Colleagues,

I hope each of you are enjoying the holiday season with your family and friends and are preparing for the coming new year.

The year just ending was a very good one for the College. All of us can be proud of the changes we made to improve the organization, delivery and direction of our academic programs. As important and as difficult as these changes were -- we still have much to do in the coming years.

We must capitalize on our College's historic recognition as a leader in education and scientific forestry research. We must increase our research capacity by attracting new funding sources and new faculty who can create new knowledge through collaborative and innovative research across a variety of disciplines.

We must continue with curriculum transformation at both the undergraduate and graduate levels to ensure that our students receive a superior interdisciplinary education. And, we must continue to promote high quality, high impact programs in collaboration with other campus units.

These ideas about the future direction of the College are available for review.

I hope you have an opportunity to refer to this message at your convenience. Thanks and best wishes.

B. Bruce Bare, Dean