Update on College of Agricultural Sciences restructuring
A June 2011 summary of the status of college restructuring efforts is available here.
College policy for faculty: Choice of association
Individual faculty members may propose a change in the academic home department with which they are affiliated. This document states the College of Agricultural Sciences policy for such proposals.
Guiding Principles:
25 percent local partnership with branch experiment stations
As part of its proposal for strategic transformation, the College of Agricultural Sciences has delineated a strategy for continuing funding for the 11 branch stations (at 15 locations throughout Oregon) that are a part of the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station. This strategy calls for attracting local support at a level of 25 percent of each station’s base operating budget. A document describing how this would be implemented is Attachment J to the College’s response to the OSU Strategic Alignment-Budget Reduction Review Committee. A revised version of that earlier document is available here.
Response to inquiries from the OSU Strategic Alignment/Budget Reduction Review Committee
In mid-March 2010, after colleges throughout the University submitted their proposals for strategic transformation, the proposals were reviewed by the OSU Strategic Alignment/Budget Reduction Review Committee (SABRRC). Once SABRRC completed its reviews, the Committee then posed a series of inquiries to which each college was asked to respond by Friday, April 30. The College of Agricultural Sciences’ response is a document that cites each inquiry from the Committee in turn, then provides a narrative discussion. Accompanying the College’s response is a series of appendices that provide additional information on particular points raised in the exchange. You may find the College’s response by clicking here.
The College’s proposal for Strategic Transformation
Stakeholders inside and outside the College of Agricultural Sciences contributed ideas and suggestions that have shaped this proposal for restructuring the College. It proposes structural and programmatic change throughout the organization to better position the College for a future with a predicted small state-supported “footprint.” Discussions over the next several months among internal and external stakeholders will help refine the design that is sketched here.
What do you think? What are others saying?
Please share your thinking about the College’s proposal for transformation. You may join our listserv to contribute your own ideas, suggestions, observations, and constructive criticism of the proposal—and learn what others are thinking and saying. It’s easy. Just click here and provide your name and address. (You may unsubscribe at any time.)
What was said in the College’s Town Hall?
You may watch a mid-March conversation about the transformation proposal. Participants at 14 sites around the state discuss the proposal with Dean Sonny Ramaswamy. Click here then scroll forward 7 minutes in the video to go directly to the conversation’s start.
Report of the Strategic Discussions Panel
Dean Sonny Ramaswamy commissioned a small group of faculty to advise him on the future of the College and how to ensure faculty are well-supported in carrying out their responsibilities. Emeritus Dean C.J. Weiser led this “Strategic Discussions Panel” from its commissioning in November 2009 to its report to the Deans’ Group on Jan. 15, 2010. The Panel’s report takes the form of a PowerPoint presentation available here.
Strategic Discussions Panel: Compendium of working documents
In the course of its work, the Strategic Discussions Panel developed many thoughtful written materials that are likely to have value in various ways to various stakeholders of and decision-makers in the College. Many of the materials that informed the Panel’s deliberations are now available in a compendium. A table of contents on the first page provides insights into the nine major sections of the compendium. The compendium is available here.
Unit leaders’ report
This is a summary document from conversations held among College of Agricultural Sciences and College of Forestry unit leadership in May and June 2009 regarding possible restructuring in the colleges. Their report is available here.
Report of branch experiment station superintendents
Dean Ramaswamy asked branch experiment station superintendents in November 2009 to provide their counsel to him about potential futures for the branch experiment station network, including concepts that could be transformative. They provided a 51-page report in February 2010. A three-page executive summary of that report is available here. The full report, minus appendices, is available here.
Town Hall meetings with the dean
In a February 2010 series of Town Hall meetings with internal and external stakeholders of the College of Agricultural Sciences, Dean Sonny Ramaswamy is seeking counsel that will inform decisions about the future of the College. As background for those discussions, Dean Ramaswamy provides participants with copies of this four-page document. You may find it offers helpful context for your counsel to the dean about the College’s future.
Town Hall Handout (PDF)
Town Hall meetings
February 5 – North Willamette Research and Extension Center, Aurora
February 10 – Undergraduate students, campus
February 16 – Mid-Columbia Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Hood River; and Southern Oregon Research and Extension Center, Medford
February 16 – Graduate students and post-doctoral scholars, campus
February 17 – Faculty, staff, and students, campus and by streaming video (Recording of this session is available at http://oregonstate.edu/media/rlfzj)
February 18 – Klamath Basin Research and Extension Center, Klamath Falls; and Malheur Experiment Station (at Malheur County office, OSU Extension), Ontario
February 18 – Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center, Pendleton; and Food Innovation Center Experiment Station, Portland
February 18 – Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station, Newport; and Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station (OSU Seafood Laboratory), Astoria
February 26 – Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Hermiston
February 26 – Central Oregon Agricultural Research Center, Madras; Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center, Burns; and Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center, Union
March 2 – Town Hall for students (undergraduate and graduate) and post-doctoral scholars, campus
Other conversations with stakeholders
Dean Sonny Ramaswamy also discussed the College’s future with stakeholders in forums other than College-sponsored Town Hall meetings. Among those:
January 12 Oregon Bioscience Association
January 26 Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
January 27 Audubon Society
January 27 Food Alliance
February 16 Oregon Farm Bureau
February 19 Oregon Cattlemen’s Association
March 4 Northwest Food Processors’ Association
March 4 Oregon Business Council
March 4 Oregon Food Bank
