History

At Dean Robert Steele's direction, a Stewardship Initiative Work Group was established in the college in January of 2005 to discover stewardship practices in the college and engage in stewardship strategic planning. This group was comprised of a sample of college staff that represented many different stewardship responsibilities. Participants included:

• Robert Steele, Dean
• Mark Sharer, Director of Development
• Abby Hopkins, Development Assistant and Stewardship Coordinator
• Pat Alters, Administrative Aid, Department of Dairy and Animal Science
• Ellen Manno, Scholarship Coordinator, School of Forest Resources
• Donna Merrill, Manager of Departmental Operations, Department of Food Science
• Roy Young, Head, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
• Marilyn McPheron, Advisor, Office of International Programs
• Anita Sprankle, Administrative Aid, Department of Ag and Extension Education
• Denise Connelly, Assistant to the Dean, Office of Undergraduate Education
• Jillian Stevenson, Director, Alumni Relations
• Bruce McPheron, Associate Dean, Office of Research and Graduate Education
• Sue Kelleher, Administrative Assistant, Office of Research and Graduate Education
• Spencer Lewis, Director of Development, Outreach
• Michael Martin, Associate Director of Development, 4-H
• Ellen Walker, Development Assistant, Outreach
• Tom Schaffer, Financial Officer
• Bambi Gates, Accountant
• Neal Vines, Director, ICT

Core Needs
Through the sharing of information, we learned about the complex interplay each of our responsibilities have with regard to stewardship and were able to identify the following core needs for stewardship in the college:

• Increased communication within the college
• Advocacy on behalf of the college to the University at large
• Meaningful communication with donors/alumni
• Development of best practices in stewardship
• Training
• Access to information
• Assessment of college/department databases
• Tools
• Promotion of culture of stewardship in the college
• Development of minimum standards for stewardship across the college

College of Agricultural Sciences Stewardship Initiative
As a result, the following goals were developed for the Stewardship Initiative in the College of Agricultural Sciences:

1. Enhanced communication
a. Discover ways to enhance internal communication between units, the college, and the University
b. Discover ways to enhance external communication to our stakeholders
2. Development of stewardship processes
a. Development of best practices for stewardship
b. Develop Education/Training Program
c. Provide access to needed information
d. Assess current databases and develop tools for stewardship
3. Promotion of Culture of Stewardship
a. Develop minimum standards for stewardship across the college

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