NJ DEPT OFAGRICULTURE

2007 Resolutions
VETERINARY CONTRACT SEATSWHEREAS, the New Jersey Veterinary Medical Education Contract Program (NJVMEC), established in 1971, compensates for the lack of a college of veterinary medicine in the State of New Jersey by “purchasing” seats for New Jersey residents at existing colleges in other states, such as the University of Pennsylvania, Tufts University, Cornell University, and others; and WHEREAS, these “purchased” seats are then available only to between 90 and 120 New Jersey residents applying for admission to those veterinary schools; andWHEREAS, since the inception of the program, 744 New Jersey residents have occupied contract seats at out-of-state universities, of which more than 60 percent currently resident and work in New Jersey; andWHEREAS, in 2006, DVM magazine listed New Jersey as having a projected 69-percent growth in available veterinary jobs from 2002-2012, placing the state first in the nation in the increased need for veterinarians; andWHEREAS, this increased need includes positions not only for veterinary practitioners to take care of the millions of animals owned by New Jersey residents, but also in the pharmaceutical industries, state and local Departments of Health, regulatory agencies, animal control, wildlife agencies and colleges or universities that have animal research programs; andWHEREAS, There are over 600 veterinary hospitals in New Jersey, ranging in size from a single veterinarian to over 50 practitioners, serving communities where with practice loads of at least 7,000 to well over 100,000 pet-owning families; andWHEREAS, equine practitioners provide mobile service to the $710 million equine industry's 70,000 animals, health and regulatory officials, pharmaceutical company employees and research scientists; and WHEREAS, there currently are approximately 1,675 veterinarians working in New Jersey, over 26percent of which attended veterinary school on the NJVMEC seats; andWHEREAS, the NJVMEC program is a significant factor in encouraging New Jersey residents, especially women and minorities, to enroll in New Jersey universities for their undergraduate Pre-Veterinary requirements and over 50 percent of incoming Animal Science majors declare pre-veterinary medicine as their curricular focus, citing the availability of NJVMEC contract seats in making their decision to attend New Jersey schools instead of going out of state to establish residency elsewhere; andWHEREAS, there are currently 96 New Jersey residents in NJVMEC seats, and the decision to cut the funding in half for FY2007 resulted in schools denying admission to qualified New Jersey residents, making the contract schools reluctant to open their doors to new New Jersey residents in the future; andWHEREAS, it costs colleges of veterinary medicine $95,000 per year to educate a single veterinary student, and since 1971 the NJVMEC has spent $36.95 million to educate 744 veterinarians versus the $1.1 billion it cost to actually educate them, demonstrating the cost-effectiveness of the program; andWHEREAS, if the program is discontinued, New Jersey residents pursuing a career in veterinary medicine will have less than a 1-in-30 chance of gaining admittance to an accredited college of veterinary medicine in North America, according to the New Jersey Veterinary Medical Education Advisory Committee.NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the delegates to the 92nd State Agricultural Convention, assembled in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on February 14, 2007, support the continuation of the NJVMEC program as a cost-effective and proven method of educating New Jersey residents pursuing careers in veterinary medicine.BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we urge the Legislature and Governor to approve at least the $1,505,538 requested to fund the program at its current level in the FY2008 budget.

Thank You

Thank You for the 432 people who signed the petition.

Clarification of Level Funding for NJ Contract Seats

EMail from Jane Oates, Executive Director of Higher Education Commission of New Jersey:


Email from Jane Oates:

I received your email regarding clarification of “level funding” for the Veterinary Medical Education Program. The Governor has recommended maintaining the same level of state support that is provided for the current year, which is $687,000. While this appropriation is not sufficient to support the same number of students that have benefited in some past years, I believe it is a very positive recognition of the importance of maintaining this program, which was originally slated to be eliminated from the 2007 budget due to extraordinary state fiscal challenges.
I understand your concern and your desire to ensure that New Jersey has a sufficient number of veterinarians to address state needs. The continuation of the Veterinary Medical Education Program at the current level will play an important role in addressing those needs, particularly in light of the requirement for any newly admitted student attending a school of veterinary medicine in a reserved space for New Jersey residents to practice veterinary medicine in the state for one year for each year of contract funding provided on the student’s behalf.
As I had mentioned previously, the statute calls for state funds within the limits of available appropriations rather than a specific funding level, and the Commission on Higher Education is very pleased that the Governor’s proposed budget, despite ongoing revenue constraints, includes funding for this important program.
Thank you for your advocacy for the program and state needs.
Jane Oates

New Jersey Contract Seats

NJ Veterinary Contract Colleges:

Tuskegee Institute (Alabama)
University of Illinois
Iowa State University
Tufts University (Massachusetts)
Cornell University (New York)
Ohio State University
Oklahoma State University
University of Pennsylvania

Letter from the Higher Education Commission Executive Director Jane Oates

March 26, 2007

Dear Dr. Kicenuik:

Thank you for writing to Governor Corzine regarding funding for the Veterinary Medical Education Program. The Governor has asked me to respond to your email.I appreciate your support for a sufficient supply of well trained veterinarians in New Jersey. You have raised significant points regarding the importance of veterinarians to the future well-being of the state. The 1971 statute that created the Veterinary Medical Education Program plays an important role in addressing this need. The statute calls for state funds within the limits of available appropriations, however, not a specific funding level.Difficult choices and decisions were necessary in developing and finalizing the fiscal 2007 budget, because the state faced and extraordinary budget gap that had to be closed. The Veterinary Medical Education Program was originally slated to be eliminated from the state budget for the current year, but the final budget for higher education included a little more than half of the previous year's funding for the program.The budget preparation cycle for the coming fiscal year is underway, and the state continues to face significant fiscal challenges. I am pleased to report, however, that the Governor's proposed budget does not include a cut in this program; level funding is recommended. In addition, statutory language is included that would require any newly admitted student attending a school of veterinary medicine in a reserved space for New Jersey residents to practice veterinary medicine in the state for one year for each year of contract funding provided on their behalf. If the service requirement is not met, funds expended for the recipient's contract seat must be refunded. This new requirement will help to ensure a supply of well trained veterinarians in New Jersey to meet the needs you described.Once again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with the Governor.

Sincerely,

Jane Oates
Executive Director

NJ Hearings on the Budget

Kristin Kicenuik represented all NJ Veterinary students, past, present and future, today in Atlantic City at the NJ Budget Hearings attended by Louis Greenwald, Chairman of the Budget Committee. She made excellent points with the committee presenting them with written and oral arguments for keeping NJ Contract Seats in the budget. Access to Veterinary Medical Education was emphasized to the committtee. Statistics regarding the top 14 states in Population in the US were presented and it was a surprise that ONLY NEW JERSEY has NO state-supported in-state Veterinary School of the top 14 states in population. The need for ACCESS to Veterinary Education for NJ Students was presented. Hopefully, our legislators will recognize the need for Vets for the medical and pharmaceutical industries and for the need for Homeland Security issues (diseases of animals and humans) and for the continued replacement of Vets currently practicing in New Jersey and will be retiring in the future. We need to have Veterinarians willing to live and practice in New Jersey. Other states have a strong commitments for providing ACCESS to Veterinary Medical Education to provide their states with Veterinarians. Please see the petiton and have everyone sign at:

http://www.petitiononline.com/VMEA1971/petition.html


Thanks to Kristin for a job well done. I hope the budget commiteee does the right thing and keep the NJ Contract seats at full-funding for the FY08.

NJ Hearings on the Budget

Please note that the respective organizations must sign up
immediately at the OLS web site \nwww.njleg.state.nj.us OR contact the Legislative Budget and Finance Office at 9609) 984-6798 to register by phone.

Hearings on the 2007-2008 Budget for New Jersey

TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2007

Assembly Budget Committee (Budget Hearings Only) Hearing
9:00 AM Committee Room 11, 4th Floor,
State House Annex, Trenton, NJ
Chair: Asm. Greenwald, Louis D.
The Assembly Budget Committee will hold a Public Hearing on the Fiscal Year 2008 Budget.


WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2007

*Senate Budget and Appropriations (Budget Hearings Only) Hearing 9:00 AM Kean University, Kean Hall Conference Center,
Room K-127, Union, NJ
Chair: Sen. Kenny, Bernard F.
The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee will hold a Public Hearing on the Fiscal Year 2008 Budget.




TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2007
Assembly Budget Committee (Budget Hearings Only) Hearing
9:00 AM Atlantic City Convention Center, One Miss America Way, Level 4, Rooms 411-412, Atlantic City, NJ
Chair: Asm. Greenwald, Louis D.
The Assembly Budget Committee will hold a Public Hearing on the Fiscal Year 2008 Budget.



TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2007

*Senate Budget and Appropriations (Budget Hearings Only) Hearing 9:00 AM The Enterprise Center at Burlington County College,
The Pemberton Room, Mt. Laurel, NJ
Chair: Sen. Kenny, Bernard F.
The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee will hold a Public Hearing on the
Fiscal Year 2008 Budget.

ACCESS TO VETERINARY MEDICAL EDUCATION

It has been brought to my attention that NJ students need ACCESS to a Veterinary Education. As the only state in the top 14 populous states in the US to have NO Veteterinary College , I agree.

New Jersey has chosen the route of sending our NJ resident students to other schools. This remains a very cost-effective way of training the future Vets that NJ will need and employ in various industries.

We need to support our Veterinarian Students.

I understand that last year the State Legislature did pass the funding for the VMEA1971 only to have Governor Corzine cut it to half-funding with the budget cuts. I hope that this year he can cut the waste out of the budget and leave the necessary items funded.

ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE Veterinary Medical Education

POPULATION STATS FOR THE US (Census 2000)

United States total population: 281,421,906 (as of April 1, 2000, according to the US Census Bureau).
State
Population Ranking
PopulationCensus Data: April, 2000

Colleges Of Veterinary Medicine
STATE ****RANK*****POPULATION ***IN-STATE SUPPORTED SCHOOL

California ***1*****33,871,648 ***yes

Texas ***2 *****20,851,820 ***yes

New York*** 3 *****18,976,457 ***yes

Florida ***4 *****15,982,378*** yes

Illinois*** 5***** 12,419,293 ***yes

Pennsylvania*** 6*****12,281,054 ***yes

Ohio ***7 *****11,353,140*** yes

Michigan ***8 *****9,938,444 ***yes

New Jersey ***9 *****8,414,350 ***NO

Georgia ***10 *****8,186,453 ***yes

North Carolina*** 11 *****8,049,313 ***yes

Virginia ***12*****7,078,515*** yes

Massachusetts***13*****6,349,097***yes

Indiana ***14*****6,080,485*** yes


NJ is the only state, in the top 14 states, NOT to have an IN-state supported Veterinary College. We must keep the NJ Contract Seats fully-funded. This is a bargain for NEW JERSEY. Look at the cost of starting a new Veterinary School and the costs of funding NJ Contract Seats. NJ resident students need ACCESS TO AN AFFORDABLE Veterinary Medical Education.

Loans repayments $160,000= 1900.00 a month

Payments for loans are becoming increasingly expensive.

Loans -- $40,500 per year, over a 10 year repayment cycle, can cost for a total $160,000 (loan for four years ) =$1900 per month for repayment.

Please have your parents, friends, animal lovers, neighbors and any NJ voters sign the petition now. It can save you $$$ in the future.
NJ students need ACCESS to AFFORDABLE Veterinary Medical Education.


http://www.petitiononline.com/VMEA1971/petition.html

DR BOB's Interested in being a Vet?- Excellent source of Info

A few years ago, I found Dr. Bob's webpage. An excellent source of information regarding Pre-Vet New Jersey information:


http://las.rutgers.edu/vet.htm

Please sign the Petition

Just two weeks from now the State Legislature will consider the budget. Please have friends, family, neighbors with pets etc. sign the petition online:

http://www.petitiononline.com/VMEA1971/petition.html


The more signatures we have, the more clout we will bring to the financial table with the Legislators and Governor.
We are interested in ACCESS for resident students for Veterinary Education which is affordable.
If students do not have full-funding for the Veterinary Medical Education Act of 1971 certain schools (ie. Cornell) will not discount the tuition for our NJ contract seats. We need affordable tuition for our Vet students so they can return to New Jersey and practice. We are the one of the largest populated states WITHOUT A VET SCHOOL. We have the largest pharmaceutical industry in the country here in NJ. Dairy and Equine are huge industries. Medical research, anti-bioterrorism, public health all need qualified well-trained veternarians. We need to continue the supply for New Jersey. The VMEA of 1971 is the most cost-effective way for providing for a needed profession.

Please have everyone you know sign.

Write Governor Corzine and your State Legislators

Write Governor Corzine and your New Jersey Legislators to support full-funding of the Veterinary Medical Education Act and the Contract Seats at Vet Schools


Write the Governor:

link: http://www.state.nj.us/governor/govmail.html


Write your New Jersey legislators:

http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/SelectMun.asp


Support full funding of Contract Seats to continue ACCESS to a Veterinary Education for our New Jersey students. At current tuition rates, without New Jersey Contracts, most New Jersey resident graduates would not be able to AFFORD to return to New Jersey to practice.
We need well trained Veternarians for New Jersey. Who do you know that does not have a pet dog or cat?
New Jersey resident Veternarians will be needed for pharmaceutical and medical research industries (most pharmaceutical companies have a presence in New Jersey) , public health, anti-bioterrorism, agricultural support (including those that work for the Department of Agriculture in evaluating safety of our food supplies).
The Dairy and Equine industries are important to the economy of New Jerssey Agriculture.
Please write your representatives.

NJ VME Contract Program FY2007

The chair of the New Jersey Veterinary Medical Education Contract Program Advisory Committee , Dr. Sarah Ralston, DVM, PhD, DAVCN, wanted me to be aware of the following facts:



New Jersey Veterinary Medical Education Contract Program (NJVMECP) Information sheet for FY2007
Approval for $1,505,538.00 was requested for FY2007-2008. This amount is needed to maintain the program at its current level. Recipients of contract seats will be required to return to work for one year in NJ for each year that they occupy a NJVMECP seat. However in the Governor’s current proposal the Veterinary Medical Education Program was recommended for funding at $687,000, less than one half the amount necessary and the same reduced amount as last year. This continued reduction is not only putting the entire program in jeopardy but represents a breach of contract to the schools of veterinary medicine and current contract students.
*Established in 1971, this program compensates for the fact that there is no college of veterinary medicine in the state of New Jersey by "purchasing" seats (paying “capitation fees”) for NJ residents in existing colleges in other states (Univ. of Pa, Tufts, Cornell, Tuskegee, Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Univ. of Illinois). These seats then are available only to New Jersey residents applying for admission (90 to 120/year). 744 New Jersey residents have occupied contract seats since the inception of the program, over 60% of which currently reside and work in NJ.
*The requested 2007-2008 budget is $1,505,538.00 to maintain the program at its current level (24 seats per year). In addition a clause has been added to the contracts requiring the students to return to New Jersey to practice for at least 4 years after completing their education.
*In 2006 DVM magazine listed NJ as having a projected 69% growth in available veterinary jobs from 2002-2012, placing us as #1 in the country with increased need for veterinarians. This includes positions not only for veterinary practitioners to take care of the millions of animals owned by NJ residents but also in the pharmaceutical industries, Departments of Human and Animal Health, regulatory agencies, animal control and wildlife agencies and colleges or universities that have animal research programs (even if they do not have Animal Science or Pre-Veterinary/Veterinary technician programs!).
*There are currently at least 1675 veterinarians working in NJ,
over 26% of which have had NJVMEC seats. There are over 600 veterinary hospitals alone in NJ, ranging in size from a single veterinarian to over 50 practitioners, serving communities where they have a practice load of at least 7,000 to well over 100,000 pet owning families. Add this to the equine practitioners who provide mobile service to the $710 million equine industry's 70,000 equine animals, health and regulatory officials, pharmaceutical company employees and research scientists and it becomes obvious that the impact of veterinarians in NJ is far reaching and of great economic importance.
*If the program is discontinued, New Jersey residents wanting a career in veterinary medicine will have less than a 1/30 chance of gaining admittance to an accredited college of veterinary medicine in North America.
* The Contract program is a significant factor in encouraging NJ residents, especially women and minorities, to enroll in New Jersey Universities to complete their undergraduate Pre-Veterinary requirements. For example, over the past 15 years Animal Science has grown to be one of the largest majors at Cook College (now the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences), Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Over 50% of the incoming Animal Science majors declare pre-veterinary medicine as their curricular focus, citing the availability of NJVMEP contract seats in making their decision to attend Cook instead of going out of state to establish residency elsewhere.
*Of the approximately 75-80 Cook College Animal Science students who applied to veterinary school from 2000-2006, 69 were accepted, 49 of them to contract schools. Forty-seven of those accepted were women and 17 were minorities.
*There are currently 96 New Jersey residents in contract seats. Twenty three will graduate this spring but hopefully an additional 24 added in the fall if the funding is restored. However, the decision to cut the requested funding in half for FY2006-2007 resulted in schools denying admission to qualified NJ residents and the fear that the whole program would be discontinued, making the contract schools reluctant to open their doors to new NJ residents in the future. The loss of funding for even the existing seats represents a breach of contract.
* It costs Colleges of Veterinary Medicine $95,000/year to educate a single veterinary student. Since 1971 the NJVMECP has spent a total of $36.95 million to educate 744 veterinarians versus the over $1.1 billion it cost to actually educate them. More than 60% of these veterinarians have returned to work in NJ. The cost of establishing a CVM de novo is at least $1.4 billion. It is obvious that this is an extremely cost effective and needed program.

Letter to your State Senators/Assemblymen

I saw this on the New Jersey Veterinary Medicine Association website news section:

Dear Assemblyman/Senator ,
I am writing to implore that the requested $1,505,538.00 funding for the Veterinary Medical Education Contract Program be fully restored in Governor Corzine's proposed budget. It is currently cut to zero.
This program compensates for the fact that there is no College of Veterinary Medicine in the state of New Jersey. There are only 28 veterinary schools in the USA, and all restrict access to "out of state" residents by offering very limited seats to non-resident applicants and charging exorbitant "out of state" tuitions. In 1971 the NJ State Legislature approved funding for the Veterinary Medical Education Contract Program. It is a cost effective, efficient alternative to establishing a College of Veterinary Medicine in New Jersey by "purchasing" contract seats for NJ residents at existing veterinary colleges in other states (University of Pennsylvania, Tufts, Cornell, Tuskegee, Iowa, Illinois and Oklahoma). There are currently 97 New Jersey students in contract seats, with 24 new contracts awarded annually. For less than $2 million annually, these contracts not only assure New Jersey residents of the availability of seats at the rate of 1/5applicants (national average for "in-state" applicants to "in-state" schools), but also allow them to attend the schools at "in-state" tuition.
If the program is cut to zero funding, as currently proposed, not only will the students currently in contract seats be severely impacted, having to suddenly pay out of state tuition, but New Jersey resident access to veterinary education will be decimated.
The demand for veterinarians in New Jersey is high. How many of your friends, neighbors and constituents do NOT own a pet or other domestic animal???
I realize that there are serious cuts being made in many crucial areas, but the $1.6 million currently needed to even sustain this critical program is such a relatively small amount, surely it can be re-instated without jeopardizing other efforts to balance the state budget!

Veterinary Medical Education Act of 1971

The Veterinary Medicine Education Act of 1971 provides for contractual agreements between the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority and out-of-state schools of veterinary medicine for the acceptance of New Jersey residents who are and have been residents of the State of New Jersey for twelve consecutive months. Under the terms of the Act, the schools receive a capitation subsidy toward the cost of education in return for a number of reserved spaces for New Jersey residents.
The contract schools approved by the advisory committee are has follows: University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, Tuskegee University, Iowa State University, Oklahoma State University, University of Illinois, and Tufts University. Any changes to this list of schools will be posted to the HESAA website.
The anticipated distribution of spaces is limited. We suggest that you consider applying to all of the contract schools to enhance your chances of being accepted.1
Most schools of veterinary medicine also admit a few out-of-state residents, without specific contracts. New Jersey residents have previously been accepted at Auburn University, Colorado State University, Kansas State University, Michigan State University, University of Minnesota, Mississippi State University, North Carolina State University, Purdue University, Texas A & M University, the University of Tennessee, the University of Florida, University of Missouri, and the University of Wisconsin. You may apply to any of these schools. Their selection of students is based on open competition from all out-of-state applicants. The state of New Jersey does not contribute to the cost of the educational process at these institutions; admission of New Jersey residents is not facilitated by this program.
Application forms and bulletins must be obtained from the schools by the student. The applications should be completed and returned to the schools by the dates specified in their bulletins. Please note that each school has its particular prerequisite education requirements. It is therefore advisable that you obtain college catalogues well in advance of your application in order to make sure that all prerequisites have been met.
In order to qualify for participation in this contract program, each applicant must submit to the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority at the time of application to the schools of veterinary medicine, effective proof of New Jersey residency for at least twelve consecutive months prior to the date of matriculation. Students must maintain full-time status. Students are presumed to be residents of the state in which their parents or guardians reside unless they can demonstrate bona fide independence from their parents.
The following material will be considered by the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority in making a determination of residency. Additional information may be requested, particularly of students who claim financial independence from parents or guardians:
Two notarized affidavits, one from the applicant and one from a parent, legal guardian, or other relative over eighteen years of age attesting to the candidate's residency status (forms are available from HESAA, call 609-588-4694)
New Jersey State income tax return filed for the most recent tax year. 2
In addition, the student must also present photocopies (xerox, etc.) of any two of the following items indicating New Jersey residency:
voter registration
driver's license showing expiration date
current student identification (if attending out-of-state school, please provide verification from the Dean of Students as to residency status, or Bursar's receipt indicating payment of out-of-state fees.)
The affidavits and photocopies should be mailed to: Ms. Amanda Billups Higher Education Student Assistance Authority P.O. Box 540 4 Quakerbridge Plaza Trenton, N.J. 08625-0540
From this documentation, the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority will certify to the schools that the applicant is an eligible candidate for participation in this program, which aims to facilitate the acceptance of bona fide New Jersey residents into schools of Veterinary Medicine. Failure to submit complete documentation materials may jeopardize your admission to the Veterinary Medicine Education Contract Program.
The applicant must also complete and forward the enclosed program registration form to the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority at the above address. Student must apply each year for certification. This information is used exclusively for the purpose of analysis within the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority, and is not shared with the schools. The Admissions Committee of each school is responsible for the acceptance and notification of students in accordance with their requirements and policies. Being certified as a New Jersey resident by the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority does not guarantee admission to any of the schools of veterinary medicine participating in the contract program.
The State of New Jersey contributes substantially toward the educational costs of the veterinary medicine training of each student accepted under the provisions of this program. It should be noted that this capitation fee is not tuition subsidy, and accepted students are responsible for the cost of tuition and fees at the respective institutions. There is presently no legal obligation for program participants to repay any part of this subsidy, in money or in service. It is our hope, however, that students benefiting from this program will recognize a measure of moral indebtedness to the citizenry that sponsored them, and will give serious consideration to putting their valuable training into practice in New Jersey.
Information concerning student financial aid can be obtained by calling the Student Financial Aid Hotline at 1-800-792-8670 or contacting the Student Financial Aid Office at the respective schools of veterinary medicine.
For additional information please visit the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC).
1Subject to Legislative Appropriation.2Parent or legal guardian tax returns if applicant is claimed as a dependent; applicant's return if self reporting

Petiton Online

Please sign the petition :


http://www.PetitionOnline.com/VMEA1971/petition.html

Veterinary Medical Eduacation Act of 1971

New Jersey needs to fully fund the Veterinary Medical Education Act of 1971.
Please sign the petition at: http://www.petitiononline.com/VMEA1971