Search Committee -Vice Chancellor and Dean

25 January 2017

Dr. Mark McIntosh, Chair

College of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources c/o Martin M. Baker, Senior Vice President

Baker and Associates LLC

4799 Olde Towne Parkway – Suite 202

Marietta, GA 30068

Dear Dr. McIntosh and Committee Members,

Thank you for the invitation to apply for the position of Vice Chancellor and Dean of the College of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources(CAFNR) atthe University of Missouri. I am quite happy in my current position at Florida but the challenge of a broader administrative post interests me a great deal. I know and have interacted with a number of faculty and administrators at Missouri in various ways, so I believe thatI am familiar with the University and the importance of CAFNR programs to the state and beyond. I have carefully considered the position description and believe that I have the qualifications and drive to be successful as Dean. Therefore, I have decided to formally apply for the position. I have enclosed an updated CV and a list of references that have agreed to evaluate my ability to successfully lead the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources at Missouri.

There is a strong movement to realign agricultural priorities and policies on the national and international stage driven by recent economic instability, concerns about climate change and environmental stewardship, and a focus (sometimes misdirected) on food safety and wholesomeness. The US consumer is “raising the bar” for farmers and growers by asking for more than a safe, wholesome, cheap food supply, but also demanding input into how that food was raised.

The linkage of agriculture to natural resource stewardship will only grow in importance. Based on recent FAO estimates, world food production must double over the next 50 years to stay even with demands from a growing population. Because up to 70% of that production increase must come from technology-driven increases in output, the Land Grant System is at least as relevant in the 21st century as it was in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The CAFNR at Missourihas been a leader in formulating strategies to meet the demands for food, fiber and fuel in a globally relevant manner, and is poised to carry that strength of leadership into the future. The question then is how does the Dean promote that continued preeminence of CAFNR at the state, national and international level?

In my opinion, measurement of success in the position of Vice Chancellor and Dean of the CAFNR requires focus on four broad areas including stakeholder relations, faculty and administrative governance, collaboration with legislators and government, and resource development. Significant stakeholder engagement is critical to effective leadership of an entity such as CAFNR because of the unique relationship of our Extension, Teaching and Research programs to our clientele throughout the state. Make no mistake, technology advances will continue to drive production improvement. But those production increases must come within a context of increasing complexity. Success will require more team-generated solutions and collaborative efforts to integrate natural resources expertise to develop sustainable approaches. Some of the specific challenges already in view relate to water use and conservation, a continued assault on use of animals and genetically engineered crops in food production, and competition between food and fuel for crops. It has been my good fortune to have faculty appointments in teaching, research and extension, and these experiences have provided me with a unique perspective on how the three mission areas can be linked to build programs that serve students, producers and the citizens of Missouri.

I would emphasize building teams to tackle the above-mentioned issues and others that may arise in the future. Those teams need to include faculty across disciplines, across campus, and throughout the world, and with a dedication to engage the public in reporting on the outcomes. We must communicate how the basic and applied science we are doing improves the quality of life for the public, including impacts that extend beyond provision of a safe and abundant food supply. With this approach, CAFNR faculty will continue to contribute to policy decisions in a productive way and compete effectively for funding, CAFNR students will be leaders in the agricultural and natural resources industries, and our stakeholders will ultimately benefit from more effective production systems AND a greater public understanding of their work.

Leadership style determines success of an administrator with regard to faculty and administrative governance. My leadership philosophy is based on modeling what I expect from others in all aspects of my professional life. Because there may be a blur at times between personal and professional activities for an administrator, holding myself to a high standard personally is integral to my overall effectiveness. I interact with all constituent groups the same way – be they faculty, staff or other administrators. I am honest, open and listen to concerns and issues with an eye toward solutions. In my experience good leadership comes from an interest and concern for the organization beyond self-interest, and that is what I model my own actions on.

Much of an administrator’s job, especially at this level, is developing relationships with various constituent groups and working collectively to meet challenges. It is essential to establish trust, and I believe that having others share their aspirations and goals is an excellent way to do this while also facilitating faculty to accomplish their goals. One of the best aspects of my career thus far has been the opportunity to meet students, producers and colleagues, learn about their career goals, production challenges and programs, how those fit into the broader university and industry, and then work to provide the resources and opportunities to achieve those goals.

The breadth of the CAFNR portfolio may be viewed as an obstacle to providing a coherent, concise message to legislators and other elected officials that may not understand the importance of agriculture and natural resources. I argue that breadth is an excellent starting point for relationship building and education about our industries. For example, the fact that Extension programming is offered in every county in Missouri gives immediate relevance to county commissioners, even if they do not realize how strongly they are tied to CAFNR. The growing interest in urban agriculture provides another area to showcase faculty, staff, and students to an important group of constituents in government positions, as well as a new direction for program development on a national level. Showing the relevance of our research and extension programs to legislators is the most effective way to maintain support, and be involved in policy decisions that affect the agricultural and natural resource industries vital to Missouri’s future.

Garnering resources, at a level sufficient to support programmatic efforts, is crucial to achieve and maintain the level of prominence appropriate for CAFNR. Yet the nature of that pursuit is evolving from one predominated by state appropriations to a mix of external grants and endowment dollars. I believe that this is a healthy process, but it is requires thoughtful leadership to be successful. Preeminence in the field, however, does not mean that a unit, even one as diverse as CAFNR, can “be all things to all people”; such an approach dilutes all programs to mediocrity. Priority areas will have to be identified based on collaborative strength at the institution, industry directions, changing global markets, and talents of faculty. The challenge in the position of Dean is to assist faculty in identification of priorities, be alert to potential funding mechanisms, and direct resources to areas that are meeting the goal of excellence in program development. In addition, the increasing importance of funds raised through donations presents an uncomfortable hurdle for some administrators. A certain personality skill set is required to successfully navigate these waters, including listening skills, consensus building experience, and the confidence to make difficult decisions in a collegial atmosphere. Perhaps most important is the ability to explain the context that decisions were made to diverse audiences of faculty, students, campus administrators and stakeholders.

I have had a number of opportunities to hone theskills required to succeed as Dean throughout my career in research, teaching, and extension but particularly over the past 10+years at Florida. As Department Chair at Florida, I have experienced my share of budget challenges but have also had success in building a department with increasing presence nationally and internationally across the three mission areas. Evidence of that success is found in the 6 major integrated awards that Animal Sciences faculty at Florida have secured in the past few years from USDA-NIFA. We have moved from 25 to 40 tenure track faculty in that period, gone from the bottom to the top quartile in competitive funding within IFAS, and have attracted 2 preeminence hires to the department from 30 for the entire campus. Those speak to the quality of our research and extension faculty programs, and the relevance of their work to the livestock industries. In addition, we were recently named as the Management Entity for the USAID Feed the Future Livestock Systems Innovation Lab, a 5-year, $49 million project that solidifies our leadership in the international arena for animal systems. In addition, we have secured an additional $8 million commitment from the Gates Foundation to expand the reach of the LSIL. We have completed a curriculum review and adjusted our offerings at the undergraduate and graduate levels to more closely match the needs of students in our major, and provide appropriate general education classes to a broader swath of university students. The department’s endowment has grown by over $1 million in support since 2007, and we have an additional gift of $1.5 million committed to the unit in life trusts.

With regard to state funding, recent success includes a legislative line item of $2.25 million in recurring support for 13 new faculty lines for animal agricultural programs at Florida. That initiative developed from relationships with stakeholders in the Florida cattle, dairy and equine industries, listening carefully to their needs, and molding a request that fit strategic initiatives at the University of Florida. Collaboration with other units at the University was essential to the success of these programs, as animal agriculture cannot be successful without considering agronomy, food and resource economics and wildlife ecology – all of which were included in the request for faculty lines. We then had to work closely with legislators, especially the House and Senate leadership, to convince them of the importance of the initiative to all citizens of Florida. Most recently we successfully garnered $1 million of funding to support Phase 1 of a renovation of our Beef Teaching Unit in 2015, with an additional $2.6 request for Phase 2 of the project approved in 2016. I believe these experiences have taught me lessons that can transfer to the larger portfolio overseen as the Vice Chancellor and Dean of CAFNR at Missouri.

Thank you again for the invitation and for considering my application for the position of Vice Chancellor and Dean of the College of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources at Missouri. The common thread to the four areas described above is a commitment to building relationships in support of CAFNR; that emphasis will result in effective growth and continued preeminence. Because of my experience across the three land grant mission areas at three Land Grant Institutions, my familiarity with the University of Missouri and the state of Missouri, and my strong commitment to agriculture and natural resources, I am confident that I can provide dynamic and enthusiastic leadership to the CAFNR at Missouri. I look forward to an opportunity to discuss the position further.

Sincerely,

Geoffrey E. Dahl, Ph.D.

Professor and Chair