CALS Overview
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Governance Approach

Special Nature of Colleges of Agriculture

Colleges of Agriculture (like CALS) in each land grant university operate differently than other colleges on campus. While each university is different, the basic process is the same. These processes are characterized by:

Three-part programmatic focus. An Academic Programs unit (for on-campus teaching), an Agricultural Experiment Station (focusing on research on- and off-campus - through agricultural centers and cooperative ventures with other organizations), and a Cooperative Extension unit (focusing on off-campus education that is based on research done here and elsewhere).

College units are located throughout the state. The "cooperative" in Cooperative Extension means a three-way partnership - the University of Arizona (through CALS), the county, and the US Department of Agriculture. Each county has at least one Cooperative Extension office and some have several. There are 6 Indian reservations with Cooperative Extension offices. There are 9 Agricultural Centers in the state. See locations of county offices and Indian Reservation offices, or Agricultural Centers. Each county extension office completes an annual report for its county Board of Supervisors, and each department and each agricultural center prepares an annual report for the university.

Cooperation with US Department of Agriculture. A portion of the budget for the college and county Cooperative Extension offices comes from the US Department of Agriculture, via the Arizona Legislature (it passes through the legislature as part of the college appropriated budget). Other USDA state partners are described at the US Department of Agriculture, Cooperative State Research and Extension Education Service (CSREES) web site. This partnership requires the CALS research and cooperative extension efforts to operate through a Plan of Work, annual reporting of activities (through the Annual Report of Accomplishments and Results, as well as individual reports of each cooperating faculty member's research effort, filing of Impact Statements on our program results, and working with other colleges of agriculture in a cooperative and sharing of information process. Essentially all this information is available through the USDA CSREES web site (for each state).

Cooperation with other Colleges of Agriculture. CALS cooperates particularly with other colleges of agriculture in the western region, but also nationally. These efforts include sharing of printed information, joint research projects, and cooperative research projects (where information is shared through meetings and publications).

A brief overview of the college covers the strategic plan, focal areas for college activities, key reports, and organization. The CALS Strategic Plan includes 6 areas: Environment and Natural Resources; Family, Youth and Community; Human Nutrition, Food Safety and Health; Marketing, Trade and Economics; Animal Systems; Plant Systems. The college revises its Strategic Plan each 5 years, using the Dean's Advisory Council as the primary reaction group, but also with participation of the various councils.

Governance in CALS

The college primary governance method is through a 5 member Executive Council, formed from the major administrative areas of the college (Dean and VIce Provost, Vice Dean and Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station, Associate Dean for Academic Programs, Associate Dean for Cooperative Extension, and Associate Dean for Administrative Services). In addition, the college has councils for the major employee groups in the college (faculty, staff, appointed personnel, students), administrative groups (county extension directors and campus department and unit administrators), and an overall Dean's Advisory Council. While the specific purposes of these groups vary, they all have the responsibility for reviewing appropriate information and providing feedback on a timely basis. They also all have the responsibility for raising issues where the Executive Council should be notified or the topics discussed. These councils are defined in more detail elsewhere. Key best practices in governance for the university with annotations on CALS efforts are listed in best practices.

Communication in CALS

The college has the CALS Weekly Bulletin, which goes to all employees with content submitted by anyone. Copies of Executive Council weekly minutes available by request to the Dean's Office. Two college-wide faculty/staff meetings are held each year. The college has a Communications Team to improve communications. Individual departments often share minutes of their faculty or staff meetings with members of the department. Cooperative Extension has a "Tuesday Morning Notes" that keep all those with extension appointments informed about happenings of special interest to them. Several times a year opportunities are given for feedback on specific issues (via an anonymous web form posted in the CALS Weekly Bulletin).

University of Arizona Shared Governance and Best Practices as Practiced in CALS

The University of Arizona developed its shared governance process for faculty in 1997, with an extension to other employee groups in 1998 (see the shared governance web site for more information). The Best Practices for shared governance developed by university are listed with annotations on how CALS implements them.

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