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May 20, 2008 3:49 pm US/Mountain
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Top Administrators At CSU Vet Hospital Resign
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) ―
The top two administrators at Colorado State University's acclaimed veterinary teaching hospital resigned last week, citing differences with university administrators over a budget shortfall.
Hospital Director Dan Smeak said he stepped down after losing the support of school officials, the Fort Collins Coloradoan reported Tuesday. Hospital Administrator Chris Grippo said he left because some CSU administrators wanted to ignore lawmakers' instructions for spending $1 million in state aid.
CSU spokeswoman Dell Rae Moellenberg said Tuesday the university could not comment on personnel issues. In a written statement, she said the university has pledged to use the $1 million appropriation the way the Legislature intended.
Smeak said veterinary college Dean Lance Perryman told him on Tuesday, "Dan, you're done."
"I wasn't forced. But what can I do?" Smeak told the Coloradoan. "If the dean says your power is over ...."
Smeak joined the hospital in August 2007 and Grippo in October 2007. Grippo said they quickly noticed that the hospital budget failed to account for some routine expenses.
"They blew the budget projection and built the budget incorrectly," Grippo told the newspaper.
Moellenberg disputed that. "No errors in the (hospital) budget exist, and the budget accounts for all spending measures," she said.
Grippo said the hospital was facing a $1.5 million shortfall. CSU officials have said the gap was $1.3 million. The veterinary college's total budget is about $120 million.
Colorado State has said the shortfall was caused by the economic downturn, which meant fewer pet and livestock owners were taking their animals to the hospital.
Grippo said some CSU administrators were upset when he told them the extra $1 million from the Legislature could be used only to close the shortfall, and not for other purposes, such as expanding a spay-neuter program.
Moellenberg said the spay-neuter program was a hospital initiative and had a shortfall of its own that was contributing to the overall shortfall.
She said an administrator has suggested that $100,000 of the $1 million be spent on the program, but she did not know whether a decision had been made. She the hospital would not receive the $1 million until July.
Grippo said he and Smeak were not "faultless."
"I wish we had taken certain actions sooner," he said. "But the reason we resigned was that we couldn't work with that administration."
Smeak has said he intends to stay at Colorado State as a small-animal surgeon.
Last year, U.S. News and World Report named CSU's veterinary medicine program No. 2 in the country, after Cornell University. The magazine said its ranking was based on surveys sent to administrators and educators at other programs accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association.
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)