagnostic Bacteriology, Principals of Toxicology, and Comparative Pathology, were introduced. 

·   Item #5.  Development of a residency or post-graduate training for diagnosticians.  This goal was not met due to lack of funding from external sources.  This continues to be a major goal for the department.

·   Item #6.  Development of Endowed Chair in Wildlife Disease.  Donations for the chair ($200K) have been received.  This remains a major departmental target.  Faculty members and the dean of the college have made several presentations to selected audiences to meet this goal.

    II. Curriculum

    The major curriculum for which the department is responsible is the Pre-Veterinary Medical Option (undergraduate), which is shared with the Department of Animal Science.  The goal of the Pre-Veterinary Program is to prepare students interested in pursing a veterinary career.  Between 5 and 7 students enter veterinary school from the program annually, most to WICHE schools.  A challenge facing the program is to determine the career fate of graduates who complete the program yet do not enter veterinary college (see below).  The medical microbiology program is designed to prepare students for a career in microbiology.  Some pursue careers in human medicine.  The WWAMI program is for first year medical students studying at the University of Wyoming, and it is appropriate that faculty members are involved in this instruction.

·   Medical Microbiology program:  The department currently teaches the following classes (course number and students in most recent offering in parentheses): medical virology (PATB 4710; 35 students), medical entomology and parasitology (PATB 4360; 12 students), half of the immunology (PATB 4400; 28 students), and all of the diagnostic bacteriology (PATB 4200; 10 students). We offer 2 elective courses in principals of toxicology (PATB 4150/5150; 7 students) and basis for disease in animals (PATB 4150/5150; 7 students), and developed a supporting undergraduate seminar dedicated for the medical microbiology majors (PATB 4150; 9 students). 

·   Pre-Veterinary Medical option in Animal and Veterinary Sciences: We teach diseases of food animals and horses (PATB 4110; 68 students), immunology (PATB 4400; 28 students), veterinary entomology and parasitology (PATB 4500; 24 students) and medical virology (PATB 4710; 35 students).

·   WWAMI medical education program:  The department teaches the parasitology component of the Natural History of Infectious Disease (HM 6521; 10 students) and a portion of the Cell Physiology course (HM 6512; 10 students).

·   Wildlife and Fisheries Biology and Management: The department offers a well subscribed elective, alternate year course in Diseases of Wildlife (PATB 4120; 28 students).

·   Masters Degree in Pathobiology: Three students are currently enrolled.

·   Special problems classes and preceptorship program for final year veterinary students from veterinary colleges in the United States.

   Metrics:  Total enrollment: 99 (4 year average; 38 (1998 - 9); 63 (1999 - 00); 144 (2000 - 01); 151 (2001 – 02); number of graduates: 12.75 (4 year average; 2 (1998 - 9); 4 (1999 - 00); 21 (2000 - 01); 24 (2001 – 02); number of courses/faculty FTE: No data supplied; Courses/instructional FTE: No data supplied; student credit hours generated: 27; student credit hours/faculty FTE: 3.1; student credit hours/instructional FTE: 12.98

   Viability and potential of offerings:  Demand for the pre-veterinary medical option is high, in spite of stiff competition to enter veterinary college.  The potential for the medical microbiology program is strong, given changes that occurred in recent years in laboratory technology and current interest about epidemic, exotic, malicious, and food-borne diseases.  A severe constraint on offering the diagnostic bacteriology course is that the number of students each semester is limited to 10 due to the small size of the laboratory, and the absence of support for laboratory equipment and supplied (currently paid for from WSVL’s income account).  A similar constraint will be present if a diagnostic virology course is offered.  There is an urgent need to provide this instruction in an appropriate space and with funding from the Microbiology Program.  Essentially all teaching done in veterinary sciences is provided by full time faculty.  Individual student teaching is done in the form of Problems in Animal Disease (1 – 4 credits; usually for 3 credits).

    III.   Assessment

    This has been limited and informal to date.   A formal exit interview and a postal survey at first and four years post-graduation has been agreed between the two departments (Vet Sci and An Sci) as the most appropriate way to assess graduates.  Draft survey instruments are developed.

    IV.   Areas of Distinction (relate to MFIII)

      1.  Environment and Natural Resources:  Our department has an international reputation in the field of wildlife health and disease.  The editor of the Journal of Wildlife Disease is based in Veterinary Sciences, and she is also co-author of the standard textbook on infectious diseases of wildlife.  While the hire of a second pathologist with an interest in wildlife is complementary, we urgently need to strengthen and deepen the department’s ability to ensure that wildlife in the region are healthy, and that there is regional expertise in recognizing disease problems before they get out of control.  This is best be done by securing an endowed chair in Diseases at the Interface of Wildlife and Livestock; replacing our extension veterinarian on his retirement by a veterinary epidemiologist who will make effective teaching and research use of WyGIS facilities on campus; working with the Department of Renewable Resources to secure a position of insect vector ecologist to deal with diseases such as West Nile virus and plague; continuing to expand the Wyoming wildlife/livestock disease partnership; and active training of the next generation of wildlife biologists, veterinarians and diagnosticians in the principals of animal disease.

      2.  Life Sciences:   Medical Microbiology remains a program searching for traction.   It should be one of the strongest programs in the college, and a major magnet attracting life sciences students to UW.  There is the will, talent and interest in Veterinary Sciences to get this program to soar, so that UW graduates can exploit the strong job market in medical microbiology.   As a department we demonstrated our commitment to this program.  Yet until the program director has control of instructional resources so that they can be dedicated to instruction, and until program faculty members are appropriately located in supportive departments, the Medical Microbiology program will remain below potential. We strongly support the goal of creating a core faculty teaching workforce whose primary teaching and advising responsibilities are formally assigned to the inter-disciplinary Microbiology Program itself, as opposed to participating departments.

      3.  Science and Technology:   Recent concern about the vulnerability of the United States to new, emerging or bioterrorist diseases has had one major benefit: it helped focus minds on the need to have an effective and rapid disease surveillance network, as well as a need for applied research on rapid diagnostics for animal and human disease.  A particular weakness in the state is the essential absence of disease mapping capability.  This is an area in which there are many potential partners: the office of State Veterinarian, the Departments of Health and Game and Fish, the USDA, the state veterinary laboratory, and the Arthropod-borne Animal Disease Research Laboratory (ABARDL).   One position that will help bring these entities work in a less reactive manner is a disease mapping epidemiologist located in this department.   The USDA’s ABADRL operates what was recently acknowledged to be an old biosafety-3 animal facility that is at the end of its life span.  It will strengthen this department to work actively with ABADRL to get a replacement BSL-3 large animal facility established at UW.

      4.  Professions and issue critical to the region:   The department of veterinary sciences is working with the Wyoming Department of Health to develop additional capacity to diagnose high-consequence pathogens by developing a Select Agent laboratory in the WSVL.  There have been fruitful discussions about the role of WSVL personnel and facilities in the event of a major infectious disease episode in the state.   The department supports the veterinary profession throughout the state by offering continuing education programs and web-based updates on pertinent disease issues. 

    II.  Issues in MFIII that are germane to the department, including college-level issues

·   As evident in several points in this plan, the direction of this department depends upon resolving the final structure of the medical microbiology program.

    III.  All other issues that are germane to the department (e.g. accreditations, service units and client-related issues):

·   The department will pursue national re-accreditation with the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians in 2004.

·   Too many staff members are on the laboratory’s income account.  A major downside to this is there is a strong incentive to keep these salaries low, which results in an unfair salary system evolving within the laboratory technician grade system.

·   Current computations by administration of research and teaching FTE productivity do not make appropriate allowance for professional service (i.e., within the college, professional service FTEs is currently included with research FTEs in computing research productivity and grantsmanship relative to other units.  This results in a serious understatement of the gransmanship in the Veterinary Sciences department.). 

    IV.  Action Items for 2004-2009 (Include item, responsible individual(s) or group, timeline, and measure of success):

·   Develop additional appropriate undergraduate courses for medical microbiology majors, pre-veterinary students, and wildlife biologists. 

·   Examine developing a business plan for the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory  (2004; D. O’Toole; increased revenue to laboratory)

·   Obtain permanent funding for soft-money diagnostic technicians supported by the WSVL’s income account, so that income account can be used for equipment replacement.

·   Secure re-accreditation by American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (2005; Dr. Donal O’Toole; formal re-accreditation for full-service and all-species).

·   Become formal partner in the national Laboratory Response Network (LRN) to support the Wyoming Department of Health in surveillance of bioterrorism agents in animals (2003; formal acceptance by NRN)

·   Work to expand of National Animal Health Reporting Network (NAHRN) in partnership with the USDA; become a laboratory member of NAHRN when expansion occurs (2003 – 4; formal acceptance by USDA).

·   Establish secure Select Agent laboratory so that such agents can be handled in compliance with Bioterrorism Preparedness Act of 2002 (2004; obtaining funding for modifications)

·   Increase laboratory security so that the WSVL had clearly designated securely partitioned Laboratory and Public Access space (2004; obtaining state funding for modifications).

·   Secure endowed chair in wildlife-livestock diseases (2004; endowment of $2M by private donors).

·   Expansion of departmental critical mass in livestock-wildlife disease interface (2004; dependant on endowment of wildlife-livestock disease chair).

·   Develop residency program in diagnostic veterinary medicine, (2005; salary funding of ~$35K per annum from external sources and/or by cannibalization of existing GA positions).

·   Explore with the Research Office the commercial sale of the laboratory data management system that is currently being implemented and was developed in-house in cooperation with a Wyoming company (2004; D. O’Toole; profitable sale of product).

·   Develop a document outlining expectations of faculty who seek to obtain tenure.

·   Physical expansion of WSVL-Dept of Agriculture Analytical Services Laboratory to provide additional research laboratory and office space in West Laramie.  This should include discussion with the leadership of the USDA-ARS Arthropod-Borne Animal Disease Research Laboratory so that key personnel with ABADRL are co-localized with Dept Vet Sci, to increase synergy particularly in the research area and in the context of the microbiology program.

·   Secure voting position on the executive of Wyoming Veterinary Medical Association for Director of the WSVL to increase political heft of the department and College

October 1, 2003