Remarks to the UF/IFAS Extension Symposium - May 16, 2006
Good morning. I am honored to speak with you today.
The way big organizations are designed to work, inspiration comes from the top. But what I want to tell you today is that I am inspired by all of you.
Since I arrived at UF in January of 2004, I have sought to make the University of Florida a more dynamic institution.
I have sought to find creative ways to give the university a meaningful role in the lives of not only our students and local community, but for all Floridians, from Key West to Pensacola.
As faculty of the Florida Cooperative Extension Service, you are already achieving those goals.
You are adapting your profession to a rapidly changing state. You continue to provide services that residents need.
In other words, you are giving the right impression to residents who might otherwise have no contact with the University of Florida. And you are doing it at a distance from your home institution – often alone, too often under-appreciated.
Most of you know that UF was established as a land grant institution, which means its original financial support came through the Morrill Act of 1862.
The act set aside public lands to be sold for the creation of universities whose purpose was to teach agriculture, military tactics, and engineering to an ambitious and growing nation.
The focus here in Florida, where 95 percent of the population was rural, was definitely on agriculture. The University of Florida quickly became a key leader in that vital area.
Our agricultural research and service contributed heavily to the growth and success of the citrus industry.
But through the extension service, which was up and running by 1914, we also nurtured all the other agricultural commodities that ushered Florida into modernity.
Today, agriculture is joined by tourism and real estate development as the state's biggest economic drivers.
Agriculture remains vital, but the nation's fourth most populous state is nothing if not diverse – and changing!
Accordingly, the extension service has transformed itself. The notion that extension is only about farming is a relic.
Today, faculty like yourselves, wrestle with issues ranging from growth – to wise use of natural resources – to youth education.
That's abundantly clear from the agenda at this professional development conference. Seminars range from "Growing Up:Changes During the Tween and Teen Years" to "Smart Growth: Help at the Urban/Rural Interface."
My vision is to make the extension service even more vital in coming years.
I would like to take the opportunity this morning to announce that we plan to seek your assistance in academic guidance.
Specifically, I'm working with Senior Vice President for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Jimmy Cheek, on a plan to deploy admissions counselors around the state. These counselors would assist high school students in building the academic track record required for admission to the University of Florida.
We are exploring the possibility of using our county extension offices as hubs for this activity.
We have a big problem with educating parents, school counselors and students about what it takes to come to UF. We have underserved groups who don't know how to prepare for UF. I hope extension offices can become involved in this process.
I am keenly aware that extension is a partnership between the university and Florida's 67 counties – providing about $34 million of the service's $75 million annual budget.
I am grateful to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for its support.
Florida's lawmakers are also supportive of extension. Although we certainly didn't get all we wanted, the University of Florida did well in Tallahassee this spring.
Several of our newly funded projects fall under, or have ties to, the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
These include $15 million in PECO funds for hurricane repairs and $6.7 million in start-up funds for the new multidisciplinary emerging pathogens institute, as well as more than $20 million for a new pathogens building.
The legislature also approved $1 million for the 4-H family program. My wife, Chris, a board member on the Florida 4-H Foundation, was a supporter of this initiative, and for good reason.
We will now have the resources to add 4-H and Family and Consumer Sciences faculty positions across the state. The goal is to teach more youth and families about how to make informed decisions regarding healthy food choices.
We want to instill knowledge about coping with critical financial challenges and learning the life skills necessary to succeed as contributing citizens.
Let me conclude by reinforcing something I said earlier: I admire the extension service for adapting to the times, and for continuing to provide such a positive public face for the university throughout the state.
The future will require more change, and I am confident you can make it happen.
Keep up the good work!
Thank you.
Bernie Machen