Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Project/Activity Number: NCAC004 Project/Activity Title: Horticultural Crops Period Covered: 01-2009 to 12-2009 Date of This Report: 1-June-2010 Annual Meeting Date(s): 9-May to 10-May-2010 Participants: Anita Azarenko, Oregon State University Vance Baird, Michigan State University Emily Hoover, University of Minnesota Bob Joly, Purdue University Gary Lemme, South Dakota St University, Administrative Advisor Rich Marini, Penn State University Marvin Pritts, Cornell University Bill Randle, the Ohio State University John Stier, University of Wisconsin Brief summary of minutes of annual meeting The meeting was chaired by Bill Randle, Ohio State University. On the evening of Sunday May 9, there was a discussion related to development activities in each department. Procedures for development vary greatly, but all department chairs/heads are being asked to be more involved in development activities. Most funds are being obtained for student scholarships, but there is a need for funds for endowed faculty positions and operating funds. Most departments have fairly weak alumni groups, but some have strong industry advisory organizations who can be involved. Most universities provide some type of training for department heads, but there is a need for training faculty and staff. The first topic of discussion on May 10 was on combining departments. With declining budgets, many universities are considering restructuring their colleges and this may include combining or merging departments. Bill Randle described the process for combining Horticulture and Crop Science at Ohio State about 15 years ago. One important factor seems to include putting the two units in the same building, in the case of Ohio State there are two buildings, so some faculty swapped buildings. The merger seems to be successful and the department now is one unit with one culture. Different institutions have very different administrative structures, so a single process may not be appropriate for everyone. A couple of universities have hired consultants to make recommendations on restructuring. The general consensus was that combining departments saves little money in the short run, but may eventually save money through down-sizing. Several colleges have established Business Centers or Financial Hubs where staff with financial responsibilities has been moved out of departments and work across two or more departments. Those who have experience with this structure were asked to share a brief report with the rest of us explaining the structure and the pros and cons of creating centers, so we can share the information with our college administrators. In general, the primary benefit seemed to be the creation of a large enough staff that cross-training was possible so operations ran smoothly when individuals were out of the office. However, this is mostly beneficial only for small units with few staff members. The disadvantages seemed to be that it did not save positions and in some cases additional staff had to be hired. Another problem is that some things fall through the cracks because staff members tend to specialize. The final problem is that there is poor communication between the staff and the department and different departments operate differently. The general consensus was that the benefits did not outweigh the negative consequences of combining financial staff. The IT support also differs greatly across institutions, but most felt that some kind of centralization of IT support is beneficial. This is particularly true when considering the potential consequences of security breaches. The final major item of business was the state reports. Most universities have declining budgets and are expecting things to become worse as the federal stimulus money runs out. In spite of financial problems, most universities are still hiring faculty, but at a slower pace. Some universities will also have salary increases this year and most will have substantial tuition increases. The meeting ended with a brief discussion of student learning objectives. Next years meeting will be held on the Penn State University campus at University Park and Rich Marini will host the meeting. The tentative dates for the meeting are May 22  23, 2011. We will meet during the evening of Sunday May 22 and all day on Monday May 23. If there is interest, an optional campus tour of Horticultural interest can be planned for Tuesday morning. More details will be developed during the fall and a call for suggested topics will be sent out during the winter. Accomplishments and Impacts: Publications: Authorization: