Performance Budget Level Request 01a

PRESERVING VETERINARY MEDICINE

WSU RECOMMENDATION AND FISCAL SUMMARY

The State of Washington has been phasing in Doctor of Veterinary Medicine students and funding to replace students and funding being withdrawn by the State of Oregon.  This request is for the final installment of that funding.

NARRATIVE JUSTIFICATION AND IMPACT STATEMENT

For nearly three decades Oregon State University has provided partial base instructional support for WSU’s Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) program in Pullman. Thirty-six students in the Oregon State University (OSU) DVM program have completed the second year and three-quarters of the third year of their education (for an equivalent of 63 students/year in total) while enrolled at the WSU College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM). OSU has shared the cost of this instruction.  OSU has now terminated the contract for reasons of state self-determination and will not send OSU-based second year DVM students to WSU in fall 2004.  The 2004 OSU third year class will be the last to cycle through WSU as they complete their Pullman classes in Spring 2005.

As a result of OSU’s termination of the contract, WSU CVM will receive none of the $2.6 million ($2.4 million in 2002) that it would have received annually under the old arrangement.  The 2003 Washington legislature responded to this urgent situation by funding $1.5 M for the 2003-2005 biennium to cover the first phase of the withdrawal. WSU receives its last OSU payment in FY05. Therefore, although the phased increase in enrollment will not be completed until FY07 full replacement funding is   necessary in FY06 to stabilize the college’s DVM program and instructional budget, to preserve high quality programs, to provide increased access to veterinary medical education for Washington residents, and to fully utilize the outstanding facilities and veterinary instructional resources in service to Washington stakeholders.

PRIORITIES OF GOVERNMENT

This decision package addresses several of the priorities of government recommendations.  These are listed here and referenced below:

WSU will continue to replace the OSU students by increasing entering WSU DVM class enrollment proportionately with additional Washington resident students. 

Restructuring Enrollment

In order to ensure a larger complement of Washington DVM students, WSU made the commitment to increase the size of its first-year class by 16 students for four consecutive years, from FY04 through FY07.  OSU funding will terminate when the OSU students leave at the end of FY05.  WSU must have the balance of the replacement funding in FY06 to maintain core level funding and the associated existing high quality of the DVM training program.  Enrollment will continue to grow with the entering classes of FY06 and FY07.

OSU and its students have provided WSU CVM with a vital core of instructional operating budget support that has been essential to high quality teaching, research, and service programs.  The OSU funds historically supported 40 essential instructional program positions and approximately 50% of the WSU DVM instructional operational non-salary support. The loss of the OSU support to WSU is a major emergency with far-reaching and serious consequences to WSU, our stakeholders, the state and region’s economy, and the health, safety, and well being of people and animals. 

How will the state of Washington benefit from this change?

With completion of the replacement funding initiative that was begun by the 2003 Washington state legislature, the state’s only College of Veterinary Medicine can continue its instructional, graduate training, research, and service programs.  The college will continue its outstanding record of developing, enhancing, and delivering “face to face” high quality and productive teaching, research, and service programs that provide major benefits to the public, their animals, veterinary practitioners, agricultural animal industries, and state and federal animal and public health agencies.

If additional fiscal resources are not secured to replace in total the loss of OSU funding, severe budget cuts will be required and the quality and sustainability of WSU CVM’s programs will be at major risk.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES: POG Indicators of Success

POG Indicator: Number of degrees conferred in high-demand fields.

The number of doctor of Veterinary Medicine degrees will grow by at least 16 per year from historic levels. This will return the number of DVM degrees per 100,000 Washington State population to levels that approximate those that existed in the 1970s prior to the establishment of a regional program with OSU. 

POG Indicator: Programmatic student funding levels.

Funding per student will remain constant.  Without this replacement funding the level of funding would diminish and the full accreditation status of the CVM with 3 national/federal organizations/agencies would be jeopardized.  CVM’s ability to recruit and retain high quality faculty and staff would be diminished

POG Indicator: Maximize facilities utilization

The number of students served and degrees produced will increase with no increase in physical facilities.