The Daniel B. Warnell

School of Forest Resources

University of Georgia

Strategic Plan

2000-2010

Introduction

Established in 1906, the Daniel B. Warnell School of Forest Resources is the oldest forestry school in the South. It is recognized nationally and internationally for its excellent programs in forest productivity, quantitative forest management, forest business, wildlife ecology and management, and water resources. People use forest resources and also demand that they be managed in ways that conserve and protect ecological and biological diversity and provide a range of recreational opportunities. The School=s programs emphasize the interrelationships among the natural resources and their interactions with human needs and management. The School consistently ranks among the top programs in North America and provides professional education, research, and outreach applicable to Georgia, the nation, and the international community.

School enrollment includes more than 200 pre-professional, 175 professional and 125 graduate students each year, with additional continuing educational programs for more than 1,000 working natural resource professionals. Sixty-five faculty work in diverse disciplines such as forest production, business, economics, policy, wildlife ecology and management, fisheries and aquaculture, soil biology, genetics, forest products, spatial imaging, biotechnology, water resources, and environmental science. Modern facilities include four campus classroom/office buildings, laboratories, the 740-acre Whitehall Forest in Athens, and more than 22,000 forested acres across the state used for teaching, research and service activities.

Mission

The Mission of the Warnell School of Forest Resources is to excel and lead in forest and natural resources management that ensures sustainable production, use, values, benefits and enjoyment; to educate and prepare students to effectively use, manage and conserve these resources; to seek new knowledge and develop solutions through basic and applied research; and, through its service and outreach programs, to deliver research-based information and educational opportunities to the citizens of Georgia and beyond.

Strategic Objectives

The School identified five inter-related strategic objectives that chart the course of change needed to meet our mission and program objectives in the coming decade.

1. Enrollment - Objective: Increase graduate enrollment by 40 percent, from 125 to 175, while stabilizing undergraduate professional student enrollment at 240 students.

The Masters degree is fast becoming the standard for professional employment in forest resources. The School will continue to prepare students in forest resources at the Bachelors level and maintain current undergraduate enrollment. The demand for Masters- and PhD-level professionals will continue to rise and the School intends that future growth be in graduate enrollment, which will further complement our research and service missions.

Actions and challenges:

_ Implement a 2-plus-3 year professional program of study in forestry leading to both the BSFR and MFR degrees in five years.

_ Increase graduate recruiting in the MFR, MS, and PhD programs, while maintaining current high academic standards.

_ Increase available funding for graduate assistantships, scholarships, and awards to recruit top students.

_ Expand facilities to accommodate increased enrollment, teaching, and research.

2. Funding - Objective: Increase financial support for the School, primarily through contracts, grants, and private funds.

The School receives funding from the state and from federal funding programs for research and service, including McIntire-Stennis, Hatch, Smith-Lever, and special funding initiatives. Federal funding sources are likely to be stable or even decreasing in the coming decade. Increases in the costs of conducting research, growth of graduate enrollment, public education, and other new initiatives must be funded through increased state support, contracts, grants, and private sources.

Actions and challenges:

_ Work to maintain stable federal funding and increase state funding.

_ Increase contract and grant funding by over 100 percent to reach $5 million/year by 2010.

_ Investigate the potential of patenting and licensing intellectual property to provide future income to the School and University.

_ Appoint a permanent Associate Dean for Research and Service to facilitate new contracts, grants, and other funding sources.

_ In concert with the University=s capital campaign, increase the School=s private endowment.

_ Develop five additional endowed chairs/professorships that represent the breadth of disciplines in the School.

3. Diversity - Objective: Diversify the Warnell School student body and faculty, and enhance the School=s global influence through active international programs.

The School must increase the diversity of its students and faculty to provide global leadership in forest resources. The international components of our research and education programs must also be enhanced to support the continuing globalization in forest industry and natural resource conservation concerns.

Actions and challenges:

_ In partnership with industry, public sector employers, and natural resource professional societies, establish a comprehensive high school recruiting campaign and scholarship program to attract and reward top students.

_ Add fellowships and assistantships to recruit top graduate students from the historically black U.S. colleges and universities, and to attract international graduate students.

_ Significantly diversify the School=s faculty by doubling the number of women and/or minorities by 2010.

_ Establish at least one visiting international faculty position that would rotate among disciplines.

_ Emphasize the faculty leave policy for teaching, research, and/or service, to encourage international opportunities.

_ Encourage international research collaboration.

_ Expand the role and function of the School=s International Programs Coordinator.

4. Program Delivery - Objective: Integrate virtual and distance learning, new technologies, and non-traditional approaches in delivering our programs to a greater diversity of students, professionals and adult learners.

The Internet and the advent of distance learning technologies offer tremendous opportunities, both to enhance the education of traditional students and to reach new audiences. By offering courses in a concentrated format at non-traditional times, we can attract new adult learners to UGA for advanced professional training.

Actions and challenges:

_ Using distance learning and non-traditional scheduling, develop an executive graduate program for in-service professionals, beginning with the MFR in Forest Business by 2001.

_ Develop interactive web information and educational offerings of the School=s professional continuing education courses for delivery to individuals and organizations beyond state and national borders.

_ Create core undergraduate and graduate courses that are available to students, in whole or in part, over the Internet.

_ Establish regional and national partners in distance learning that will expand the School=s influence beyond the state and broaden the course offerings available to our students.

_ Develop professional, for-credit courses offered in a concentrated format outside of the traditional semesters.

5. Partnerships - Objective: Develop partnerships, both within and outside the University, to complement the School=s teaching, research, and service objectives.

Partnerships with others will help us meet our mission and develop our programs to their fullest potential. Private industry, public agencies, non-government organizations, other research and education institutions, international partners, and colleagues in allied departments on campus can all enhance and strengthen our programs.

Actions and challenges:

_ Enhance existing industrial partnerships and develop new ones to meet the challenges of future resource management, e.g. the emerging Wood Quality Consortium.

_ Enhance partnerships with federal research agencies to mutual benefit, including existing partners such as the USGS Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, the Patuxent Research Station, and the USDA Forest Service Research Units on campus, and also develop new partnerships with DOE, EPA, and other agencies.

_ Enhance partnerships with state agencies, including the Georgia DNR and the Georgia Forestry Commission.

_ Seek partners among other academic and research institutions in geographic areas and scientific disciplines that complement our strengths.

_ Seek international partners to enhance faculty and student exchange programs.

_ Encourage interdepartmental, interdisciplinary, and inter-institutional collaboration.

Program Directions

_ Forest Productivity - The key to maintaining Georgia=s nationally preeminent position in forestry will be to expand the productivity of our forest resources. Research over the past 20 years has led to operational increases in Georgia=s pine plantation productivity of more than 100 percent. Further research will be multi-disciplinary and broad based, focusing on fiber yields, wood quality, biology, soils, hydrology, and economics to increase productivity. The School is committed to leadership in intensive forest management, modeling growth of forests, and training managers with the skills and knowledge to implement these new techniques.

_ Wildlife Ecology and Management - Expenditures for wildlife-associated recreation such as hunting and wildlife-watching in Georgia total nearly $3 billion per year and provide many intangible public benefits. The School, which offers the only four-year wildlife degree program in the state, will ensure that its instructional and research programs in the ecology and management of game, non-game, and endangered species remain among the best in the nation.

_ Hydrology and Water Management - Water quality and supply are likely to become dominant environmental policy issues in Georgia in the next 10 years. The School has a long history of innovation in the field of hydrology and will provide leadership in helping to resolve state water management conflicts. The water program fills a unique niche on the UGA campus by focusing on practical management practices and opportunities for sustainable water use.

_ Fisheries and Aquaculture - Besides their direct economic contributions of more than $2.4 billion to the state=s economy annually, fish and other aquatic resources provide many intangible benefits to Georgia communities. The School, which provides the only degree-granting fisheries and aquaculture program in the state, will expand its role in both education and research relating to the stream and river ecology of fishes and aquaculture of commercial and rare species.

_ Biotechnology of Forest Resources - Biotechnology has tremendous commercial potential and the School is positioned to be a major provider of new science and technology to support this emerging growth industry. The School=s biotechnology program will work through partnerships across the campus, state, and nation to focus on genetic transformation and regeneration technology, genomics and gene discovery, characterizing genetic diversity, and developing genetically engineered organisms for use in resource management and remediation.

_ Forest Business and Management - Georgia's forest sector annually contributes more than $20 billion to the state's economy. Through the Center for Forest Business, the School integrates the business aspects of forest production and processing with the biological and ecological requirements of sustainable forest production.

_ Human Dimensions in Natural Resource Management - Today=s legislative and regulatory climate increasingly demand that natural resource managers include societal values and cultural factors as well as biology and ecology when developing natural resource management plans. The School=s emphasis in Human Dimensions will combine the natural sciences with human-oriented disciplines such as sociology, psychology, education, and communications.

_ Spatial Information Management - The use of spatially related data is key to the integration and analysis of multiple resources in land-use decision-making. The School is incorporating new tools, models, and curricula to educate resource managers in this area of endeavor.

_ Natural Resource Ecology and Environmental Remediation - The School has pioneered the use of management tools and techniques to assess, renovate, and reclaim landscapes and natural resources for restoring and sustaining soil productivity. Examples include assessments of water quality, phytoremediaton of contaminated sites, and restoration of threatened ecosystems.

_ Integrated Natural Resource Management - Changing human demographics, societal values, and environmental concerns demand that the School emphasize forest-based management concepts that are sustainable, ecologically sound, and efficient. The integration of forest production and sustainability with wildlife, watershed, fisheries, and recreation management is an essential component of modern environmental education. The School is committed to its leading role in developing multidisciplinary research and education initiatives that integrate all aspects of natural resource management.