2003 Alumni News
Greetings from Kevin Janni
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”
from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
The faculty, staff and students in the Department of Biosystems
and Agricultural Engineering continue to do exceptional work
and achieve significant accomplishments while facing record
fiscal challenges. The quote from A Tale of Two Cities seems
to encapsulate the situation. Our Alumni Newsletter is a
chance to update you on the department and the changes it
is undergoing.
Good news
BAE faculty members provide tremendous leadership on several
collegiate and regional efforts. Roger Ruan and Vance Morey
are co-directors of the new Center for Biorefining that is
housed in BAE (page 6). Bruce Wilson and Bill Wilcke are
each leading one of nine College of Agricultural, Food and
Environmental Sciences (COAFES) initiatives. Bruce is leading
an effort “Keeping Urban Runoff Water Clean” under
the Urban Communities initiative. Bill Wilcke is leading
an effort “Linking Students to Food Systems” under
the COAFES Rural Communities initiative. Bill is also Regional
Coordinator for the North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture
Research and Education Program (NCR SARE). These are just
a couple examples of the leadership and accomplishments of
our faculty.
Our students are very active too. Peri Periakaruppan,
BAE Senior, is 2003-2004 President of the Institute of
Technology Student Board (ITSB). ITSB is an advocate for
the interests
of Institute of Technology (IT) students and acts as a
liaison between IT students and University administration.
Read more
about Peri on page 5. Neile Reider, a senior and ASAE Student
Branch President, is a community advisor in Bailey Hall.
The Quarter Scale Tractor Team is active and senior Ketty
McDaniel is working part time in the department to help
with undergraduate student recruiting.
The department is excited
about potential opportunities for BAE in three of University
of Minnesota President Bob Bruininks’ eight
academic priorities. We see opportunities in biosciences
and biotechnology, environment and renewable energy, and
healthy food, healthy lives. It is important for the department
to be part of university and college initiatives.
The department
is considering program changes and innovative courses in
efforts to increase our enrollment and the number
of students taking BAE courses. Stay tuned for more details
because our creative faculty and staff are still formulating
these ideas.
Challenges
Fiscally these are challenging times. As many of you know,
the University of Minnesota took one of the largest cuts
in state appropriations in the nation this year, a reduction
of approximately $196.3 million, almost 15%, from the University’s
budget base in the previous biennium. That set state funding
back five years in real dollars, and 17 years in adjusted
dollars. After another double-digit tuition increase, a pay
freeze, and cuts in benefits, the BAE department took a 10%
cut ($237,000) in our allocated funds for research, extension
and teaching. This followed a cut of $53,000 in allocated
funds the previous year.
The department has fewer support staff and graduate research
assistantships. Faculty members have responded proactively
to counteract the cuts by seeking to increase competitive
grant funds to cover staff and students. This change does
not occur over night so we are reassigning people and using
reserves to bridge the funding gap temporarily. Some grant
funds are very competitive. Some agencies fund only 10% of
the proposals they receive. Grants have specific objectives
and tight funding restrictions and when the funding ends
staff and graduate students are laid off unless a new grant
is funded. BAE faculty have been successful grant writers
in the past, over 48% ($2.4 million) of our total expenditures
for fiscal year 2002-2003 were from competitive grants and
gifts.
Thanks
Many people contribute to the BAE department’s success
and accomplishments by giving back to the department. You
make a valuable contribution when you speak in class or mentor
students and share your professional accomplishments and
insights. Some of you provide internship opportunities for
students and jobs for new graduates. Many of you contribute
financially through the University of Minnesota Foundation
(see page 4) through wills, trusts, endowments, charitable
gift annuities, and cash. Your input and suggestions through
alumni surveys and service on advisory committees help guide
our programs. So keep us in mind. Stay in touch. Stop in
and visit. Check out our web site at www.bae.umn.edu, especially
the alumni page. I cannot over-emphasize how much our students,
staff and faculty appreciate your support. If you have not
contributed in the past, but would like to, please check
out page 5.
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