Date Posted: May 8, 2008 - Category: General
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"Welcome to the Research Engine that powers UF/IFAS!" This is how we launched our 2007 Annual Report of the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station. A link to the electronic version is here.
Late in 2007 and moving into 2008 we had our IFAS world rocked in many ways but especially by the most dramatic reduction of state funding ever faced by UF/IFAS scientists. It has made us think about how to remake ourselves into an agile, nimble and aggressive enterprise ready to focus our intellectual prowess on the most significant issues of our world while demonstrating the return on our State of Florida investment. It is across this back drop of change and challenge, that as Dean for Research and Director of Florida Agricultural Experiment Station I am calling for a comprehensive self-examination of who we are as researchers, what we need to be as a viable and enviable research team for the next 20-30 years and how do we want to get there!
What I am describing is a year long process of IFAS research review &ndash a chance for each of our departments to reassess their future as a research discipline and to lock down their intended two or three areas of research leadership through their own visioning and assessment process. It is a chance for our Research and Education Centers to clearly and succinctly plant their research leadership flag and declare their intent to be unquestionably world-class research leaders.
We will end this process with an IFAS Research Roadmap that will clarify our current research capacities and draw a new vision for our units. This process will be faculty-driven, faculty-focused and will help guide us as we examine our research mission areas, fill future research appointments and design our research programs. It will help us as we remake ourselves as world-class research leaders with a planned evolution that will keep us relevant and valued 20+ years from now. Some major cross cutting themes will be explored by special taskforces assembled to look at key research needs. Additionally, some administrative teams will also be assembled to help with review of research administration procedures.
Over the coming weeks we will be communicating more fully about various aspects of this year-long process. We invite you to visit the IFAS Research Roadmap web site linked here! This is a site for all IFAS researchers - with contributed resources, current roadmaps, task force reports and a blog for faculty cussing and discussing!
In the end, the roadmaps will describe our research units, as we will build them here in IFAS &ndash not for tomorrow but rather for a 20-30 year future. By necessity we will be different - leaner but also more attractive of investments because of your ideas and vision. We will show that our research is visionary and building for the future of Agriculture, the future of Natural Resources and the future of Life Sciences &ndash all successful here in Florida but equally valued nationally and worldwide.
Mark R. McLellan
Dean for Research, IFAS
Director, Florida Agricultural Experiment Station
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