Meeting & Agendas

In attendance: Mike Midgley, Vice-President for Instruction at ACC Dr. Eileen Klein, Executive Dean of Health Sciences at ACC Elizabeth Warren, RVT, Curriculum Developer for Veterinary Technology at ACC Dr. Glen Otto, DVM, Director of Animal Resources Center at UT Austin Dr. Regina Bohmfalk, Director of Veterinary Technology at Sanford-Brown Suzanne Williams, DVM, Chief of Staff at Banfield – Georgetown, TX Tara Maxson, RVT, Patient Services Director at Oliver Animal Hospital Dale Bunton, Senior Administrative Assistant, Recording

A discussion was entered to ask the Advisory Committee to consider the addition of a Chair and Co-Chair for the Veterinary Advisory Committee. The duties for the Chair would include opening and monitoring the meeting and closing the meeting. The Co-Chair would be a back-up in case the Chair was unable to attend the meeting. Suzanne Williams volunteered for the position of Chair and Tara Maxson volunteered to be the Co-Chair of the Veterinary Advisory Committee which was accepted with thanks by the committee.

Mike Midgley reported that as the year progresses, the Advisory Committee meetings would occur less frequently, likely twice a year. The next committee meeting will be held in early Fall 2013. Mike Midgley also discussed upcoming steps in the establishment of the Vet Tech Program. These steps would include development of processes for the Bond Package. The Bond may include funding to build an additional structure at the Elgin campus for the Veterinary Technology Program. The Veterinary Technology Program is currently developing a starting budget for the program. We are also working with the Library staff and biology lab at the Elgin campus location. The biology department is receptive to working with the vet tech program to assist in developing/sharing lab space.

A. Department Chair-Posted (http://www5.austincc.edu/ehire/posting/online_version.php?job_num=1305018) B. Adjunct Faculty-Posted (http://www5.austincc.edu/ehire/posting/online_version.php?job_num=1305006) C. Clinical Coordinator-Posted (http://www5.austincc.edu/ehire/posting/online_version.php?job_num=1305017) D. Publicizing Position Copies of the job postings for positions of Department Chair, Adjunct Faculty, and Clinical Coordinator were distributed to meeting attendees for review. We are hoping to hire the Adjunct position first. Eileen Klein stated that a link to the job posting is printed on the agenda for this meeting as well as a hard copy. The Clinical Coordinator position will handle clinical placements and assist the Department Chair. We can post this position on the TARVT site. We hope to develop an applicant pool and begin interviews for this position in the fall. We have received permission to advertise the job postings. Elizabeth Warren suggested presenting the job posting at the Capital Area Veterinary Medical Association (CAVMA) meeting. Suzanne Williams suggested that she plans to attend the next CAVMA meeting and could introduce the Vet Tech program to local veterinarians. Suzanne is willing to work with Elizabeth to meet together at the CAVMA meeting. The question was asked if the job postings information could be minimized in order to post/advertise with CAVMA. We will ask Erica Breedlove about Austin Community College’s policies about outside advertising. We are also receiving inquiries from students about the Vet Tech Program. Elizabeth Warren stated that the first pre-requisite veterinary technology course, Canine and Feline Care and Husbandry, will be offered this summer and as a short class early in the fall semester. Our goal is to ensure that students seeking admission to the Veterinary Technology Program will have ample opportunity to complete all prerequisite courses, as approved by this committee, before the admissions deadline.

The program will need to develop affiliation agreements since all hands-on experiences will be handled offsite. Although other veterinary technician programs are sometimes attached to animal shelters, this is not currently an option for us. We will seek to establish primary clinical affiliations with Banfield, VCA and Emancipet. Banfield, VCA, and Emancipet could serve as locations that may serve as clinical sites. Elizabeth Warren stated that if we found an organization to form a bond or relationship with, we could develop it as a primary teaching and learning clinical site. The Elgin community has expressed an interest in developing a large animal specialization as a future addition to the program. This would require additional affiliations with large animal facilities and will be considered after the primary program is in place. The Group decided that we will make contact with the above mentioned locations. Suzanne Williams will discuss our suggestions with Banfield. Suzanne also suggested looking at the Williamson County Animal Shelter as sheltered animals would be ideal as hands-on patients. We need to see if there is an animal shelter in the Elgin community. Other suggestions included Austin’s Pet Alive and other local animal shelters. The group discussed the need of any external learning site having the same standards as an internal learning site. Two concerns were addressed which included: • Where will the animals come from? • Should we work with animal rescue groups?

Discussion opened addressing how to sequence and tech program courses within the degree. The AVMA requires that credited veterinary technology programs provide instruction and assure student proficiency in the Essential Skills (https://www.avma.org/ProfessionalDevelopment/Education/Accreditation/Programs/Pages/cvtea-pp-appendix-i.aspx). Input from the Advisory Committee will be solicited when establishing and developing guidelines for skills and student learning outcomes. The group also discussed the necessity of some flexibility within the program. We need to consider developing simulation labs. For example, vascular concepts and ECG interpretation could be taught using models

We will need to establish a committee to approve and give guidance and develop protocols. The Veterinary Technology Program will need to be registered with the USDA and establish an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). The members represented on the committee should include the Department Chair, Clinical Coordinator and DVM. The USDA requires three members on the IACUC. For Austin Community College, USDA would require five members; however, we may be able to get by with three members. IACUC members will be internal and include veterinary staff, community member and biology teacher. The committee cannot be established until the positions of Department Chair, Adjunct Faculty member, and Clinical Coordinator are filled. They should be members of the committee. Leander High School has an Animal Program and Elgin High School has a Veterinary Technology teacher. They could also be included as members on this committee. We may offer a stipend, parking, etc for committee members. USDA usually has one unannounced inspection annually.

Mike Midgley recommended increasing the members of the Veterinary Advisory Committee. We need between five to fifteen members. We need people who will be engaged. Strategy for the next meeting includes sending invitations to members who have attended earlier advisory meetings and invite them to become regular members. The membership would be a three year term. The floor was opened to discuss the meeting time and the group consensus agreed that the regular time of 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm works best. For the next meeting date, we are looking at September 19, 2013. Closing notes included the discussion of problems with the Vet Tech Google Group accessibility. We need to include the Veterinary Advisory Committee meeting in the Google Group. We can send the link to the AVMA site via email instead of the Google Group.