Name changes on campus reflect function, location

The President's Advisory Committee on Naming University Physical Assets has approved renaming the Veterinary Teaching Hospital at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) the Veterinary Medical Centre, a move the dean said "more accurately reflects what's going on in that facility." While teaching is an important component, including the training of undergraduate students, graduate students and post-graduate clinical professionals, Douglas Freeman said the centre also accommodates primary clinical care, high-end referrals, clinical research and inter-professional research.

The medical centre name reinforces the growing emphasis on one health – "animal, human and environmental," he said. It also brings the U of S in line with the names of similar facilities at veterinary colleges across North America.

Additional name changes are being made around the WCVM. The unwieldy name for the Food Animal Clinical Sciences (Bovine) Facility, located north of the main building, will be changed to its common name, the Bovine Teaching Unit. Also north of the college is the Bovine Research Building, generally referred to as the Bull Barn, but neither accurately reflects its use. Instead, the building will become the Reproduction Centre, indicating both multi species teaching and research.

The open area that separates these two renamed buildings, the Equine Performance Centre and the WCVM paddocks from the entrance to the large animal clinic on the north side of the main college building now carries the name of Veterinary Court. That is the old name of the curved drive in front of the WCVM building, a name not widely known or used. Instead, that roadway will be called Veterinary Crescent.

At the Diefenbaker Building, scheduled to reopen this fall when renovations are complete, four spaces will have new names that are more interesting than the originals and more descriptive of each room's purpose. What was the lounge will become the River Room, marking the view it provides over the river and downtown. The board room will be renamed the Conference Room, and the multi-purpose room will become the Prairie Room. This space will eventually feature artwork depicting the prairies or done by prairie artists.

The final change will see the building's theatre renamed the Canada Room. Located in the midst of the Diefenbaker Canada Centre, the Canada Room is accessible from the main lobby of the building.