LSU, Tuskegee veterinary schools placed on limited accreditation

Schaumburg, Ill. — Two veterinary colleges have been moved from full to limited accreditation, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Council on Education (COE).

Louisiana State University (LSU) and Tuskegee University veterinary programs went from full to limited accreditation, which means they did not meet at least two of the accreditation standards.

Dr. David Granstrom, director of the AVMA Education and Research Division, explains that the action reflects "at least a couple of areas we have identified for them to improve."

A veterinary program can achieve full accreditation by meeting 11 standards: organization, finances, physical facilities and equipment, clinical resources, library and information resources, students, admission, faculty, curriculum, research and outcomes assessment.

Granstrom describes the accredi-tation method as a system to evaulate a school's processes and assess its outcome.

"We're looking at measures of how students succeed, how they do on their veterinary exam," he says.

"We ask colleges to do a survey of employers of recent graduates and ask where do they see deficiencies, and we ask how the colleges are using that information to make adjustments. It's an enterprise really aimed at continuous improvement."

Accreditation reports are confidential, although colleges can choose to share information from evaluations.

Neither of the two deans returned calls seeking comment.

But a change in accreditation, even a downward one, isn't always a bad thing.

"I'm aware of many examples of schools placed on limited accreditation that were able to get the attention of their legislators and indeed able to get monies," Granstrom says.

"It does seem to get the attention of the legislature, the university or whoever has the purse strings, so it can actually be quite helpful."

Meanwhile, Western University of Health Sciences College of Veterinary Medicine in Pomona, Calif., went from provisional to limited accreditation.

As a new program, it had operated under provisional accreditation since 2003.

"They were provisional, but they can be only be provisional for five years," Granstrom says.

"We had a lot of site visits, and they went the full five years through no fault of their own.

"But after five years, you have to go to limited or full. If you have two or three things that need improving, you go on limited."

But Granstrom says Western U likely won't stay on limited accreditation for long.

Graduation from an AVMA COE-accredited institution is a prerequisite for licensure or certification for professional practice through most state licensing boards. The COE granted continued full accreditation to the rest of the U.S. veterinary colleges.

"If we identify any areas that need a little work, the goal is not to close the places down, but to help them get better," Granstrom says.