There’s a moment every spring when the pace becomes almost surreal.
Students are graduating and scattering for the summer, field plots are going in, and calves appear bright eyed and curious. Faculty are wrapping up classes while writing grants and mentoring grad students. Staff are somehow holding together an operation that spans classrooms, laboratories, Research Centers, budgets, advising, outreach, events, and a thousand invisible acts of care and competence that keep the whole enterprise moving forward.
And somewhere in the middle of all that, we pause for just a second and realize – this work matters deeply.
As we close out my second academic year as Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences, I want to say clearly how grateful I am to be here and how proud I am of this college.
Over the last two years, I’ve had the chance to travel the state, visit our Research Centers, attend county and industry meetings, spend time with students, reconnect with alumni, and get to know organizations like FFA and AFA in a much deeper way. What stands out to me over and over is that the people of CAS show up. You show up for students. You show up for producers and communities. You show up for each other. And you show up for Colorado.
That matters.
One of the things I’ve become increasingly aware of is just how much of the next generation is being shaped quietly and consistently by you, the faculty and staff of this college. Sometimes that work is highly visible – a graduate crossing a stage, a research breakthrough, a national award, a successful judging team, a producer adopting a new practice. But often it happens in moments no one else sees: a conversation with a struggling student, time spent helping someone find direction, patient mentoring in a lab or greenhouse or office, careful stewardship of a field site or budget or classroom.
The people who make up CAS and our Agricultural Research Centers are responsible for extraordinary work happening every day, often without fanfare. You care deeply about students and about the mission of a land-grant university. I continue to be humbled by how much expertise, dedication, and generosity exists across this college.
Over the past year, much of my own effort has focused on a few major areas:
- strengthening relationships and trust with stakeholders across Colorado;
- developing and beginning implementation of the CAS Strategic Roadmap 2035;
- improving alignment and clarity around leadership, structure, and decision-making;
- strengthening our engagement at the federal and state levels;
- and working to position CAS strongly in an increasingly difficult fiscal and political environment.
Some of that work is exciting and visible. Some of it is frankly difficult and sometimes messy. I also recognize that my leadership and communication style has probably been a surprise to some people. I tend to communicate directly and informally, and I believe strongly that actions matter – and action matters.
Part of that comes from a conviction that longstanding, complicated problems do not improve simply because we avoid naming them out loud. In institutions, ambiguity can sometimes feel more comfortable in the short term, but over time it creates confusion, frustration, and drift. My view is that when issues are real and affecting people or limiting our effectiveness, we should be willing to say so clearly, work through them together, and solve them thoughtfully and respectfully.
That does not mean every decision is easy, nor that we will always agree. But I do believe this college is strongest when we are candid, mission-focused, and willing to do the hard work required to move forward.
One thing I’ve learned as Dean is that communication matters more than leaders often realize. In a large, distributed college, if people don’t have access to information and context, they understandably begin to fill in gaps themselves. So, one of my goals moving forward is simple: create more ways for people to understand what is happening across CAS and why.
That’s part of why we launched CAS Town Halls this year. Thank you to everyone who attended the first session and engaged thoughtfully and candidly. Our next Town Hall will happen in late August and will focus on research, AES, and the future of our college.
It’s also why I plan to begin regular office hours. Sometimes people don’t need a formal meeting; they just need a chance to ask a question, float an idea, or connect briefly. More information on office hours will be coming soon.
And finally, it’s why I’m starting this newsletter (soon to be available online). My hope is that it becomes one more way to share what we’re working on, highlight great work happening across CAS, and help people feel connected to the broader direction of the college.
I also want to recognize the work people are doing in the college around the Dean’s Leadership Fellowships. I’ll highlight one example here. Dr. Chris Goemans, a Professor in DARE is examining how the university’s new budget model will affect colleges like ours and how we can optimize the budget within the college. These fellowships have become one of my favorite developments in CAS because they create space for thoughtful faculty and staff leadership on complex institutional issues. Chris’s work is helping us better understand the opportunities and pressures within the current model and how we can advocate effectively for CAS moving forward. I’ll highlight a fellowship in each of the upcoming newsletters.
As I look toward year three, I remain deeply optimistic about this college.
Not because the environment is easy – it isn’t.
But because the people here are thoughtful, resilient, mission-driven, and unusually willing to do hard things in service of something larger than themselves.
Ag needs everyone. And I continue to believe that this college creates the future rather than simply reacting to it.
Thank you for the work you do every day.
Carolyn