SCHOOL PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Professional Services encompasses the administrative and technical staff who support students, teaching, research and School-wide activities such as communications, events, accreditation, diversity and inclusion, local HR/estates/finance, farm and management team support.
Our ambition is to foster an environment of excellence by providing proactive and evolving professional services that facilitate academic and clinical success, enhance the student experience and enable all colleagues to work effectively and efficiently. We strive to support development and growth using an inclusive approach, collaboration and a concern for the well-being of all in our community.
We continue to recognise the importance and need for the career development of our unique complement of professional services staff (including administrators, stock workers, animal care assistants, receptionists, nurses, grooms and technicians).
We will focus on streamlining administrative processes by using innovative technology, evidenced-based data and cost-benefit analysis to inform decision-making.
We will continue to consider services as essential infrastructure enabling more proactive planning in collaboration with functional leads in the School, sharing best practice in UofG and externally and be more cognisant of the need for succession planning.
Examples of School successful activities organised/supported by Professional Services colleagues are outlined below.
ANNUAL VETERINARY ALUMNI DINNER
The School held its 17th Annual Veterinary Alumni Dinner in October 2024 when over 180 alumni, friends and partners gathered within the magnificent Bute Hall to eat, drink and reminisce upon their time at the University. Every autumn graduates celebrating a milestone anniversary are invited to attend the Alumni Reunion Dinner.
The event is always a great success with many attendees vowing to return in future. An important date and a firm fixture in the School’s calendar since its introduction in 2006, the Alumni Dinner provides an excellent opportunity for graduates to catch up with each other and keep in touch with their alma mater.
MCCALL LECTURE
The 2024 Professor James McCall Memorial Lecture took place the evening before the Alumni Dinner. This prestigious lecture is held biannually, with the Sir William Weipers Memorial Lecture being scheduled in alternate years. Professor Dominic Mellor, a vet with specialist expertise in epidemiology and veterinary public health, and who was recently appointed as the Consultant in Veterinary Public Health for Public Health Scotland, delivered an inspirational lecture, ‘It could happen to a vet’, where he discussed using a ‘One Health’ approach to zoonotic diseases and antimicrobial resistance.
INSPIRE AWARD
In 2024 the School was once again successful in an application to the Academy of Medical Sciences for an INSPIRE award (IR6). We have been successful in each round since 2016 when the Academy broadened the programme to include veterinary schools.
INSPIRE is a UK-wide initiative designed to engage medical, dental and veterinary
undergraduates with research. The scheme is co-ordinated by the Academy of Medical Sciences and supported by the Wellcome Trust. In 2024, the School contributed to a pan-Scotland application alongside the universities of Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen and St Andrews. The group were commended for a strong, detailed and exciting application for a national collaboration which brings many
schools together and includes strong student representation and support for disadvantaged students.
The School hosted the second National INSPIRE conference in March 2025.
ROYAL HIGHLAND SHOW
The School spends four days at the Royal Highland Show each year, demonstrating its commitment to public engagement and showcasing the facilities, research and world-class education programmes we have to offer. The Royal Highland Show is the flagship event of the Scottish charity the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, with the four-day event being the pinnacle of the agricultural calendar. ‘In 2024/25, we saw a record attendance with over 220,000 visitors across 4 days each year.
All those who visited or spent time on the School’s stand will testify to how busy the show was. The calving simulator was an overwhelming hit and proved popular with visitors of all ages. Furthermore, colleagues in the Weipers Equine Hospital put on a fantastic display in the main ring alongside the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) Heavy Rescue units for the recovery of large animals.
CAREERS & EXTRA MURAL STUDIES FAIR
This fair started in 2022 with a small number of exhibitors attending and in 2023 we extended the invitation to participate to Extra Mural Studies providers. In 2024 we broadened participation further to include other companies and organisations and our BSc Veterinary Biosciences students, with over 35 exhibitors from the veterinary profession, recruitment agencies, and government health agencies attending. The fair has become a great success.
We do not charge exhibitors at the fair but welcome contributions from them to our student association fund, the Glasgow University Veterinary Medicine Association (GUVMA), where any donations go towards funding some of GUVMA’s initiatives, such as:
• The Kindness Kabinet, a food bank project to help students facing the ongoing cost of living crisis.
• Stocking the GUVMA Kitchen with tea, coffee and other hot drink supplies.
• Maintaining the GUVMA Kitchen and GUVMA Common Room, two social spaces on campus that all students are welcome to use to meet and connect.
SPRINGWATCH
BBC Springwatch filmed live from the University of Glasgow for three evenings in June. Filming took place at SCENE on Monday 3 and Tuesday 4 June, and in the quads on the main campus on Monday 10 June.
Across the three nights, the programme covered a range of UofG research, including fish and underwater research; bird ringing live with two of our researchers; invert (snails, slugs and similar) research in a local burn; 65 years of moth research at Loch Lomond; small animal research; urban wildlife and species stories on
the main campus; blue tit transect research between Glasgow and Loch Lomond; the story of the peregrines and their new chicks in the University tower.
Additionally, during the last broadcast of the year on Thursday 13 June, Springwatch filmed live from the Botanic Gardens, covering the University’s river biodiversity research.
PARTNERSHIP WITH WELLBEING & INCLUSION
In collaboration with the University’s Wellbeing & Inclusion Service, the School has appointed a Veterinary Undergraduate Wellbeing Officer to support student mental health and help students build strategies to support their learning and life beyond university. The role will provide firstline guidance, advice and support to students
on a variety of general wellbeing issues, such as those relating to health, personal relationships and emotional wellbeing. As part of the University’s counselling and wellbeing services network, the Wellbeing Officer can connect students with other support services beyond the School as required.