Hello friends at NWAEG, FANG, Dilmun, the Whole Community Project, and
Sustainable Tompkins,
By now many of you probably have heard that CALS Dean Susan Henry will
be stepping down at the end of her term, and that the search for a
replacement is already underway. (See
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/July09/HenryToStepDown.html). The
CALS leadership plays an important role in determining the college's
education, research, and extension priorities, and NWAEG at Cornell sees
this as an opportunity to make sure our voices and values are heard
during the selection process. To follow up a meeting we had with the
directors of the search, we have drafted an open letter articulating our
vision for CALS and recommendations for qualities the next dean should
possess. It is copied at the bottom of this email.
Here's where YOU come in: We need everyone who shares our commitment to
sustainable agriculture and social justice to SIGN this letter by
Thursday, October 1! We are collecting both "real" signatures
(preferred) and e-signatures (for those who are far away). Below are
instructions on how to sign the letter for (1) Current students,
faculty, and staff; (2) Alums and community members in the area; and (3)
Alums and community members outside the Ithaca area (e-signatures).
Also, please feel free to forward this to any individuals or groups you
think would be interested.
Thanks for your support!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Instructions on Signing the Letter:
**Current students, faculty, and staff: Please contact the coordinator
for your department (listed below), who will have a copy of the memo and
a signature sheet. If you are in a different department and would like
to coordinate signatures, please email me ([email protected]) for the
format. Signature sheets can be hand delivered to Plant Science 7 or
sent by campus mail to Megan Gregory, 134A Plant Science Building.
Crop and Soil Sciences: Jennifer Gardner ([email protected]), Plant
Science 7
Horticulture: Megan Gregory ([email protected]), Plant Science 7
Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology: Allison Jack
([email protected]), Plant Science 335
Nutrition: Christine Porter ([email protected]), 207 Savage (Letter will
be in the mail room in Savage 124)
**Alums and Community Members in the Ithaca area:
Feel free to coordinate with any of the above listed coordinators. If
you would like to collect "real" signatures among a particular group
that you belong to, please email me ([email protected]) for the format.
Signature sheets can be hand delivered to Plant Science 7 or sent by
campus mail to Megan Gregory, 134A Plant Science Building.
**Alums and Community Members outside the Ithaca area (e-signatures):
Please email me ([email protected]) the following information: Name,
Department and Graduation Year (if alum), Email, Affiliations. The
latter could be your occupation (for example, farmer, extension agent,
nutritionist, nonprofit staff member, etc.) and / or group memberships
and leadership positions.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Open Letter
To: Ronald L. Seeber, Vice Provost for Land-Grant Affairs
Michael W. Matier, Director of Institutional Research and Planning
Cornell University CALS Dean Search Committee
28 September 2009
Dear Drs. Seeber and Matier,
We would like to extend our sincere thanks for taking the time to meet
with us to discuss our vision for the College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences at Cornell University and the next CALS dean. We are heartened
by your commitment to listening to, and incorporating into the selection
process, the perspectives of students and other diverse stakeholders on
campus and in the community. The opportunity to participate in selecting
the next leader of CALS, and thus influencing the College’s future
direction, is a privilege and responsibility we take very seriously. We
look forward to continued interaction with you and with the members of
the search committee throughout the search and selection process.
This open letter is an effort of the New World Agriculture and Ecology
Group (NWAEG) at Cornell (1) to present the search committee with the
perspective of a large and diverse group of students and stakeholders,
united by our commitment to creating agricultural and food systems that
are environmentally and economically sustainable, and socially just.
Through an open forum on campus, personal interactions with individuals
and groups in the community, and online discussion through our 180
member email list, we have developed the following statement of our
vision for CALS and recommendations for values and characteristics the
new Dean should possess. Please feel free to incorporate or share any or
all of this language in communications, announcements and solicitation
for the CALS Deanship.
Vision
The CALS Vision Statement espouses a commitment to “developing leaders
to address the global challenges of the 21st century.” Foremost among
the global challenges we face are climate change, skyrocketing energy
and food prices, and the twin epidemics of obesity and hunger. In the
coming years CALS must continue to develop education, research, and
extension programs relevant to addressing these challenges. As a
land-grant institution dedicated to improving lives in New York State
and around the world, it is our job to nurture leaders and future
professionals that will implement environmentally and socially
sustainable food systems. As suggested in the consensus report of the
International Assessment of Agricultural Science, Knowledge, and
Technology for Development (IAASTD) (2), simultaneously addressing
challenges of environmental quality, productivity, and social equity
will require strengthening our knowledge of agroecological systems and
developing new agricultural technologies.
We feel that CALS is well positioned to be a leader in sustainable
agriculture, agroecology, and food justice / food sovereignty because of
our history of excellence in agricultural sciences, nutrition, and rural
development. This is essential, first and foremost because it is our
calling as a public institution, but also to stay competitive and
continue to attract the best students at a time when many other
institutions are moving in this direction. For example, Iowa State
University, a land grant institution located in the center of U.S.
agricultural production, developed the nation’s first graduate program
in sustainable agriculture nearly a decade ago, and was followed by
Washington State University and the University of Minnesota, among other
land-grant colleges. Cornell is a national and international leader in
many fields, but this is not yet the case in the rapidly growing field
of sustainable agriculture, which is now widely recognized as vital for
the future. Apart from the contributions of individual research programs
to the field of agroecological sciences, Cornell has arguably not made
the coordinated advances that would be expected from a university of our
caliber, diversity, resources and leadership in other areas. Thus, we
have the opportunity to move to the forefront of this significant but
still growing area if we act expeditiously, by institutionally
supporting a coordinated multidisciplinary research and education effort
that simultaneously addresses agricultural productivity, environmental
quality and social equity.
The Next CALS Dean: Characteristics and Values
To meet these challenges, we call upon the search committee to seek and
select a leader for CALS who:
• Supports the CALS vision statement and the land-grant mission,
particularly: advancing a productive and sustainable agriculture,
promoting a wise stewardship of the environment, and facilitating
individual and community health and well-being.
• Is a knowledgeable leader in sustainable agriculture and agroecology.
Agroecological and local food production represent the fastest growing
sectors of New York’s food system, and are therefore crucial areas for
development of research and extension programs. Furthermore, these
approaches to food production have been recognized as being of critical
importance in addressing environmental degradation, hunger,
malnutrition, and the need to promote healthy food access and vibrant
local economies by the IAASTD reports, the USDA’s 2000 mission statement
(3), and the New York State Council on Food Policy (4). On campus, the
Cornell Dining Local Foods Advisory Council (5) has been working for
four years to enhance the availability of locally grown foods.
• Is committed to, and preferably has experience in developing
educational programs in sustainable agriculture and agroecology.
• Is committed to Cornell’s Climate Action Plan (6), and will support
education, research and extension that aids in redesigning food systems
to minimize their impact on global climate change.
• Is willing to, and preferably already has direct experience in
engaging with, listening to, and addressing the concerns of marginalized
voices in the dialogue surrounding food system change (e.g., small
family farms, low income people, and communities of color), recognizing
that these groups’ needs must be represented in the “knowledge for a
public purpose” generated by our University. The next CALS Dean should
demonstrate a commitment to directing research and extension toward
revitalizing the family farm sector and reducing disparities in food access.
• Demonstrates a commitment to academic integrity and to informal and
possibly formal development of codes of conduct to maintain a focus on
sustainability in agricultural research and extension, especially in
cases when such activities are funded by the private sector.
In summary, we hope the search committee will identify a new leader for
CALS who continues to enhance our land grant commitment to public
service by developing sustainable agri-food systems that meet the needs
of the future through our education, research and extension activities.
Liberty Hyde Bailey characterized the complex role of the public
university as “critic and leader as well as servant.” We encourage CALS
to embrace all aspects of this role by addressing flaws in our current
agricultural systems, a leader in developing sustainable agricultural
alternatives and a servant of the public good by promoting food justice
and food sovereignty. To this end, we stand ready to assist with the
selection of a CALS Dean who will advance these goals. We hope that the
above outlined criteria will prove helpful in the search and evaluation
process, and members of NWAEG at Cornell will be in touch soon with
suggestions of potential candidates that fulfill these criteria. Above
all, thank you for providing us the opportunity to provide input for
this important decision.
(Signatories attached)
[1] http://www.rso.cornell.edu/nwaeg/
[2] http://www.agassessment.org
[3] http://www.usda.gov
[4] http://www.nyscfp.org/
[5] http://www.sustainablecampus.cornell.edu/getinvolved/cdlfac.cfm
[6]
http://www.sustainablecampus.cornell.edu/climate/docs/CornellClimateActionPlanSummaryReportHiRes.pdf
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Thanks so much for your support!
Megan Gregory, on behalf of NWAEG at Cornell
Sara Rostampour - president
Megan Gregory - vice president
Sam Bosco - treasurer
Jennifer Gardner - secretary
Jahi Chappell - advisor
Allison Jack - occasional webmaster
Our 170 members: graduate students, undergraduate students, staff, a
smattering of faculty, citizens, & farmers here and around the country
NWAEG at Cornell
www.rso.cornell.edu/nwaeg <http://www.rso.cornell.edu/nwaeg>
NWAEG International
http://www.nwaeg.org/
Sustainable Agriculture Education Association
http://www.sustainableaged.org/
--
Megan M. Gregory
Graduate Research Assistant, The Agroecology Lab
134A Plant Science Building
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
[email protected]
cell: (847)287-7794
office: (607)255-3918
_______________________________________________
For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please
visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/
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