Why University of Melbourne is scrapping Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences

University of Melbourne’s vet and ag science department is undergoing major change, with a faculty merger and closure of an animal hospital.

One of Victoria’s leading agricultural universities is making big changes to its agricultural and veterinary faculty, and plans to close a major teaching animal hospital.

The University of Melbourne has confirmed its Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences will be closed this year, and the two schools will be integrated into the Faculty of Science next year.

In a separate move, the U-Vet Animal Hospital at Werribee will close at the end of this year and will not reopen in the new year, subject to consultation.

University of Melbourne agriculture and food professor Timothy Reeves said integration of the vet and ag science faculty into the Faculty of Science would give students access to complementary science subjects relating to ecosystems, materials technology and maths.

“Initially, like with any change, there was shock and some questions,” Prof Reeves said.

“But talking about the decision we know the university is wanting to put more resources and more focus on agriculture, not less.

“Once that became clearer, it is a pretty exciting opportunity.”

Students would continue with their courses and there would be no change to academic staff, other than a reporting line change, he said.

The University of Melbourne’s U-Vet Animal Hospital at Werribee is set to close at the end of the year while their Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences will be integrated into the Faculty of Science.

Following the announcement of the chages, the Australian Veterinary Association said it was particularly concerned about the potential loss of a university teaching hospital and its impact on the profession.

“The delivery of veterinary education is expensive and the government needs to understand that the erosion of funding for veterinary education will have an impact on the availability and ongoing viability of veterinary services in Australia.”

The planned closure of the hospital, will would result in a reported 80 job losses, comes due to increasing costs and staff shortages, the university said.

“Ongoing challenges include a reduced case load, restricted opening hours due to an inability to fill staff rosters, challenges in the attraction and retention of staff compounded by a shortage of veterinary staff in the market nationally and internationally, and a significant fall in revenue over several years as net costs have more than doubled,” the spokesperson said.

Earlier this year academics warned there was a shortage of vets with just 14,000 professionals registered in Australia.