From: Johnny
Wynne, Interim Dean
Subject: Update
on College
2003 brought a great deal of change for the College of
Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the beginning of this new year seems an
appropriate time to reflect on those changes and to consider the opportunities
and challenges for 2004.
LEADERSHIP
CHANGES
Amid several departures, a new administrative team has come together,
to provide leadership during these difficult times. Dr. James L. Oblinger, our
dean; Dr. Katie Perry, associate dean for administration; and Ms. Vicki Walton,
administrative assistant, all assumed critical university roles in the
provost's office. I assumed the role of dean on an interim basis during May;
Ms. Helen Crane has been named administrative assistant to the dean, and Dr.
Sylvia Blankenship, from the Department of Horticultural Science, is now
interim associate dean for administration.
Dr. Steven Leath has assumed my former position as
interim associate dean of the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service, and
Dr. Winston Hagler, from the Department of Poultry Science, has been named
interim assistant director. Dr. Greg Gibson, of the Department of Genetics, is
now half-time assistant director for the basic sciences. Dr. Steve Leath, Dr. Jon Ort, and Dr. Ken
Esbenshade have worked well as a team during the last 6 months.
Meanwhile, David Rouzer, who served as our director of
commodity relations, resigned to join Sen. Elizabeth Dole's staff in
Washington, D.C. His departure left a vacancy filled part-time by Dr. Thomas J.
Monaco, retired head of the Department of Horticultural Science.
While Mr. Harvey Lineberry left his post as assistant
dean for personnel for a position at East Carolina University, he returned to
the college recently to his former position. Sheri Plenert provided leadership
during Harvey's hiatus, and we are thankful for the excellent job she did.
Finally, two permanent department heads were named: in
2003 Dr. Julia Kornegay, previously director at Miami's Fairchild Tropical
Garden, assumed the helm in Horticultural Science following Dr. Monaco's
retirement, and Dr. Roger McCraw, who guided the Department of Animal Science
as interim head since 2001, was named to the permanent position. In addition Dr. Keith Cassel became interim
head of the Department of Soil Science.
BUDGET
CHALLENGES AND SUCCESSES
The greatest challenge facing our administrative team -- indeed, all
of us -- relates to the budget. State appropriations come to the college
through separate lines -- one for Agricultural Programs and the other for
Academic Programs.
Agricultural Programs, which funds research and
extension, received a 3.04 percent permanent reduction plus a 2.77 percent
one-time cut. Cuts have occurred in each of the past four years. During that
time Cooperative Extension has incurred 10.89 percent in permanent reductions
and 14.5 percent in one-time reversions. To help balance its budget, Extension
made significant staffing changes as vacancies occurred in the field and on
campus.
Agricultural Research had similar budget reductions and
must now cut to make up for reductions of $3.25 million in the last two years.
Academic Programs has also experienced cuts and, for the first time in 2003, did not receive tuition or enrollment increase funds to help offset cuts. As a result, Academic Programs cannot make additional appropriations to departments at this time.
These cuts have created difficulties, but our faculty,
administration and college advancement team have worked diligently to offset
the reductions by winning competitive grants and contracts and private support.
Our innovative and entrepreneurial faculty set a record for contract and grant
funding, securing more than $67.6 million in the past fiscal year. And total
private support from all sources totaled $47.7 million for Fiscal Year 2002-03
-- a record for our college, for any college of agriculture and life sciences
in the United States, and also for any college in the history of our
university. By September 30, we had secured $112.9 million of our $180 million
goal for the university's 2001-08 capital campaign.
RAISING
FUNDS AND FRIENDS
College Advancement has played a key role in bringing about this
success by building strong alliances among supporters. On the McSwain Center roof
at the JC Raulston Arboretum, some 250 college friends gathered for our
first-ever Fourth of July party, 75 joined us for an Old Fashioned Holiday
Celebration at the Arboretum, and about 1,500 showed up for our College
Tailgate at Dorton Arena. Before the Tailgate event, the Alumni and Friends
Society dedicated its Walkway of Champions, which raised about $20,000, and
honored Drs. Mark Stowers, president and chief executive officer of the
Michigan Biotechnology Institute, and Dr. Warren Casey, a research manager for
GlaxoSmithKline, with its 2003 Distinguished Alumni Awards.
In October, I had an opportunity to join Agriculture
Commissioner Britt Cobb at the State Fair to present Jim Graham with our
college's first Dean's Distinguished Service Award. Mr. Graham, who passed away
on Nov. 20, had an immeasurable impact on agriculture in North Carolina, and
the James A. Graham Scholarship will forever remind us of all he did on behalf
of our college.
At our annual Donor Recognition Gala in November, the
college recognized 2003 Outstanding Volunteer Award winners Elaine Marshall,
North Carolina's secretary of state; Fleet Sugg, former head of the North
Carolina Peanut Growers Association; and Jeff Tennant, an executive with Farm
Progress Companies. Duke Power, Dominion North Carolina, Progress Energy, the
A.E. Finley Foundation and the N.C. Farm Bureau Federation were also
recognized. At a separate event a few days later, the N.C. Agricultural
Foundation honored N.C. Sen. David F. Weinstein of Lumberton and Rep. Harold
Brubaker for ongoing support.
PROGRESS
IN TEACHING, RESEARCH AND EXTENSION
Our college's entrepreneurial spirit was also evident in
a number of teaching, research and extension activities. Overall enrollment in
our associate, undergraduate and graduate programs rose in 2003, with 327
students in the Agricultural Institute, 3,564 in the undergraduate program and
800 in master's and doctoral programs during the fall semester. These students
hail from all 100 North Carolina counties, 42 states and 47 countries.
Our first undergraduate international agricultural study
tour allowed 10 students to study agriculture in Ireland and Scotland for two
weeks in May, and in 2004 students are being offered the opportunity to
participate in tours to several locations around the globe.
In the research and extension arena, value-added
agriculture emerged as our leading priority, and faculty and staff members
throughout the college made significant progress in identifying new crops, new
enterprises and new production methods to help ensure that food, fiber and
forestry remain a vibrant and integral part of our state's economy. Given the
challenges facing commodity agriculture, the traditional backbone of the
industry, a number of agencies and organizations recognize that partnerships
are imperative for bringing about effective solutions. We are a key part of the
Agricultural Advancement Consortium, which brings together a number of state
agencies and organizations interested in improving profitability and developing
markets. North Carolina A&T State University and the N.C. Department of
Agriculture and Consumer Services also continue to be invaluable partners in
these efforts.
High-priority research areas were genomics and
proteomics. Our faculty have made steady progress in tobacco and fungal
genomics projects, and we are seeing the techniques being applied not just in
our life sciences departments but also in the departments of Animal Science,
Poultry Science, Horticultural Science and others. In 2004, we hope to establish
facilities that will give our scientists the tools to pursue yet another
"-omic" science, metabolomics, the profiling of small molecules that
constitute metabolism. This field will allow us to gain a deeper understanding
of processes affecting the health of humans, animals, plants and the
environment.
Meanwhile, CALS researchers and extension specialists are making progress in finding new ways to prevent, detect and manage agricultural terrorism and other threats to homeland security. The Department of Molecular and Structural Biochemistry is making headway in basic research on anthrax, the Food Science Department has programs related to food safety and bioterrorism, and our Plant Disease and Insect Clinic is now part a National Plant Diagnostic Network organized to quickly detect introduced pests and pathogens.
When I moved from the research service to the dean's
office, I made it a priority to meet with Cooperative Extension professionals
through district meetings to learn about their vision for the future and their
concerns. The Gateway Counties initiative, launched in 12 counties in 2003,
represents a new opportunity for our university to fulfill its service mission.
The initiative also should serve as a catalyst for bringing the wealth of relevant
knowledge and research within all of N.C. State's colleges and disciplines --
not just those traditionally associated with Extension -- to bear on our
state's needs.
Another noteworthy accomplishment for Extension in 2003
was a new plan to boost starting salaries for agents and correct resulting
inequities so that our salaries will no longer be among the lowest in the
Southeast. Meanwhile, administration made continued progress in securing field
faculty status for our tremendously dedicated and important county extension
agents.
We also pressed forward with efforts to achieve salary
equity for campus and field faculty in all three of our functions -- teaching,
research and extension. In the past,
when the legislature awards raises for teaching faculty members, funds were
allocated to cover the percentage of faculty salaries devoted to academic
programs. No additional funds were provided to enhance salaries of our research
and extension faculty, and, for those with split positions, the funds applied only
to the percentage of funding from academic programs. Although we have not received funding, the Chancellor can now
make all of our ranked field and campus faculty eligible for the salary
adjustments.
In another attempt to foster an equitable environment
that encourages and rewards faculty excellence, we have revised the college's
reappointment, promotion and tenure guidelines and are now working to get all
departmental guidelines on a Web site. This should help ensure that the process
is consistent and open.
The college also made progress in 2003 in securing better
classrooms, laboratories and office spaces. At the Lake Wheeler Road Field
Laboratory, construction of our Feed Mill Educational Unit was completed and
the Beef Education Unit was dedicated in April. The Undergraduate Studies
Teaching Laboratory neared completion, and ground was broken for a major
renovation and expansion of David Clark Laboratories, the home of our
Department of Zoology. Meanwhile, construction design continues on Schaub Hall,
and plans for the renovation of Riddick Laboratories, Williams Hall, South
Gardner Hall and Polk Hall are under way.
LOOKING
AHEAD
As with any new year, 2004 will bring new challenges and
opportunities. As dean, I plan to continue to press for faculty equity, and I
will appoint a space committee, chaired by Dr. Blankenship, to address
construction-related disruptions and help us anticipate and plan for future
facility needs.
We will face continued budget
challenges in the year ahead, and our priority will be to protect faculty and
staff, making strategic adjustments as vacancies occur. Provost Oblinger has expressed his commitment
to getting the search for the dean's position under way in order to establish
permanent leadership in the Dean’s and other administrative positions in the
college.
I'm grateful for the support that so many of you have
given since I became interim dean in May, and I hope you will continue to share
with me your concerns and your hopes for the future.
Best wishes for the New Year,
Dr. Johnny C. Wynne
Interim
Dean, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences