Description of the committee’s work and goal
The purpose of the Education Committee is to support WSAVA by providing and developing a diverse range of clinical and non-clinical education resources to meet the needs of the different global regions. The committee aims to maintain WSAVA’s reputation as a world leader in developing companion animal veterinary practice through continuing education, and quality improvement.
Detailed description of the desired candidates
Applicants will have the knowledge, skills, and experience required to enable the advancement of the committees’ objectives. This may include holding relevant qualifications and experience such as:
- Academic/teaching experience
- Course design, development, assessment and evaluation
- An understanding of the development of online educational content and basic proficiency in navigating digital platforms (i.e. zoom).
- Research and/or quality improvement in veterinary education
- Other
Due to WSAVA’s in-person continuing education being focused in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, it is expected that there will be at least one committee member from each of these regions.
Committee members must be able to communicate in English both in spoken and written form.
The EC may consist of committee members that represent a variety of disciplines relevant to education in the veterinary profession. This may include but is not limited to:
- An animal welfare committee representative
- A non-clinical committee representative
- 1 x academic teaching qualifications or experience in veterinary education
- 1 x experience in education instructional design and artificial intelligence for online learning courses. These members may or may not be from a veterinary background.
- A veterinary student
- Recent veterinarian graduate (less than 5 years at time of application)
- A veterinary nurse/technician
List of responsibilities from committee members
- Identifying educational needs within WSAVA global regions and proactively planning and coordinating the delivery of both in-person and online events. This involves collaborating with local organizers, developing webinars, and fostering communication with other WSAVA committees and partners, as well as sponsors.
- Reviewing, prioritizing, and approving education proposals, advising on the presentation of WSAVA research and guidelines, and ensuring these resources meet international standards.
- Creating standardized processes for course development and evaluating conflicts of interest.
- Managing WSAVA resource translations.
- Developing a key opinion leader database.
- Developing and approving the WSAVA World Congress scientific program, reviewing scientific abstracts and funding proposals.
- Overseeing project groups and maintaining a central education calendar.
- Members will be allocated and responsible for specific project groups with the support from the Chief Learning and Development Officer to oversee based on individual skill set and experience.
- The committee will contribute to auditing the LMS platform content, devising pricing strategies for online content, and providing input on the learning management platform.
- Committee members will be expected to host, introduce, and moderate WSAVA webinars in their time zone. This will be distributed throughout the committee, but no more than one every two months.
- Attending and participating in face-to-face and virtual meetings.
- Responding to electronic communications in a timely manner.
- Strive to attend the WSAVA Congress.
- Adhering to the WSAVA values and Code of Conduct.
- Showing evidence of ongoing engagement with committee functions. The membership will be reviewed yearly for diversity, participation, and productivity. Performance will be evaluated after a year by the Chair, based on the responsibilities of a committee member detailed herewith and in the committee Terms of Reference (ToR) . If performance does not meet satisfactory standards and cannot be improved, the member may be asked to resign before the end of their term.
Remuneration for this role
All WSAVA committee members including the chairperson are volunteers. However, reasonable expenses incurred whilst carrying out WSAVA duties will be reimbursed per our travel and expenses policy.
Time commitment
The tenure of a committee member is a maximum of three years with one extension possible.
The committee will meet at intervals to ensure key milestones and deliverables are met as a minimum once every two months. Because committee members may reside across a broad range of time zones, electronic written communications may take the place of some of the face-to-face electronic meetings. On average, you can expect to provide up to seven to eight hours of time to the role each month.
Applicant must provide the full documentation required below, in English, via this dedicated application link:
- Curriculum Vitae
- Letter of Intent
- Declaration of any Conflicts of Interest
- Letter of Good Standing from WSAVA Member Association*
Applications should be submitted before 15 December 2024 – 22:00 UTC
*All nominees for membership of any WSAVA committee/group are required to provide a letter of Good Standing from the WSAVA member organization of which they are a member. This requirement does not apply to nominees who are not members of a WSAVA organization (e.g. non-veterinarians) whose expertise may be necessary for specialist committees/groups. A person of Good Standing is defined as someone who has complied with all explicit obligations of the association and who is not subject to any form of sanction, suspension or disciplinary censure. This letter is not a recommendation from the association that the nominee is the best person for the position. WSAVA committee positions are not chosen by member organizations – the Committee Chair ultimately decides on the best candidate for the position and the choice is ratified by the Membership and Nomination Committee and the Executive Board. This letter indicates only that the WSAVA member association has no objection to the nomination.