Hope the first day of the fall semester has gone well for all of you. It is hard to believe that day is here already!

It has been fun to attend so many events celebrating agriculture over the past month! We kicked off Field Day season and our Fielding Gifts campaign – a gift matching offer for donations made to the Research Centers between Aug. 1 and Oct. 31. I enjoyed spending a few days at the annual Missouri State Fair – I spoke to our wonderful alumni in Mizzou Central on Saturday, Aug. 11; helped honor more than 100 farming families on Monday, Aug. 13 as part of Farm Family Day; and attended the Governor’s Ham Breakfast on Thursday, Aug. 16.

I am pleased to announce that we will recognize one outstanding alumni from each of our six divisions at a new event this fall. The CAFNR Columns Awards are the top alumni awards given by the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. We are excited to bring these alumni back to campus on Saturday, Sept. 22. We will honor the following CAFNR alumni that day:

• Everett Forkner, Forkner Family Farms (BS ’61) – Animal Sciences
• Robert Thompson, retired President/CEO, US Bank (BS ’64) – Applied Social Sciences
• Lowell Miller, retired, Senior Vice President, Marion Industries (BS ’57, MS ’58, PhD ’60) – Biochemistry
• Wamwari Waichungo, Vice President, The Coca-Cola Company (MS ’94, PhD ’96) – Food Systems and Bioengineering
• Edwin J. Anderson, Senior Director of Research, Iowa Soybean Association (BS ’84, PhD ’91) – Plant Sciences
• Dan Dey, Project Leader and Principal Silviculturist, USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station (BS ’76, MS ’80, PhD ’91) – School of Natural Resources

Finally, please help me congratulate the following faculty members, who have recently received promotions and/or been awarded tenure. We have such outstanding faculty in CAFNR!

• Scott Brown, promoted to associate extension professor, Division of Applied Social Sciences
• Jared Decker, promoted to associate professor and awarded tenure, Division of Animal Sciences
• Toshihiko Ezashi, promoted to research professor, Division of Animal Sciences
• Neil Fox, promoted to professor, School of Natural Resources
• Benjamin Knapp, promoted to associate professor and awarded tenure, School of Natural Resources
• Abraham Koo, promoted to associate professor and awarded tenure, Biochemistry
• Mengshi Lin, promoted to professor, Division of Food Systems and Bioengineering
• Corrine Valdivia, promoted to professor, Division of Applied Social Sciences

Thanks for all you do, every day! Let’s make it a great semester.

CAFNR Proud!

Christopher R. Daubert
CAFNR Vice Chancellor & Dean

Animal Sciences ranks #4 in combined research activity of 61 animal science departments in the United States.

Don’t Miss
Dean’s Roaming Office Hours, 4 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 29 (location TBA).

Did You Know?
Salary increases for appointment year 2018-19 will be effective Sept. 1, 2018, for monthly paid employees, and Aug. 26, 2018, for bi-weekly paid employees.

Due to IRS changes, the University is revising its policy regarding nontaxable moving benefits for newly-hired faculty and staff members, or those who are required to relocate. These policy changes became effective Aug. 1 and simplify the steps your staff will need to take to process payment of moving allowances for new employees. The revised policy and the moving allowance agreement may be found at: HR-103 Moving Allowance: https://www.umsystem.edu/ums/rules/hrm/hr100/hr103.

Campus plans on rolling out a new “Invention Assignment Agreement” Friday, Aug. 17. Upon logging into myHR, if users fall into the criteria that requires the agreement, they will be automatically directed to the Agreement page where they will agree and provide an electronic signature. All questions and concerns should be submitted to um-research@umsystem.edu.

We would like to thank Vicki Bryan, Plant Sciences, for her service as CAFNR Staff Advisory Council chair! And we would also like to welcome the Council’s new co-chairs:

• Amy Moum – DASS
• Cindy Greenwood – SNR

Staff Council is currently looking for representatives from the following divisions:

• Animal Sciences
• Biochemistry
• Farms & Centers

Participating in Staff Council is a lot of fun and a great way to get to know more about the college and its staff! Contact Amy or Cindy today to let them know you’re interested!