A message from our Dean
Dean Oblinger sent the following e-mail message to all CALS faculty
and staff on Thursday, January 21, 1999
Dear College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty and Staff,
Happy New Year! I hope you all took some time to enjoy the holidays and
had an opportunity to relax and recharge. Now that the new year is
underway, I want to let you know how things are going from my
perspective.
The last fifteen months have been more challenging than I could have
ever imagined. There were many highlights in 1998. I would like to
reflect on just a few.
The first issue of Perspectives, the magazine of the College of
Agriculture and Life Sciences, was published and distributed. Time will
ultimately tell, but the early votes are in and the initial reactions
were overwhelmingly positive. I hope you'll share your reactions and
submit ideas for this magazine. It really serves as an excellent
showcase for what we are and all we do.
One great piece of news! Our new Chancellor, Marye Anne Fox, spent
considerable time with our college, visiting our faculty and getting a
feel for our teaching, research, and extension programs. She and
President Molly Broad spent a day visiting our Research and Extension
Center in Fletcher, NC, as well as the Henderson County Extension Center
and several agricultural producers in the area. Chancellor Fox knows
and appreciates the importance of agriculture and the life sciences in
NC.
The chancellor's Back Home tour was a major success. Thanks to
Chancellor Fox and a number of outstanding students, NC State connected
with North Carolina in ways we never have before. And although I wasn't
on that tour, I also had a number of opportunities to visit key
locations across the state, where I saw first-hand the accomplishments
of our college.
Here on campus we celebrated the opening of the new Pfiesteria Research
Laboratory, the creation of the Program for Behavioral Biology, and the
opening of the Center for Plant Health Science and Technology. The
Chancellor participated in all of these events. The Governor and USDA
officials participated in the Center opening at which the announcement
of the relocation of the USDA-Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
regional center to the Centennial Campus added another highlight. We
also broke ground for the Center for Marine Science and Technology to be
located on the campus of the Carteret County Community College, again
with the Chancellor's participation and, for this one, UNC President
Broad was also there. The CP&L Fishbarn is another exciting facility
that was officially opened last year. Finally, just at the year's end,
the Department of Communication Services moved to their new building. A
formal dedication will be held this spring.
Also in the category of reasons for celebration-NC observed the longest
short session of our legislature in the state's history. But, believe
me, the wait was well worth it for us. Our College received a
significant portion of approved requests for recurring and nonrecurring
state support, an impressive total for programs of $22.9 million.
One key to legislative success is grassroots support. The College's
Alumni Society continues to have tremendous reunion events. Tailgate
'98 had over 3,000 attend. Wolfpack Fest had 4,000. Departmental
alumni reunions are a high priority and have a history of success.
Please support the Alumni Society events whenever you can.
And while I'm on the subject of funding you should know that, thanks to
our faculty, donors and development staff, our private support set a new
record in '98. The $20.8 million raised exceeded last year's record of
$15.8 million.
We will continue to work hard to acquire the additional resources we
need to maintain the excellence of our programs.
Now, on to 1999! We look forward to:
. . . the start of construction on a new building for the Department of
Toxicology, which will be located on the Centennial Campus. This will
be the first building on Centennial specifically built for our College,
. . . our new Director of College Relations joining us in January. The
potential of this position is very exciting. Many of you will be
contacted to support various initiatives in this area. When called, I
encourage you to respond positively and enthusiastically to give
assistance.
. . . a successful Nickels for Know-How referendum to insure that
support continues for the Agricultural Foundation, which gives our
programs the invaluable ability to be flexible and responsive.
. . . the consistent provision of excellent teaching, research and
extension programs here on campus and across the state.
Again, I thank all of you for your support and for all that you do for
our college. With your continued diligence and excellence, the College
of Agriculture and Life Sciences will be the best of the best!
Sincerely,
