A PETITION to advocate for the retention of the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources at the University of Nevada, Reno and other related matters in this time of budgetary crisis. The College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources (CABNR) is a premier teaching, research and extension unit of the University of Nevada, Reno, a federal land-grant institution under the Morrill Act of 1862, the Hatch Act of 1887 and the Smith-Lever Act of 1914, among others .The Constitution of the State of Nevada, in Article 11, Section 4, mandates that the “State University […] shall embrace departments of Agriculture, Mechanic Arts and Mining”. On March 1, 2010, the Office of the Provost of the University released the Curricular Review Proposal in response to the continuing budget crisis in the State of Nevada. This document proposes, among other items, o the closure of the Department of Animal Biotechnology and elimination of its related degree programs {Proposal 1, p. 2}, o the closure of the Department of Resource Economics and elimination of its related degree programs {Proposal 2, p. 2-3}, o the closure of the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources and the “reorganization” of its [remaining] degree programs {Proposal 3, p. 3-4}, o the closure of the Meat Processing Facility [known as Wolf Pack Meats] (Proposal 3, Item G, p. 4}, o the closure of the Main Station Farm {Proposal 3, Item H, p. 4}, o the “relocation” of the Nevada Agriculture Experiment Station system to the Office of the Vice President for Research {Proposal 3, Item I, p. 4}. WE THE UNDERSIGNED, students, faculty, staff and supporters of the University of Nevada, Reno, by affixing our signatures to this petition, do assert and affirm the following: •That the report erred in its evaluation of the importance of the agricultural, natural resources and biotechnology industries and related economic activity to the state of Nevada and the continued success of the state and local economies and the communities built upon them; •That the set of instructional, research and extension programs within the CABNR and its related Departments and Entities constitute an integral component of the missions of the University and of federal land-grant institutions, with historical primacy in law; •That the proposals contained therewithin constitute a complete and robust elimination of a foundational education preparing students to enter the food, fiber, natural resources, environment and biotech industries by eliminating key programs, placing others under the auspices of departments not focused directly on these industries and diminishing access to resources and opportunities for learning and research; •That the evaluation methods and goals of the report failed to account for the role the CABNR and its Departments and Entities play within the establishing principles of this University as an institution of higher learning and extension; •That the CABNR faculty are awarded a high level of external grant funding for research and extension proposals which serve the mission of the University to further the advancement of knowledge, provide student s opportunities to develop vital skills and improve the well-being of the State and the World; •That the proposal endanger the ability for continued access to these grants by eliminating faculty and diminishing the perceived value of academic and research programs; •That we acknowledge the need for changes to the structure and budget of academic units, including the CABNR and its Departments and Entities, but that these goals can be achieved without eliminating and redistributing the core autonomy of agricultural, natural resources and biotechnology programs. THEREFORE, we demand that a revised proposal be drafted with the participation of faculty and students of the CABNR which preserves the core components of the College, a unit vital to the mission of the University; THEREFORE we call upon the Faculty Senate of the University to stand in opposition to any proposal which would eliminate entirely the CABNR; THEREFORE we further call upon the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education to reject any proposal which would close or eliminate the CABNR in its entirety or place its Departments or related Entities under the purview of another College or administrative unit of the University.

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