Not Doing CAFNR
Business as Usual

My first week at Mizzou was met with the repeated question of whether I was an administrative 'lumper' or 'splitter.' Faced at that time with discovering my real role in the college, the campus, and UM-System, I couldn't relate nor understand the question. I was simply seeking clarity! What a difference four years can make. Today, we are at the crossroads of all sorts of lumping and splitting, and at all levels within our institution. Through these experiences, I've come to believe that neither consolidation nor decentralization is always the right solution. In fact, I've come to the conclusion that worrying about lumping and splitting has more to do with protecting a structure than emphasizing our purpose. And, I sense throughout the state a renewed commitment to purpose. Let's examine a few examples of what CAFNR faculty and staff are dealing with today.

Intra-Institutional
• F21C and Commercial Agriculture
If I understand the history correctly, some twenty years ago, Missouri state government was becoming receptive to the need for agriculture to prepare itself for the future. Science was driving new discoveries at the molecular level while national and global economics were zooming farm size up while the number of full-time farmers went down. So, while CAFNR was lumping departments into Units, the state targeted fresh support towards two new programs called Food for the 21st Century (F21C) and the Commercial Agriculture extension program. Hindsight tells us that both programs had a profound impact, and today, both programs are moving towards renewal now that they are solidly in the 21st century.

• The Life Sciences Center
With the hiring of the first permanent director near and construction 80 percent complete, the Life Sciences Center will take on new meaning next fall. A program beyond the building itself, the new facility will become a hub amongst a campus-wide initiative owned by no single college, department or field of science. Borrowing from precursors such as the F21C and Molecular Biology programs, the Life Sciences Center will add a new dimension to science as a group effort, a trait necessary to remain competitive. This program promises to both consolidate and distinguish Mizzou's stature among the life sciences.

• Extension
On January 1, the extension mission of the University of Missouri will return its administrative offices to the Columbia campus. While it could be viewed as a consolidation of administration, it most certainly will also stimulate a decentralization of authority. Though the transition will certainly come with its own challenges, I'm convinced these will seem well worth it in revitalizing extension's own brand of service back into the whole of Mizzou.

Inter-Institutional
• Non-Profit Research Centers
Long present on the coasts, Missouri now has two additional nationally prominent non-profit research centers in Kansas City's Stowers Institute and the St. Louis Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. With one focused on human disease and the other on the plant sciences, these institutions represent a new dimension to collaborative research in the life sciences for Mizzou. Though connection to the state's two urban centers certainly had to be one of the reasons for creation of the University of Missouri System in the first place, these new independent players offer a totally different partnership potential as compared to the urban campuses of UM. Our connections to Kansas City and St. Louis are changing as a result.

• Research Alliance of Missouri (RAM)
Created by state government to form an alliance among the major research institutions, RAM's ambition is to create a functional Missouri cluster of science and technology. With private institutions (Washington University, St. Louis University, Boeing, etc.), public institutions (all UM campuses and the major regional universities), as well as the non-profits, RAM hoped to gain a head of steam using the state's tobacco settlement. CAFNR in fact spear-headed a state-wide proposal to build our capability to apply the life sciences to agriculture and rural economies [see the proposal at cafnr.missouri.edu/research/tobaccoprop.doc and the review at cafnr.missouri.edu/research/ls_research.pdf]. With limited resources for higher education and research, allowing our individual institutions to remain distinct while collaborating among our strengths seems the best strategy to keep world-class development here in the Missouri.

• Economic Development as Pledge to State
President Floyd and our Curators have a keen interest and willingness for the state to expect more from its universities, and in turn, for us to recommit to serving the state’s needs. If the later part of the 20th century taught us anything, it was that all innovation clusters in this country have been anchored by strong research universities. For Missouri to develop its BioBelt and other economic development ambitions, Mizzou and the UM-System need to commit to being such an anchor. This winter, the Curators will be taking up the issue of endorsing economic development as the fourth mission of the university (along with teaching, research, and service). Should such an endorsement be forthcoming, look for bold steps in reorganization to help make this happen such as the creation of a research foundation. This university affiliate would be used to professionally manage intellectual property and economic development for Mizzou and UM’s other campuses.

These are but a few of the new relationships and organizational structures we will be dealing with. My read says it doesn't appear strength comes through either consolidation or decentralization alone. The days of opportunistic lumping and splitting are history. As faculty and staff of Mizzou, it seems our best path is to remain vigilant to our purpose and let the structure and organization of our efforts flow from that pursuit. Reorganization gossip may be sport for the coffee break, but I try to keep my eye on the mission soon afterward. We are in times demanding that we focus on function first, and let form follow.

Regards, John