December 21, 2002

Colleagues,

I wish to acknowledge the work of many CFR faculty (especially Professor Brubaker and her Ad Hoc Working Group) for their commitment to help the College continue the transformation of its curriculum. Our recent faculty action to approve the consolidation of our seven existing majors into two is solid evidence of progress in this direction.

However, our transformation is far from complete. Much work remains to clearly define the exact course requirements, areas of concentration, etc. In addition, we need to ensure that our professional and learned masters and PhD programs are closely aligned with our emerging undergraduate curricula. I am pleased with faculty efforts to develop 3-2 and 4-1 models that link our undergraduate and graduate programs. Building from our consolidated undergraduate curricula, I believe that we can offer several professional masters programs that provide in depth professional expertise to satisfy our many professional constituencies.

Most pleasing to me is the active involvement of so many faculty in these recent discussions. Re-establishing faculty trust across the many disciplines represented in our College is crucial to the development of an integrated curriculum which, I believe, is in our future best interests.

I sincerely believe that our College will continue to be a significant contributor to science-based knowledge for the stewardship of natural and managed environments throughout the region. We must dedicate ourselves to provide world-class, internationally recognized programs focusing on the sustainability and functionality of complex natural resource and environmental systems using an interdisciplinary approach across multiple scales.

B. Bruce Bare, Dean


To Return to:Prof Bare's Page, Dean's Office, College of Forest Resources