Board approves budgets, takes other actions
Published: 29 Dec 2021
The AVMA Board of Directors approved the 2022 budgets and strategic plans for the AVMA and American Veterinary Medical Foundation and took a variety of other actions while meeting Nov. 17-19 at AVMA headquarters in Schaumburg, Illinois.
For 2022, the AVMA has a $47 million budget and a $3 million Strategic Operating Plan Fund. The AVMF has a $1 million budget of unrestricted funds and a $2 million budget of funds restricted by donors for specific purposes.
Budgeting is a comprehensive process across all areas of the organization that involves time and effort to evaluate new and existing programs for strategic value. The Board approved strategic priorities for 2022, including advocacy and resource development to support the effective and safe use of telehealth in veterinary practice; developing and refining veterinary economic data and models, including workforce models; and fully embedding attention to diversity, equity, and inclusion across the AVMA, that is, within the elected leadership, councils and committees, members, and the staff.
The Board also, for the 2022 calendar year, authorized standing councils and committees of the AVMA to conduct one in-person meeting rather than two in-person meetings, with certain exceptions. Councils and committees are encouraged to continue to hold virtual meetings as needed.
Members of the AVMA have requested that volunteer opportunities be more accessible. Offering a combination of virtual and in-person meetings supports AVMA members whose ability to volunteer for a council or committee may be limited by their ability to secure time away from work and family responsibilities to travel. An approach to meetings that provides sufficient opportunities to network and collaborate in person, while also respecting increasingly demanding professional and personal schedules, appears to be a good mix.
Councils and committees may request an additional in-person meeting in 2022 by providing appropriate rationale.
The Board approved sunsetting the AVMA State Advocacy Committee. According to background materials, a working group concluded that the State Advocacy Committee is no longer required for the AVMA to successfully support state and allied VMAs as a partner and resource for governmental advocacy.
The AVMA will continue to conduct environmental scanning to identify issues, as well as listen and respond to the needs of state and allied VMAs through other venues, such as regular town halls with the executive directors of these groups. The time and financial resources formerly used to support the activities of the State Advocacy Committee will be redirected toward these state-level efforts.
Revisions were approved to the policy “AVMA Guidelines for Horse Show Veterinarians.” Among the revisions were an increased focus on the welfare of the horse and an update to the roles that show veterinarians may be asked to fill.
In other actions, the Board approved awarding complimentary registration to the AVMA Veterinary Leadership Conference for each of the 40 Student AVMA delegates in the class of 2023 to be used once within three years after graduation. The delegates are approaching the end of their two-year terms, having served entirely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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