Fresher’s reception program is an annual Chattogram Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (CVASU) program. After admitting new first-year students, the university organizes a combined program to warmly greet the students of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (FVM), Faculty of Food Science and Technology (FST), and Faculty of Fisheries (FOF) together. This year, CVASU has inaugurated a new faculty named “Faculty of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (FBGE)” and the reception program includes the students of FBGE, too. By ice-breaking, this program primarily provides students with valuable insights about their university campus while inspiring them toward long-term success. The main agenda of the program remains to introduce them to the common administrative and proctorial functions and facilities of the campus for all faculty students. Following this, each faculty arranges a separate fresher’s program for their students by apprising the courses, laboratory facilities, future job sectors, etc. The campus also organizes a cultural event for all faculty students.
This year, a total of 280 students (FVM: 100, FST: 80, FOF: 65, FBGE: 25) were in the program organized for session 2023-24 on 29 December 2024. However, the usual fresher’s reception program got momentum with a peerless arrangement by One Health Institute (OHI), CVASU. The OHI allocated a time slot for new students in the daylong reception program schedule. The present director of OHI of CVASU, Professor Md. Ahasanul Hoque recognized that it is the perfect time to instill the concept of “One Health” in students pursuing the life sciences. The fresher’s mind is well-captivated by the importance of interconnectedness across human, animal, plant and environmental health.
Brief description of session by One Health Institute, CVASU
Each performance of the session was deeply supervised by Professor Md. Ahasanul Hoque, so that the reflection of the “One Health” concept explicitly impacted the new students. The newly formed Communication Cell (OHICC) of OHI-CVASU was fully responsible for bringing the entire organization into shape and ensuring its implementation by regular communication with Professor Hoque
The main attraction of the session was immersed in its arrangements which was done by integrating the existing students’ organizations of the campus. The session was blended with the co-curricular activities of the running undergraduate students of different faculties. At the outset, Dr. Fatema Jannat, former president of the International Veterinary Students Association (IVSA Bangladesh)—one of the campus’s most dynamic and student-focused organizations—delivered the welcome speech, and the volunteers from different faculties welcomed the freshers by presenting them with a small token of appreciation which included a colorful badge featuring the logos of OHI and different students organizations, a pleasantly scented pen and a vibrant sticky note pad.
Following the welcome address, the main program began with a staged drama performed by undergraduate students led by Nabila and her team (undergraduate students of different faculties and levels). The drama’s main theme was to bring the “One Health” concept to the community level. It depicted a rural village family losing their only source of livelihood, cattle, due to “Anthrax.” At the same time, the family itself was also affected by the disease due to a lack of awareness about zoonoses. The plot was skillfully crafted, introducing a human health worker and a One Health professional, who helped the characters realize the importance of addressing zoonoses through the One Health approach. Then, five representatives of five mostly recognized student organizations demonstrated their goals, mottos, activities and future plans through PowerPoint presentation in front of the new students. The organizations were:
1. International Veterinary Student Association, Bangladesh (IVSA, B)
2. One Health Young Voice, Bangladesh (OHYV, B)
3. International Association of Students in Agriculture and Related Sciences, Bangladesh (IAAS, B)
4. One Health Institute Communication Cell (OHICC)
5. CVASU Debating Society (CVASU DS)
To make this part of the session engaging the freshers, the OHICC had a further Q&A session. The new students were appointed to select the number one organization for the “Best Organization Award” through voting based on their deliberation of the presentation. Next came the most appealing part of the session for the newly admitted students and that was a quiz competition based on “One Health and CVASU” conducted on Kahoot, an online gaming platform. Students took part in the game enthusiastically as there were prizes for the top three scorers. They chose the right answer from multiple-choice questions. Dr. Fatema Jannat and Zahir Foysal (ex-member of IVSA Bangladesh) carried out the game session