For the first time in three years, the interest rates on Federal student loans will decrease anywhere from seven to ten percent depending on the loan type. This will take effect for new Federal student loan borrowers after July 1, 2019. The interest rate for Federal Direct Loans disbursed on or after July 1 will decrease from 5.045% to 4.529% for undergraduate Direct Loans, from 6.595% to 6.079% for graduate/professional Direct Unsubsidized Loans, and from 7.595% to 7.079% for Parent and Grad PLUS loans. The interest rate caps for these loans are...

The Veterinary Debt Initiative (VDI) is committed to raising awareness and providing access to resources that enable pre-veterinary students, veterinary students and veterinarians to make highly informed financial decisions. Check out how VDI is leading efforts in the student debt crisis at these upcoming VDI-sponsored speaker events: AVMA Convention 8/2/19: The Market for Veterinary Education and How It Affects You! 8/3/19: Decisions, Decisions: Repayment Strategies for New Veterinarians 8/3/19: Contract Negotiations: Beyond Bargaining Games and Tactics AVMA Annual Economic Summit 10/22/19: Veterinary Debt Initiative Update at Summit Dinner Wellbeing Summit 11/19/19:...

Educational debt in the United States now exceeds $1.5 trillion. Many experts believe this level of debt represents a substantial threat to future economic wellbeing. This debt-load is the result of decades of rising tuition costs that have occurred across the spectrum of higher education and professional school, and it has certainly affected academic veterinary medicine. In fact, we may be experiencing the impact of this societal problem sooner and more acutely in veterinary medicine than in other disciplines because of the salary disparity that exists between veterinary medicine and other...

The countdown is ON for June 20, when we will launch the VMAE | Live! webinar series. VMAE | Live! is all about connecting our special network for input, insight and inspiration while exploring association management and professional issue topics.  Register now by visiting this link. VMAE | Live! will convene on the third Thursday of each month, starting at 12:05 PM Mountain time (and concluding by 12:55 PM).  Each session will feature VMAE colleagues who will share their expertise or external subject matter experts who will provide their thoughts.  There will be...

Pride Veterinary Medical Community (Pride VMC) is partnering with VMAE and an array of veterinary associations and industry partners to embrace diversity and inclusion in the veterinary community. A capacity contingent of 400 veterinary community members will march in the parade on June 30th for World Pride 2019 in New York City, where some 4-5 million are expected to participate or observe. Having the veterinary profession represented on the world stage is a unique and rare opportunity. Part of Pride VMC’s mission is to foster acceptance and inclusivity, and in that...

VMAE members frequently express the need for useful, cost-effective training materials for elected leaders.  ASAE annually prepares a valuable and relatively inexpensive publication to assist you in orienting board members about their responsibilities.  Inside the 2019 Associations Now Board Brief: A Quick Guide to Volunteer Leadership your directors will find easily digestible content on these topics and more: Elements of effective governing Board member fiduciary duties Financial oversight, reflecting updated accounting standards Board meeting preparation and participation Ethical conduct and conversation CEO evaluation The 40-page, soft-cover booklet is also available in...

Dr. Randy Wheeler, executive director of the Iowa VMA, has shared information developed by the Center for Food Security and Public Health, an agency that has been instrumental in emergency management planning for outbreaks of foreign animal diseases.  Working with many entities including USDA APHIS, the National Animal Disease Center, and several colleges of veterinary medicine, the Center has developed several foreign animal disease plans – including the newest, the Secure Beef Supply (SBS) Plan.  The Center is encouraging VMAs to publish this informational item designed for veterinarians, who “have...

What is the Real Value of Associations for Members? Consistent with the Start the Conversation work undertaken by VMAE with marketing consultant Christopher O’Toole of Breightly.com, this brief and focused perspective from Amanda Kaiser (at Smooth the Path) provides insightful answers to the question of real value.  Read more here.  Source: AssociationSuccess.org Newsbrief 05/24/19 Telling the Advocacy Story: Moving Members From “Me” to “We” How can associations tell their advocacy story in a way that connects advocacy work back to member value and retention?  Tommy Goodwin writes that demonstrating collective action “moves the...

The Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges has developed this Cost Comparison Tool to help prospective students further develop a financial plan for veterinary school. Data is presented from all 30 US colleges and 12 Canadian and International colleges. The visualization presents the total cost of attendance (tuition, living expenses, and loan interest accumulation) for 2019 graduates. It includes data about whether students can establish residency for the purpose of playing discounted tuition and the average scholarship awards made to DVM students at each college. The visualization was expanded this year to...

The Pet Nutrition Alliance (PNA) announced a new resource to help veterinary healthcare teams make more informed decisions when recommending pet food for their patients. This new tool – Dare to Ask: We Did! – was created by compiling information about pet food manufacturers. PNA is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to providing resources to support veterinary healthcare teams in helping pets live longer through better nutrition, and to assist teams in providing nutritional assessments and recommendations for every patient. With thousands of choices of pet foods, it is confusing for pet owners and the...