Officials at The College of Veterinary Medicine say they are trying to raise the bar to compete with other prestigious vet school but need more space to offset growing fields and class sizes.

Paige Carmichael, associate dean for academic affairs, and Public Relations Director Tracy Giese said the college works with its available space at the corner of Carlton Street and East Campus Road but still runs into problems from that limited area.

“We need a new teaching hospital desperately,” Carmichael said. “The University administration is aware and behind our efforts to do so. We have been doing a lot of rearranging to function in the limited space.”

Brent Credille, a senior from Greensboro, said he still receives a great education from the college but becomes frustrated when patient animals are turned away due to space concerns.

“We have a huge case load, but not enough space,” Credille said. “Sometimes we just run out of stalls for the patients.”

The teaching hospital – a functioning facility where vet students work – saw 135,000 animals last year, according to the college’s Facts and Figures pamphlet. It listed 1,400 house calls made by vet professionals and students.

Although he said vet students need a new school, Credille also said he understands the University is doing the best it can in terms of funding.

“Our school needs more funding, but there are other departments that need it just as bad as we do,” Credille said. “There are things being done to expand the space we already have.”

Giese said getting the necessary funds to expand the school is difficult because every other University department and college in the state is competing for them.

The college admits 96 students each fall, although Carmichael said she would like to increase that number once the school is equipped to handle it.

“We would love to expand to a larger class size,” she said. “But our facilities are at capacity.”

Carmichael also said getting accepted into the college has become more difficult because of the limited number of spots. The Facts and Figures pamphlet listed 543 total applicants last year. Of that number, nearly 80 percent were female.

The College of Veterinary Medicine is one of 28 accredited universities in the United States where students can earn a veterinary medical degree, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association Web site.

“Most of the people we enroll are extremely focused on the area they want to pursue,” Carmichael said. “Just like any other hospital, they have the opportunity to function as if they were in a practice situation.”

Giese said the college also is working with infectious disease research at the University and received a grant to study influenza. The National Institute of Health awarded the University a $7.4 million contract in April to work with Emory University on its Regional Center for Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance.

She said the college held an international flu conference in July where scientists from all over the world presented their papers and discussed each other’s research.