Facilities, Services and Resources

Information Technology

Veterinary Medicine Information Technology (VMIT) is responsible for supporting the business infrastructure, informational software, and custom applications at the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine. The offices are located on the first floor of Schurman Hall. 

VMIT contact information, how-to's, and more.


Flower-Sprecher Veterinary Library

The veterinary library was founded on September 21, 1897, with a gift from Roswell P. Flower, former governor of New York. Originally named the Roswell P. Flower Library, it eventually was re-named the Flower-Sprecher Veterinary Library in 1992 to recognize Dr. and Mrs. Isidor I. Sprecher for their generous support of the College. The Library’s holdings represent an internationally recognized selection of materials in veterinary medicine as well as publications in the biomedical sciences. These resources support the College’s undergraduate, graduate, clinical, and research programs.

Additional library services include instruction, outreach, information searching, interlibrary loan, and document delivery.

Flower-Sprecher Veterinary Library hours, details and more


Facilities

One of only 30 veterinary colleges and schools in the United States, the College of Veterinary Medicine is located on the Cornell campus in Ithaca, New York. In the heart of the Finger Lakes region, an area of tremendous natural beauty, Ithaca provides a balanced atmosphere of city and country. The College's central campus has seven main buildings, all part of the State University of New York  (SUNY) system, on 15 acres with a total of 1.2 million square feet of space.


Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine Café

Freshly prepared meals, grab-and-go offerings, and coffee at the College of Veterinary Medicine.

College of Veterinary Medicine Café hours, details and more


Sustainability

The college is pioneering sustainability solutions in our campus operations and in the field of veterinary medicine. View our interactive energy dashboard to learn more about our cutting-edge sustainability initiatives, view our real-time energy usage and see how we compare to other colleges across Cornell!

Veterinary Medical Center

Opened in 1996, houses the Cornell University Hospital for Animals (including the Companion Animal Hospital, and the Equine and Nemo Farm Animal Hospitals) as well as research facilities and offices. Principal patient-care areas in the hospital include behavior, cardiology, dentistry, dermatology, internal medicine, neurology, nutrition, ophthalmology, orthopedics and sports medicine, surgery, and theriogenology. State-of-the-art technologies include anesthesiology, clinical laboratories, intensive care and neonatal care units, medical imaging, and specialized surgery suites.

Veterinary Education Center

Opened in 1993, the facility houses the main lecture halls and both wet and dry learning labs; both the Irving W. Wiswall Learning Laboratory and the Jerry and Darlene Bilinski Learning Laboratory.

The Flower-Sprecher Veterinary Library resides in the first floor of the center. 

The Muenscher Poisonous Plants Garden:

Adjacent to the library and Schurman Hall is the Muenscher Poisonous Plants Garden, first established in the early 1960s by Dr. John M. Kingsbury with the help of his graduate students, who transplanted in many poisonous plants. The garden is used for teaching veterinary students about poisonous plants, and is also open to the public year-round, with tables and chairs available. Many  plants are labeled with signs that not only identify the plants but also explain their potential for poisoning. In 2014 many plants in the original garden were relocated to the Cornell weed garden on Caldwell Road to make way for a major construction project that removed the original garden. The current garden opened in 2018 and was heavily stocked with ornamental varieties, but the plants that a veterinarian would see on farm, including the toxic weeds, are gradually taking hold in the garden.

Veterinary Research Tower

A nine-story building added in 1974, the tower houses research facilities, a lecture hall, conference rooms, and offices and is cloaked in a glass facade comprising new, energy-efficient windows.

Schurman Hall

A three-story building, Schurman Hall houses classrooms, tutorial rooms, the modular resource center, research facilities, and offices. The 3,500-square-foot modular resource center is a visual library of self-contained learning stations that feature interactive learning resources.

 New York State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory

Also known as the Animal Health Diagnostic Center, the institution is the official laboratory of New York State and the state diagnostic center for animal disease control. With much support from New York State, the College opened a new building in 2010, dedicated to the surveillance, research, regulatory, and testing work conducted at the Center. The laboratory services patients of the Cornell University Hospital for Animals as well as those of veterinary practitioners in New York State and nationally. The laboratory is accredited by the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians and the United States Department of Agriculture and its Animal-Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA/APHIS). The diagnostic lab also carries public health accreditation for endocrinology and water testing. 

Teaching Dairy Barn

Cornell's Teaching Dairy Barn is a state-of-the-art facility that serves the instructional livestock needs of Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine and College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Part of the University's 50-year campus master plan, the Teaching Dairy Barn is the inaugural building at the University's future Large Animal Teaching Complex, a 5-acre parcel that will serve the University's livestock endeavors from now on, freeing campus grounds for other academic facilities. Conveniently located within safe walking distance of campus, the site is ultimately expected to have a multipurpose livestock teaching arena (to include a livestock pavilion, additional teaching barns, and pasture area), equine metabolism unit, and a large animal research and teaching unit (LARTU).

Other facilities

The Janet L. Swanson Wildlife Hospital, an annex of the Cornell University Hospital for Animals, provides comprehensive medical and surgical care to sick, injured or otherwise impaired native wild animals

James A. Baker Institute for Animal Health A world-renowned center for canine and equine research, the Institute includes the Cornell Research Laboratory for Diseases of the Dog, the Center for Canine Genetics and Reproduction, the Laboratory of Immunology, and the Cornell Equine Genetics Center.

Cornell Equine Annex and Research Park On 165 acres, the park features boarding and other facilities for 150 horses, a half-mile track, stallion barn, and separate brood-mare barn with a laboratory for reproductive studies.

In addition, we have a number of satellite facilities:

Cornell Ruffian Equine Specialists: Located in Elmont, NY, across the backstretch of the historic Belmont Park, Cornell Ruffian Equine Specialists extends the reach of the Cornell Equine Hospital and provides excellent specialty care in state-of-the-art facilities to promote the health and well-being of horses.

Quality Milk Production Services hosts four regional laboratories (in Ithaca, Cobleskill, Canton, and Warsaw) that serve as an extension of the Animal Health Diagnostic Center, assisting in performing field and laboratory diagnostic evaluations of dairy problems, obtaining diagnosis, and promoting the control of other infectious diseases affecting the agricultural industry in New York State.

Cornell University Duck Research Laboratory is a research, service, and biologics production laboratory located on Long Island at Eastport, NY. IT is a national and international resource for information on duck production and disease control.

CVM Use of Facilities Policy

Students, faculty, and staff of the CVM are the primary focus of facility use. There are several spaces available for use by other entities including other Cornell departments or units and external affiliated groups, subject to three conditions:

  • Use of those facilities will not disturb or otherwise inhibit CVM activities,
  • The entity follows all appropriate University policies as well as those contained in this document,
  • The entity using the spaces will take proper care of the facilities and take full responsibility for any damages that may occur.

The CVM is dedicated to the practice, research, and education of veterinary medicine. As such, clinicians, researchers, and students utilize the facilities 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Some areas may be sectioned off for specific use, but the complex is continually occupied and active. If you are considering using the CVM public areas for an event, you should be prepared to be a co-user along with students, faculty, and staff. Pedestrian through-traffic as well as daily student and campus business may limit plans to use such areas for an exclusive purpose. In addition, there is a working café (operated by American Dining Creations) in operation off the second-floor atrium 8am-5pm Monday through Friday while the University is open for business.

CVM Administration reserves the right to refuse reservations it believes are not in keeping with the College’s mission or that could jeopardize its security.

Academic scheduling is given priority over all other space requests, which are generally handled on a first-come, first-serve basis.

To check space availability or to make a reservation, please visit http://students.vet.cornell.edu/?pg=rs (internal CVM clients only) or email vet_roomsch@cornell.edu. Audio/Visual support is available upon request.

Additionally, an Event Registration Form (ERF) must be submitted at least four weeks prior to your event date if the event includes any of the following: catered food, alcohol, more than 50 attendees, monetary transactions (sales or fundraising), activities that may be seen as controversial and/or high risk, or activities that take place outdoors. The ERF may be submitted by visiting  Welcome to the Academic and Event Scheduling Website | Academic and Event Scheduling (cornell.edu)

Responsibility of the Event Organizer

  1. Making all arrangements associated with their event and leaving the space clean and in good working order, including the removal of all food waste. To that end, any event with catered food taking place outside of normal Care of Building hours (5am-1:30pm Monday through Thursday, 5am-12:30pm Fridays) must have custodial coverage. For custodial arrangements, please contact the CVM Facilities Office (607-253-3760, klw226@cornell.edu and kw558@cornell.edu ) and be prepared to provide an account number. Arrangements will be made and charged to your departmental account at a rate of $35.03 per hour per person. Failure to leave a space in good condition will result in additional custodial fees and possible loss of future reservation privileges for you or your group.
    • CVM Departments have the option to assume room care themselves. If your department chooses to do so the event organizer will be responsible for:
      • Wiping down all surfaces
      • Removing all decorations and materials
      • Vacuuming the carpet or sweeping the floor necessary
      • Emptying all trash cans into the dumpsters immediately following the event. Replace trash can with a new bag
      • Returning the room to the same condition as it was including furniture set-up.
  2. The Event organizer is responsible for using a Cornell approved caterer. A list of approved caterers is available through the Division of Financial Affairs website at https://www.dfa.cornell.edu/procurement/buyers/commodities/hiring-caterers/caterers. Additional University policies (including the University Alcohol Policy for all events serving alcohol) should be reviewed by the event organizer at Welcome to the Academic and Event Scheduling Website | Academic and Event Scheduling (cornell.edu) . Caterers may be instructed to deliver to the CVM loading dock located at 930 Campus Rd.
    *Any event that has cooking in the atrium or other areas of the college requires a shutdown of the Vesda and other fire protection systems therefore must meet the following guidelines:
    • The event organizer will notify the CVM Facilities Office (klw226@cornell.edu and kw558@cornell.edu) at least four weeks in advance of the event. A service request to shut down the systems will be issued accordingly.
    • An appropriately trained fire watch will be required during any event that requires a shutdown of the systems. Larger events may require two fire watches, one for each floor.
    • The appropriate fire extinguishers must be present at each cooking station.
  3. The event organizer is responsible for ensuring proper event parking arrangements (including vendors and guests). Information for conference and event parking can be found at https://fcs.cornell.edu/content/conference-and-event-parking or by contacting Cornell Transportation Services at (607) 255-4600. (E.g., Vet Conference, Alumni Weekend, Commencement etc.)
  4. The event organizer is responsible for contacting CVM Facilities (klw226@cornell.edu and kw558@cornell.edu) to ensure that access to the College and its interior spaces will be possible outside of normal business hours (6am-5pm, Monday through Friday)
  5. When advertising or decorating for your event, please be aware that notices (flyers, posters, etc.) should only be hung up using damage-free hanger such as Command strips, on the walls, doors, or woodwork. Banners are to be hung only by Cornell University trades as arranged through the CVM Facilities Office. Any vinyl decals applied to glass surfaces in the Atrium must be removed by the event organizer at the conclusion of the event.
  6. Any damage to CVM facilities, equipment, or landscaping must be reported to the CVM Facilities Office no later than the following business day. The event organizer is responsible for the repair and/or replacement cost associated with such damage.

CVM Facilities does offer some event services free of charge. This includes minor alterations to existing classroom setups utilizing the existing furnishing, as well as providing a limited number of 6’x30” folding rectangular tables, 48” folding round tables, and folding chairs on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Additional 6’x30” folding rectangular tables and folding chairs may be rented from Barton Hall for a small fee plus delivery and pick up charges. Any significant modifications to existing space setups or removal of furnishing from public areas of the College will require a service request for movers at the event organizer’s expense. Please contact the CVM Facilities Office (607-253- 3750, klw226@cornell.edu and kw558@cornell.edu) with an account number to make such arrangements and note that the carpeting in the Atrium may not be removed.

CVM Pet Policy

Privately owned pets are not permitted in the College. The only exceptions to this rule are guide dogs, other service dogs, and private pets being brought to the College clinics or hospitals as patients, or to class for instructor-sanctioned classroom use. Students bringing pets into the College in violation of the rules will be required to remove the animal from the College immediately.