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June 2010

Political Candidates;
CABNR; State Veterinarian

 

by Meghan Brown

The Nevada Cattlemen’s Association (NCA) continues to work on issues that are important to you. There are many issues facing the state from potential closure of CABNR to national legislation regarding Clean Water. The Executive Committee of the association continues to keep a close eye on issues that affect you. If there are issues you feel need to be addressed, please contact the office or a member of the NCA Executive Committee. Feedback is important to the leadership of this organization. Without the voice of the membership the association can not grow and meet the ever changing challenges we face.

 

Political Candidates

Gubernatorial candidate Brian Sandoval contacted the NCA office for a sit down meeting to discuss issues important to NCA and the industry. Several members of the NCA Executive Committee met with Brian on May 13th at the NCA office in Elko. Ron Torell, Boyd Spratling, Audrey Spratling, J.J. Goicoechea and Meghan Brown sat down with the candidate and spoke with Mr. Sandoval about issues such as taxes, appointments to boards and commissions, monument designations in Nevada, public land issues, wildlife, water rights, and litigation. Mr. Sandoval stated that he has a working relationship with Interior Secretary Salazar as they both served as Attorney General during the same time period. He feels that his relationship is such that he would be able to work and communicate with the Secretary to ensure that Nevada has a strong voice in public land issues.

He also stated that he was not supportive of any new taxes including a service tax. He felt that less government was better government. With relationship to state issues, his office would have an open door policy for groups to meet with staff and him so that issues could be discussed and resolutions found. He wants to see all branches of government working together on issues that are important to Nevada.

As the election year heats up, NCA will be contacted by more and more candidates to have meetings and assist with organizing meetings. The association does not support or endorse any candidates for any elected position, locally, statewide or nationally. If a candidate contacts the association for a meeting and a meeting can be arranged with leadership, the association takes that opportunity. The association does not seek out meetings with anyone in particular and feels that open dialogue with all political leaders benefits industry and producers. An informed public can make informed decisions.

 

CABNR Update

University President Recommendations on Curricular Review

Reported to Faculty Senate on May 5, 2010

http://www.unr.edu/provost/curricular-review/documents/president_proposal.pdf

Recommendation 1: Department of Animal Biotechnology closure, including all related degree programs except BS in Veterinary Science: The Department of Animal Biotechnology, within the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources (CABNR), has submitted a defense which includes a suggestion for temporary salary reductions which do not meet the budget reduction target. When looking at department-specific data, rather than college averages, the Department of Animal Biotechnology is characterized by relatively low enrollment and low outputs of student credit hours and graduates. Teaching is largely contained within the department and college, and research is somewhat isolated, resulting in low impact on the rest of the University. Biomedical research in stem cells is well-regarded. The department is a high cost program requiring intense use of University facilities. Key elements of the program can be preserved within the college reorganization plan described under Proposal 3, viz., the pre-veterinary program will be continued (representing half of the departmental majors), the BS in Veterinary Science will be continued, the School of Veterinary Medicine will be preserved, a rangeland management program will be retained (which is important to ranching, mining and agencies responsible for the 87 percent of Nevada’s land held by the federal government). The Faculty Senate Curricular Review Committee (FSCRC), appointed by the Faculty Senate, did not address this proposal directly, but recommended continuing to work with stakeholders on a reorganization proposal. The full Faculty Senate concurred with a vote of 24-2-4 to support the FSCRC’s recommendation, with the friendly amendment that, “the closure of the Animal Biotechnology department should not be predetermined, but should be worked out in the alternative to be developed, and with the understanding that the specific proposal would come back to the Senate”. Subsequent discussions with CABNR leadership and the stakeholder group resulted in an agreement to retain a college with three departments which does not include a Department of Animal Biotechnology.

The president will recommend to the Board of Regents that the Department of Animal Biotechnology be closed and the minor and BS degree in Animal Science, the BS degree in Animal Biotechnology, and the MS degree in Animal Science be closed. I believe this recommendation responds positively to the recommendation of the Faculty Senate and the recommendation has been reported to the Faculty Senate.

Recommendation 2: Department of Resource Economics closure, including all related degree programs: The Department of Resource Economics, within CABNR, is characterized by persistently low enrollment and low outputs of student credit hours and graduates. The Department of Resource Economics has presented a defense based on average SFTE over resident instructional faculty. However, teaching is largely contained within the college, except for the 58 percent of credit hours generated by teaching applied statistics for the campus. The department has a significant grant record with half of the grant awards over the last three years going to two University of Nevada Cooperative Extension specialists. The department has a strong research publication record. Key elements of the program will be preserved, including consolidating one split position into Sociology thereby retaining the applied statistics courses, and maintaining leadership for the University Center for Economic Development, a popular service to Nevada’s rural communities.

The Faculty Senate Curricular Review Committee did not address this proposal directly, but recommended continuing to work with stakeholders on a reorganization proposal. The full Faculty Senate concurred with a vote of 24-2-4 to support the FSCRC’s recommendation, with the friendly amendment that, “the closure of the Resource Economics department should not be predetermined, but should be worked out in the alternative to be developed, and with the understanding that the specific proposal would come back to the Senate.”

Subsequent discussions with CABNR leadership and the stakeholder group have come to agreement to retain a college with three departments which does not include a Department of Resource Economics.

The president will recommend to the Board of Regents that the Department of Resource Economics be closed and the BS degree in Agricultural and Applied Economics, the minor in Agribusiness, the minor and BS in Environmental and Resource Economics, and the MS degree in Resource and Applied Economics be closed; that the PhD in Economics be retained for management by the Department of Economics; and that the University Center for Economic Development be retained with a new reporting relationship. I believe this recommendation responds positively to the recommendation of the Faculty Senate and the recommendation has been reported to the Faculty Senate.

Recommendation 3: College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources (CABNR) reorganization: CABNR provides important teaching, research and outreach contributing strategically to the University of Nevada, Reno mission. The College as a whole has not supported any plan other than the retention of all faculty positions and has not constructed an alternate plan to achieve the targeted budget reduction. We have been involved with College leadership and stakeholders to develop an alternative organization. The Faculty Senate Curricular Review Committee recommended continued work with stakeholders on a reorganization proposal. The full Faculty Senate supported the FSCRC’s recommendation with a vote of 24-2-4, with the friendly amendment that the closure of the Resource Economics and Animal Biotechnology departments should not be predetermined, but should be worked out in the alternative to be developed, and with the understanding that the specific proposal would come back to the Senate. Subsequent discussions with CABNR leadership and the stakeholder group have come to agreement to retain a college that continues most of the contributions of CABNR. Three departments would be retained and two would close

The president will recommend the following reorganization, which has the support of agricultural stakeholders, to the Board of Regents:

a) Retain the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources led by a Dean of the College and Director of the Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station reporting to the Provost, with substantially reduced administrative structure and personnel, resulting in reduced cost.

b) Close the Department of Animal Biotechnology (see Recommendation 1) and all degree programs except the BS in Veterinary Science. Move several positions with specialties in range management and pre-veterinary medicine to an expanded and renamed Department of Food, Agriculture and Nutrition (see item “f’) and develop a BS degree in Agricultural Sciences with a multi-disciplinary, management focus.

c) Close the Department of Resource Economics (Recommendation 2) and all degree programs, and close associated positions and operating expenditures. Retain the Center of Economic Development in the college Dean and Director Office, make one position whole in the Department of Sociology to sustain the Applied Statistics Program, and plan for economics expertise in range management in a Department of Food, Agriculture and Nutrition, with continuing Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station support. A close relationship with the Department of Economics within the College of Business will be furthered to sustain environmental economics teaching and the PhD program in Economics.

d) Retain the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences unchanged.

e) Retain the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology unchanged.

f) Expand the Department of Nutrition, changing the name to the Department of Food, Agriculture and Nutrition and encompassing current nutrition and dietetics faculty and programs, the pre--veterinary medicine program, and a livestock/range working group. Relocate the School of Veterinary Medicine to this reorganized department.

g) During the next fiscal year, perform a thorough review of all CABNR and Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station facilities and properties to determine which portions of these assets are essential to the mission of the university and which can be reallocated to alternative uses or sold.

The above recommendations will be presented to the Nevada Board of Regents during the June 3rd and 4th meeting. The fate of the college will rest in the hand, of the Regents. However, if they vote on the recommended reorganization of the CABNR, a small victory will have been won. This is not the last step that agriculture will have to take. The journey of creating a viable college from the remaining pieces is the next step we as an industry must take. The CABNR Advisory Committee has created three working groups to ensure the voice of industry is involved. The committees will focus on curriculum for new Dept of Food Ag and Nutrition, utilization of Main Station and Wolfpack Meats, and research needs of Nevada Agriculture. The Nevada Cattlemen’s Association will have representatives on these committees and will work to continue to advocate for viable college programs and research that Nevada producers will benefit from. If you are interested in learning more about the reorganization or how to become involved please contact the NCA office 1-775-738-9214.

 

State Vet Update

On April 29th the Interim Finance Committee (IFC) voted to re-fund the State Veterinary position. This position was de-funded and therefore eliminated during the 26th Special Session of the Nevada Legislature. This was remedied by refunding the position. Several members of the IFC committee commented that they were greatly concerned that this position had been eliminated and wanted to ensure the health of not only the livestock of the state but the citizens of Nevada as well. Currently Dr. Phil LaRussa fills the position of Nevada State Veterinarian. Because the position was eliminated, a new state position will need to be created. Although Dr. LaRussa fills the current position, he will have to apply for the “new” position. The Department of Agriculture will have to create a new job description and advertise the position for a period of seven days, allowing anyone to apply and interview those who qualify. The Nevada Cattlemen’s Association is thankful to all those who contacted members of the Interim Finance Committee. Without the support of members of NCA and NVMA our voices would not have been heard. It was clear during the April 29th meeting that all members of the IFC understood the importance of this issue. We feel this was a victory for the state and for the industry. Please look for further updates on this issue.

 

 

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