New veterinary technician programs open as others close

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The AVMA Committee on Veterinary Technician Education and Activities accredited six new veterinary technology programs and withdrew accreditation for five at its April 26-29 meeting in Schaumburg, Illinois. That brings the total number of accredited programs to 204.

The new schools, which were given initial accreditation status, are as follows:

  • Kent State University, Trumbull, Ohio.
  • Lancaster County Career & Technology Center, Willow Street, Pennsylvania.
  • Platt College, Anaheim, California.
  • Tyler Junior College, Tyler, Texas.
  • Universidad del Turabo, Gurabo, Puerto Rico.
  • Wichita Area Technical College, Wichita, Kansas.

In other CVTEA actions, Pierpont Community & Technical College in Fairmont, West Virginia, was placed on probationary accreditation, and Harrison College in Indianapolis was placed on terminal accredited as it is expected to close in March 2020.

The following programs remain on continued terminal accreditation as they also have shuttered operations or are expected to do so.

  • Vet Tech Institute at Hickey College in St. Louis; closed in August.
  • Duluth Business University in Duluth, Minnesota; closed in June.
  • National American University in Rapid City, South Dakota; closed in August.
  • Vista College in Lubbock, Texas; closing in March 2019.

Further, Broadview University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and in Appleton and Wausau, Wisconsin; Duluth Business University in Duluth, Minnesota; and Southern Illinois Collegiate Common Market in Herrin, Illinois, had their accreditation withdrawn on the basis of voluntary closure.

In all, there are 151 programs assigned full accreditation, 45 assigned initial accreditation, four assigned probationary accreditation, and four on terminal accreditation.

In 2018, the CVTEA will have completed 44 site visits, including visits to nine new programs. There are currently 13 programs that are applying for accreditation. See a list of the programs that have completed the application process and have been granted a date for a site visit. The CVTEA allows a maximum of 50 sites visits per year unless approved otherwise.

The CVTEA also made a number of changes to the Accreditation Policies and Procedures Manual of the CVTEA at its meeting.

For example, under Standard 8 (Students), the manual now states that the ratios of program personnel to students shall not exceed 1:12 for laboratory courses without animals present and 1:8 for laboratory courses with animals present. Compliance with these ratios is required by Sept. 1, 2020.

In addition, the committee approved changes to the policy sections of the manual, including that programs must report within 30 days on disruptions in teaching for more than two weeks due to natural disasters and that reaccreditation site visits will shift from a three-day to a two-day format beginning in October.

Finally, effective Sept. 1, programs must post Veterinary Technician National Examination data for July 1, 2015, through June 30, 2018. Specifically, they must post the number of eligible first-time candidates, the number of first-time candidates that have taken the VTNE, and the three-year VTNE pass percentage.

The mean three-year national pass rate for the VTNE has been 70.31 percent for first-time takers, according to the American Association of Veterinary State Boards, which proctors the examination.

Most veterinary technology programs' three-year pass rates fall at or above the national mean. The CVTEA has mandated that a program's three-year mean rolling VTNE pass percentage for first-time test takers must be 50 percent or higher. Compliance is expected by Sept. 1, 2020. Programs not in compliance at that time may be subject to an adverse accreditation status.

Related JAVMA content:

Assessing veterinary technician education (May 1, 2018)