April 29, 2024 • 57 mins
Vice Chancellor and Dean of the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, Dr. Chris Daubert, shares his background, passions and journey to MU. He strategically wrote the Drive to Distinction that proved an anchor through the unforeseen challenges of the pandemic as well as currently producing success for the goals of today.
Tim's Take Episode 22 | Interview with CAFNR Dean Daubert Part One
Tim's Take Episode 22 | Interview with CAFNR Dean Daubert Part Two
Every month, Tim Reinbott produces a podcast called Tim's Take. He invites a researcher, MU Extension Specialist, or an expert in the agricultural world to sit down with him and discuss hot topics.
The Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station (MOAES) extends CAFNR research to nearly 14,000 acres across the state to meet regional research and demonstration needs of agricultural producers and natural resource managers. MOAES has a storied history of major impacts in advancing science in agriculture, food and natural resources — locally, nationally and globally. These CAFNR laboratories provide research faculty with a wide variety of real-world conditions to test and develop strategies for agricultural production based on the geographical and climatic differences of our diverse state.
Visit https://moaes.missouri.edu/ to learn more.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
[♫]
Well, welcome to Tim's Take! And today we have the great pleasure of our Dean and
Vice Chancellor of the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, Dr. Chris Daubert.
Dr... Dr. Daubert or Chris, how do you want to be called today? (Dr. Chris Daubert) If you please,
(00:23):
just call me Chris. Everyone out there, you can always refer to me as Chris. (Tim) All right. It's
also "our college," isn't it? (Chris) It is. It is our college. (Tim) That's right. (Chris) It's
never my college. It's our college. (Tim) I pick up on that a lot out there. But welcome,
and let's start off by telling us a little bit about yourself. Where did you come... where
did you come from? (Chris) Well, I came from South Central Pennsylvania. Both my parents
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were public school teachers. Uh... my mother was a fifth grade school teacher, and she, uh... she
helped children with learning disabilities. My dad was a high school band director. And so, uh... I
grew up in a really small town. There... there may have been fewer than 2,000 people in that town,
and I graduated with fewer than than 200 other students at that high school. The high school I
(01:13):
went to, Tim, there were two programs that had a statewide signature or... or a footprint. One was
FFA. (Tim) All right. (Chris) It was definitely a rural community. Ag was the heart of that little
town. And, uh... music, the high school band. So if you weren't in the high school band,
(01:33):
you were in FFA, or you did both of them, and that was what my, uh... my high school
was really known for. But I grew up in a rural community surrounded by fields, corn fields. It
was really a dairy community. Um... but in that small town, the name of it was Fredericksburg,
Pennsylvania. Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania. Uh... there were three poultry processing plants. Three
(02:00):
different poultry processing plants, and um... um... those plants meant everything to that little
town. Right? They, uh... they put jerseys on the backs of little league teams. They built stadiums
for our, uh... our athletic teams. Um... but most importantly, it uh... created opportunities,
(02:23):
meaningful employment for the community, and so I saw while I was growing up how food manufacturing
can really, uh... drive the economy of a small town, of a region, of a state. And,
uh... um... Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania, was really not too far from Hershey, Pennsylvania,
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um... about 35 to 45 minutes away. So um... after high school, I went to Penn State University where
I majored in Agricultural Engineering and, uh... within Ag... Agricultural Engineering, I was able
to specialize in Food Process Engineering. And so, um... I did that and had the, uh... pleasure of
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co-oping. I was a co-op engineer with the Hershey Foods Corporation. That's what it was named back
in those days. Today it's the Hershey Chocolate Company. And so, uh... I spent about two years,
um... working in engineering with the Hershey Foods Corporation. I graduated with my degree in
Ag Engineering from Penn State and, um... the day that I was leaving, driving from Fredericksburg,
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you know, quarter of the way across the country to East Lansing, Michigan, uh... I got a phone
call from, uh... my friends at Hershey. They were offering me a job. (Tim) Oh, wow! (Chris) Yeah.
So, um... I still remember how much they were offering me, and back in those days,
that was a lot of money. (Tim) Versus going to graduate school! (Chris) That's right! Um... but I
(04:02):
really... I really loved higher education. I loved every day that I was at Penn State. And, um... I
realized that I... I had an opportunity, uh... to learn more and, uh... to get more education. Had
a great opportunity at Michigan State University, and so I... I went to East Lancing. I chose to go
to graduate school and, um... um... got a PhD in Ag Engineering. But while I was there, my mentor
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Jim Steffe... still, uh... still my mentor, always will be my mentor. Uh... he advised me
to get a second PhD in Food Science, so it really legitimized my claim as a Food Process Engineer.
Now, um... once I completed that dual PhD, um... I was looking for opportunities. Um... it was always
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my goal to remain in academia. I, as I mentioned, I... I loved every day that I was at Penn State.
Loved every day that I was at Michigan State. Had such an amazing experience, uh... seeing how
education can really, uh... change people, change lives, create opportunities, move and drive an
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economy, um... so I wanted to pursue opportunities in academia. And, um... I had originally accepted
a position with the USDA at the Eastern Regional Research Center outside of Philadelphia. Remember,
I'm from Pennsylvania, so this was a chance for me to go back, uh... to, uh... to my home area
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outside of Philadelphia. Um... and I had accepted that opportunity, but as luck would have it,
uh... I received a phone call from North Carolina State University. And at the time,
my area of specialty, my discipline of expertise within food engineering was, um... an area of
fluid dynamics known as rheology. Rheology means, uh... the science dedicated to how materials flow
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and deform. And so, um... you don't see too many positions out there for a food rheologist,
but uh... NC State was interested in hiring somebody with food rheology expertise, so things
lined up perfectly for me, and I ended up going to North Carolina State and, uh... a few months
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later securing a faculty position and, um... that was back in 1996. So I spent the next 21 years at
NC State, and while I was there, I had the... the privilege of leading the food rheology program.
Um... and I'll just take a moment to say it was perhaps the finest food rheology laboratory in the
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country. It was really... we worked really hard. It was... it was a great place, a great place.
Um... but a few years later, I was, uh... asked to take an opportunity that would start me down
an administrative path. And, uh... in 2005, um... I became the first Associate Director for the
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Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center, or BTEC as it was known at the time, and still is.
And, um... in that role I established the initial, um... instructional academic programs for degree
programs through the Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center. Uh... and then a few years
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later, uh... faculty within my home department of Food Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences at... at
NC State, they came to me and asked me if I would, uh... consider being their department head. And
in 2010, I became the department head, and I was in that position for the next seven years until
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I had an opportunity to... to go west. (Tim) All right! (Chris) To come west to Missouri, and to,
uh... to have the privilege of... of leading an amazing College of Agriculture, Food and Natural
Resources right here in Columbia, Missouri. (Tim) And food is our middle name! (Chris) Food is in
the heart of what we do. (Tim) That's right. Let's back up just a smidge. Now you said music was...
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was... was big. (Chris) Oh, yeah. (Tim) I've seen you play the trombone. (Chris) Yeah, you
can Google that, and you can see me online. Yeah! (Tim) All right! (Chris) I've played with Marching
Mizzou. (Tim) Right! (Chris) And CAFNR Unlimited. (Tim) And you've led Marching... Marching Mizzou
at half time! (Chris) I did. Last, uh... fall, Ag Day, uh... that great Kansas State victory. That
was just an awesome game! Perhaps, um... many of our listeners were able to attend that game. That
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was Ag Day for us. (Tim) Yes. (Chris) And so I said to everybody... I was so excited for Ag Day,
um... I said, "if we could actually defeat the Wildcats on Ag Day, then I would submit to
President Choi that every game thereafter should be Ag Day." Yeah, I did tell him that. But, uh...
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at that, uh... at that game, um... my friends, uh... in Marching Mizzou, uh... shout out to Dr.
Amy M. Knopps, uh... they asked me if I would, uh... lead the marching band. And, uh... you can
actually see that video online too. And, uh... that was one of the bucket list things for me to
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have done to, uh... to direct at Marching Mizzou. (Tim) That's... that's fantastic. (Chris) My dad
would have been very proud! (Tim) Oh, I bet he would have been! (Chris) He was smiling at me
that day! (Tim) Did he ever get a chance to... to direct a college band? (Chris) My father,
um... um... was pursuing higher education degrees himself. (Tim) Was he? (Chris) Uh... he,
um... started his PhD at Penn State, um... but he never completed that degree, so I think it's safe
(10:00):
to say that, uh... he had conducted college level, uh... musicians, but uh... my father
was an outstanding musician. (Tim) I bet. (Chris) Very talented. (Tim) I bet. And... and you know,
music and... and... and higher education and... and that seek of knowledge and... and leadership,
it's all tied together, isn't it? (Chris) Right. So oftentimes people don't understand what that
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person, uh... standing up in front of all those musicians is actually doing. Really
an orchestrating all those different voices, all those different instruments and making sure
that they all play together. It's a lot about... it's a lot like administration and coordinating,
um... all the moving parts that we have here in this college. This is a very comprehensive, large
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college, but it really is about orchestrating all those different instruments, those pieces of our
college. And when we get it going well, like right now, um... we... we can make beautiful
music together. (Tim) Cuz even though that... cuz I was in high school concert... (Chris) Oh,
my goodness. (Tim) ...trombone. Even though, yes, you're playing your own... you're playing
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your instrument, but you're watching the conductor. (Chris) Never take your eyes
off of her or him. (Tim) If the conductor makes a mistake or falls off the cliff, we all go with
them. (Chris) That's right. (Tim) We really do. (Chris) That's right! (Tim) It's so important. The
other thing that you once told me. You're... your family has that connection back to Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania. (Chris) Right! So, um... where I grew up (Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania), it's about
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an hour 40... hour 50 minutes from Gettysburg College. I, uh... I'm a card carrying member
of the Civil War Society. Um... Abraham Lincoln is one of my personal heroes. I read everything
I can about President Lincoln. But, uh... my family has, uh... great roots at Gettysburg
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College. Um... let's see, my grandfather went there. My mother went there. My uncle
went there. My brother and his wife went there. My twin sister, I have a twin sister, Tim. Uh...
she also went to Gettysburg College. Um... so great roots that go back to, uh... to Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania. (Tim) Wow. Because there was some great leadership there. They got showcased. And
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when you mentioned in... in... in your history when you're at NC State, you were always asked to
lead. You... you were asked many times, and... and reading in the memoirs of Ulysses Grant, he said
his observation was those who were asked to lead were far more, uh... beneficial, uh... successful
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than those who sought leadership. (Chris) Yeah, that's an interesting observation. I, looking
back, I... others saw skills or... or assets that, uh... that I had that perhaps I didn't always see
in myself. Um... and so when requested to, uh... to lead my colleagues, I always thought that was
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a great honor. (Tim) It is. (Chris) And, um... I've always done my best. (Tim) Right. That...
that... that... they saw something there. (Chris) Right. (Tim) And of course, we saw that then when,
uh... you interviewed here. You know, 20... 2017. (Chris) 2017 in March! Yeah. (Tim) Yes! And I was
out in that crowd when you first came, first time I ever saw you. And one thing that stuck out...
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two things. One, you... you did your homework on... on CAFNR, and you said that we were a
lot better than what we thought we were. (Chris) Absolutely true. (Tim) We didn't give ourselves
credit for how good we really were. (Chris) Yeah, I'm not sure that, uh... that any of us ever fully
appreciate, um... our home communities, right? I'm not sure we always see things, um... because
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we live it each and... and every day. Um... for example, um... my wife is an interior designer,
um... and, uh... I live in the home that she's designed, and I take it for granted. But when I
have friends, um... colleagues that come into our home, and they can comment on how amazing and how
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beautifully designed that home is. And so, coming and looking at CAFNR from an outside perspective,
I could really tell you how beautiful, um... the home was. How beautiful CAFNR was. And seven
years later, it absolutely is and still is. And I have great appreciation for this college for,
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uh... its best assets which include its faculty, staff and students. And, um... it really is.
It was a remarkable college, and it's even better today. (Tim) Because you... you... you've helped
us to, uh... express that now. To... to really see that in ourselves and take it to the next
step. The other thing that stuck out is that, "If you hire me as your dean, and CAFNR looks the
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same in five years, I have failed." (Chris) Right. Right. Um... (Tim) Did you fail? (Chris) I don't
think so. I think, uh... um... we've positioned ourselves remarkably well. We have more exciting
things happening right now than at any time in our history. Um... but what I saw, when I interviewed
here in 2017, was all of the rudimentary pieces that, uh... that a successful college needed.
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Um... I saw that the college was looking for that conductor. (Tim) Yes. (Chris) That, uh... that
individual that could get all of those pieces, all of those instruments, all those voices singing
together, uh... to make beautiful music. It was all here. And, um... the strategic plan was the,
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uh... the tool that I used to help unite all of those independent voices. In fact, the title of
our strategic plan is the Drive to Distinction. I'm sure you remember, Tim... (Tim) Oh,
yes. (Chris) ...but the name of my presentation when I interviewed here was "The Drive to
Distinction." And, um... it outlined, uh... what I would do if I were fortunate enough to be given
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an opportunity to lead this college. And so when I did get that opportunity, we set forth to execute
those plans. And one of the first things that, uh... I achieved as the Dean was to launch a
strategic planning process. Throughout my entire career, I have been a student of strategic plan,
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um... I have designed, written, prepared strategic plans for a number of different organizations over
the years, so I knew, um... that coming here, the college didn't have that unifying plan. And, um...
uh... I took that opportunity to unite, uh... all the... the... the pieces for our college,
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and we took about 18 months to, uh... to build our plan. (Tim) Which is a long time. (Chris) It is a
long time, but the most effective strategic plans aren't those things that you just sneeze out on
paper just so that you can tell your stakeholders, your... your colleagues, um... everyone that you have
a strategic plan. It needs to carefully consider the many different facets of an organization. It
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needs to involve your stakeholders, all of your communities not just, uh... those on campus but,
uh... your partners, your alumni, your students. And so we really took our time and listened to
voices, not only in Colombia, but all across the state to, um... identify where are the
opportunities? Where can this college go? And what should it be focused on to bring
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distinction to CAFNR? And that's what we did. And we launched the Drive to Distinction, April 1 of
2019. Less than a year later, the pandemic hits. And so I've been asked, uh... many times, "Dean,
how do you feel about just starting to launch that strategic plan and then to have things
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pulled back because of the pandemic?" I said, "It was fantastic!" Because that strategic plan was our
North Star. It was our compass to help us steer through the uncertainties around. (Tim) And there
were! (Chris) Oh, my gosh! That was the most challenging era, that period of time... that two,
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two and a half to three years, that period of time in higher education was the most uncertain,
disruptive and challenging time that I have ever experienced and will likely ever experience again.
Um... but, uh... but because we had that strategic plan, uh... we stuck to it and didn't veer too,
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uh... too much from it. That, uh... that saw us through. It... it showed us where to... to invest
and where to focus during that, uh... challenging period. But I'll... I'll come back and I'll just
say, the college was so successful through the pandemic because of its people. I mean, just
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imagine, Tim, if you were a professor, and you had your courses and your classes all mapped out. Your
lectures were already prepared, and you were told that by the end of next week, you're going to have
to deliver all of these materials virtually. And to figure out how you're going to deliver on those
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learning outcomes to our number one stakeholder, our students, right? How are you going to ensure
that they're learning the material? Our faculty responded. They were able to essentially pivot on
a dime and, uh... they executed their plans and, uh... they were extremely successful. And the
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college was successful as a result. Our university was successful as a result. And, uh... it's
because, again, we have amazing faculty and staff. And let's not short change our students, right?
Um... they responded well and, uh... adapted to those new ways of educating. (Tim) Cuz I know
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my kids in college did not like online classes. They liked in-person classes. And fortunately,
they were already out of college at MU by that time. But I would think some students, y'all had
to have... they had to have help adjusting to this new format. (Chris) Yes, and when they were turned
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home, some of their communities may not have had, uh... great access to broadband. And so there was
a healthy period of adjustments all around that, uh... we needed to adapt to, and our people did
that, and they did it really, really well. (Tim) Yeah, because they were sent home... the students
were. (Chris) Absolutely. (Tim) And, uh... (Chris) Absolutely. (Tim) ...we even opened up some of our
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centers up that had broadband that they come there and take their classes. I mean, we really we came
together as a community that way. (Chris) You know it. And, uh... and this college did come together
for... for its people, for its communities. I can tell you that in the fall of '20, when the
students returned to campus, um... our college acquired as many large instructional spaces as it
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could. Uh... you'll remember, we needed to safely teach our students in a socially distanced way,
and so we were ahead of the curve in acquiring as many large spaces as we could. For example,
the Trowbridge Arena. We invested a good bit of money into the transformation of Trowbridge so
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that it could continue to, uh... to function in an instructional capacity. And through the
first fall, through that first year, CAFNR was able to offer 80% of its courses in some
form of face-to-face instruction. Um... that was pretty special. Really quite significant. And so,
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um... I'm proud of how we responded to... to the pandemic. (Tim) And speaking of students,
since the pandemic, CAFNR has led the way, and we're back to our... our levels that we had
pre-pandemic now. Or... or at least very close to them. (Chris) Actually, we're... we're...
we're... we're doing really, really well. (Tim) Right. (Chris) One of the things that we set
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in our strategic plan was recruitment for our students. We, uh... we set a goal for ourselves,
um... to bring 650 new students into the college every year. Um... last fall,
uh... we surpassed that goal. I think we had 684 students. This most recent fall,
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fall of '23, uh... we welcomed 703 new students into the college. So we have,
uh... over 3,000 students in the college today, so our student numbers are... are excelling and,
um... it's been remarkable to see the response to our recruitment efforts, and I'm proud of the
trends that we're seeing for our student numbers. And we're hopeful that that trend's going to
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continue this fall. (Tim) One of the things I noticed about CAFNR is they take... they care
about their students not only once recruiting, but once you get here they... they... they...
they care for their students. And when they near that time of when they're going and graduate,
they help them find jobs, and that's so important for that whole experience. (Chris) A shout out to,
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uh... Dean Bryan Garton. He does a tremendous job leading our Academic Programs office. So within
the college, the strategic plan, we have a number of key metrics (performance indicators) that we're
pursuing. One is for retention rates. Now if a student starts with us as a freshman, that student
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is retained if they elect to come back for their sophomore year. And so in our strategic plan,
we set a 93%, uh... goal for our retention rate. And this past fall, for the first time in history,
Tim, we surpassed that goal with a 93.1% retention rate. Another great fact that I'm really quite
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proud of is, um... our students get jobs. Our career placement rating, um... for the past
two years or... or three years, um... we have a greater than 98% placement rate. And so that
means our students are having opportunities, um... with a degree from... from CAFNR. (Tim) Highly
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desired students coming out of this, and that goes to the faculty. That goes to the... to the
advisors. (Chris) 100%. (Tim) For success, that... that's all these different groups coming together.
All right. Well, we're continuing our podcast with Chris Daubert, who's our
Dean and Vice Chancellor of of CAFNR, and we've been discussing about our Drive to Distinction,
and... and... and the great strides that we've made in our students. Our number one priority are
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students. (Dr. Chris Daubert) Students are our number one stakeholder. (Tim) They really are.
That's part of the land-grant mission. (Chris) That's correct. (Tim) But the other part of that
is research, both our basic and our applied research. And this is where we've made some
great strides also. And, uh... but there had to be some pain that goes along with that. What...
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there we had to have a... we had to have a... a restructuring. We had to look at what... how
we were doing things, and the models that were set up, what? 50... 60 years ago don't always,
uh... work today. And it was almost like ripping the Band-Aid off, but first we had to make sure we
were ripping it off the correct way. (Chris) Yeah. So when we talk about the land-grant mission,
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and for our listeners, just allow me to, uh... to talk a little bit about that mission because it's
really... it's in our DNA, isn't it, Tim? (Tim) It is. (Chris) It's... it's really what our college
has always been about. Um... we'll never waver in our commitment to that land-grant mission.
But when we talk about that mission, it embraces education. Um... land-grant universities were
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established to create opportunities of affordable education for the masses. Uh... so certainly,
a commitment to instruction and... and to students, um... is... is... is core to who
we are. Research is another one of the... the land-grant missions. And, um... we have a commitment to
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ensuring that our research enterprise is strong and, uh... serves Missouri very, very well. And
then that third mission is the Extension mission. Um... in CAFNR, we don't just consider students to
be 18 to 22 year-olds that live here in Columbia, Missouri. Uh... we consider every Missourian our
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student, and so our Extension programs allow us an opportunity to take what we do here on our fields,
on our farms, in our laboratories, in our classrooms and to extend that out, to take
that out to every Missourian, um... and... and to help address their needs and their concerns. So,
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um... we have a real commitment to those three missions. Uh... in addition I oftentimes would
talk about a fourth mission of the land-grant and that's economic development. Uh... we have
a responsibility to help all Missourians, uh... especially those associated with
ag and natural resource programs, um... to be, uh... good business people, to be entrepreneurs,
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uh... to help their operations be profitable, so to really help drive the economy of the
state through its ag and natural resource programs. (Tim) Because that's changing...
ever changing! And... and we need to help lead that... that... those changes. (Chris) Oh, well,
100%. And, um... our number one industry in the state of Missouri is agriculture.
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$93.7 billion dollar industry. Uh... easily number one in this state. It drives our economy. Number
two, you know what it is? (Tim) Tourism. (Chris) It's tourism, and that also resides
in our college. So CAFNR is home to the number one and the number two industries for the state
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of Missouri. Um... but if we're going to continue to use agriculture and natural resources to drive
the economy of our state, Tim, we're not going to get more land. Our natural resources are... are...
are locked, if you will. We're not going to get more... more access to land. Uh... um... we can do
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this by expanding the value of the commodities that we extract from... from our land. So,
uh... we have a number of initiatives around, uh... value-added processing of our commodities
into the things that, uh... you and I use each and every day. (Tim) Because we don't want to
just ship them off for somebody else to, uh... value-add them. We want to do them here in...
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in Missouri too. (Chris) Right. So, um... one of the things that, uh... I did in another state was,
uh... an initiative that I lead around food manufacturing, and when I came here I saw,
um... similar if not greater opportunities here for our state, and let's see if I can summarize
that... those ideas with a story. Um... if you look at me, and this is a... a live podcast, um...
(30:19):
I like ice cream. I think that's pretty obvious. And so, if we think about what a half gallon of
ice cream costs, if you'll just, uh... oblige me. Um... let's say we pay $5 for that half gallon of
ice cream. Um... so if you've ever made ice cream, you know, uh... it's... it's cream, it's sugar,
(30:41):
it's maybe some berries and some nuts. Those are all the different, uh... basic ingredients those
commodity groups that go into that ice cream. Um... again if you'll agree with me, um... all of
those ingredients maybe cost $1. All right? It's the transformation of all of those ingredients and
(31:03):
the processing of those ingredients into the ice cream that adds the value and allows us to pay $5
for that half gallon of ice cream. In Missouri, we're doing an outstanding job with the first
dollar, with all those commodities, those basic ingredients that goes into those things, but we're
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doing a great job too in sending all those things out of state and allowing other states to process
and to recover those extra $4. Our initiative here, uh... the Food, Beverage & Forest Products
Manufacturing Initiative is about helping Missouri keeping all $5 here in our state, adding value
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to the commodities that we grow here in Missouri. (Tim) And... and... and that's a challenge that...
that we've, uh... that we're, uh... addressing and... and making some progress on it. I know
some slaughter houses, for example, have... have opened up here in Missouri. (Chris) We
have a... a large, uh... beef processing unit that is being constructed, um... outside of
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St. Louis right now. Um... um... it's nearly a billion dollar investment. It's going to hire,
I think, employ, um... 1,300 employees. So those are really valuable, important,
meaningful jobs. Really important for the economy. (Tim) And not only the... the jobs, but the
producers can get more dollars for their... their product and that's important too. (Chris) Let me,
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uh... let me also acknowledge Dean Rob Kallenbach, who's our Associate Dean for Extension. Rob does
such a brilliant job. Um... he says that all of Extension, Ag and Environment Extension,
has one job. They're united by one thing, and that is to double the economic impact of agriculture by
(32:58):
the year 2030 without compromising its precious natural resources. So Rob and... and... and our
Extension colleagues, uh... they've embraced the importance of, uh... a commitment to value-added
processing. (Tim) Yes, certainly has. So... so that lays the groundwork, but we needed to improve our
(33:20):
research capacity. You've invested many dollars here on campus. Also invested dollars out in
the... in the state. (Chris) That's right. (Tim) How did that come about? (Chris) Once I was here
for about a year, Tim, um... we had a chancellor at the time who had a vision for our campus,
(33:44):
for the University, and uh... his vision was to double the research expenditures within five
years. And, uh... at the time, CAFNR was generally the number one college on campus in terms of
research expenditures. And for the listeners out there, an expenditure is a dollar spent to
(34:09):
support the research activity of the college or the university. And so CAFNR was leading,
uh... the campus but, uh... the chancellor at the time, uh... challenged all the leaders on campus
to double their expenditures, uh... within five years. Now I remember sitting in that
(34:30):
audience thinking, "What are you talking about? We're already leading. How do we... how could we
ever double?" And, uh... we started looking at the data, Tim. And, uh... uh... I started studying the
amount of research awards coming into CAFNR and then the dollars being spent, the expenditures.
(34:53):
So awards are dollars coming in. Expenditures are dollars being, uh... sent out or spent,
uh... for research. And those two things were about even, roughly $40 million dollars. Tim,
they had been pretty much level for a decade, which means we weren't really building and growing
(35:16):
our research activities. And when the expenditures and the awards align or match up, that means
you're pretty much spending everything that's coming in. (Tim) And not growing. (Chris) And
not growing! That's well said. (Tim) Cuz there's a lag. (Chris) There's always... there's always
going to be a lag. There's got to be a lag. And so we thought, well... let's see what we can do.
And let's see how we can expand and invest in, uh... the research enterprise for the college.
(35:42):
And... and so we started, um... looking at certain strategic hires. Um... we started looking at what
we needed to support our faculty and our staff to be more successful in, um... getting, uh... higher
amounts of funding into their programs, into the college. And, uh... about that time we brought
(36:04):
Shibu Jose, our Associate Dean for Research, into the college and, uh... he had a great vision for
how to, uh... create an infrastructure to help faculty and staff be successful in,
um... acquiring greater research awards. And um... in the strategic plan... again, the Drive
to Distinction, we set a goal that we were going to double by the year 2025 our research awards and
(36:32):
expenditures. And so, as I already mentioned, when we set the goal, we launched the plan in 2019,
we hovered around $40 million dollars, and so, uh... both awards and expenditures, and so we
set a goal to double by 2025, and um... this past fiscal year (2023), it ended June 30th, we achieved
(36:59):
$115.2 million dollars. We nearly tripled the awards for our college! An all-time...
an all-time high... an all-time high, but we nearly tripled the goal. And that number,
$115.2 million dollars, makes us the number one college of agriculture in the North Central region
(37:24):
of the United States. (Tim) Wait now. We've got Michigan State. (Chris) Michigan State. (Tim) Isn't
that Purdue, maybe? (Chris) Purdue. Ohio State. Iowa State. Kansas State. Uh... North and South
Dakota. Illinois. Kansas State. (Tim) We are leading them? (Chris) We're number one.
Minnesota. Wisconsin. (Tim) Wow! (Chris) University of Missouri CAFNR, we're number
(37:46):
one. (Tim) And we don't tell our... our... our folks about that enough, do we? This is... this
is exciting! (Chris) Friends, this is what I'm saying! (Tim) We don't... yeah. (Chris) We're so
much better than what we think we might be. And, uh... I am very fond of the Missouri hospitality
and the... the... the Midwestern humility, but, uh... but this is an amazing college.
(38:10):
A great place. And... and it's the great people that, uh... that have helped us achieve. Um...
but those were... that was $115.2 million dollars in awards. We still have a goal, um... to double
our expenditures, and we're still hoping that this is the year that we take our expenditures
(38:32):
from $40 million dollars to $80 million dollars. We're currently at an all-time high. We're around
$65 million for the last fiscal year. That's an all-time high in terms of expenditures,
but we think, and we're hopeful, that this is the year that, uh... we reach that $80
million dollar, uh... mark for expenditures. (Tim) Now you've done this through collaboration within
(38:56):
the college? (Chris) Coordination, cooperation... (Tim) Oh, my goodness! (Chris) ...providing,
uh... support for our faculty and staff in terms of grant writing teams. Uh... I think when I
started here, we may have had one or part of one FTE (a full-time equiv... equivalent) dedicated
(39:16):
to helping our faculty and staff prepare their grants. Uh... Shibu has invested, today I think
we have five FTE's to support our faculty and our staff. Um... one of the important aspects,
and I... I think it's important for us to go here, um... within the research umbrella of CAFNR is
(39:38):
the Ag Experiment Station. And often times, people think that that Ag Experiment Station
is only the research centers and farms. That's an important part of it. Don't get me wrong. It's a
critically important part to the entire research Ag Experiment Station, but it embraces also,
um... research programs throughout the entire college. In fact, uh... any faculty member that
(40:03):
has a research program tied to the agricultural or natural resource mission, can, um... be part
of our Missouri Ag Experiment Station. But, our... our farms and centers are an important component
to the Experiment Station. And for my first two to three years, um... I visited numerous times each
(40:27):
year. Tim, you and I spent a lot of time in the vehicle together driving all over Missouri. We got
to know each other really well. In fact, there's a story there that, uh... maybe it's best if we
don't talk about. (Tim) We don't want to talk about that. We don't want... (Chris) Friends, we
spent a lot time in the car together. Um... but, uh... I got to know our research centers, our farms, the
(40:48):
people across Missouri, uh... extremely well, and I learned that, uh... there were opportunities for
us to do a better job... coordinating activities, research activities across all of our experiment
stations, and... and, uh... I knew it was going to be a... a heavy lift. I knew it was going to be a
(41:13):
heavy lift because at the time, we would pretty much brag that, what is it? We had 22 or... or
23 centers and farms all across Missouri? I mean, that was a... a point of pride for all of us that
we have all of these farms and centers across Missouri, but the fact of the matter is, um...
though they were doing important work for their locations, um... there was a lack of coordination.
(41:39):
Uh... in fact, we... we might have had duplication of efforts happening at different locations
across... across the state. So we set forth on a plan to review the experiment stations. Um... we
brought in a team of experts, uh... experiment station leaders from across the country, um...
(42:03):
unbiased people that could take an honest look at how we were doing things here in Missouri at our
centers and our farms. Um... and they conducted an evaluation and an audit and a review of how we
were doing things, and they presented us with a report. Um... they made suggestions. We involved
(42:25):
internal groups, um... leaders, um... um... staff members, faculty members here on campus to,
uh... help us review how we were doing things at our centers and farms. And,
um... with all that information, we've set forth on a plan to restructure the Experiment Station,
(42:48):
specifically our... our farms and centers. And, uh... about two years ago, we launched
that plan. And, uh... we're today consolidated around four, what we affectionately refer to as
REECs (Research, Extension, Education Centers) and, um... each of those REECs is led by a director,
(43:09):
um... with a staff underneath each of those, um... of those REECs. Um... today the
administration engages with the leadership of each of those REECs. Every single week, those directors...
the leaders of the REECs, the directors, they all work very closely with each other and with the
(43:32):
college. Um... we're not duplicating effort, and we have much greater efficiencies and coordination
across all the REECs that are happening today. And so things are trending in a really, really,
uh... good direction. We still have work to do. We still have work to do. That restructuring of the
Experiment Station was the biggest administrative lift in my entire career easily. Easily the most
(43:56):
challenging, uh... largest, uh... coordinated effort to... to bring restructuring efficiencies
into an operation, into an organization. And... and just the... the mere scale of it all,
the fact that every single one of these farms and centers has people associated with them,
has legislators associated with them, just the mere... and the massive scale of that coordination
(44:22):
was a huge undertaking. But I'm proud of Shibu Jose for his leadership, for you, Tim, and...
and all the leaders that, uh... that understood it was the right thing to do, and it was the time
to do it. You know, it's easy to kick things down the road, right? It's easy to keep kicking the can
down the road, but when you see that things can be done differently, and it's important
(44:44):
to do things better, um... we stepped up to the plate and, uh... did the hefty... heavy lifting,
um... to do that restructuring, and I'm proud of where we're going. (Tim) Well, I work with the...
the other state's administrators across... (Chris) That's right. You do! (Tim) I do. I'm going to a
meeting next week with them. And... and we... we used that... those connections for part of our...
(45:09):
our... our review, and many across the United States talk about doing the restructuring, several
have had reviews, but I think Missouri is probably the only one that has totally did it. Some... some
just kick, kick, keep kicking it down the road part... partially, but we did it! (Chris) It's
(45:32):
because it's a lot of hard work. And you're 100% right. In fact... probably you, but I know
Shibu is looked to and he's called upon to give, uh... speeches, to give talks, about what we did here at
the University of Missouri. And, um... uh... we're really looked to as a land-grant model for how
(45:52):
to restructure an experiment station and, um... again, there's a lot of people to acknowledge and
to thank. Um... you're one of them, Tim, but uh... but I'm really pleased of that restructuring.
Um... it's not as though everything is done. We still have work to do, but uh... but things are
going in a really positive direction. (Tim) They really are. And... and the collaboration across
(46:17):
the disciplines is even more tremendous than it ever was in my career. (Chris) I agree. (Tim) And
that... and it's just not the... our research centers, but also even our divisions are... are
changing. (Chris) They have changed! They have changed. So, um... for our listeners out there,
uh... CAFNR is a bit different from many other colleges. About 35 years ago,
(46:42):
uh... leadership in the college, I don't know... maybe it was longer than 35 years ago, but uh...
leadership in the college saw an opportunity to eliminate departments. They saw an opportunity
to again... and I use this word a lot today, but they saw an opportunity to bring efficiencies into
how we were doing things within the college, and so they eliminated departments and brought those
(47:07):
like-minded units together. So for example, where I used to be employed, there was a poultry science
department. There was a dairy science department. An animal science department. Well, the University
of Missouri had the vision, the forethought, and they brought all of those units together,
(47:28):
and they formed the Division of Animal Sciences, plural. And so we are structured a little bit
differently. We have today six divisions with, uh... leadership provided by a Division Director.
One of our divisions is a school. It's the School of Natural Resources. It also has a
(47:51):
director. Dr. Pat Market is the Director of our School of Natural Resources, but we treat that
as a division of CAFNR. So we have six divisions, and um... um... they're each, um... like-minded
disciplines all... all, um... together in... in one... division. (Tim) And some of those... those
(48:13):
that you've, uh... pulled a part of one division into another division because of how things
are progressing. (Chris) Right! (Tim) Like Plant Sciences. (Chris) Yes, so Plant Sciences, faculty
from that division, uh... saw an opportunity when they looked at the future. They saw that, uh...
their farmers were needing access to students with technology expertise, and they saw a program,
(48:42):
Ag Systems Technology in another program, and they thought that, uh... if we brought technology and
made it more closely aligned with plant sciences that, uh... it would be a stronger division. And,
uh... we agreed. And so today, um... one of our divisions is the Division of Plant
(49:03):
Science and Technology. Now, when we started our conversation today, Tim, in the previous segment,
we talked about my background as a food engineer. Um... we had another division,
Food Systems and Bioengineering, that uh... also went through a transformation. Engineering got,
(49:25):
uh... repositioned into the College of Engineering. And we have great colleagues
and friends in the College of Engineering here at the University of Missouri, but at the same time,
nutrition was in another college. Well, we saw an opportunity for nutrition to return to CAFNR,
and we created a new division, the Division of Food, Nutrition and Exercise Sciences,
(49:51):
and we affectionately refer to that division as FNES. (Tim) What... what else would you
call it? And that goes on to this other, in the Drive to Distinction, you said that you... we...
we imagine a healthy world. (Chris) Yes. (Tim) And one health is our vision... or our goal. And
(50:12):
this... one of the things that we're talking about is that. Was... whether it's a healthy person or
a healthy environment or a healthy economy, CAFNR is all a part of that. (Chris) We span that entire
spectrum. So if you think about the system, we start with our precious natural resources... the
air, the water, the soil, right? And from those things we have production programs... the plant
(50:39):
sciences, the animal sciences. Um... those, um... and from those production programs, we create the
commodities, and then we have the food science programs that transforms those commodities into
the things that we use and eat each and every day. Today, we have the nutrition programs that extend
(50:59):
those processed products into health. Into health. Into medicine. Meanwhile, that entire system,
that pipeline... that food pipeline, is given foundational and basic knowledge from our
biochemistry faculty, and not to be outdone, we have another division in our college, the
(51:22):
Division of Applied Social Sciences, that studies how that entire system interacts with people,
with society, with communities. Um... so that in a nutshell describes who we are as a college and,
uh... it's really about creating a healthy world. (Tim) And not only within our college,
(51:45):
but outside our college. Even the medical school. The collaborations with our medical
sciences are increasing. (Chris) It increases all the time. We have amazing faculty that,
uh... study how... the animal system, for example, how it can be engineered, um... and um... uh...
(52:06):
designed to interface with medical, um... therapies and treatments. Uh... so for example,
within animal sciences, we have a group... a group of livestock geneticists that can engineer,
uh... pigs with certain diseases, glaucoma for example. Um... and then those pigs can
(52:29):
be used by the school of medicine to, uh... study treatment techniques and surgical techniques. But
uh... but the opportunities on the health side creates great, uh... um... opportunities for...
for the college in the future. (Tim) I just heard just the other day from Shibu Jose, our Associate
(52:50):
Dean of Research, how they're building a new $10 million building for... for a lot of this
medical/agricultural research interaction, and then also hiring even more medical physicians.
Instead of transporting our technology to other parts of the United States, we'll do it right
here. The heart transplants, for example, can be done right here. (Chris) It can be done right
(53:14):
here. Um... this is a... a tremendous opportunity for us to engage more closely, um... with the
School of Medicine, uh... biomedical opportunities that, uh... our faculty can, uh... conduct with
our friends in the School of Medicine, a... a real opportunity, um... for that program. (Tim) So our
(53:35):
impact is not only for farmers, but... and the 6.2 million people that live in Missouri, but
for all... everybody all across the world. (Chris) Right. And the research, that biomedical research,
can lead to other benefits that can, uh... uh... improve the animal/ag industries as
well. So there's tremendous overlap and tie-in. (Tim) Tremendous. Now, one thing I noticed on
(54:01):
our... see my... my strategic plan is about worn out. I... like you said, we use it every
day! (Chris) That's right. (Tim) This... this is what we refer to. This is... this is our, you
know, if you want to know something, just... just turn to this. But 2019 to 2025! (Chris) That's
right. (Tim) What happens after 2025? What's going to happen? Well, that's next year! (Chris) Yeah,
(54:22):
so um... my thinking is that in a year from now, we'll be gearing up and thinking about, uh... what
the next version of our strategic plan might look like. You know, what could that be? Uh...
Path to Preeminence? I... I don't know. (Tim) Well, we probably in 2019, at that time didn't
(54:44):
realize some of the paths that we would go down. Know how our technology would take us. How our...
how everything would take us. (Chris) So effective strategic planning is nimble, right? And it's able
to adapt and adjust. If a plan is done properly, it allows for administration, for leaders,
(55:06):
to be flexible while it's being implemented and executed. And um... though we've achieved a large
amount of what we set out to do, um... there are things that perhaps we can still do better. And
uh... as we think about the future for where we're going, um... I think we have a better idea of what
(55:30):
we can do with the united and shared vision, and uh... uh... I'll be excited to see what
the next version, what the future strategic plan will look like. (Tim) I am too because,
uh... it's hard to envision what... what another six or eight years is going to be like with the
changes that we've seen already. (Chris) I know it. (Tim) Tremendous changes. (Chris) But that's,
(55:52):
uh... you know, you started the segment talking about, uh... um... leadership,
and the conductor being able to orchestrate and to get all of these different voices singing together
and making beautiful music. Um... with that plan, we... we' been making beautiful music together.
Uh... this music has been glorious. It's getting louder. (Tim) Yes. (Chris) And you know, we have
(56:17):
more exciting building projects going on right now than we've ever had in the college. Not only here
in Columbia, but across the Experiment Station, out at our centers and farms, more exciting
opportunities for construction, um... facilities and infrastructure are improving. Um... this is a
really great time, uh... to be at CAFNR at the University of Missouri, and it's been a great
(56:41):
time to be Dean. (Tim) Well, thank you so much for your leadership. It... it's just been tremendous!
And... and sometimes we see it happen, and we don't realize how much has changed because we're
part of this change. (Chris) That's right. (Tim) And what we're doing today, getting the... getting
the message out to folks is so important. (Chris) It's been exciting! (Tim) And thank you for
(57:02):
that. (Chris) Thank you for having me! (Tim) Well, thank you, Dean Daubert. Dean Daubert, Christopher
Daubert, our Chan... Vice Chancellor and Dean of our College of Food and Natural Resources. But
this is it for Tim's Take, and this has been very exciting! And just wait to watch what we get the
next seven or eight years. We'll see you. (Chris) So long, everyone. (Tim) No, that is exciting.
(57:22):
[♫]
[♫]
Well, welcome to Tim's Take! And today we have the great pleasure of our Dean and
Vice Chancellor of the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, Dr. Chris Daubert.
Dr... Dr. Daubert or Chris, how do you want to be called today? (Dr. Chris Daubert) If you please,
(00:23):
just call me Chris. Everyone out there, you can always refer to me as Chris. (Tim) All right. It's
also "our college," isn't it? (Chris) It is. It is our college. (Tim) That's right. (Chris) It's
never my college. It's our college. (Tim) I pick up on that a lot out there. But welcome,
and let's start off by telling us a little bit about yourself. Where did you come... where
did you come from? (Chris) Well, I came from South Central Pennsylvania. Both my parents
(00:49):
were public school teachers. Uh... my mother was a fifth grade school teacher, and she, uh... she
helped children with learning disabilities. My dad was a high school band director. And so, uh... I
grew up in a really small town. There... there may have been fewer than 2,000 people in that town,
and I graduated with fewer than than 200 other students at that high school. The high school I
(01:13):
went to, Tim, there were two programs that had a statewide signature or... or a footprint. One was
FFA. (Tim) All right. (Chris) It was definitely a rural community. Ag was the heart of that little
town. And, uh... music, the high school band. So if you weren't in the high school band,
(01:33):
you were in FFA, or you did both of them, and that was what my, uh... my high school
was really known for. But I grew up in a rural community surrounded by fields, corn fields. It
was really a dairy community. Um... but in that small town, the name of it was Fredericksburg,
Pennsylvania. Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania. Uh... there were three poultry processing plants. Three
(02:00):
different poultry processing plants, and um... um... those plants meant everything to that little
town. Right? They, uh... they put jerseys on the backs of little league teams. They built stadiums
for our, uh... our athletic teams. Um... but most importantly, it uh... created opportunities,
(02:23):
meaningful employment for the community, and so I saw while I was growing up how food manufacturing
can really, uh... drive the economy of a small town, of a region, of a state. And,
uh... um... Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania, was really not too far from Hershey, Pennsylvania,
(02:46):
um... about 35 to 45 minutes away. So um... after high school, I went to Penn State University where
I majored in Agricultural Engineering and, uh... within Ag... Agricultural Engineering, I was able
to specialize in Food Process Engineering. And so, um... I did that and had the, uh... pleasure of
(03:11):
co-oping. I was a co-op engineer with the Hershey Foods Corporation. That's what it was named back
in those days. Today it's the Hershey Chocolate Company. And so, uh... I spent about two years,
um... working in engineering with the Hershey Foods Corporation. I graduated with my degree in
Ag Engineering from Penn State and, um... the day that I was leaving, driving from Fredericksburg,
(03:40):
you know, quarter of the way across the country to East Lansing, Michigan, uh... I got a phone
call from, uh... my friends at Hershey. They were offering me a job. (Tim) Oh, wow! (Chris) Yeah.
So, um... I still remember how much they were offering me, and back in those days,
that was a lot of money. (Tim) Versus going to graduate school! (Chris) That's right! Um... but I
(04:02):
really... I really loved higher education. I loved every day that I was at Penn State. And, um... I
realized that I... I had an opportunity, uh... to learn more and, uh... to get more education. Had
a great opportunity at Michigan State University, and so I... I went to East Lancing. I chose to go
to graduate school and, um... um... got a PhD in Ag Engineering. But while I was there, my mentor
(04:29):
Jim Steffe... still, uh... still my mentor, always will be my mentor. Uh... he advised me
to get a second PhD in Food Science, so it really legitimized my claim as a Food Process Engineer.
Now, um... once I completed that dual PhD, um... I was looking for opportunities. Um... it was always
(04:54):
my goal to remain in academia. I, as I mentioned, I... I loved every day that I was at Penn State.
Loved every day that I was at Michigan State. Had such an amazing experience, uh... seeing how
education can really, uh... change people, change lives, create opportunities, move and drive an
(05:15):
economy, um... so I wanted to pursue opportunities in academia. And, um... I had originally accepted
a position with the USDA at the Eastern Regional Research Center outside of Philadelphia. Remember,
I'm from Pennsylvania, so this was a chance for me to go back, uh... to, uh... to my home area
(05:40):
outside of Philadelphia. Um... and I had accepted that opportunity, but as luck would have it,
uh... I received a phone call from North Carolina State University. And at the time,
my area of specialty, my discipline of expertise within food engineering was, um... an area of
fluid dynamics known as rheology. Rheology means, uh... the science dedicated to how materials flow
(06:09):
and deform. And so, um... you don't see too many positions out there for a food rheologist,
but uh... NC State was interested in hiring somebody with food rheology expertise, so things
lined up perfectly for me, and I ended up going to North Carolina State and, uh... a few months
(06:33):
later securing a faculty position and, um... that was back in 1996. So I spent the next 21 years at
NC State, and while I was there, I had the... the privilege of leading the food rheology program.
Um... and I'll just take a moment to say it was perhaps the finest food rheology laboratory in the
(06:56):
country. It was really... we worked really hard. It was... it was a great place, a great place.
Um... but a few years later, I was, uh... asked to take an opportunity that would start me down
an administrative path. And, uh... in 2005, um... I became the first Associate Director for the
(07:17):
Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center, or BTEC as it was known at the time, and still is.
And, um... in that role I established the initial, um... instructional academic programs for degree
programs through the Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center. Uh... and then a few years
(07:39):
later, uh... faculty within my home department of Food Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences at... at
NC State, they came to me and asked me if I would, uh... consider being their department head. And
in 2010, I became the department head, and I was in that position for the next seven years until
(08:00):
I had an opportunity to... to go west. (Tim) All right! (Chris) To come west to Missouri, and to,
uh... to have the privilege of... of leading an amazing College of Agriculture, Food and Natural
Resources right here in Columbia, Missouri. (Tim) And food is our middle name! (Chris) Food is in
the heart of what we do. (Tim) That's right. Let's back up just a smidge. Now you said music was...
(08:25):
was... was big. (Chris) Oh, yeah. (Tim) I've seen you play the trombone. (Chris) Yeah, you
can Google that, and you can see me online. Yeah! (Tim) All right! (Chris) I've played with Marching
Mizzou. (Tim) Right! (Chris) And CAFNR Unlimited. (Tim) And you've led Marching... Marching Mizzou
at half time! (Chris) I did. Last, uh... fall, Ag Day, uh... that great Kansas State victory. That
was just an awesome game! Perhaps, um... many of our listeners were able to attend that game. That
(08:49):
was Ag Day for us. (Tim) Yes. (Chris) And so I said to everybody... I was so excited for Ag Day,
um... I said, "if we could actually defeat the Wildcats on Ag Day, then I would submit to
President Choi that every game thereafter should be Ag Day." Yeah, I did tell him that. But, uh...
(09:13):
at that, uh... at that game, um... my friends, uh... in Marching Mizzou, uh... shout out to Dr.
Amy M. Knopps, uh... they asked me if I would, uh... lead the marching band. And, uh... you can
actually see that video online too. And, uh... that was one of the bucket list things for me to
(09:33):
have done to, uh... to direct at Marching Mizzou. (Tim) That's... that's fantastic. (Chris) My dad
would have been very proud! (Tim) Oh, I bet he would have been! (Chris) He was smiling at me
that day! (Tim) Did he ever get a chance to... to direct a college band? (Chris) My father,
um... um... was pursuing higher education degrees himself. (Tim) Was he? (Chris) Uh... he,
um... started his PhD at Penn State, um... but he never completed that degree, so I think it's safe
(10:00):
to say that, uh... he had conducted college level, uh... musicians, but uh... my father
was an outstanding musician. (Tim) I bet. (Chris) Very talented. (Tim) I bet. And... and you know,
music and... and... and higher education and... and that seek of knowledge and... and leadership,
it's all tied together, isn't it? (Chris) Right. So oftentimes people don't understand what that
(10:22):
person, uh... standing up in front of all those musicians is actually doing. Really
an orchestrating all those different voices, all those different instruments and making sure
that they all play together. It's a lot about... it's a lot like administration and coordinating,
um... all the moving parts that we have here in this college. This is a very comprehensive, large
(10:46):
college, but it really is about orchestrating all those different instruments, those pieces of our
college. And when we get it going well, like right now, um... we... we can make beautiful
music together. (Tim) Cuz even though that... cuz I was in high school concert... (Chris) Oh,
my goodness. (Tim) ...trombone. Even though, yes, you're playing your own... you're playing
(11:07):
your instrument, but you're watching the conductor. (Chris) Never take your eyes
off of her or him. (Tim) If the conductor makes a mistake or falls off the cliff, we all go with
them. (Chris) That's right. (Tim) We really do. (Chris) That's right! (Tim) It's so important. The
other thing that you once told me. You're... your family has that connection back to Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania. (Chris) Right! So, um... where I grew up (Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania), it's about
(11:31):
an hour 40... hour 50 minutes from Gettysburg College. I, uh... I'm a card carrying member
of the Civil War Society. Um... Abraham Lincoln is one of my personal heroes. I read everything
I can about President Lincoln. But, uh... my family has, uh... great roots at Gettysburg
(11:53):
College. Um... let's see, my grandfather went there. My mother went there. My uncle
went there. My brother and his wife went there. My twin sister, I have a twin sister, Tim. Uh...
she also went to Gettysburg College. Um... so great roots that go back to, uh... to Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania. (Tim) Wow. Because there was some great leadership there. They got showcased. And
(12:19):
when you mentioned in... in... in your history when you're at NC State, you were always asked to
lead. You... you were asked many times, and... and reading in the memoirs of Ulysses Grant, he said
his observation was those who were asked to lead were far more, uh... beneficial, uh... successful
(12:41):
than those who sought leadership. (Chris) Yeah, that's an interesting observation. I, looking
back, I... others saw skills or... or assets that, uh... that I had that perhaps I didn't always see
in myself. Um... and so when requested to, uh... to lead my colleagues, I always thought that was
(13:03):
a great honor. (Tim) It is. (Chris) And, um... I've always done my best. (Tim) Right. That...
that... that... they saw something there. (Chris) Right. (Tim) And of course, we saw that then when,
uh... you interviewed here. You know, 20... 2017. (Chris) 2017 in March! Yeah. (Tim) Yes! And I was
out in that crowd when you first came, first time I ever saw you. And one thing that stuck out...
(13:24):
two things. One, you... you did your homework on... on CAFNR, and you said that we were a
lot better than what we thought we were. (Chris) Absolutely true. (Tim) We didn't give ourselves
credit for how good we really were. (Chris) Yeah, I'm not sure that, uh... that any of us ever fully
appreciate, um... our home communities, right? I'm not sure we always see things, um... because
(13:50):
we live it each and... and every day. Um... for example, um... my wife is an interior designer,
um... and, uh... I live in the home that she's designed, and I take it for granted. But when I
have friends, um... colleagues that come into our home, and they can comment on how amazing and how
(14:13):
beautifully designed that home is. And so, coming and looking at CAFNR from an outside perspective,
I could really tell you how beautiful, um... the home was. How beautiful CAFNR was. And seven
years later, it absolutely is and still is. And I have great appreciation for this college for,
(14:38):
uh... its best assets which include its faculty, staff and students. And, um... it really is.
It was a remarkable college, and it's even better today. (Tim) Because you... you... you've helped
us to, uh... express that now. To... to really see that in ourselves and take it to the next
step. The other thing that stuck out is that, "If you hire me as your dean, and CAFNR looks the
(15:04):
same in five years, I have failed." (Chris) Right. Right. Um... (Tim) Did you fail? (Chris) I don't
think so. I think, uh... um... we've positioned ourselves remarkably well. We have more exciting
things happening right now than at any time in our history. Um... but what I saw, when I interviewed
here in 2017, was all of the rudimentary pieces that, uh... that a successful college needed.
(15:33):
Um... I saw that the college was looking for that conductor. (Tim) Yes. (Chris) That, uh... that
individual that could get all of those pieces, all of those instruments, all those voices singing
together, uh... to make beautiful music. It was all here. And, um... the strategic plan was the,
(15:56):
uh... the tool that I used to help unite all of those independent voices. In fact, the title of
our strategic plan is the Drive to Distinction. I'm sure you remember, Tim... (Tim) Oh,
yes. (Chris) ...but the name of my presentation when I interviewed here was "The Drive to
Distinction." And, um... it outlined, uh... what I would do if I were fortunate enough to be given
(16:21):
an opportunity to lead this college. And so when I did get that opportunity, we set forth to execute
those plans. And one of the first things that, uh... I achieved as the Dean was to launch a
strategic planning process. Throughout my entire career, I have been a student of strategic plan,
(16:45):
um... I have designed, written, prepared strategic plans for a number of different organizations over
the years, so I knew, um... that coming here, the college didn't have that unifying plan. And, um...
uh... I took that opportunity to unite, uh... all the... the... the pieces for our college,
(17:08):
and we took about 18 months to, uh... to build our plan. (Tim) Which is a long time. (Chris) It is a
long time, but the most effective strategic plans aren't those things that you just sneeze out on
paper just so that you can tell your stakeholders, your... your colleagues, um... everyone that you have
a strategic plan. It needs to carefully consider the many different facets of an organization. It
(17:35):
needs to involve your stakeholders, all of your communities not just, uh... those on campus but,
uh... your partners, your alumni, your students. And so we really took our time and listened to
voices, not only in Colombia, but all across the state to, um... identify where are the
opportunities? Where can this college go? And what should it be focused on to bring
(18:00):
distinction to CAFNR? And that's what we did. And we launched the Drive to Distinction, April 1 of
2019. Less than a year later, the pandemic hits. And so I've been asked, uh... many times, "Dean,
how do you feel about just starting to launch that strategic plan and then to have things
(18:24):
pulled back because of the pandemic?" I said, "It was fantastic!" Because that strategic plan was our
North Star. It was our compass to help us steer through the uncertainties around. (Tim) And there
were! (Chris) Oh, my gosh! That was the most challenging era, that period of time... that two,
(18:46):
two and a half to three years, that period of time in higher education was the most uncertain,
disruptive and challenging time that I have ever experienced and will likely ever experience again.
Um... but, uh... but because we had that strategic plan, uh... we stuck to it and didn't veer too,
(19:06):
uh... too much from it. That, uh... that saw us through. It... it showed us where to... to invest
and where to focus during that, uh... challenging period. But I'll... I'll come back and I'll just
say, the college was so successful through the pandemic because of its people. I mean, just
(19:26):
imagine, Tim, if you were a professor, and you had your courses and your classes all mapped out. Your
lectures were already prepared, and you were told that by the end of next week, you're going to have
to deliver all of these materials virtually. And to figure out how you're going to deliver on those
(19:52):
learning outcomes to our number one stakeholder, our students, right? How are you going to ensure
that they're learning the material? Our faculty responded. They were able to essentially pivot on
a dime and, uh... they executed their plans and, uh... they were extremely successful. And the
(20:12):
college was successful as a result. Our university was successful as a result. And, uh... it's
because, again, we have amazing faculty and staff. And let's not short change our students, right?
Um... they responded well and, uh... adapted to those new ways of educating. (Tim) Cuz I know
(20:33):
my kids in college did not like online classes. They liked in-person classes. And fortunately,
they were already out of college at MU by that time. But I would think some students, y'all had
to have... they had to have help adjusting to this new format. (Chris) Yes, and when they were turned
(20:53):
home, some of their communities may not have had, uh... great access to broadband. And so there was
a healthy period of adjustments all around that, uh... we needed to adapt to, and our people did
that, and they did it really, really well. (Tim) Yeah, because they were sent home... the students
were. (Chris) Absolutely. (Tim) And, uh... (Chris) Absolutely. (Tim) ...we even opened up some of our
(21:15):
centers up that had broadband that they come there and take their classes. I mean, we really we came
together as a community that way. (Chris) You know it. And, uh... and this college did come together
for... for its people, for its communities. I can tell you that in the fall of '20, when the
students returned to campus, um... our college acquired as many large instructional spaces as it
(21:43):
could. Uh... you'll remember, we needed to safely teach our students in a socially distanced way,
and so we were ahead of the curve in acquiring as many large spaces as we could. For example,
the Trowbridge Arena. We invested a good bit of money into the transformation of Trowbridge so
(22:06):
that it could continue to, uh... to function in an instructional capacity. And through the
first fall, through that first year, CAFNR was able to offer 80% of its courses in some
form of face-to-face instruction. Um... that was pretty special. Really quite significant. And so,
(22:30):
um... I'm proud of how we responded to... to the pandemic. (Tim) And speaking of students,
since the pandemic, CAFNR has led the way, and we're back to our... our levels that we had
pre-pandemic now. Or... or at least very close to them. (Chris) Actually, we're... we're...
we're... we're doing really, really well. (Tim) Right. (Chris) One of the things that we set
(22:52):
in our strategic plan was recruitment for our students. We, uh... we set a goal for ourselves,
um... to bring 650 new students into the college every year. Um... last fall,
uh... we surpassed that goal. I think we had 684 students. This most recent fall,
(23:13):
fall of '23, uh... we welcomed 703 new students into the college. So we have,
uh... over 3,000 students in the college today, so our student numbers are... are excelling and,
um... it's been remarkable to see the response to our recruitment efforts, and I'm proud of the
trends that we're seeing for our student numbers. And we're hopeful that that trend's going to
(23:37):
continue this fall. (Tim) One of the things I noticed about CAFNR is they take... they care
about their students not only once recruiting, but once you get here they... they... they...
they care for their students. And when they near that time of when they're going and graduate,
they help them find jobs, and that's so important for that whole experience. (Chris) A shout out to,
(24:00):
uh... Dean Bryan Garton. He does a tremendous job leading our Academic Programs office. So within
the college, the strategic plan, we have a number of key metrics (performance indicators) that we're
pursuing. One is for retention rates. Now if a student starts with us as a freshman, that student
(24:21):
is retained if they elect to come back for their sophomore year. And so in our strategic plan,
we set a 93%, uh... goal for our retention rate. And this past fall, for the first time in history,
Tim, we surpassed that goal with a 93.1% retention rate. Another great fact that I'm really quite
(24:45):
proud of is, um... our students get jobs. Our career placement rating, um... for the past
two years or... or three years, um... we have a greater than 98% placement rate. And so that
means our students are having opportunities, um... with a degree from... from CAFNR. (Tim) Highly
(25:10):
desired students coming out of this, and that goes to the faculty. That goes to the... to the
advisors. (Chris) 100%. (Tim) For success, that... that's all these different groups coming together.
All right. Well, we're continuing our podcast with Chris Daubert, who's our
Dean and Vice Chancellor of of CAFNR, and we've been discussing about our Drive to Distinction,
and... and... and the great strides that we've made in our students. Our number one priority are
(25:35):
students. (Dr. Chris Daubert) Students are our number one stakeholder. (Tim) They really are.
That's part of the land-grant mission. (Chris) That's correct. (Tim) But the other part of that
is research, both our basic and our applied research. And this is where we've made some
great strides also. And, uh... but there had to be some pain that goes along with that. What...
(25:55):
there we had to have a... we had to have a... a restructuring. We had to look at what... how
we were doing things, and the models that were set up, what? 50... 60 years ago don't always,
uh... work today. And it was almost like ripping the Band-Aid off, but first we had to make sure we
were ripping it off the correct way. (Chris) Yeah. So when we talk about the land-grant mission,
(26:22):
and for our listeners, just allow me to, uh... to talk a little bit about that mission because it's
really... it's in our DNA, isn't it, Tim? (Tim) It is. (Chris) It's... it's really what our college
has always been about. Um... we'll never waver in our commitment to that land-grant mission.
But when we talk about that mission, it embraces education. Um... land-grant universities were
(26:47):
established to create opportunities of affordable education for the masses. Uh... so certainly,
a commitment to instruction and... and to students, um... is... is... is core to who
we are. Research is another one of the... the land-grant missions. And, um... we have a commitment to
(27:10):
ensuring that our research enterprise is strong and, uh... serves Missouri very, very well. And
then that third mission is the Extension mission. Um... in CAFNR, we don't just consider students to
be 18 to 22 year-olds that live here in Columbia, Missouri. Uh... we consider every Missourian our
(27:31):
student, and so our Extension programs allow us an opportunity to take what we do here on our fields,
on our farms, in our laboratories, in our classrooms and to extend that out, to take
that out to every Missourian, um... and... and to help address their needs and their concerns. So,
(27:53):
um... we have a real commitment to those three missions. Uh... in addition I oftentimes would
talk about a fourth mission of the land-grant and that's economic development. Uh... we have
a responsibility to help all Missourians, uh... especially those associated with
ag and natural resource programs, um... to be, uh... good business people, to be entrepreneurs,
(28:18):
uh... to help their operations be profitable, so to really help drive the economy of the
state through its ag and natural resource programs. (Tim) Because that's changing...
ever changing! And... and we need to help lead that... that... those changes. (Chris) Oh, well,
100%. And, um... our number one industry in the state of Missouri is agriculture.
(28:43):
$93.7 billion dollar industry. Uh... easily number one in this state. It drives our economy. Number
two, you know what it is? (Tim) Tourism. (Chris) It's tourism, and that also resides
in our college. So CAFNR is home to the number one and the number two industries for the state
(29:05):
of Missouri. Um... but if we're going to continue to use agriculture and natural resources to drive
the economy of our state, Tim, we're not going to get more land. Our natural resources are... are...
are locked, if you will. We're not going to get more... more access to land. Uh... um... we can do
(29:27):
this by expanding the value of the commodities that we extract from... from our land. So,
uh... we have a number of initiatives around, uh... value-added processing of our commodities
into the things that, uh... you and I use each and every day. (Tim) Because we don't want to
just ship them off for somebody else to, uh... value-add them. We want to do them here in...
(29:50):
in Missouri too. (Chris) Right. So, um... one of the things that, uh... I did in another state was,
uh... an initiative that I lead around food manufacturing, and when I came here I saw,
um... similar if not greater opportunities here for our state, and let's see if I can summarize
that... those ideas with a story. Um... if you look at me, and this is a... a live podcast, um...
(30:19):
I like ice cream. I think that's pretty obvious. And so, if we think about what a half gallon of
ice cream costs, if you'll just, uh... oblige me. Um... let's say we pay $5 for that half gallon of
ice cream. Um... so if you've ever made ice cream, you know, uh... it's... it's cream, it's sugar,
(30:41):
it's maybe some berries and some nuts. Those are all the different, uh... basic ingredients those
commodity groups that go into that ice cream. Um... again if you'll agree with me, um... all of
those ingredients maybe cost $1. All right? It's the transformation of all of those ingredients and
(31:03):
the processing of those ingredients into the ice cream that adds the value and allows us to pay $5
for that half gallon of ice cream. In Missouri, we're doing an outstanding job with the first
dollar, with all those commodities, those basic ingredients that goes into those things, but we're
(31:24):
doing a great job too in sending all those things out of state and allowing other states to process
and to recover those extra $4. Our initiative here, uh... the Food, Beverage & Forest Products
Manufacturing Initiative is about helping Missouri keeping all $5 here in our state, adding value
(31:48):
to the commodities that we grow here in Missouri. (Tim) And... and... and that's a challenge that...
that we've, uh... that we're, uh... addressing and... and making some progress on it. I know
some slaughter houses, for example, have... have opened up here in Missouri. (Chris) We
have a... a large, uh... beef processing unit that is being constructed, um... outside of
(32:10):
St. Louis right now. Um... um... it's nearly a billion dollar investment. It's going to hire,
I think, employ, um... 1,300 employees. So those are really valuable, important,
meaningful jobs. Really important for the economy. (Tim) And not only the... the jobs, but the
producers can get more dollars for their... their product and that's important too. (Chris) Let me,
(32:33):
uh... let me also acknowledge Dean Rob Kallenbach, who's our Associate Dean for Extension. Rob does
such a brilliant job. Um... he says that all of Extension, Ag and Environment Extension,
has one job. They're united by one thing, and that is to double the economic impact of agriculture by
(32:58):
the year 2030 without compromising its precious natural resources. So Rob and... and... and our
Extension colleagues, uh... they've embraced the importance of, uh... a commitment to value-added
processing. (Tim) Yes, certainly has. So... so that lays the groundwork, but we needed to improve our
(33:20):
research capacity. You've invested many dollars here on campus. Also invested dollars out in
the... in the state. (Chris) That's right. (Tim) How did that come about? (Chris) Once I was here
for about a year, Tim, um... we had a chancellor at the time who had a vision for our campus,
(33:44):
for the University, and uh... his vision was to double the research expenditures within five
years. And, uh... at the time, CAFNR was generally the number one college on campus in terms of
research expenditures. And for the listeners out there, an expenditure is a dollar spent to
(34:09):
support the research activity of the college or the university. And so CAFNR was leading,
uh... the campus but, uh... the chancellor at the time, uh... challenged all the leaders on campus
to double their expenditures, uh... within five years. Now I remember sitting in that
(34:30):
audience thinking, "What are you talking about? We're already leading. How do we... how could we
ever double?" And, uh... we started looking at the data, Tim. And, uh... uh... I started studying the
amount of research awards coming into CAFNR and then the dollars being spent, the expenditures.
(34:53):
So awards are dollars coming in. Expenditures are dollars being, uh... sent out or spent,
uh... for research. And those two things were about even, roughly $40 million dollars. Tim,
they had been pretty much level for a decade, which means we weren't really building and growing
(35:16):
our research activities. And when the expenditures and the awards align or match up, that means
you're pretty much spending everything that's coming in. (Tim) And not growing. (Chris) And
not growing! That's well said. (Tim) Cuz there's a lag. (Chris) There's always... there's always
going to be a lag. There's got to be a lag. And so we thought, well... let's see what we can do.
And let's see how we can expand and invest in, uh... the research enterprise for the college.
(35:42):
And... and so we started, um... looking at certain strategic hires. Um... we started looking at what
we needed to support our faculty and our staff to be more successful in, um... getting, uh... higher
amounts of funding into their programs, into the college. And, uh... about that time we brought
(36:04):
Shibu Jose, our Associate Dean for Research, into the college and, uh... he had a great vision for
how to, uh... create an infrastructure to help faculty and staff be successful in,
um... acquiring greater research awards. And um... in the strategic plan... again, the Drive
to Distinction, we set a goal that we were going to double by the year 2025 our research awards and
(36:32):
expenditures. And so, as I already mentioned, when we set the goal, we launched the plan in 2019,
we hovered around $40 million dollars, and so, uh... both awards and expenditures, and so we
set a goal to double by 2025, and um... this past fiscal year (2023), it ended June 30th, we achieved
(36:59):
$115.2 million dollars. We nearly tripled the awards for our college! An all-time...
an all-time high... an all-time high, but we nearly tripled the goal. And that number,
$115.2 million dollars, makes us the number one college of agriculture in the North Central region
(37:24):
of the United States. (Tim) Wait now. We've got Michigan State. (Chris) Michigan State. (Tim) Isn't
that Purdue, maybe? (Chris) Purdue. Ohio State. Iowa State. Kansas State. Uh... North and South
Dakota. Illinois. Kansas State. (Tim) We are leading them? (Chris) We're number one.
Minnesota. Wisconsin. (Tim) Wow! (Chris) University of Missouri CAFNR, we're number
(37:46):
one. (Tim) And we don't tell our... our... our folks about that enough, do we? This is... this
is exciting! (Chris) Friends, this is what I'm saying! (Tim) We don't... yeah. (Chris) We're so
much better than what we think we might be. And, uh... I am very fond of the Missouri hospitality
and the... the... the Midwestern humility, but, uh... but this is an amazing college.
(38:10):
A great place. And... and it's the great people that, uh... that have helped us achieve. Um...
but those were... that was $115.2 million dollars in awards. We still have a goal, um... to double
our expenditures, and we're still hoping that this is the year that we take our expenditures
(38:32):
from $40 million dollars to $80 million dollars. We're currently at an all-time high. We're around
$65 million for the last fiscal year. That's an all-time high in terms of expenditures,
but we think, and we're hopeful, that this is the year that, uh... we reach that $80
million dollar, uh... mark for expenditures. (Tim) Now you've done this through collaboration within
(38:56):
the college? (Chris) Coordination, cooperation... (Tim) Oh, my goodness! (Chris) ...providing,
uh... support for our faculty and staff in terms of grant writing teams. Uh... I think when I
started here, we may have had one or part of one FTE (a full-time equiv... equivalent) dedicated
(39:16):
to helping our faculty and staff prepare their grants. Uh... Shibu has invested, today I think
we have five FTE's to support our faculty and our staff. Um... one of the important aspects,
and I... I think it's important for us to go here, um... within the research umbrella of CAFNR is
(39:38):
the Ag Experiment Station. And often times, people think that that Ag Experiment Station
is only the research centers and farms. That's an important part of it. Don't get me wrong. It's a
critically important part to the entire research Ag Experiment Station, but it embraces also,
um... research programs throughout the entire college. In fact, uh... any faculty member that
(40:03):
has a research program tied to the agricultural or natural resource mission, can, um... be part
of our Missouri Ag Experiment Station. But, our... our farms and centers are an important component
to the Experiment Station. And for my first two to three years, um... I visited numerous times each
(40:27):
year. Tim, you and I spent a lot of time in the vehicle together driving all over Missouri. We got
to know each other really well. In fact, there's a story there that, uh... maybe it's best if we
don't talk about. (Tim) We don't want to talk about that. We don't want... (Chris) Friends, we
spent a lot time in the car together. Um... but, uh... I got to know our research centers, our farms, the
(40:48):
people across Missouri, uh... extremely well, and I learned that, uh... there were opportunities for
us to do a better job... coordinating activities, research activities across all of our experiment
stations, and... and, uh... I knew it was going to be a... a heavy lift. I knew it was going to be a
(41:13):
heavy lift because at the time, we would pretty much brag that, what is it? We had 22 or... or
23 centers and farms all across Missouri? I mean, that was a... a point of pride for all of us that
we have all of these farms and centers across Missouri, but the fact of the matter is, um...
though they were doing important work for their locations, um... there was a lack of coordination.
(41:39):
Uh... in fact, we... we might have had duplication of efforts happening at different locations
across... across the state. So we set forth on a plan to review the experiment stations. Um... we
brought in a team of experts, uh... experiment station leaders from across the country, um...
(42:03):
unbiased people that could take an honest look at how we were doing things here in Missouri at our
centers and our farms. Um... and they conducted an evaluation and an audit and a review of how we
were doing things, and they presented us with a report. Um... they made suggestions. We involved
(42:25):
internal groups, um... leaders, um... um... staff members, faculty members here on campus to,
uh... help us review how we were doing things at our centers and farms. And,
um... with all that information, we've set forth on a plan to restructure the Experiment Station,
(42:48):
specifically our... our farms and centers. And, uh... about two years ago, we launched
that plan. And, uh... we're today consolidated around four, what we affectionately refer to as
REECs (Research, Extension, Education Centers) and, um... each of those REECs is led by a director,
(43:09):
um... with a staff underneath each of those, um... of those REECs. Um... today the
administration engages with the leadership of each of those REECs. Every single week, those directors...
the leaders of the REECs, the directors, they all work very closely with each other and with the
(43:32):
college. Um... we're not duplicating effort, and we have much greater efficiencies and coordination
across all the REECs that are happening today. And so things are trending in a really, really,
uh... good direction. We still have work to do. We still have work to do. That restructuring of the
Experiment Station was the biggest administrative lift in my entire career easily. Easily the most
(43:56):
challenging, uh... largest, uh... coordinated effort to... to bring restructuring efficiencies
into an operation, into an organization. And... and just the... the mere scale of it all,
the fact that every single one of these farms and centers has people associated with them,
has legislators associated with them, just the mere... and the massive scale of that coordination
(44:22):
was a huge undertaking. But I'm proud of Shibu Jose for his leadership, for you, Tim, and...
and all the leaders that, uh... that understood it was the right thing to do, and it was the time
to do it. You know, it's easy to kick things down the road, right? It's easy to keep kicking the can
down the road, but when you see that things can be done differently, and it's important
(44:44):
to do things better, um... we stepped up to the plate and, uh... did the hefty... heavy lifting,
um... to do that restructuring, and I'm proud of where we're going. (Tim) Well, I work with the...
the other state's administrators across... (Chris) That's right. You do! (Tim) I do. I'm going to a
meeting next week with them. And... and we... we used that... those connections for part of our...
(45:09):
our... our review, and many across the United States talk about doing the restructuring, several
have had reviews, but I think Missouri is probably the only one that has totally did it. Some... some
just kick, kick, keep kicking it down the road part... partially, but we did it! (Chris) It's
(45:32):
because it's a lot of hard work. And you're 100% right. In fact... probably you, but I know
Shibu is looked to and he's called upon to give, uh... speeches, to give talks, about what we did here at
the University of Missouri. And, um... uh... we're really looked to as a land-grant model for how
(45:52):
to restructure an experiment station and, um... again, there's a lot of people to acknowledge and
to thank. Um... you're one of them, Tim, but uh... but I'm really pleased of that restructuring.
Um... it's not as though everything is done. We still have work to do, but uh... but things are
going in a really positive direction. (Tim) They really are. And... and the collaboration across
(46:17):
the disciplines is even more tremendous than it ever was in my career. (Chris) I agree. (Tim) And
that... and it's just not the... our research centers, but also even our divisions are... are
changing. (Chris) They have changed! They have changed. So, um... for our listeners out there,
uh... CAFNR is a bit different from many other colleges. About 35 years ago,
(46:42):
uh... leadership in the college, I don't know... maybe it was longer than 35 years ago, but uh...
leadership in the college saw an opportunity to eliminate departments. They saw an opportunity
to again... and I use this word a lot today, but they saw an opportunity to bring efficiencies into
how we were doing things within the college, and so they eliminated departments and brought those
(47:07):
like-minded units together. So for example, where I used to be employed, there was a poultry science
department. There was a dairy science department. An animal science department. Well, the University
of Missouri had the vision, the forethought, and they brought all of those units together,
(47:28):
and they formed the Division of Animal Sciences, plural. And so we are structured a little bit
differently. We have today six divisions with, uh... leadership provided by a Division Director.
One of our divisions is a school. It's the School of Natural Resources. It also has a
(47:51):
director. Dr. Pat Market is the Director of our School of Natural Resources, but we treat that
as a division of CAFNR. So we have six divisions, and um... um... they're each, um... like-minded
disciplines all... all, um... together in... in one... division. (Tim) And some of those... those
(48:13):
that you've, uh... pulled a part of one division into another division because of how things
are progressing. (Chris) Right! (Tim) Like Plant Sciences. (Chris) Yes, so Plant Sciences, faculty
from that division, uh... saw an opportunity when they looked at the future. They saw that, uh...
their farmers were needing access to students with technology expertise, and they saw a program,
(48:42):
Ag Systems Technology in another program, and they thought that, uh... if we brought technology and
made it more closely aligned with plant sciences that, uh... it would be a stronger division. And,
uh... we agreed. And so today, um... one of our divisions is the Division of Plant
(49:03):
Science and Technology. Now, when we started our conversation today, Tim, in the previous segment,
we talked about my background as a food engineer. Um... we had another division,
Food Systems and Bioengineering, that uh... also went through a transformation. Engineering got,
(49:25):
uh... repositioned into the College of Engineering. And we have great colleagues
and friends in the College of Engineering here at the University of Missouri, but at the same time,
nutrition was in another college. Well, we saw an opportunity for nutrition to return to CAFNR,
and we created a new division, the Division of Food, Nutrition and Exercise Sciences,
(49:51):
and we affectionately refer to that division as FNES. (Tim) What... what else would you
call it? And that goes on to this other, in the Drive to Distinction, you said that you... we...
we imagine a healthy world. (Chris) Yes. (Tim) And one health is our vision... or our goal. And
(50:12):
this... one of the things that we're talking about is that. Was... whether it's a healthy person or
a healthy environment or a healthy economy, CAFNR is all a part of that. (Chris) We span that entire
spectrum. So if you think about the system, we start with our precious natural resources... the
air, the water, the soil, right? And from those things we have production programs... the plant
(50:39):
sciences, the animal sciences. Um... those, um... and from those production programs, we create the
commodities, and then we have the food science programs that transforms those commodities into
the things that we use and eat each and every day. Today, we have the nutrition programs that extend
(50:59):
those processed products into health. Into health. Into medicine. Meanwhile, that entire system,
that pipeline... that food pipeline, is given foundational and basic knowledge from our
biochemistry faculty, and not to be outdone, we have another division in our college, the
(51:22):
Division of Applied Social Sciences, that studies how that entire system interacts with people,
with society, with communities. Um... so that in a nutshell describes who we are as a college and,
uh... it's really about creating a healthy world. (Tim) And not only within our college,
(51:45):
but outside our college. Even the medical school. The collaborations with our medical
sciences are increasing. (Chris) It increases all the time. We have amazing faculty that,
uh... study how... the animal system, for example, how it can be engineered, um... and um... uh...
(52:06):
designed to interface with medical, um... therapies and treatments. Uh... so for example,
within animal sciences, we have a group... a group of livestock geneticists that can engineer,
uh... pigs with certain diseases, glaucoma for example. Um... and then those pigs can
(52:29):
be used by the school of medicine to, uh... study treatment techniques and surgical techniques. But
uh... but the opportunities on the health side creates great, uh... um... opportunities for...
for the college in the future. (Tim) I just heard just the other day from Shibu Jose, our Associate
(52:50):
Dean of Research, how they're building a new $10 million building for... for a lot of this
medical/agricultural research interaction, and then also hiring even more medical physicians.
Instead of transporting our technology to other parts of the United States, we'll do it right
here. The heart transplants, for example, can be done right here. (Chris) It can be done right
(53:14):
here. Um... this is a... a tremendous opportunity for us to engage more closely, um... with the
School of Medicine, uh... biomedical opportunities that, uh... our faculty can, uh... conduct with
our friends in the School of Medicine, a... a real opportunity, um... for that program. (Tim) So our
(53:35):
impact is not only for farmers, but... and the 6.2 million people that live in Missouri, but
for all... everybody all across the world. (Chris) Right. And the research, that biomedical research,
can lead to other benefits that can, uh... uh... improve the animal/ag industries as
well. So there's tremendous overlap and tie-in. (Tim) Tremendous. Now, one thing I noticed on
(54:01):
our... see my... my strategic plan is about worn out. I... like you said, we use it every
day! (Chris) That's right. (Tim) This... this is what we refer to. This is... this is our, you
know, if you want to know something, just... just turn to this. But 2019 to 2025! (Chris) That's
right. (Tim) What happens after 2025? What's going to happen? Well, that's next year! (Chris) Yeah,
(54:22):
so um... my thinking is that in a year from now, we'll be gearing up and thinking about, uh... what
the next version of our strategic plan might look like. You know, what could that be? Uh...
Path to Preeminence? I... I don't know. (Tim) Well, we probably in 2019, at that time didn't
(54:44):
realize some of the paths that we would go down. Know how our technology would take us. How our...
how everything would take us. (Chris) So effective strategic planning is nimble, right? And it's able
to adapt and adjust. If a plan is done properly, it allows for administration, for leaders,
(55:06):
to be flexible while it's being implemented and executed. And um... though we've achieved a large
amount of what we set out to do, um... there are things that perhaps we can still do better. And
uh... as we think about the future for where we're going, um... I think we have a better idea of what
(55:30):
we can do with the united and shared vision, and uh... uh... I'll be excited to see what
the next version, what the future strategic plan will look like. (Tim) I am too because,
uh... it's hard to envision what... what another six or eight years is going to be like with the
changes that we've seen already. (Chris) I know it. (Tim) Tremendous changes. (Chris) But that's,
(55:52):
uh... you know, you started the segment talking about, uh... um... leadership,
and the conductor being able to orchestrate and to get all of these different voices singing together
and making beautiful music. Um... with that plan, we... we' been making beautiful music together.
Uh... this music has been glorious. It's getting louder. (Tim) Yes. (Chris) And you know, we have
(56:17):
more exciting building projects going on right now than we've ever had in the college. Not only here
in Columbia, but across the Experiment Station, out at our centers and farms, more exciting
opportunities for construction, um... facilities and infrastructure are improving. Um... this is a
really great time, uh... to be at CAFNR at the University of Missouri, and it's been a great
(56:41):
time to be Dean. (Tim) Well, thank you so much for your leadership. It... it's just been tremendous!
And... and sometimes we see it happen, and we don't realize how much has changed because we're
part of this change. (Chris) That's right. (Tim) And what we're doing today, getting the... getting
the message out to folks is so important. (Chris) It's been exciting! (Tim) And thank you for
(57:02):
that. (Chris) Thank you for having me! (Tim) Well, thank you, Dean Daubert. Dean Daubert, Christopher
Daubert, our Chan... Vice Chancellor and Dean of our College of Food and Natural Resources. But
this is it for Tim's Take, and this has been very exciting! And just wait to watch what we get the
next seven or eight years. We'll see you. (Chris) So long, everyone. (Tim) No, that is exciting.
(57:22):
[♫]
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