A little more than a year ago, the Division finalized the Strategic Vision: 2025. The document was the first step in a strategic planning process to address the challenges we face and provide the scientific and technological breakthroughs California needs to compete in a global economy, ensure a safe nutritious food supply, conserve natural resources, and keep Californians healthy. Nine multidisciplinary, integrated initiatives were presented, which represent the best opportunities for ANR’s considerable infrastructure and talent to seek new resources and new ways of partnering within and outside UC to find solutions for California.
Four of these initiatives were selected as the first opportunities to focus ANR’s limited internal resources on issues where we can have significant, documented, policy-relevant results over the next five years. Resources being considered for these efforts include funds previously used for ANR’s competitive grants programs, which functioned across a wide array of fields and general endowment fund payout. The intent is to focus these resources on meaningful research and outreach efforts for a few well-defined critical issues where ANR can have a meaningful impact in this five-year timeframe.
Selection of the four strategic initiatives does not infer that the other five initiatives are not critically important. Rather, ANR does not currently have internal resources significant enough to be able to make additional investments in all nine at one time. It is understood that for ANR to be a successful and relevant organization there must be significant research and outreach programs addressing all of these strategic initiative areas.
Some of you have asked, “What if my project/program doesn’t fit into the four strategic initiatives?”
We recognize that not all ANR projects will fit in the first four initiatives. The goal of the Strategic Vision is to focus ANR’s efforts as we move forward and we encourage you to see yourselves, your programs and your projects in that broader vision. The nine initiatives described in the Vision are intended to be guidance in shaping our research and outreach programs and to provide compelling evidence of our ability to make a difference to California.
The four initiatives where panels are working to define focused areas of inquiry and needed areas of outreach will identify where ANR’s limited additional internal resources will be focused for five years. These resources may be employed in competitive grants programs, serve as matching funds for research and outreach projects, fund short-term positions, fund targeted efforts, etc. These decisions have not been made at this point, and all possible uses of these funds are under consideration as the Strategic Initiative plans are taking form.
All nine initiatives play a vital role in focusing ANR’s efforts to solve critical problems facing California. They represent the scope of the efforts that ANR personnel will be concentrating on to continue to make a difference. Success for the Division will be measured by the impacts that occur across all nine initiative areas.
Barbara Allen-Diaz
Associate Vice President, Academic Programs and Strategic Initiatives
Bill Frost
Associate Director, Research & Extension Centers
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This announcement is also posted and archived on the ANR Update pages.