June is a great time to catch up with alumni, various colleagues and stakeholders!

I met with the president of the University of Missouri Student Association, Josiah Mendoza, and attended the Missouri Dairy Products Association Annual Spring Convention at Lake of the Ozarks. I visited with leadership from the USDA-ARS Midwest area, the CEO of the Institute of Food Technologists, and with Richard Barohn, executive vice chancellor of Health Affairs and dean of the School of Medicine. In our recent MU Deans Council meeting, I led a discussion on college budgeting.

It was a pleasure to attend “An Evening with Mizzou Leadership” in St. Louis last week and catch up with CAFNR alumni. I was honored to attend the Governor’s Advisory Council on Quality and Productivity ceremony with Governor Parson in Jefferson City to recognize the efforts of CAFNR and Mizzou faculty who contributed to the Wastewater Project and provided invaluable assistance to decision makers during the COVID pandemic.

I very much enjoyed the opportunity to welcome our partners from Missouri Farm Bureau and participants in their IMPACT program to CAFNR and Mizzou. It was a pleasure to visit with some of Missouri’s finest young farmers and ranchers!

Last week I provided a Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station update to President Mun Choi and selected curators, and attended the End of Year Reception hosted by President Choi and Provost Latha Ramchand for the MU Faculty Council.

We continue to interview for various faculty positions in CAFNR to strengthen our teaching, research and Extension missions. Our Academic Programs Office is busy with students and parents visiting our college for Summer Welcome. Enrollment projections for the fall are looking very good. I am excited about the future of our college!

Congratulations to the Torq’N Tigers team (pictured above), who recently earned second-place honors during the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) International Quarter-Scale Tractor Student Design Competition! The team also took top honors in the Overall Performance Event. I am so proud of our students!

I will be spending time with my family over the next couple of weeks. I do hope all of you will find time to take a break over the summer! It is important to find time to rest and renew.

CAFNR Proud,

Christopher R. Daubert, Ph.D.
CAFNR Vice Chancellor & Dean

The CAFNR Alumni Association honored outstanding alumni and friends in late May with their annual awards. See the honorees on CAFNR’s website.

Mizzou has announced it will no longer allow personal purchase of university equipment through information technology.  All IT equipment including monitors, computers and printers will need to be returned to college IT staff for repurposing or surplus. If employees wish to purchase university equipment it will be done directly through surplus property as it would be for the general public.

The CAFNR Staff Advisory Council has announced the opportunity to re-certify Heartsaver® CPR/AED/First Aid Training. This opportunity is for all interested faculty and staff, even those who participated in the CPR/AED certification initiative in Summer 2019 or First Aid certification initiative in Fall 2019. In either case, those certifications have now expired. Retraining is essential to keep your skills up-to-date. A limited number of training slots are available. Sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050E4CAFA629A4FE3-cafnr2.

A few new details to note this year:

• The CPR/AED and First Aid trainings will be combined into one six-hour training session with practical skills assessment
• Training will be held on-site at the Sheldon Clinical Simulation Center, located at 1 Hospital Drive
• There is no cost to participate, but a MoCode is required to hold your sign-up. The MoCode will only be charged in the case of no call/no show.

CAFNR Marketing & Communications has coordinated three professional portrait sessions. As we move forward with updates for CAFNR’s web redesign, we encourage you to update your professional headshot, if you have not done so in the last five years. CAFNR has reserved space at the Rock Quarry Center (view the map) to have professional portraits taken of faculty, staff and graduate students.

Register online for the session of your choice (registration is due before session date)

• Wednesday, June 23, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m., (due June 20 by 5 p.m.)
• Wednesday, Sept. 7, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., (due Sept. 2 by 5 p.m.)
• Thursday, Oct. 20, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., (due Oct. 18 by 5 p.m.)

Parking is available. Directions: To get to the parking lot, take Rock Quarry Rd. south from Stadium Blvd., then take the first left onto Capen Park Dr. Next make two additional quick lefts and head toward the north end of the building, (Rock Quarry Center is a large, white-gray warehouse-style building). Enter through Door 4 and the MU Extension Communications and Marketing office is the first door on the right. Please contact Reagan Brown, reagan.brown@missouri.edu, with any questions.