Vet Med receives full accreditation again
UGA’s College of Veterinary Medicine has again received full accreditation from the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education.

The AVMA COE uses clearly defined standards for accreditation to evaluate D.V.M. education programs, including areas of organization, physical facilities and equipment, clinical resources, library and information resources, programs and curriculum, admissions policies, faculty qualifications and research programs. The standards are interpreted and applied by the COE to each college in relation to its mission.

The accreditation process takes about one year. This includes a six-month self-study that is reviewed by the site team prior to a five-day visit to the college. After the visit, the site team files a report to the AVMA COE, and six to nine months later the COE votes on whether to award full accreditation or limited accreditation.

The accreditation review occurs every seven years for fully accredited colleges of veterinary medicine. Every veterinary school in the nation is required to go through this process to receive accreditation; there are currently 28 veterinary schools in the U.S. in addition to schools in Canada and the U.K. that qualify.

Events to coincide with National Cyber Security Awareness Month
In conjunction with National Cyber Security Awareness Month, the university’s Office of Information Security will hold several events on Oct. 23.

Open to the university community, all morning events will take place in Georgia Hall of the Tate Student Center. At 9 a.m. Bobby Stanley, a special agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, will give the keynote address. He is a GBI special agent for cyber- and high-tech crimes.

At 10 a.m., a panel will discuss cyber security. Panelists from UGA include Stan Gatewood, chief information officer; Opal Haley, director of the Office of Security and Emergency Preparedness, Don Hamilton, homeland security coordinator, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and Jimmy Williamson, chief of the police department. John Newton, a lieutenant in the Athens-Clarke County police department, also will take part in the panel discussion. Closing remarks will be given at 11:30 a.m. by Barbara White, UGA’s chief information officer and associate provost.

A computer health and security fair will be held from noon–4 p.m. in the Art Gallery (Room 309) of the Tate Student Center. Attendees are invited to bring their laptop computers in for a “security checkup.” They also can ask about security concerns and get the latest information security literature.

Debate team wins national tournament
The debate team of Brent Culpepper and Kevin Rabinowitz won the national debate season opening tournament recently in Atlanta. The tournament attracted 130 teams from 23 states and the District of Columbia. More than 45 universities were represented in the competition.

The UGA debate team defeated teams from North Texas University, Wayne State University, California State University at Fullerton and two teams from Harvard University. Culpepper and Rabinowitz were the only team to win every elimination debate, winning 14 of 15 decisions in the five debates that day. The team won four debates on 3-0 decisions, including the two debates against Harvard, and one debate on a 2-1 decision.

They have received Russell Advocacy Scholarships supported by the Richard B. Russell Foundation. The team is supported by the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs