The OVC Alumni Association would like to collect every single year’s
class composite in order to put together a complete set in a digital
presentation at OVC.
Please email Lisa Cox at coxl@uoguelph.ca, if you have one
of these missing years: 1946 to 1951, 1953 to 1974, 1976 to 1978, 1992, 2007, 2008
and 2010.
As well, if anyone has high-quality images of their class crest or mascot from 1982 onwards, these would also be appreciated.
The Ruby Rhinos, OVC Class of 2020, were officially welcomed the
Ontario Veterinary College and the veterinary profession on Saturday, September
17.
Hundreds of family, friends and veterinary mentors, along with representatives from OVC, the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association (OVMA),OVC Alumni Association (OVCAA), College of Veterinarians of Ontario (CVO), and the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CMVA), joined the class for the Professional Welcome Ceremony, which marks an important milestone in the journey of the first-year class through the four-year Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) program.
“The
‘Ruby Rhinos’ have now joined an unbroken chain of more than 10,000 men and
women who have been students at OVC, and you, family members, friends, and
veterinary mentors are joining the hundreds of thousands of people who have
helped each of them towards their goal,” said Dr. Peter Conlon, OVC Associate
Dean, Students, in words of welcome to the ceremony.
The 154th class to join OVC, the Class of 2020 includes students from around the world including England, Iran, Jamaica and the U.S. In addition to careers in mixed, companion and food animal practice, the students are considering careers in research, international veterinary medicine, academia and industry.
As a class, “you are going to see a lot of physical changes at the College,” said Dr. Jeffrey Wichtel, OVC Dean, referencing renovation and expansion for advanced anesthesia and surgery facilities and enhanced clinical teaching and learning spaces, “as you progress into your clinical and diagnostic years it will be a true advantage to you.”
The Professional Welcome Ceremony is hosted by OVC with the support of the CVO, the CVMA, the OVMA and the OVCAA. Student veterinarians receive a lab coat from the CVMA, a stethoscope from the OVMA, and a portfolio from the CVO. TheOVC Alumni Association also places ‘words of wisdom’ from alumni in the pocket of each lab coat.
For more on the event, see OVC’s Instagram or watch the video.
The Ontario Veterinary College is a world leader
in advancing veterinary medicine and health research for the betterment of
animals, people, and our planet. But we did not arrive at this place by
accident. As a College, we have been thoughtful and purposeful in the steps we
have taken to ensure we understand threats and opportunities as they come on
the horizon, evolve our mission to meet the needs of the time, and deliver on
that mission.
When I review the OVC integrated plans from
2006 and 2012, I see that almost all of the important strategic goals contained
in those documents have been realized: establishment of the MPH and neuroscience
programs; developing primary healthcare and other curricular innovations; establishing
centres of excellence for dairy, swine, poultry, and public heath; enhancing
translational oncology and cardiovascular research; developing effective
business data systems; capital investment to ensure accreditation; and the list
goes on.
There have been truly impressive gains made in our College and its capacity to serve society. This has been made possible by our OVC community coming forward with creative ideas, vision and energy, and taking action to make these ideas a reality. We could not have accomplished any of this without careful planning for allocation of precious resources, together with the support we have received from the University of Guelph, governments, industry partners, donors, and alumni.
It’s time to renew our College’s vision. Why
now? It is not just that our current integrated plan ends soon; nor is it
because I am a new Dean and this is what new Deans do – as our Prime Minister
says, “Because it’s 2016”.
I believe we will look back at this time as a significant point of inflexion, with momentous shifts occurring in how science, higher education, and the veterinary profession are seen by society, and how technology impacts scholarship and work. It is a time of rapid expansion in the diverse roles veterinarians are playing in health and food security. As a result, there are many new threats and opportunities ahead of us in the decades to come. The upcoming strategic planning process gives us a platform to discuss how we as a college will embrace these opportunities so we can continue to influence the future, rather than simply respond to events.
The planning
process gets underway in mid-October with an initial retreat for around 40
people who will represent key facets of the college (students, staff, and
faculty) and our external stakeholders. Then, over the next few months
there will be opportunities for all who are interested to engage directly in
helping formulate our action plans. Future resource allocation at our
College will to a large extent be built around these plans – so they will be
important! We intend to complete this plan by the end of January 2017, so you
can see that we are placing a high priority on this effort.
Our facilitator will be Daniel Stone. Daniel comes with a great deal of experience in strategic planning, and has worked with many colleges of veterinary medicine. He recently met with members of Dean’s Council and the Dean’s Advisory Committee, and I was impressed with his approach and style – I am really looking forward to working with him.
To begin
engaging with this, we are inviting every member of the OVC community to:
The results of the survey will be compiled and used to inform our first retreat. The results of this survey will be posted, to maximize the interplay of ideas.
To discuss any part of the process, please go to your relevant representative on Dean’s Council.
For background information on strategic planning, and for ongoing updates on our OVC planning process, including presentations and survey results (when available), please go to this page: http://ovc.uoguelph.ca/strategic-planning
Thanks in
advance for your engagement in this important planning process.
Each week we will be highlighting posts to show what’s new on
Instagram for those that do not have an account. Thank you to everyone
who has shared with us so far.
“ Welcome to vet school #OVC2020! Miss the Professional Welcome Ceremony? Watch the full ceremony here and see behind the scenes on OntVetCollege snapchat! It going to be a great 4 years!! ❤️🐾 “
OntVetCollege now has 18,069 followers from around the world that include prevets, vet students, practicing veterinarians and veterinary teams, alumni, industry, graduate students and more.
We are always looking for photos to share on Instagram. If you have an interesting case, images of your team working in your lab or research out in the field, student learning, currently on 4th year rotation or other images that would help show what it is like to learn and work at OVC please email:
Jane Dawkins
OVC Marketing
Communications/Social Media Manager jdawkins@uoguelph.ca with
“Instagram Post” in the subject line or PM us at @OntVetCollege
on Instagram.
Tuesday, September 20
12:30 - 1:30 PM
Rm 1800 PAHL
You’re invited to an OVC Community Meeting on Tuesday, September 20, 2016 at 12:30 p.m. in Room 1800 (Pathobiology) to roll out our college strategic planning process.
Please look for additional information from the Dean about this OVC Strategic Planning kick off in the OVC Bulletin on Monday, September 19.
Every member of the OVC community is invited to attend.
Thank you in advance for your engagement in this important planning process.
Tuesday, September 20
12:30 - 1:30 PM
2106 ANCC Bldg 49, CS Lounge
Dr Andrea Sanchez - Faculty Candidate for Anesthesia Tenure Track Faculty Position
Wednesday, September, 21
12:30 - 1:30 PM
Rm 1642 (seminar) and LLC Rm 1702 (closed portion)
Interested members of the University community are invited to attend the MSc defence for: Adam Andrade of the
Department of Biomedical Sciences
Evaluating the role of TGFβ and its Downstream Signalling Mediator TAZ in Canine Osteosarcoma Response to Doxorubicin
Examination Committee Dr. A. Viloria-Petit (Advisor), Dr. G. Wood (Advisory Committee – Pathobiology), Dr. D. Josephy (Graduate Faculty, Molecular and Cellular Biology), Dr. R. Moorehead (Exam Chair)
Advisory Committee: Dr. A. Viloria-Petit (Advisor), Dr. T. Mutsaers, Dr. G. Wood (Pathobiology)
YOU are invited to this year’s United Way Kick Off Party! HSC
Admin
Friday, September 23
OVC Health Sciences Hallway (1400 hallway)
10:00 AM
The planning team will announce OVC’s college-wide goal for 2016!!
Payroll
pledge cards will be available for pick-up.
Many hands make light work…we are looking for volunteers from all OVC
departments to join our committee. No experience necessary!
To be YOUR department’s representative or get involved as a volunteer to help run events please contact:
Judy Metherel
519-824-4120, ext 54768 | jmethere@uoguelph.ca
Rabies Posters & Latest Update
Collars and leashes galore! Different restraint options for your dog
Equine Guelph Announces The Stuart Stocks Memorial Equine Award
An afternoon lecture and meetup last week brought together individuals from across the University of Guelph campus with an interest in open data in agriculture and food.
“We have the enormous opportunity to do big things with data and agriculture,” noted Evan Fraser, geography professor and director of U of G’s Food Institute, who opened the September 22 session and thanked the University of Guelph and Ontario Veterinary College on “stimulating this conversation.”
Left to right: Dr.
Theresa Bernardo, IDEXX Chair
in Emerging Technologies and Bond-Centered Animal Healthcare; Evan Fraser,
geography professor and director of U of G’s Food Institute;
Nikos Manouselis, CEO
Agroknow; and Dr. Jeffrey Wichtel, Dean of OVC.
The event was envisioned as an introductory meeting of people interested in a global data ecosystem for agriculture and food, said OVC professor Theresa Bernardo, IDEXX Chair in Emerging Technologies and Bond-Centered Animal Healthcare, who coordinated the event with support from the UofG library.
It was also an opportunity to introduce participants to some key open data initiatives in agriculture, she added. Those include Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN), which grew out of 2012 G8 discussions and focuses on building support among governments, policymakers, organizations and businesses to share open data, the Interest Group on Agricultural Data of the Research Data Alliance, and the Open Data Institute, which promotes a stronger data infrastructure in Canada.
During a lunch time talk that launched the event, Nikos Manouselis, CEOAgroknow, outlined global advances in this realm. Manouselis founded Agroknow in 2008.
“We help people navigate through complex data,” he said, drawing on examples of the company’s work with a food safety alert notification application based on open data, as well as Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations AGRIS (International Information System for Agricultural Science and Technology), a global public domain database with more than eight million bibliographic records on agricultural science and technology.
The lunch time talk was followed by an afternoon meetup to explore
potential collaborations, with presentations from a number of U of G
researchers outlining their work in this area, as well as a Grey County
representative talking about innovation in agriculture in rural areas.
Attendance at the event was rounded out with mix of people from on and off campus interested in agriculture, food, nutrition, fisheries, information technology and innovation.
“Universities are based on the concept of sharing knowledge,” noted Bernardo, “We’re now going to the next level of sharing the data behind the knowledge.”
Construction of the new spaces in the HSC is going to start to ramp up this week and there will be a lot of demolition activities that will result in high noise levels and some hallway closures.
Primary areas of construction are:
1. New Large Animal imaging space (1471)
2. Corridor to the west of the Animal Cancer Centre entrance
In both areas there will be asbestos abatement. The company doing the abatement is University approved and will abide by all the necessary precautions.
If you have any questions or concerns at any time during the
construction please direct them to Dr. Stephanie Nykamp or Brent Rumford, OVC HSC.
As part of a fourth-year project course, a U of G Biochemistry student is conducting research about critical thinking. She is in the process of validating a potentially suitable definition of critical thinking, and seeks input from undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, staff, and administration from all departments at the U of G’s Guelph campus through a short, nine-question survey.
The aim of her research is to find a universal, theoretical definition of critical thinking. Such a definition could provide a base for learning outcomes assessment and guide student development.
By completing the survey, participants can help the
students gather information used to validate a definition of critical thinking as
well as get the chance to win a $10 Hospitality Gift Card.
This project has been reviewed and cleared by the Research Ethics Board
(REB# 16JL001). The survey may be accessed via the following link: https://uoguelph.eu.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_0MLgXiGDMZsTDEN
It’s time to RSVP for the October OVC UkuleleClub! Running over lunchtime on the first Wednesday of each month, it’s the perfect way to de-stress. October’s session is Wednesday, October 5th.Be sure to RSVP tockinnune@uoguelph.ca if you plan to attend.
For only $5, you can join us for a fun 45-minute session where you’ll learn two new songs to add to your songbook and pull out some we’ve done before. Run by music educator Cynthia Kinnunen (http://www.cynthiakmusic.com/about/) each one is open to anyone who wants to participate. You only need RSVP to Cynthia so we’ll have materials on hand for you and you’ll know the secret location of the upcoming session.
How to sign
up
Spaces are
limited so e-mail Cynthia at ckinnune@uoguelph.ca to reserve your spot for the October 5th
session and get all the details about where to go!
What you
will need
All you need
to bring with you is a ukulele, $5 and a willingness to have your mood boosted
for the rest of the day.
Still not
100% convinced ukulele is for you? Need more inspiration?
Check out Cynthia’s five minute pitch on why the ukulele is for
everyone!
Monday, September 26th
12:30pm (Rm 1714) Lab Animal Medicine Club: Annual General Meeting
Annual general meeting to appoint new exec, and discuss club events, etc.
Tuesday, September 27th
12:30pm (Rm 1714) SVECCS: General meeting
General meeting for Student Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society
Wednesday, September 28th
12:30pm (Rm 1714) WELLNESS WEDNESDAY: by OVC Peer Helpers, the Dean’s Office and Zoetis
Join us on Wednesday to listen to a fellow colleague, Kandice Runyon
(Phase 4 Komodo) as she explores Intellectual Wellness. To know what
your learning styles are please do the self-assessment at http://www.literacynet.org/…/assessm…/findyourstrengths.html . PIZZA & FRUIT will be served!
Friday, September 30th
12:30pm (1810) Animal Welfare Club - Annual General Meeting
A new CCS service update system - CCS System Status - shows real time updates of any outages.
Effective as of September 20, 2016, this CCS System Status page is cloud-hosted allowing for real-time, reliable updates that are viewable during network outages. It will replace the existing service updates and scheduled maintenance announcements on the CCS home page.
Please bookmark this page! It will be important to have this URL on hand during outages to receive CCS updates. Users can also opt in for email, SMS and RSS notifications.
Watch
for more information on this in the coming weeks.
A number of faculty and staff received awards during OVC’s June Convocation including Dr. John Tait, OVC’s Department of Clinical Studies, who was chosen by the third-year class as the CVMA Teacher of the Year. Dr. Tait was unable to attend Convocation but he received his award last week via Student Canadian Veterinary Medical Association representatives Jamie Freeman-Braganca, Class of OVC 2018, and Elizabeth Hartnett, Class of OVC 2018 and President, SCVMA.
CVMA’s Teacher of the Year Award is presented annually to the faculty member who is viewed as the most influential in promoting the interest and enthusiasm of third-year veterinary students and is voted on by the third-year class.
(Left to right)
Jamie Freeman-Braganca, Class of OVC
2018, Dr. John Tait, Clinical Studies, and Elizabeth Hartnett, Class of OVC 2018 and President, SCVMA.
An inaugural Cardiovascular Research Day at OVC next week will feature experts from across the country showcasing research in the cardiovascular field.
Organized by the Centre for Cardiovascular Investigations (CCVI) at the
University of Guelph, the Research Day provides a forum whereby external
experts performing cutting edge research in priority areas are invited to speak
and interact with the Centre’s members, and in turn, the activities of the
Centre are profiled to the world’s opinion leaders, says Dr. Tami Martino,
OVC’s Department of Biomedical Sciences, who leads the CCVI. Graduate students
will also have the opportunity to hone their presentations skills during the
poster session and meet clinicians and researchers working in their field of
study. Faculty, clinicians, students and visitors are encouraged to attend the event
on Thursday, September 29 in Pathobiology 1800 beginning at 12:45 p.m.
Speakers include: Dr. Lorrie Kirshenbaum, who is theDirector of Research Development, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, and a Canada Research Chair in Molecular Cardiology; Dr. Zam Kassiri, Department of Physiology, Cardiovascular Research Centre, University of Alberta; Dr. Robert Gilmour,Vice President Academic and Research at University of Prince Edward Island; and Dr. Kim Connelly,Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science and Director, Krembil Stem Cell Facility, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto.
Kirshenbaum’s research is directed toward understanding the molecular mechanisms and signaling factors that govern cardiac gene expression during early cardiac cell growth as well as cell death during the pathogenesis of heart failure. He will focus his talk on “Molecular Regulation of Cardiac Cell Death.”
Kassiri’s lab is interested in the contribution of the extracellular matrix (ECM), a network structure that mediates the interconnection between different cells and vasculature within an organ, to progression of cardiovascular diseases. He will discuss “Diverse and Novel functions of disintegrin and metalloproteinase-17 (ADAM17) in different types of heart disease.”
Research in the Gilmour lab focuses on the cellular mechanisms for the development and suppression of heart rhythm disorders, in particular ventricular fibrillation, which is the leading cause of death in developed nations. A collaborative multidisciplinary approach involving physiologists, physicists, computer scientists and engineers, as well as human and veterinary cardiologists, is used to develop new and better methods of detecting and treating these life-threatening disorders. He will speak on “Cardiac Defibrillation: It’s been a LEAP Year”.
Connelly is a clinician scientist and staff physician at St Michael’s Hospital where his clinical responsibilities involve echocardiography and cardiac MRI. His basic science laboratory is involved in exploring mechanisms of diabetic complications, principally diastolic heart failure and developing novel therapeutic strategies to treat this. He will look at “The quest for immortality: A tale of quantum MRI physics, stem cells and the heart.”
CCVI is a collaborative venture between laboratories in the Ontario Veterinary College, College of Biological Sciences and Human Health & Nutritional Sciences, involving 14 lead cardiovascular scientists and clinicians, as well as over 100 collaborators, graduate and undergraduate students from across the U of G and beyond. It’s one of a few centres worldwide looking at cardiovascular disease all the way from single molecules to clinical applications.
Are you interested in learning more about our environmental impact, energy production and the challenges associated with the implementation of sustainable energy practices?
Come to the panel discussion on Energy and Sustainability at Peter Clark Hall on Thursday, September 29 at 7 p.m. All are welcome and there will be FREE hot chocolate provided to those who bring a reusable mug (please be aware that no disposable cups will be provided).
Speakers include Dr.
Ralf Gellert, Dr. James Longstaffe and Abhilash Kantamneni.
For more information please refer to the poster below or contact Andrew Harris at harrisa@uoguelph.ca.
This past week OVC and the wider UofG community kicked off their 2016 campaigns in support of the United Way. This vital organization provides support to a wide-range of programs in our community, 92 programs at 57 local agencies to be more precise. This network of programs support children, youth, disadvantaged adults, and newcomers and immigrants to our community, with everything from assistance with housing and basic needs to mentoring programs to reading, writing and numeracy skills, as well as recreational, social and employment programs to improve well-being.
One only has to look through the United Way website to find
a number of personal stories about the way these agencies help people in and
around the Guelph area. As an educator,
the stories related to literacy struck a particular chord with me. Did you know
that in Waterloo-Wellington, 24 per cent of adults 16 years of age and older
fall within the lowest levels of literacy?
You may be familiar with one of the programs profiled, Action Read,
which provides assistance to adults with skill gaps such as basic reading,
writing and math – skills that educate and empower these adults along with
raising their confidence.
I feel fortunate and proud to live and work in such a caring and generous community as Guelph. Last year the U of G raised a record $632,500 and received the United Way’s Overall Achievement Award along with Guelph’s Linamar Corp. for the most money raised. Their goal this year is $600,000 and beyond. Here at OVC our community raised just over $41,000 to contribute to that total. Our volunteer team that heads up our campaign has a number of activities planned. You’ll see more about these each week in our OVC Bulletin.
I am asking all of you to consider what you can do this year to support the United Way campaign. Any contribution, big or small, will help support these many worthwhile agencies that fill a needed gap. I am very grateful to be part of a caring organization like the University and I especially want to thank the many individuals who play an important role in the campaign both in the OVC and at the University.
If you need a blank pledge form or want to know more about the campaign please email ovcdean@uoguelph.ca and we would be happy to provide you with pledge cards, information, event dates etc. I understand there are also weekly incentive draws every Friday from September 30 to October 28 and forms can be dropped off in each department’s administrative office
The official campaign ends on December 2, 2016 so please get your pledge in no later than November 28th to ensure your support is counted!! This is our opportunity to give back to our community.
Thank you,
Jeffrey Wichtel
OVC’s United Way Campaign kicked off with Cupcake Friday!
Farm & Food Care is teaming up with the Student Federation of the Ontario Agricultural College to present a two-hour Real Dirt workshop for students to learn more about answer tough questions in agriculture and improving their ability to become Agvocates.
The workshop is on Tuesday, September 27 at 5:30pm in MACN 113.
Last Friday,
Senate and the community were advised that, with regret, Chancellor David
Mirvish will be stepping down.
As a result, a Chancellor Selection Committee must now be struck.
Detailed
information on the Call for Nominations, including the nomination form for
faculty, staff, and student representatives to the Committee is available on
the University Secretariat website.
Please note the eligibility requirements for nominees and nominators. Nominees need not be Senators.
The deadline to submit nominations to the University Secretariat is Friday, September 30, 2016 at 3 p.m.
Questions can be emailed to univsec@uoguelph.ca
Update:
The OVC Cupcake Kick Off to contribute to the UG campus-wide UW campaign last week raised $245.00. Thank you to everyone who took part. Stay tuned for more Cupcake Fridays this coming fall.
Reminders:
Payroll pledge sheets sent in by morning of Wednesday, September 28
will be included in the first weekly incentive draw taking place on
Friday, September 30. Be sure to submit yours. If you have questions please contact Judy Metherel,
519-824-4120, ext. 54768.
Volunteers:
Staff volunteers are still needed for upcoming events and planning. Please contact Judy to take part.
Upcoming Events:
Date: Monday, October 24,
2016
Time: 6:00pm
Place: Play with Clay, 42 Wyndham Street
North, Guelph
The team will be painting a large mug, Play
with Clay will provide all materials and
instruction. Finished pieces will be ready one week after class.
Cost: $25.00 per
person
Confirm your spot with payment at the HSC Business Office, Room 1450.
Contact Judy Metherel,
519-824-4120, ext. 54768 for more information.
