Meet Dr. Jim Roush

Associate Dean For Academic Programs And Student Success

Educational and professional background

Dr. Roush received his DVM from Purdue University in 1983. He spent the next two years at a small primarily dairyfocused practice where he had regular contact with veterinary students from Ohio State. After handling most of the small animal cases in the practice, he expanded his surgical skills and entered a surgery residency at the University of Wisconsin in Madison from 1985 to 1988. During this time, he completed a master’s degree from the veterinary science department, and then stayed another year as a clinical instructor.

In 1989, Dr. Roush came to K-State as an orthopedic surgeon and assistant professor, eventually becoming a full professor. Then, in 2020, Dr. Bonnie Rush named Dr. Roush interim associate dean, which was extended due to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent restrictions on national recruitment. In August of 2021, he accepted the full position.

Dr. Roush says that as a veterinary student he never imagined he’d come to hold the role he has today.

“I really didn’t see myself coming back and teaching,” Dr. Roush said. “I came into it because I was involved with those students early during my time at the dairy practice, and I had a lot of one-on-one contact with students as a resident in the clinics. It was always enjoyable even in practice to have students around. They keep you on your toes, they ask questions and you have to stay up on the latest research to answer those.”

Objectives and Goals

Dr. Roush’s duties as associate dean involves scheduling the curriculum, finding resources for students facing academic difficulty, maintaining classrooms, supervising the library, collecting data for reports for the AVMA and interacting daily with various students.

“The contact with students is my favorite part of the job,” Dr. Roush says. “It is rewarding that there’s almost always a way I can help them; I can find a resource, tutor or another way to help. It’s a great feeling to take home at the end of every day.”

A major goal for Dr. Roush is going through accreditation in 2024 with the AVMA successfully, which involves compiling reports about the education the students receive to ensure it is up to standard. Part of this involves distributing data collected on the specifics of what is proven to help students succeed.

Another goal is to make the educational experience more engaging for students.

“Veterinary colleges tend to be close knit, the students that join in a class will make lifelong friends and colleagues that they follow years and years down the road.” Dr. Roush says. “So, it becomes a little more of a family, and we need to promote that. We need to move from impersonal standing in front of a class and lecturing to more engagement on part of the administration and faculty

What is special about K-State’s College of Veterinary Medicine?

Pictured left to right: Dr. James Carpenter, Dr. David Hodgson and Dr. James Roush celebrated a combined 100 years of service to the college of veterinary medicine in 2022.

Dr. Roush cites the commitment of K-State’s professors to the students and their education as a special part of the college.

“What stands out to me has always been the connection between the first-year professors and their classes,” Dr. Roush says. “They’re incredibly caring and willing to go out of their way to spend extra time with the students. I see first-year professors finding student groups and tutoring at 8 o’clock at night, sometimes later.”

One positive initial and now permanent outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to a more engaging environment at the college. The number of labs was increased initially to keep class sizes lower and for students to have a safer in-person lab experience. Now that the capacity restrictions are removed, those extra lab sessions have been kept because the teacher-to-student ratio was improved.

According to Dr. Roush, he and other instructors found they enjoyed their teaching experience more and got to know the students better. These changes seem to be paying off as well. In 2022, the national rate of students who passed the first round of veterinary license testing exam was 90%, while K-State’s pass rate average was 99%!

“We want to make the CVM an enjoyable place to be,” Dr. Roush says. “Students are here to get an education, certainly, but they should also be able to have a good time.”