Dean's update

October 30 , 2009

October has been a busy month. With the rollout of the Campaign, we are devoting time to refining our campaign materials and overall strategy for reaching our $14 million goal for the College. Our College campaign flyer is at the printer and we are now turning our attention toward developing materials that highlight our broad priorities for student support, research and outreach. Once these are complete, we will begin working directly with each department on specific priorities and supporting materials. Campaigns bring added attention to the institution and give us a wonderful opportunity to highlight the importance of what we do to those who can assist us through private giving.

Our two renovation projects are now in the active planning stage. An architectural firm has been identified for our Young Building renovation. The College renovation planning committee is beginning to meet to prioritize those things we want done as part of the renovation. As is always the case, our dreams will quickly outstrip available funding and difficult choices will have to be made. However, the end result will be a much improved work environment. This committee will begin to meet with the architect on a frequent basis to develop the renovation plan.

This week, we met with a delegation from the Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University. This is one of the most highly regarded agricultural institutions in China. They have a strong interest in establishing a working relationship with UConn and our College. This visit fits in very well with our goal to enhance our international activity through strategic partnerships. It is quite likely that we will visit their institution within the year to further explore the relationship.

As I committed to do this year, I have begun to visit individual faculty members in their place of work in order to become more familiar with their program. These visits are intended to be informal and are being scheduled as time permits throughout the course of the year.

The Board of Trustees will meet next week for their long-delayed budget workshop to finalize the UConn budget for this year. Following formal approval of the budget, we may have a better idea of our overall college budget for the year.

Gregory J. Weidemann

Dean and Director