The College of Veterinary Medicine presented its first annual Staff Recognition Awards on August 6 in Overton Auditorium. The purpose of the program, as described by committee chair Dr. Dawn Boothe, is to formally recognize outstanding performance and accomplishment by CVM staff employees, as well as to recognize service longevity of employees of the college.

With the Dean’s Award, the program also recognizes individuals who are not full-time employees of the CVM or Auburn University, yet provide exemplary service to the college. With over 50 nominations presented, the awards committee selected the recipients from 20 forwarded by the departments.

The Awards Committee of the American Association of Avian Pathologists has named “Infectious Bronchitis Virus in the Chicken Harderian Gland and Lachrymal Fluid: Viral Load, Infectivity, Immune Cell Responses, and Effects of Viral Immunodeficiency” as the best paper published in Avian Diseases for 2008. Authors of the paper are Frederick W. Van Ginkel, Vicky L. van Santen, S. L. Gulley, and Haroldo Toro. Avian Diseases is the official publication of the American Association of Avian Pathologists. Published four times a year, it contains full papers, research notes, and case reports related to the field of avian diseases.

Approximately five Visiting Joy Goodwin Lecturers, as well as the Joy Goodwin Distinguished Lecturer, are expected to be funded this year as part of the Joy Goodwin Lectureship Program.

Nominees for lecturers should be accomplished research scientists of outstanding caliber whose presentations would be of interest to a significant portion of the faculty. The distinguished lecturer nominee should be a senior research scientist of international stature of the caliber of a National Academy of Sciences member or Nobel Laureate whose lecture will be of broad interest to the faculty and students of the college and the university community.

Nominations should be made through the Joy Goodwin Lectureship Series Web page. Rules for nomination and an application to apply are available at

Joy Goodwin Lecture Series

2009 CVM graduate Samantha Martin is featured in 2009-2010 Auburn Abroad Experience, a booklet that highlights all of Auburn’s active programs abroad by college. Sami completed a veterinary medicine externship last fall in Morwell, Australia, with the help of the university’s study abroad program administered by the Office of International Education.

Veterinary students may gain international experience in several ways. Some students travel with organizations that provide veterinary medical services in third-world countries (e.g., through the Christian Veterinary Missions Program). Others visit sister veterinary institutions (in Chile or Japan), and some students arrange individual externships with practicing veterinarians around the world.

The CVM faculty contact for studying abroad for credit is Dr. Donna Angarano.

Every year, the number of veterinary graduates is outpaced by needs in research, education, and clinical practice. The College of Veterinary Medicine strives to keep pace with the needs for clinical, classroom, and research facilities that are at the core of its teaching mission. To sustain the number of graduates and provide for growth of emerging diagnostics and therapeutic innovations, the CVM plans to expand and replace many outgrown facilities.

To meet this need, the college is developing plans to enhance its facilities and programs with an infrastructure investment of $40 million. The proposed new Small Animal Teaching Hospital will contain suites for medical and surgical specialties such as neurology and oncology, a critical care facility, advanced diagnostic imaging, rehabilitation, and a community practice veterinary clinic with 24-hour emergency service.

Auburn University has introduced a new design for its collegiate license plates to be available in late August or early September.

Proceeds from the sale of Auburn University license plates in Alabama go to the Auburn University “License to Learn” Scholarship Endowment Fund, a statewide program that raises funds for freshmen scholarships. Approximately $1.2 million in scholarships was awarded in 2008-09.

The state requires the collegiate license plate designs to be changed every five years. Auburn University’s new design features the interlocking AU logo on the left side of the tag, an orange gradient at the bottom and a blue gradient at the top, with “Auburn” in orange at the top of the tag. The new design will allow for six characters; past designs have had space for only five. This will allow for additional personalization options.

Several new designs were considered, but in the end, Auburn alums voiced their opinions via a survey and one design in particular was overwhelmingly the favorite. 

Auburn University collegiate license plates will be available at local county license offices in late August or early September (call first, as all counties won’t receive the tags at the same time). Both numbered tags and personalized tags are available; the cost of either one is $50 above the normal tag cost of $24.25. Collegiate license plates may be purchased at any time, regardless of the individual’s tag renewal month.

Beginning September 1, customers will be able to search for or reserve a personalized tag message online through the state’s Web site (Alabama Department of Revenue--Motor Vehicle Division).

On August 7, the Department of Clinical Sciences hosted a farewell party in honor of Dr. Christine Calder, a clinical instructor in internal medicine. Dr. Calder left the CVM to return to Maine.

The critical care faculty sponsors a continuing education course in emergency medicine on August 28-30. Topics to be explored include: management of snakebites, emergency management of heatstroke, and stabilization of respiratory emergencies. The conference is open to veterinarians and veterinary technicians with an interest in emergency or critical care medicine. For more information, visit our Web site.

The Southeastern Raptor Center hosts educational, birds-in-flight raptor programs on Fridays this fall before home football games. Hawks, falcons, and eagles will be free-flown from flight towers.

The program, “Football, Fans, & Feathers,” is scheduled for Sept. 4, 11, 18, 25; Oct. 16, 30; and Nov 6. Each show begins at 4 p.m. The Nov. 27 show begins at 9 a.m. on the day of the Auburn vs. Alabama game. Programs take place at the Edgar B. Carter Educational Amphitheater.

Tickets will be available at the Raptor Center gate for $5 each and registration is not required. Tickets are $3 a person for school groups of 25 or more, and those groups should call ahead at (334) 844-6943. Children under three are admitted free.

Are you a faculty member or do you know a CVM graduate who is performing research abroad?  Auburn’s Office of Communications and Marketing (OCM) would like to know. OCM is helping expand the university’s Global Gateway international Web pages this fall and wants to include faculty and alumni on an interactive map. Please send the researcher’s name, the country where they are conducting research, and what their program is about to CVM’s Communications Specialist Tara Lanier by August 31: tara.lanier@auburn.edu.