by George Jared (gjared@talkbusiness.net)
Arkansas is one step closer to having its first dental and veterinarian schools. Lyon received official notification Friday (Nov. 18) from the Higher Learning Commission Institutional Actions Council (IAC) approved a total of seven changes at Lyon College, including requests to offer the doctor of medical dentistry and the doctor of veterinary medicine professional degrees.
The IAC also approved a request to open a branch campus in Little Rock to house the dentistry and veterinary medicine programs at the Lyon College Institute for Health Sciences.
“Achieving the approval of our regional accreditor for these schools is a major milestone for us,” said Dr. Melissa P. Taverner, Lyon College president. “We now can complete and submit our initial applications for professional accreditation to the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) of the American Dental Association and the Council on Education (COE) of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). We plan to submit these applications in early 2023. Work on the dental and veterinary programs continues to move forward, and Lyon College will provide updates as subsequent steps in developing the Institute of Health Sciences are achieved.”
