Has Nevada’s Land Grant Mission Been Accomplished?
By: Doug Busselman, Executive Vice President
This article and the focus on putting priorities in order got me thinking about the proposed actions by the University of Nevada, Reno to close the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources. While the article implies that those in Nevada Higher Education Community didn’t like parts of what was said, they are trying to spin their actions in Reno as doing what the messenger (Bruce James) is promoting. By their proposed actions the UNR officials are saying that they’ve picked their priorities and agriculture isn’t on the list (although “UNR is working on creation of a unit name which appropriately identifies agriculture”). (This effort was described in the paperwork distributed by the UNR Provost in explaining how shutting down “the administrative unit known as the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources as a separate college” still would meet the obligation of the Nevada Constitution and the Land Grant University legislation embodied in the Morrill Act.)
Operating with facades to give impressions of something -- without actually intending to fulfill the obligations of that something -- is a specialty of Nevada’s Higher Education System. When Senator Harry Reid directed $70 Million their way to establish a “world-class” research facility that required buying water rights and land in the Walker River Basin – to get around the federal law’s language which said the funds couldn’t be used to buy land or water – the University created a “virtual” research project, milked it for all it was worth and then turned the actual buy-outs over to the non-profit, government-chartered group who’s working to take the project to its completion. We can also point to the “heifer development” program that operated on the Main Station farm, keeping Holstein dairy animals grazing on the pastures to collect grant money that was linked to having the black and white animals involved with some type of “research” effort. Going through the motions and collecting the maximum amount of funds available for the charade might be considered for an advanced degree with administration officials presenting their own case studies as the examples.
In spite of the frustrations over what has been and what likely will become of the college formerly known as the College of Agriculture – the question remains on whether the time has gone by for Nevada agriculture to warrant educational and research considerations through the structure of what was our state’s Land Grant University? Using the criteria of “job-creation” for a measuring stick to evaluate merit, probably won’t get us to a point where agriculture will be given any consideration, although the plans for the future, describing what we’re going to get to continue to have include…”Continued research and education in range management, including land, plant ecology, forest and wildlife management, as well as alternative uses of range lands.” (Don’t think that “alternative uses of range lands” wasn’t noticed when the justification paperwork was circulated…I guess there aren’t enough jobs being filled in the area of anti-agricultural use of federally-managed lands, so UNR is going to specialize in the field of coming up with more.)
Other states still have a perspective that their Land Grant University has a purpose and are working to meet the continued obligations of that mission. There remains a pretty large reason for agricultural research and education, given a growing world population in need of food and fiber, produced by fewer and fewer producers. Environmental constraints and requirements for improvements of doing more with less also fit the classic definition of why agriculture should remain as a corner stone within the Land Grant University structure.
Just because UNR doesn’t want agriculture in its future doesn’t mean that the obligations have been achieved and no longer are relevant – it’s a case of UNR quitting, abandoning the mission that was part of the reason for establishing them in the first place… It’s the reason why every effort needs to be made to first defend keeping Nevada agriculturally-relevant programs in operation and secondly, holding the University accountable to either be a Land Grant University – meeting all the responsibilities – or go through the steps of giving back the funds that only Land Grant Universities deserve.
Sec: 8. Immediate organization and maintenance of state university. The Board of Regents shall, from the interest accruing from the first funds which come under their control, immediately organize and maintain the said Mining department in such manner as to make it most effective and useful, Provided, that all the proceeds of the public lands donated by Act of Congress approved July second AD. Eighteen hundred and sixty Two, for a college for the benefit of Agriculture[,] the Mechanics Arts, and including Military tactics shall be invested by the said Board of Regents in a separate fund to be appropriated exclusively for the benefit of the first named departments to the University as set forth in Section Four above; And the Legislature shall provide that if through neglect or any other contingency, any portion of the fund so set apart, shall be lost or misappropriated, the State of Nevada shall replace said amount so lost or misappropriated in said fund so that the principal of said fund shall remain forever undiminished[.] -- Nevada Constitution…
This article and the focus on putting priorities in order got me thinking about the proposed actions by the University of Nevada, Reno to close the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources. While the article implies that those in Nevada Higher Education Community didn’t like parts of what was said, they are trying to spin their actions in Reno as doing what the messenger (Bruce James) is promoting. By their proposed actions the UNR officials are saying that they’ve picked their priorities and agriculture isn’t on the list (although “UNR is working on creation of a unit name which appropriately identifies agriculture”). (This effort was described in the paperwork distributed by the UNR Provost in explaining how shutting down “the administrative unit known as the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources as a separate college” still would meet the obligation of the Nevada Constitution and the Land Grant University legislation embodied in the Morrill Act.)
Operating with facades to give impressions of something -- without actually intending to fulfill the obligations of that something -- is a specialty of Nevada’s Higher Education System. When Senator Harry Reid directed $70 Million their way to establish a “world-class” research facility that required buying water rights and land in the Walker River Basin – to get around the federal law’s language which said the funds couldn’t be used to buy land or water – the University created a “virtual” research project, milked it for all it was worth and then turned the actual buy-outs over to the non-profit, government-chartered group who’s working to take the project to its completion. We can also point to the “heifer development” program that operated on the Main Station farm, keeping Holstein dairy animals grazing on the pastures to collect grant money that was linked to having the black and white animals involved with some type of “research” effort. Going through the motions and collecting the maximum amount of funds available for the charade might be considered for an advanced degree with administration officials presenting their own case studies as the examples.
In spite of the frustrations over what has been and what likely will become of the college formerly known as the College of Agriculture – the question remains on whether the time has gone by for Nevada agriculture to warrant educational and research considerations through the structure of what was our state’s Land Grant University? Using the criteria of “job-creation” for a measuring stick to evaluate merit, probably won’t get us to a point where agriculture will be given any consideration, although the plans for the future, describing what we’re going to get to continue to have include…”Continued research and education in range management, including land, plant ecology, forest and wildlife management, as well as alternative uses of range lands.” (Don’t think that “alternative uses of range lands” wasn’t noticed when the justification paperwork was circulated…I guess there aren’t enough jobs being filled in the area of anti-agricultural use of federally-managed lands, so UNR is going to specialize in the field of coming up with more.)
Other states still have a perspective that their Land Grant University has a purpose and are working to meet the continued obligations of that mission. There remains a pretty large reason for agricultural research and education, given a growing world population in need of food and fiber, produced by fewer and fewer producers. Environmental constraints and requirements for improvements of doing more with less also fit the classic definition of why agriculture should remain as a corner stone within the Land Grant University structure.
Just because UNR doesn’t want agriculture in its future doesn’t mean that the obligations have been achieved and no longer are relevant – it’s a case of UNR quitting, abandoning the mission that was part of the reason for establishing them in the first place… It’s the reason why every effort needs to be made to first defend keeping Nevada agriculturally-relevant programs in operation and secondly, holding the University accountable to either be a Land Grant University – meeting all the responsibilities – or go through the steps of giving back the funds that only Land Grant Universities deserve.
Posted by Doug Busselman at 3/15/2010 4:39 AM 
Categories: Agriculture
Tags: Nevada Nevada College of Agriculture Land Grant University System
Categories: Agriculture
Tags: Nevada Nevada College of Agriculture Land Grant University System
Comments