Committee members opine, seek answers about proposed vet school

Committee members opine, seek answers about proposed vet school Dec 20, 2024

A photo from Thursday’s Interim Joint Committee on Agriculture meeting can be found here. It shows House Minority Caucus Chair Cherlynn Stevenson, D-Lexington, speaking about a possible veterinary medicine school at Murray State University.

FRANKFORT — Members of the Interim Joint Committee on Agriculture asked questions and made comments Thursday about a possible veterinary medicine school at Murray State University.

Amy Wittmayer, specialist leader at Deloitte Consulting, presented findings from a report that lawmakers called for during the 2024 legislative session. The meeting focused on the proposed veterinary medicine school, but the report includes feasibility assessments regarding other higher education programs in the commonwealth.

“Importantly, the vet med program would employ a distributive model for clinical education. The students would complete their education via a network of clinical partners,” Wittmayer said. “This contrasts with a traditional model of veterinary education where DVM students complete most of their clinical education in affiliated teaching hospitals.”

Wittmayer said the proposed program launch date is fall 2027, with a target cohort size of 70 students. The goal is to reach a total enrollment of 280 by the fifth year. She said it’s estimated 15 incremental faculty and 42 staff and administrators would be needed to operate the school.

Brian Parr, dean of the Hutson School of Agriculture at Murray State University, offered reasons why a veterinary medicine school should be located at the institution.

“I would say that there are a lot of reasons why Murray State is the perfect place for this. The resources are there. It’s the most financially responsible way to put this in place, and it’s desperately needed by our state,” he said.

Rep. James Tipton, R-Taylorsville, said legislators have had many discussions about a possible veterinary school of medicine in Kentucky over the last two years, and he served on a task force that discussed the topic several years before that.

The consensus at that time was to continue working with veterinary schools at Auburn University and Tuskegee University in Alabama, he said, adding that “there is no doubt we have a shortage of veterinarians, primarily large animal veterinarians.”

Tipton said he agrees with Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, who said the school would need to benefit the entire state.

“Will it justify the huge taxpayer expense that is going to be made to support Murray’s desire to have a vet school,” Thayer said. “Will it end up with more veterinarians, specifically large animal veterinarians, in the rural areas of the state? It can’t just be good for Murray to have this program, and it can’t just be good for Western Kentucky. It has to be good for all 4 ½ million people who live in the commonwealth.”

Legislation would have to pass muster with the appropriations committee, and supporters would face tough questions there, Thayer said. He also questioned why the state’s flagship university isn’t pursuing a veterinary medicine school.

“Why isn’t the University of Kentucky all over this with enthusiasm and asking for the program themselves? Many of our animal science graduates at the University of Kentucky end up taking advantage of the program we have with Auburn,” he said.

House Minority Caucus Chair Cherlynn Stevenson, D-Lexington, said she’s concerned about the possible costs involved with the proposed school.

“My biggest concern is that we make this huge investment and down the road as we keep cutting income tax and all of that money is going away, I worry that at some point we will have to make a decision between funding those spots at Auburn and Tuskegee versus keeping in with this,” she said.

Rep. David Hale, R-Wellington, said he hasn’t made up his mind about the proposed school yet, but said his very good friend who is a veterinarian told him to be cautious about moving forward.

Murray President Bob Jackson said the university stands poised to establish a school that’s needed in the commonwealth.

“There are issues with any academic program that may be started at any institution at any time. We have 148 different academic programs at Murray State University. And at some point in time, we have started each and every one of those with an investment and many have been highly successful. All have been successful in some form or fashion,” he said.

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https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/publicservices/pio/release_archive2024.html#Vets122024