Meeting Minutes March 9, 2023
March 9, 2023 Meeting Minutes | Virtual
The State Board of Agricultural Research and Education met for a regular meeting on March 9, 2023. Present: Jim Bahm, Doug Bichler, John Dhuyvetter, Pam Gulleson, Larry Hoffmann, Greg Lardy, Sarah Lovas, John Nordgaard, Mark Urquhart, Dean Wehri and Julie Zikmund. Absent: Pres. David Cook, Doug Goehring, Sen. Jerry Klein, and Rep. Alisa Mitskog.
Chair Lovas called the meeting to order at 1:01 p.m.
Approval of January 12, 2023 Meeting Minutes
MOTION: Larry Hoffmann made a motion to approve the January 12, 2023 minutes as presented. Seconded by Jim Bahm. Motion carried.
Administrative Update from Greg Lardy, VP for Agricultural Affairs, Dean, Director, Director
Dr. Lardy began by reporting that NDSU is planning on merging the University’s seven colleges down to five colleges effective July 1, 2023 (College of Engineering, College of Business, College of Health Professions and Human Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, and College of Agriculture, Food Systems and Natural Resources). He announced that the College of Agriculture will be absorbing the Center for 4-H Youth Development and the Agricultural Education Program from the College of Human Sciences and Education.
He noted that due to declining enrollment, the College of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Natural Resources has had to reduce its budget by $600,000. As a result, five faculty lines within the College were eliminated. One faculty member from Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, one faculty member from Plant Sciences, and three faculty members from Agribusiness and Applied Economics make up the five eliminated faculty lines. Additionally, the Agricultural Systems Management major has been merged with the Precision Agriculture major.
Dr. Lardy gave an update that he has been working with federal delegations with the USDA-ARS on several large federal projects. This includes projects on predictive crop modeling, precision agriculture (Starkville, MS), and measurement and monitoring center (Northern Great Plains Research Lab, Mandan, ND).
Administrative Update from Lynette Flage, Associate Director of NDSU Extension
Dr. Flage noted Extension is looking forward to taking on the 4-H Program Center for Youth Development and the Agricultural Education Program. She gave an update that several agents and specialists will be a part of a committee for establishing the new structure of the programs.
Dr. Flage announced that a committee has been formed and a search is underway for a new SBARE member for the southwest region. District Director Jim Gray is leading the search.
Comments from Sarah Lovas, SBARE Chair
Chair Lovas began by thanking Dr. Cook and Dr. Lardy on their leadership for the NDSU Transform Initiative.
She gave an update that Legislative session is going really well with the House Bill 1020 receiving support in many different parts of the Legislature. She continued that today the hearing before the Government Operations Division of Senate Appropriations was held and reported that the session also went well.
Update on 68th Legislative Assembly
Dr. Lardy began by explaining that the House bill 1003 funds the University’s teaching budget. The bill implemented parameters resulting in the House version regaining the University budget 1.5 million dollars in operating expenses as well as additional one-time funds to aid in enrollment. An additional aspect of the bill is the Challenge Grants that can be used by the foundations at universities to match donor dollars for scholarships, faculty endowments, or other projects. The House version also states a four-million-dollar allocation for Challenge Grants specifically for programs in agriculture.
Dr. Lardy announced that House Bill 1020 passed in the House of Representatives with strong support. The items funded can be found at: https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/agforlegislators/2023/2023-03-02_HB1020-BudgetRequest.pdf specifically on booklet pages 87 and 88.
Dr. Lardy concluded that there are ongoing discussions about REC positions. Dr. Lardy gave an update that the Williston REC Director position will launch a search after the Legislative session is complete.
MOTION: John Nordgaard made a motion to end the meeting. Seconded by Pam Gulleson.
Chair Lovas adjourned the meeting at 2:04 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Erin McCall