ANNOUNCEMENT

The University of Connecticut is currently inviting applications and nominations for the position of Dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

NOMINATIONS AND INQUIRIES

The Dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Search Committee will begin a review of candidate applications on January 16, 2008 and continue until an appointment is made. Nominations and expressions of interest, which will include a letter of interest with a statement of leadership philosophy, teaching, research, extension, and sense of land grant universities, curriculum vitae, and a list of five professional references, with e-mail and telephone numbers included should be sent electronically (MS Word format preferred) to:

UConnAg@academic-search.com.

The search is being assisted by:

Dr. Jamie Ferrare, President

Academic Search Consultation Service

jpf@academic-search.com ² 202-263-7472

For additional information about The University of Connecticut, please visit its web site at www.uconn.edu.

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT

The University of Connecticut is the state's flagship institution of higher learning. Founded in 1881, the University of Connecticut has grown to include 10 Schools and Colleges at its main campus in Storrs , separate Schools of Law and Social Work in Hartford , five regional campuses throughout the state and Schools of Medicine and Dentistry at the UConn Health Center in Farmington .

UConn is a Land Grant and Sea Grant University and a Space Grant Consortium institution. The University spans 4,104 acres at its main campus and five regional campuses, and an additional 162 acres at the UConn Health Center in Farmington . The University of Connecticut is fully accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

Under the leadership of President Philip E. Austin, the University underwent an amazing transformation, which continues with the current leadership of President Michael J. Hogan. UConn is renewing, rebuilding and enhancing its campuses through an unprecedented $2.8 billion, 20-year state investment in the University’s infrastructure. State-of-the-art facilities grace every campus.

As a university harboring progressive and intensive research projects, UConn has stood as the top public university in New England for nine consecutive years. This is a prestigious designation shared by only the nation's top higher education institutions. The College has more than 70 focused research centers where faculty, graduate students and undergraduates explore intra- and inter-disciplinary projects focusing on all major areas from improving human health to enhancing public education and protecting the country’s natural resources.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT

The University of Connecticut began with a gift. Late in 1880, brothers Charles and Augustus Storrs offered the state of Connecticut 170 acres of farmland, a former Civil War orphanage and barns to establish an agricultural school for boys.

The gift, which included $5,000 to purchase equipment and supplies, was accepted by the General Assembly. On April 21, 1881 they voted to establish the Storrs Agricultural School . It opened five months later on September 28, 1881, with three faculty members and 12 students.

The first six students graduated in 1883 with two-year certificates in agriculture. It would not be until 1914 that four-year college degrees were conferred by what was then Connecticut Agricultural College .

When Storrs Agricultural School became Storrs Agricultural College in 1893, Benjamin Franklin Koons was named the first president of the college. A Civil War veteran and college graduate, Koons opened classes to women in 1891 and oversaw its first decade of growth. The School became Connecticut ’s land-grant college in 1893.

Storrs Agricultural College became Connecticut Agricultural College in 1899. The name Connecticut State College followed in 1933. The University officially became the University of Connecticut in 1939.

~ THE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES

In 1862, Congress passed the Morrill Land Grant Act providing grants of federal land to each state to establish a college that teaches agriculture, mechanical arts, and related subjects. Subsequent federal acts enlarged the responsibilities of these colleges. The University of Connecticut is the land-grant university in Connecticut . The College of Agriculture and Natural Resources serves Connecticut through a wide variety of research, outreach education, and undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Research is administered through the Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station and the Office of Sponsored Programs. Cooperative Extension faculty and staff, working with a network of over 40,000 trained volunteers and eight extension councils, conduct outreach education and service programs throughout the state. A key component of extension programs is training volunteers who become trainers themselves, leveraging the financial investment in the Connecticut Cooperative Extension System.

The College maintains livestock, greenhouses, a 2000 acre UConn forest, gardens, and other operations for teaching, research, extension, and service programs, as well as boasting a state-of-the-art Agricultural Biotech Laboratory, and the Center for Regenerative Biology.

The College is supported by federal and state appropriations, extramural and intramural grants and contracts, and contributions from the private industry and donors. Eight departments are housed in the College, including Agriculture and Resource Economics, Allied Health Sciences, Animal Science, Pathobiology and Veterinary Science, Extension, Natural Resources Management and Engineering, Nutritional Sciences, and Plant Sciences, with a combined enrollment of over 1300 undergraduate and 225 graduate students, who benefit from over 120 Storrs and Extension Center-based faculty, 60 professional staff and 60 classified staff.

As the original component of Connecticut ’s land-grant university, the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources provides high-quality, broad-based, and contemporary educational opportunities that prepare graduates to address the challenges of life today; it expands the frontiers of knowledge through research; and it enhances economic opportunities and quality of life for people of Connecticut and beyond.

UConn’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources balances the importance of sustaining the world’s natural resources with the need to prepare for an ever-growing world population. The College’s faculty members work closely with students to perform cutting-edge research and also develop teaching materials for colleges nationwide. The United States Congress cites research conducted by UConn’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and invites expert testimony from its faculty during agricultural and environmental policy debates.

~ DEAN ATTRIBUTES

To provide the leadership required to enhance the College’s distinguished academic and extension programs, it will be important that the next Dean possess the following attributes:

• An informed commitment to the ideals and mission of Land Grant Universities and the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Connecticut ;

• The ability to articulate those ideals persuasively;

• A passionate advocate for the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, internally and externally;

• The ability to work collaboratively with academic leaders at UConn to ensure that the special strengths and expertise of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources will assist the University achieve the goals of its new academic plan;

• A terminal degree with the credentials to be tenured and hold the rank of full professor in one of the College’s academic departments;

• The ability to blend traditional programs and partnerships with future trends;

• A sincere focus on the needs and interests of undergraduate and graduate students;

• A global view of trends in managing the future needs of agriculture and natural resources;

• A principled view of the world and the confidence to make decisions, in part, founded upon those principles;

• An ability to demonstrate excellence in teaching, and a deep understanding of research and extension.

• An appreciation of the distinctive culture and values of the College, and its special niche in higher education;

• Significant and successful administrative or executive experience;

• An aptitude and passion for asking others to support an exceptional College financially;

• Successful budget experience and sound fiscal management;

• A strategic thinker and planner;

• A collaborative leadership style that builds upon relationships and a sense of community and teamwork;

• An excellent mind with a broad vision, varied interests, a fresh perspective, balanced judgment, and creativity;

• Excellent communication skills, with a comfortable public presence;

• The ability to excel as a leader in a collective bargaining environment and skill in negotiating with all groups;

• Comfort and skill working and collaborating in a higher education environment;

• Energy, stamina, enthusiasm, and a sense of humor.

ACADEMIC DEPARTMENTS WITHIN THE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES

• Department of Agricultural and Resources Economics

• Department of Allied Health Sciences

• Department of Animal Science

• Department of Nutritional Science

• Department of Pathobiology and Veterinary Sciences

• Department of Plant Science

• Ratcliffe Hicks School of Agriculture

• Department of Natural Resources

Management and Engineering

RESEARCH CENTERS AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTES

•Center for Eliminating Health Disparities among Latinos (CEHDL)

· Center for Environmental Health

• Center for Land Use Education

and Research

• Food Marketing Policy Center

• Institute for Water Resources

• Wildlife Conservation Research Center

• The CANR has a strong shared affiliation with UConn’s Center for Regenerative Biology

COOPERATIVE EXTENSION

• Department of Extension

• Home and Garden Education Center

• Extension Centers in Fairfield , Hartford , Litchfield, Middlesex,

New Haven , New London , Tolland, and Windham Counties

• 4-H Farm Resource Center

• Connecticut State Climate Center

THE COLLEGE’S GUIDING PRINCIPLES

PRINCIPLES

· The College must engage the world as its partner.

· The College must advance knowledge through scholarship in research, teaching and cooperative extension.

· The College must honor traditions while building on strengths and developing areas of emphasis for future excellence.

· Growth in human, financial, and capital resources must be acquired
for the College to advance.

· The College must enhance existing and develop new sources of funding to ensure excellence for the future.

VALUES

· Efficient, effective communications.

· Diversity through individuals, cultures, ideas, and programs.

· Cooperation through multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, cross-functional teams.

· Economic viability for agricultural, natural resource, and environmental enterprises.

· Excellence through creativity, originality, and innovation in the development and dissemination of knowledge.

· Scholarship in teaching, scholarship in research, and scholarship in extension based on peer review.

· Integrity and accountability through credibility, objectivity, honesty, and trust.

· Quality education through the land grant mission of access to education for youth, adults, and families in the classroom and communities.

INITIATIVES

The College of Agriculture and Natural Resources has established initiatives for research, extension, and teaching that build on traditions, strengths, and excellence for the future.

· Economic viability of agriculture, natural resources, and environmental enterprises.

· Sustainability of agriculture and the environment.

· Food and health

· Animal Health

· Agricultural biotechnology

· Aquaculture

· Workforce development – formal and informal

· Agricultural and food bio-security

· Stem cell and regenerative biology

· Access to veterinary medical education for Connecticut residents.