By Jennifer Dorsett
Field Editor
A recent update in the accreditation process means the Texas Tech University School of Veterinary Medicine is on track to open for the 2021 fall semester.
The American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education (AVMA-COE), the accreditor of veterinary medical programs in the U.S., issued a Letter of Reasonable Assurance to the school on Sept. 16. That approval allows Texas Tech to move forward in the student application process.
“The association reviews everything from the physical facilities to the students to the finances,” Dr. Guy Loneragan, dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine, said in an interview with Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network. “It is a very broad and all-encompassing set of standards.”
The letter from AVMA-COE indicates, after reviewing the school’s detailed plan, the association has “reasonable assurance” Texas Tech will meet standards of accreditation in the future.
Provisional accreditation begins on the date the school sends letters of acceptance to the first class of students. After the inaugural class takes the final licensing exams in 2025, the school will be fully accredited if Texas Tech demonstrates it continues to meet standards of accreditation.
“The school now has a lot of work to do, but it is exciting work, and it is work that everyone is itching to sink their teeth into simply because it means that, after all these years of planning, we now finally get to meet and start teaching the very first class of students of the School of Veterinary Medicine at Texas Tech,” Loneragan said. “That is indeed something that is incredibly special.”
Now, the school may begin the admissions process. Interviews will occur in February 2021, enrollment in April and orientation for the first class of veterinary medicine students is set for August, Loneragan said.
About 60 students are expected to make up the inaugural class, Texas Tech President Lawrence Schovanec said at an event following the announcement from AVMA-COE.
“When we announced our pursuit of the School of Veterinary Medicine in 2015, we knew the model we were presenting would be a great benefit to our great state’s future, and so many people, communities and community and state leaders believed in what we were doing,” Schovanec said. “I am proud of the efforts of so many within our campus community and the external partnerships that helped Texas Tech arrive to today. I am also excited for the many students who will benefit from an additional in-state veterinary education.”
Texas Tech broke ground on the school in September 2019.
Click here more information about Texas Tech’s School of Veterinary Medicine.