[Plantsci] FW: August 29 Dear Colleagues Letter

[Donna-Rae Marquez]

From: cals_bulletin-bounces at CALS.arizona.edu
[mailto:cals_bulletin-bounces at CALS.arizona.edu] On Behalf Of
cals_bulletin at CALS.arizona.edu
Sent: Monday, August 29, 2011 12:15 PM
To: cals_bulletin at cals.arizona.edu
Subject: August 29 Dear Colleagues Letter

 

Dear Colleagues,

Sir Peter Medawar believed passionately that brevity, clarity and cogency
are core to communicating. As many of you may have noticed, I am still on
the learning curve but I am going to keep these letters to one page, of
hopefully clear and cogent writing.

You may remember from my last letter, that I have four transition goals.
Some of our alumni and other supporters have told me that these goals are
"aggressive" for academia. I think they are optimistic, but I think that not
only are they achievable but it is very important that we achieve them.

The first of these goals was to provide you with as smooth a transition as
possible. Please let me know if it hasn't been the case so far or it isn't
going forward. I want to especially thank Kirk Astroth, Jim Davis, Debby
Janes, Colin Kaltenbach, Elaine Marchello, Sandy Pottinger, and Bethany
Rutledge for what they have done to help me understand what we are doing,
where we are, and why we are where we are; as well as making sure I am where
I am supposed to be at given times (despite my Windows 7 and Outlook
learning curve, me messing up my calendar, and some of my navigating).

Second, I am learning about our college. Since I set foot in my Tucson
office on Monday, August 15, I have met with: the HODs, our newest faculty
members, the other UA deans (both en masse and some individually),
interested extra-CALS UA people and a very few students. I have visited with
some of you individually as I have traveled my first 1,500 Arizona miles and
some as you came to campus as a group. You have all gone out of your way to
inform me and make me feel welcome. The miles many of you put in just to
meet with me make mine trivial in comparison and it is an indication of the
commitment for CALS that we all share. I would like to reemphasize that as I
meet with you my aim is to be as non-disruptive as possible-so please
disturb your schedules as little as possible. I would like to mention
everyone I have met by name, but space won't allow it. However, please know
that I do remember and thank you all individually. Also, the HODs are being
extremely proactive in arranging departmental visits that make the most
sense for each department.

Third, I have met with a great proportion of our distinguished donors and
have others to meet over the next weeks as schedules allow. This has been a
privilege and an honor for me; not only are these individuals essential to
our college's future, but they are personally inspiring. I have met with
many alumni (many of whom are also in the above group) and, again, this has
been my pleasure and extremely informative. Alumni have told me of their
favorite professor and most impactful courses. This reminds me that we never
know the impact we are having when we are having it, that time flies by and
memories are long. Finally, I have met with and listened to the concerns of
many of our stakeholders. I am still coming to grips with the complex
challenges our communities face, but I assure you that what we do daily in
CALS is a critical component of their future. We must continue to do what we
do best: provide the essential foundation for Arizona's (and thus our
nation's and the world's) social, environmental and economic sustainability.

Fourth, the searches for our three associate dean positions are underway.
The committees are named and the chairs have been extremely active. These
searches may be unique in Land Grant University history: not only are we
searching to find new leaders for our tripartite mission at the same time
but, like me, the chosen individuals have extremely big shoes to fill:
together this new team must live up to 96 years of continuous excellent
service. We all now realize we have a new economic reality for the
foreseeable future. Our next associate deans will need to be at least equal
to the very best in the US to lead us through the next years of fiscal
challenges and beyond. This unprecedented time in higher education's living
memory means we face very significant decisions. All universities, and the
units within, have two choices: come together to jointly make our hard
choices or do the opposite-instead of applying creative, innovative and
entrepreneurial solutions, descend in dysfunction that no amount of money or
personnel changes will fix. I am confident that we will be in the first
category and I want to ensure that we keep communications open, that we
evaluate every idea thoroughly, and that we make decisions in the spirit of
shared governance. I will expect a lot of our new associate deans, and you
need to as well. The search committees need to hear from you. I consider it
imperative that every voice has a chance to be heard. Now is not the time
for reticence on your part and I encourage you to contact search committee
members with your unique input.

Go Cats!

Shane

Shane C. Burgess, Dean
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
The University of Arizona
P.O. Box 210036
Forbes Building, Room 306
Tucson, AZ 85721-0036
Phone: 520-621-7621

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