President Nguyen,

This petition serves as a collective statement for the Veterinary Technician students who are unable to attend the Zoom meeting on Friday, May 22nd 2020.

We are disheartened and frustrated with the college’s decision to exclude the Veterinary Technician students from returning to campus this summer when all other Allied Health programs are permitted.

We are considered essential health care workers. Veterinary clinics are still open and operating and understaffed. We understand that there are state and county guidelines that the school must follow, but we are confounded as to why other programs are permitted to complete their labs, but not ours. While our educational focus may not be on human health and infectious diseases, we still have the knowledge for preventing the spread of infectious diseases in our animal patients. And protocols we have studied for this translate very well to preventing the spread of COVID-19. Our teachers have provided you multiple options on how we can successfully complete our labs and remain healthy and we are confident that we can abide by those guidelines.

Furthermore, the Veterinary Technician National Exam (which we need to pass to become licensed) is only open 3 times a year – July, November, and March. If we are allowed back on campus this summer to complete our labs and graduate, we will be able to take our exam in November. However, if we are not allowed back on campus until Fall Quarter, we will not have enough time and our exam date, employment status, health insurance, etc. will be delayed even further.

The decision to exclude your Veterinary Technicians students from returning to campus this summer has very real ramifications: international students aren't able to apply for a working visa until they graduate, we are being paid significantly less because we do not have a degree, and the majority of us are conditionally employed - our jobs are at risk due to employers expecting us to be licensed.

We truly hope that you will do the right thing and not let the education and careers of 60 students be forgotten.

Thank you,

Foothill College Veterinary Technician Students