Notice: Admission requirements and procedures may change without prior notice. Applications from students who are currently enrolled in the Veterinary Technology Program at SUSCC will not be considered. A new application must be submitted by the applicant for each admission cycle.

Please make sure you have completed all terms below before continuing with this application.

If documents are missing from your student account, please contact admissions@suscc.edu.  All documents must be on file by the application deadline date.

RABIES MITIGATION POLICY 

Rabies is a fatal, zoonotic, and preventable viral disease that affects animals and humans worldwide. Annually, over 50,000 people die from contracting rabies. Rabies is present in all states in the continental US. Rabies is transmitted by contact with saliva or nervous system tissue of infected mammals (including dogs, cats, bats, racoons and foxes) into open wounds on the skin or in mucous membranes. Veterinary staff members are at an increased risk of contracting Rabies, and are classified as a ‘Risk Category 3’ by the Centers for Disease Control.  https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/prevention/pre-exposure_vaccinations.html

Due to the significant human health risk of contracting rabies from animals, the program of veterinary technology at Southern Union State Community College (SUSCC) requires all students to be vaccinated against rabies to the extent allowable by Alabama law governing vaccination mandates. Veterinary staff members are at an increased risk for contracting rabies, both due to exposure to animals and an increased risk of sustaining animal bites. Students are required to have completed the CDC recommended two vaccine series prior to live animal courses or clinical rotations. Students will also be required to complete a rabies antibody titer for verification of an appropriate level of immune response to the vaccination series. A rabies vaccination booster may be required if titer values are insufficient for protection, followed by a subsequent titer. 

SUSCC must allow exemption from vaccination due to health status contraindications and religious exemptions. Sufficient documentation supporting an exemption will be required, but will not need to include any legally protected medical or personal information. Unvaccinated students will not be permitted to handle any animal with no history of rabies vaccination, an inadequate history of rabies vaccination or any species of animals capable of transmitting rabies for whom there is not a validated rabies vaccine available. Details on these categories are outlined in the Alabama Department of Public Health’s Rabies Control and Bite Manual 2023. Due to this limitation, unvaccinated students may not be able to satisfactorily complete all clinical rotations required to graduate from the program. Alternatives to these clinical experiences may be arranged on a case by case basis for students that cannot get vaccinated due to documented medical or religious exemptions. 

Aside from preventive vaccination, the other important way to avoid human exposure to rabies is to reduce the risk of animal bites. SUSCC’s Animal Related Injury and Aggressive Animal Policy outlines protocols for bite prevention. In addition to the details in that document, the following will also occur in regards to rabies prevention specifically:

• Students will receive a rabies exposure risk and prevention lecture prior to any opportunity to handle animals in the program.
  
  
• All clinical partner sites will be informed of SUSCC’s Animal Related Injury and Aggressive Animal Policy, and will sign an agreement to abide by the animal handling protocols described.
  
  
• All clinical partner sites will be informed of SUSCC’s Rabies Mitigation Policy and sign an agreement to uphold the restrictions for unvaccinated students.
  While management of the clinical partner sites will be aware of which students are unvaccinated, no personal information regarding the reason will be provided. 

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Admission to the Veterinary Technology Program is competitive, and the number of students is limited by the number of faculty and clinical facilities available. Meeting minimal requirements does not guarantee acceptance.  Applicants who do not meet all minimal requirements will not be considered for program admission.

MINIMUM ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

1. Unconditional admission to the college. (See College Catalog)
2. Completed application for the VET program by published deadline. 
3. Completion of prerequisite academic core courses with a minimum grade of “C” or higher meeting a 2.5 core GPA and transfer students must enter College on clear academic status.
4. Minimum 2.0 GPA at Southern Union.  Transfer students must enter the College on clear status. 
5. Official transcripts in Records Office from all postsecondary institutions attended, along with high school transcript.
6. Optional - A minimum of 18 composite score ACT National/Residual OR completion of a Bachelor's Degree may earn points towards this application. (No time limit as to when the test was taken.) Test scores must be on file with Records office and a copy must be attached to program application.
7. Good standing with the college.
8. Meet the essential functions required for Veterinary Technology program.

GPA REQUIREMENTS

CUMULATIVE GPA:  A minimum college cumulative GPA of 2.0 is required.  

ACADEMIC CORE GPA 

A minimum GPA of 2.5 on required program academic core courses is required.  All academic core courses that are required for the Vet Tech Program must be completed prior to applying to the Vet Tech Program.

Please select the final grade posted on your transcripts for each of the following courses.  For courses not taken, please leave field set to 'please select'.

RECORDS & TRANSCRIPTS

Official transcripts form EACH college attended must be received (via mail or electronically) by the Registrar's office in Wadley before the application deadline.  Send to: SUSCC Records Office, P.O. Box 1000, Wadley, AL 36276 OR electronically.

TRANSFER CREDIT

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Students admitted into the Veterinary Technology Program must maintain the ability to meet all physical and mental essential functions with or without reasonable accommodations.  After admission into the program, students will be required to obtain medical verification of their ability to meet all essential functions in order to participate in the program.

APPLICATION POINTS WORKSHEET

Applicants that meet the minimum admission requirements are individually evaluated and awared points based on their scholarly merits.  

This worksheet will allow you to calculate your total applicant score.  All entries will be verified by SUSCC Health Science Admissions for accuracy.

A total applicant score of 72 points may be achieved.  Students are ranked and admitted into the Veterinary Technology program based on their total applicant score.  If a tie should exist between applicants, the core GPA will determine the ranking.

SECTION A:  ACT COMPOSITE SCORE 

Official score from ACT National or Residual with a minimum composite of 18 is required OR completion of a Bachelor's Degree. Students with an ACT below 18 will not be considered for admission into the Vet Tech program.  There is no time limit for when the test was taken.  Degree is equivalent to 18 points for applicants without an ACT score.

It is the applicant's responsiblity to verify that their ACT score/degree is on file.  ACT test scores/transcripts submitted to the Records Office after the application deadline will not be used for ranking or for admission purposes.  The highest composite ACT score on file will be used.

You can access your submitted ACT score(s)/transcripts online through your mysuscc account.  

SUSCC does not utilize or accept ACT superscores.