AVMA COE to examine DEI language in accreditation standards

The AVMA Council on Education (COE) has formed a new working group on diversity and inclusion.  The group is charged with identifying areas for improvement to the diversity and inclusion language within the COE Standards of Accreditation, benchmarking the standards to other health professional programs, and assessing the potential for including specific language regarding pipeline programs.  

The working group is soliciting comments from stakeholders and the public through January 22, 2021, regarding the current language within the Standards related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Comments should be emailed to COEavma [dot] org (subject: AVMA%20COE%20DEI%20Comments) , with the subject line “AVMA COE DEI Comments.” 

Stakeholders and the public will have a second opportunity for comment if any revisions to the standards are proposed by the COE.

In 2016, the COE appointed a working group to address the incorporation of diversity and inclusion language into the Standards of Accreditation. Changes were adopted in March 2017, following public comment. At that time, the COE elected to embed diversity, equity, and inclusion language throughout the standards rather than in a standalone standard. The council believed diversity, equity and inclusion should be an integral part of all aspects of veterinary education, and DEI language was incorporated into the following standards:

• Standard 1, Organization
• Standard 6, Students
• Standard 7, Admissions
• Standard 8, Faculty
• Standard 9, Curriculum
• Standard 11, Outcomes assessment