The phrases contained in the vision statement represent the collective work of scores of faculty, staff, students, and external partners of the College. Underpinning these concise statements are the provocative thoughts and emotions of those who participated in their creation. To merely present the words does not begin to portray the vibrance and enthusiasm with which they were written. It is hoped that the following companion piece will begin to bring the statement alive for you and induce excitement for the possibilities which are ours.

WE ASPIRE . . .

The power of our vision lies in its ability to grab the attention of those inside and outside the College and to focus that attention on a common dream. That dream provides for us a sense of direction, communicates our enthusiasm and kindles excitement. These aspirations set the tone for the boldness of our common vision.

. . . to make Ohio a model in a global society for stewardship and responsible use of natural and biological resources.

Notice that the focus is on making Ohio a model. This vision does not select The Ohio State University as a model, nor the College, nor each department, nor individuals. Rather the vision for a new College re-emphasizes our responsibility to serve the needs of the people of Ohio.

In order for Ohio to become a model for stewardship and responsible use of natural and biological resources, we must help those we serve learn to operate in a global context. We must maximize the opportunities to learn from our neighbors in the global village. We must bring to our daily work discoveries from other countries and cultures as well as extend our discoveries to them. We must interpret the world to our Ohio clients so as to enable them to operate more competitively in the global village.

Central to our work in natural and biological resources will be an emphasis on both the responsible use and stewardship of these resources. We will assure our clients that we will be at the cutting edge of basic science discoveries as well as conducting appropriate applied and adaptive research in these areas.

This aspiration points to an even larger shift - that of adopting an ecological paradigm to guide our efforts. We are not abandoning our responsibility to provide for knowledge generation and problem solving in production agriculture; rather production agriculture efforts will be joined with other areas of emphasis within the complexity of the total ecosystem.

Thus we will operate with an integrated point of view. Our future requires that teams focus on comprehensive problems, not just individual pieces of problems. We will still have individuals doing highly specialized work, but the norm for this college will shift to team efforts, bringing together experts from the many facets of modern, complex problems to work in a synergistic fashion.

. . . to achieve preeminence as a College while delivering the highest value to our customers.

The future will require high quality information to deliver the highest value. We cannot deliver the highest value without being preeminent. We commit to meeting the needs of our customers so exceedingly well that we draw the attention of our scientific peers throughout the world and, indeed, achieve scientific distinction for the work we have done. We reject the notion that a dichotomy exists between these two land-grant traditions (serving the state and achieving scientific distinction) and dedicate ourselves to achieving preeminence that will come from unrelenting commitment to meeting customer needs.

. . . to inspire human development within and outside the College.

Our reason for existing is to add value to the lives of those we serve. We want to be the kind of College that takes the latest and best science and uses it to discover new insights and directions, create new technologies and approaches, and provide new solutions to everyday problems. We commit ourselves to address the human dimensions of the problems of the people we serve. We assert that the development of human capital is just as important to us as the development of concepts and facts, principles and technologies. An important component of improving human capital is development of the leadership capacities in both our internal and external customers. We must inspire, nurture, and maximize the human potential that exists within our students, the working family of the College, and those we serve outside the walls of the University.

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