06/27/08 A report card on WSU ag from the dean

Washington Ag June 27, 2008 When he spoke at the Lind Field Day two years ago Washington State University Dean of the College of Agriculture, Human and Natural Resource Sciences, Dan Bernardo, laid out five things he was going to try and do to change the direction of WSU agriculture. At a presentation at the field day this year Bernardo gave a progress report. One of the first action items was to increase the visibility of WSU ag programs. Bernardo: "If you want to think about visibility we have a new president who says that agriculture and vet med are his number one priority. That is visibility, okay." Another item was to focus on areas of excellence. Bernardo: "And certainly plant science and plant agriculture is an area of excellence. This last year, in a study of research productivity Washington State University was ranked second in the nation for plant science research productivity." The dean also pointed to recent hires to provide a better balance among basic and applied research and extension. Improving undergraduate programs was another goal and Bernardo says the main step there was the hiring of Kim Kidwell as Associate Dean for Academic programs. Finally, Bernardo pointed to improving the connection with stakeholders. The dean said he hopes he has made himself accessible and noted the appointment of industry advisory committees. I'm Bob Hoff.