General Information

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devtp program overview

Due to the very large volume of requests for information that we receive, we do not provide any printed information about the program and instead we use a web-based system for providing program and certificate information. This paperless information system significantly reduces our printing and mailing costs, and assists us in keeping our information as up to date and our tuition and fees as low as possible.

Here is a very brief synopsis of the DEVTP, as well as the answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about the program:

1. Students must have a qualified individual to serve as their preceptor. Preceptors MUST be a D.V.M. or V.M.D., or a credentialed veterinary technician. Students are encouraged to have everyone in the practice that is quailed to be a preceptor approved as a preceptor. That reduces the workload on any one person and also makes the situation logistically easier for students.
    
2. Students must have access to, and be able to utilize, the facilities and essential equipment described in our Off Campus Clinical Instruction (OCCI) criteria listed on our web site. Traditional companion animal practices offer the best opportunities for clinical training, but specialty practices and non-traditional practices, under certain circumstances, can also serve as approved OCCI training sites. If you have to move while you are enrolled in the program, you can obtain a new preceptor and OCCI facility, then you can continue with the program. Because of this, we have several students in the military or have students that are married to someone in the military.
    
3. Students must have access to, and be able to utilize the most common species of companion animals, specifically dogs and cats. In some level 4 courses, students will need some access to avians, reptiles, and laboratory animals. A limited access to large animals is desirable, but not completely necessary in level 1, 2, and 3 courses. Students must complete a required large animal task list in the Level 4 course, Large Animal Assisting Techniques. The large animal task list may be completed at a local OCCI approved large animal or mixed animal facility, or by participation in a fast-track large animal lab on the Cedar Valley campus.
    
4. Students must have access to a computer and have Internet access to complete on-line assignments. We do not require that students own a computer, but if they do not, they need to arrange to be able to access the Internet daily to complete required assignments. You should be able to access your course site on the Internet every day to check discussion boards, e-mails, course announcements, and complete the Weekly Tutorials in each course.
    
5. Students must be employed in veterinary practices for a minimum of 10 hours per week prior to enrollment in the program.
    
6. The time to complete the program will vary greatly, depending on how many classes you take per term, and how many terms you enroll in per year. If you have completed all of your prerequisite and general studies requirements, you could complete the curriculum and receive you A.A.S. in two to four years. We offer three terms per year, January, May, and September. Each term for DEVTP courses is 12 weeks long. All 27 DEVTP courses are offered each term, and each class is guaranteed to “make” regardless of how few students are enrolled, and each class is guaranteed to have room for all enrollees regardless of how many may already be enrolled in it. You can always be assured that if you want or need a class, that it will be offered, and that there will be space for you in it. If you wish to take a semester off, you can do so without any problems and then re-enroll when you are ready to return to classes.
    
7. Students are not required to travel to Cedar Valley to attend classes or complete lab practical exams. Students in the DEVTP program have the option of submitting final products, such as videotapes, to demonstrate clinical competencies to fulfill capstone submissions final practical exams, or alternatively if they choose, they can travel to Cedar Valley to demonstrate those same clinical competencies. Regardless, once you complete the degree requirements, you will be invited to travel to Dallas to participate in the Cedar Valley May graduation ceremony.
    
8. Federal financial aid is available for 36 of the 72 credit hour A.A.S. degree plan. Students can receive federal financial aid and V.A. benefits for all of the prerequisite classes, the general studies elective classes, and all of the Level 4 classes. At this time there is no federal financial aid or V.A. benefits for Level 1, 2, and 3 courses. Classes in Levels 1, 2, and 3, are offered as modules of our regular credit classes. By offering these classes as modules we do not have to charge out-of-county, out-of-state, or out-of-the-country tuition for that portion of the curriculum. That saves non-resident students a significant amount on the cost of tuition and fees. The Level 1, 2, and 3 courses articulate into the remaining 36 credit hours of the DEVTP curriculum. For students needing loans or financial assistance there are several banks that offer low interest rates for students. If you would like more information on banks that offer low interest student loans, I will be happy to send you their names and web addresses. About 80 percent of our students receive some form of tuition assistance from their employers or hospitals. The assistance comes in several forms including direct tuition assistance, C.E. benefits, books and material reimbursements, and salary benefits for completing DEVTP courses. For most employers there are direct tax benefits for assisting students with DEVTP classes and you might have your employer check with their account to see if these benefits might apply in your situation. Generally, employer assistance benefits far outweigh any financial aid or V.A. benefits that might otherwise be available.
    
9. We strongly recommend that students take only one or at most two courses per term the first semester that they are enrolled in the program. This is a very, very, different way of going to school, and it takes new students a while to get the routine and logistics down. After that you can take as many classes as you want each term. If you want to take a semester off, and then re-enroll the next term that is fine as well. We try to give students as many options as possible.
    
10. If you have completed any previous college courses, please send me copies of your transcripts and I can do a preliminary evaluation and determine what you might have previously completed that will substitute for our required prerequisite and general studies courses. I can then develop a degree plan for you, and you can get a good idea of what additional courses you will need to complete to receive your degree. Please be sure and let us know your physical address so that we can mail you a copy of my recommendations, and also let us know if the transcripts may be under more than one name. If you have attended more than one college, in almost all cases, we will need copies of transcripts from all of the colleges attended. Once you enroll in the program we will need original transcripts from all of the colleges. You may complete the four required prerequisite courses and the two general studies electives at a local college or university, by transfer of previous equivalent college classes, or by distance learning through Cedar Valley. Please note, when you send transcripts, make sure that they are addressed to me, at Cedar Valley. If they are not addressed to me they will end up going to the Registrars office and I will not be able to have access to them. Make sure they are sent directly to me. Also, applications to the college and the program must be downloaded, printed, and when completed, mailed directly to me. Electronic applications are automatically sent to another college and we do not have access to them. Please make sure that everything is paper based and sent directly to me.
     
11. Graduates of the program receive an A.A.S. degree from an AVMA accredited program of veterinary technology. By obtaining that degree you would qualify for any registration, licensing, or certification exams to become a credentialed veterinary technician.
     
12. We are given a list of required and recommended tasks by the AVMA that students MUST complete for us to be an accredited program. The task-list is non-negotiable and for us to maintain our accreditation we must require that students complete the specified required tasks and didactic information. Therefore, there is no testing out of classes or granting credit for on the job experience. Even though some of the tasks and information in the lower level courses may seem simplistic or repetitive, students with work experience often use the information and opportunity to brush up on their existing skills, and to obtain new viewpoints and ideas for performing their duties and responsibilities.
     
13. The first 21 courses that are offered by Cedar Valley in conjunction with the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) are non-credit courses. Upon successful completion, these courses articulate into credit classes at Cedar Valley. For example, the Surgical Preparation and Assistance 2, and 3, classes would articulate into our 3 credit-hour course in surgical assistance. Once all the 21 classes are completed, they would then articulate into a total of 36 credit hours at Cedar Valley. There are four prerequisite classes that must be completed during the initial part of the curriculum (a total of 13 credit hours). To move from Level 1 classes to Level 2 classes, students must have credit for college Mathematics or General Biology I, and either Speech Communications or English Composition I. To move from Level 2 classes to Level 3 classes students must complete the remaining two prerequisite courses. College Mathematics is a prerequisite for one Level 2 class, Pharmacy and Pharmacology 2. Prerequisite courses may be completed at a local college or university, by transfer of credit from previous college work, or by distance learning through Cedar Valley. Once students complete the first three levels of classes, they must then complete six Level 4 VTHT classes (a total of 17 credit hours) plus a 3 credit-hour fine arts/humanities elective and a 3 credit-hour social science elective. That would then complete the 72-hour degree plan for the A.A.S. degree.
     
14. The current cost of the first 21 courses in the DEVTP is $ 319.00 per course for AAHA Practice Team members. There is no out-of-state tuition for students in the first three levels of the courses. In state and out-of-state students pay exactly the same tuition rate. The total cost of the last six Level 4 courses in the program, for out of state students would be $1,413.00. Therefore, the total cost for the 27 courses in the program would be $ 8,112.00. That figure does not include the cost of books, videos, materials, or AAHA Membership. Also, this figure does not include the cost of the four required prerequisite classes and the two required general studies electives. For more information on Practice Team membership you can contact AAHA Member Services at 1-800-883-8301, or visit their web site at https://www.aahanet.org/web/Practice_Team.html
     
15. This is very important. Our program works somewhat differently from traditional college classes. Usually students would apply to the college and the program that they are interested in, submit applications, forms and transcripts, and then be accepted. Then they would be allowed to enroll for courses. In our program we enroll students in classes and then start all the paper required paper work. Once students enroll in level 1 courses through AAHA, they are sent a confirmation packet of information which includes a Student Data Form. You will fill out the Student Data Form and then fax that to our office. Once we have the information from the Student Data Form, we start mailing out all the applications, forms, OCCI documents, etc. that students need to have for the program. The application form, OCCI forms, hospital information, list of preceptors, and so on, needs to be sent back to us by the end of the sixth week of the course. Each term students will need to send us a new Student Data Form to insure that all the information, preceptors, etc. are still up to date. You simply enroll in classes and then we take care of all of the paper work during the first term. This system reduces a lot of duplication of effort and prevents us from having a bunch of “dead files” in our system. Once you register for classes, then we’ll take care of everything. To get started in the program you need only download a registration form from our web site, fill it out, and fax or mail it to AAHA. You can also register by phone through AAHA at 1-800-883-6301, or electronically through the AAHA web site. AAHA registers students for all of the level 1 classes, and students register for all of the level 2 classes and above, and for prerequisite classes, though the DEVTP at Cedar Valley.