Dean’s Message: Fall 2014

Dean Jim LloydGreetings,

As we enter the fall season, we are proud to welcome the 113 new D.V.M. students who make up the Class of 2018, as well as several new faculty and staff to the CVM Gator family.

The past year has been a whirlwind, as we’ve actively engaged in strategic planning, with an emphasis on identifying initiatives that will propel our college to preeminent status across all areas of its mission – teaching, research and clinical services.

Already, we have made great strides, and I would like to take this opportunity to update everyone on our progress to date and provide a glimpse of our direction for the near future.

Although we view our plan as live and evolving, our timeline for reaching significant, measureable progress is 24 months from when we began our initial planning in the fall of 2013. During the last half of 2013, we hired new faculty in the areas of dermatology, clinical pathology, cardiology, integrative medicine, zoo medicine and toxicology. Since that time, positions have been filled in neurology, anatomy, neurophysiology, ophthalmology, and radiology, and searches are currently underway in equine surgery, dairy health, pathology, radiation oncology, small animal medicine and dermatology.

During 2013, we invested in facilities, including a new education center and computer laboratory, diagnostic laboratories and a new equine sports performance complex.

Another wave of investments started in early 2014, including an advanced clinical techniques laboratory, simulation equipment and models, new research laboratory space, renovation of existing research laboratories and research equipment upgrades.

Major factors influencing our planning and our timeframe are an upcoming accreditation site visit by the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Council on Education in the fall of 2015; an ever-changing market for veterinarians and veterinary medical services; and a challenging, but increasingly important, research environment. On the UF campus, this research environment is characterized most currently by the University’s national preeminence initiative. One such initiative, in One Health, is being coordinated by our college.

One Health is the concept that animal, human and environmental health are all related. Many of our alumni are already doing important work in this area. .As part of our strategic planning process, we have reaffirmed our core values, which impact every decision we make.

Those values include:

• Excellence
• Trust
• Accountability
• Innovation
• Teamwork
• Integrity
• Diversity

Based on wide-reaching stakeholder input, the college has identified a number of strategic priorities that cut across the three dimensions of our mission. These include:

• Core culture –building collegiality
• Promotion and tenure guidelines
• Leadership development
• International programs
• Enhancing diversity and inclusion
• Faculty development
• Administrative structure
• Preeminent faculty hires
• External engagement
• Communication

Within the key mission areas of research, clinical services and education, the college has defined additional specific elements of strategic priority. To learn more about these areas, I invite you to follow our strategic plan updates on the website.

The atmosphere around the college is one of optimism and empowerment as we continue to strive for preeminence across all of our programs, with the full support of UF Health, the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS), and main campus administration.Please don’t hesitate to contact me to discuss any aspect of our planning or our overall goals. I welcome your engagement and my door is always open.

Best regards, and “Go Gators!”

James W. Lloyd, D.V.M., Ph.D.
Professor and Dean