A message from our Dean
Dear College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty and Staff:
We have enjoyed a very active and productive year to date. Thank you for
your hard work and dedication.
The completion of the survey, North Carolina Citizens' and Leaders'
Knowledge and Attitudes about Agriculture, NC State, and the College,
presents us with excellent data for our efforts in College Relations. The
results of the phone interviews and focus groups were, on the whole,
favorable to NC agriculture and the College. But 57 percent of the
citizens and 14 percent of our elected officials were not aware of our
College's existence. We will be addressing these and other challenges as
we develop our College Relations programs.
A new publication policy is being drafted which will ensure the College's
recognition on all of our publications. When printing publications and
stationery we hope you will follow the College's name with a new slogan,
which was tested by the focus groups--- "Tomorrow's Science and
Technology...Today!"
1999 was a record year for our Development and Foundations Office with
$20.8 million in pledges and contributions raised to date. The College's
Campaign for NC State Students is at $13 million and well on its way to
surpassing the goal of $15.5 million. To put these successes in
perspective, fund raising increased from $1.9 million in 1989 to $20.8
million in 1998. Keith Oakley and our Development and Foundations
personnel are working for all of us!
We continue to work with the North Carolina Congressional Delegation in
Washington, D.C. Meetings have been held with every member to request
increases in formula funds for teaching, research and extension
activities as well as other key projects in the College.
Many of the College's fund raising successes can be attributed to our
loyal alumni--24,000 plus. They are our finest ambassadors and have a
genuine interest in the activities of our students and faculty. We look
forward to your participation in the annual Alumni Society
reunion--Tailgate '99. This year's event will be held on September 11 at
Carter Finley Stadium prior to the NC State vs. William and Mary football
game.
The leadership of Marye Anne Fox makes us even more aware of the
importance of building a better business model. The merger of Extension
Technology Services and the College's Administrative and Instructional
Computing into Information Technology offers new synergy in areas of
on-line training, administrative data services, Web design
and management, and network and desktop services. To provide more
efficient financial services the College's pre-and-post Contracts and
Grants Section will be administered by the Business Office. We encourage
your recommendations in our effort to recruit a vibrant innovator to lead
the College in personnel matters. When on board the new Director will
play a key role in the College's future.
As we strive to be more efficient in our business practices, I appreciate
your dedication to the completion of the Compact Planning. Chancellor
Fox describes this as the basis of defining who we are as a university.
In this planning format, Department Heads and Directors meet with their
staffs to come up with different initiatives and priorities that they
feel the university should address. Although this process requires
additional time, it will help measure our successes and present
opportunities for future funding.
Thank you for your many contributions to the success of the Chancellor's
Installation. It was gratifying to see the excellent turnout from our
College. You should know that a great deal of the creativity that went
into the graphic design came from the Department of Communication
Services. The fact that one of the highlights of the installation week
was the dedication of the Tait and Eugene Butler Communication Services
Building makes this tribute to their work all the more fitting.
On May 3, the College and NC agricultural community came together to
break ground for the Feed Mill educational unit at the Lake Wheeler Road
Field Laboratory. The unit will provide North Carolina with a
state-of-the-art academic, research and extension facility. We also look
forward to the ground-breaking for the Toxicology Building on Centennial
Campus at 9:00 a.m., June 23.
I will close by saying I cannot think of a more fitting tribute to our
College than the one we witnessed at Commencement last week. Ray
Starling, a '99 graduate majoring in Agricultural and Extension
Education, was the student speaker and his delivery and excellent message
made it a very proud day not only for the University but also for the
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
If you have not taken a look at the latest copy of PERSPECTIVES be sure
to do so. I think you'll find it informative and attractive; this
publication makes a very strong statement about the professionals and
professionalism of our College.
Sincerely,
