Purdue University Veterinary Medical
VOLUME 12, NUMBER 2
JANUARY 1987
Progress Report from the Dean
Strategic Operating Plan /s On Track
I am pleased to report that the SVM planning process is progressing quite well and is
essentially on track. We hope to be finished by the end of the first quarter in 1987.
The highlights of our strategic operating plan will be discussed in the next issue of
UPDATE.
For a strategic operating plan to be successful, it must be based on solid foundations.
In an organization like PUSVM, it is important to have a clear understanding of the
University and School charters, to have a well-defined and worthwhile set of goals, and
an operating philosophy which is in congruence with the School's character and is
broadly understood by its faculty and staff. Position documents in these areas have
been prepared and widely disseminated. Here are a few of the important features.
CHARTER. In addition to the obvious and essential elements of our broad mission,
i.e., teaching, research and public service, we also now recognize a responsibility for
providing continuing education and training programs designed to upgrade the knowledge base and technical competence of veterinary scientists and technicians. We plan
to develop innovative programs in continuing education that will prepare our students
for a lifetime of effective learning, and our graduates with the skills, experience and
confidence to remain current and competitive. Our new Practitioner Sabbatical Program is a tangible manifestation of our commitment to innovative approaches to continuing education.
GOAL. The overall goal of PUSVM is to be the leading veterinary educational institution in the United States by the turn of the century. On the surface, this would appear
to be a very tall order, for we lack the human and physical resources of many of the
other schools. However, we believe that leadership is more a reflection of rttitude,
spirit, and quality of thinking than of size and resources. Our faculty aspire to be
viewed by their peers within and without the University as dynamic, highly innovative
and excellent scientists and teachers. We intend to generate excitement.
OPERATING PHILOSOPHY. To achieve our overall goal of excellence and leadership, we intend to adhere to a set of operating philosophies that we believe will take us
there. The following are some of the most important. They should give you some
flavor of the plans to come!
• We will strive for excellence in all aspects of our work. Excellent performance will
be expected.
• We will emphasize innovation in our teaching, research, and service programs.
Innovative thinking will also be applied to organizational, administrative, and
developmental matters.
• We will actively develop our faculty and staff and make it possible for them to
achieve their full potential as professionals, scientists and individuals.
• Faculty, administrators, and staff will be rewarded on the basis of the merit of
their performance. We plan to be competitive in terms of compensation and
academic environment to retain our excellent faculty.
• We will foster an excellent learning environment for our students. We will expect
and encourage our students to think and learn independently, to correlate and
interpret information, and to record and communicate the latter accurately and
lucidly.
• In order to keep current, all faculty are expected to actively participate in research and/or in the application of new technologies and new knowledge to teaching and diagnostic services.
• Collaborative research efforts will be encouraged within and between departments, schools, and other academic or research institutions.
• Internal research funds will be directed toward research proposals judged to be of
peer review quality and will support pilot projects, rather than serve as sustaining support. Faculty are expected to compete for extramural funding.
• Resources of space, technical assistance, and equipment will be efficiently utilized. Resources will be reassigned as programs expand or contract.
• Our clinical, diagnostic, and investigative service responsibilities will be performed according to the highest standards.
%# The various administrative functions expected of faculty, such as committee
assignments, task force membership, etc., are viewed as important, but will be
kept to an essential minimum. Faculty will be expected to take assignments
seriously and to give them their full commitment and attention.
• We will be fair, direct, and honest in all our dealings with others.
Although we have a long way to go to achieve our overall goal, I am confident that we
will get there. My confidence is based on fact and a simple premise. The fact is, the
quality of our human resources (faculty and staff) is second to none. Thus, if we
support and develop each individual so that he/she reaches his/her full potential, we
will have an unbeatable organization!
Hugh Bilson Lewis
Dean
Department Profile
777e Changing Face of Purdue's Small Animal Clinic
Now, as in the past, the Purdue Small
Animal Clinic continues to provide veterinary service for the surrounding
community and the state of Indiana.
During the past four years, however,
there have been exciting additions to the
clinic faculty which have allowed greater
specialization and a tremendous expansion in available diagnostics and therapeutics. This, in turn, has increased the
amount and quality of available small
animal veterinary services while providing
an opportunity to explore new areas of
clinical research ultimately designed to
improve the health of dogs and cats and,
in some instances, lay the groundwork for
further    studies    in    human    medicine.
Perhaps this expansion and development
is best exemplified by the comparative
oncology program founded by Dr.
Gordon Coppoc, Dr. Ralph Richardson,
Dr. William Carlton, and others at Purdue
in the late 1970's. The Purdue Comparative Oncology Program (PCOP) was established to care for pets with cancer and
allow the information gained during that
evaluation and treatment to be used as a
model for human cancer. Several forms of
therapy have been developed that are
available to pet owners, and many are
supported financially through grants.
Combining radiation with heat has been
one of the most successful protocols
for treating tumors. It has been most
effective in dogs and cats with solitary
tumors.
Drs. H. Dan Cantwell, Gary Lantz, and
Ralph Richardson are currently investigating intraoperative radiation therapy as
a method of treatment for selected dog
and cat tumors. Intraoperative radiation
therapy is the direct delivery of a single
large dose of radiation to a resected
tumor bed and surrounding areas where
tumor spread may have occurred. This
treatment is appropriate for those tumors
that cannot be completely removed
with surgery. The purpose of intraoperative radiation therapy is to destroy
residual   tumor  cells   immediately  after
Bud, a long time resident blood donor of the Small Animal Clinic, looks on as Dr. Walter E. Weirich and Kristine A. Kazmierczak, R. V. T, run a print-out of his ECG on the
department's new ECG analyzer.
tumor excision. Cancericidal doses of
radiation can be delivered directly to
tumor beds exposed during surgery,
thereby improving the protection of
surrounding or overlying normal tissue
and hopefully minimizing the development of adverse reactions.
Drs. Kathy Salisbury and Gary Lantz are
developing new, more versatile reconstructive techniques to allow excision of
large, aggressive tumors as well as repair
of chronic oronasal fistulas and cleft
palates. Many oral and facial tumors, such
as malignant melanomas and squamous
cell carcinomas, that commonly recur
following conventional surgical excision,
are now being successfully treated by
more aggressive surgical procedures.
Partial mandibulectomy and maxillect-
omy allow wide resection of the tumor
together   with   the   adjacent   bone.   Al-
continued on page 2
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