Welcome to the College of Agricultural Sciences at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. As Dean of the College, I am very pleased to invite you to take a closer look at us—our people, our programs, and our location here in Southern Illinois.  

First, I believe it is the people, our faculty and staff, who really determine the stature of the College. We have faculty with Ph.D.s from major universities across the nation who bring the best in their discipline to the classroom and research laboratory. And we have a very dedicated and hard-working team of support staff who keep our farm centers and offices and laboratories productive.

When you take a closer look at the College, you will see that our degree and research programs are “more than meets the eye.” We have degree programs you expect like agribusiness economics, animal science, pre-veterinary medicine, equine science, and crop production. We also have programs in human nutrition dietetics, hospitality and tourism, pre-law, sales and marketing, landscape design, outdoor recreation, and forestry. In fact, the College has four departments, seven majors and 25 specialty areas for students to choose from.

Our research programs are equally impressive. Areas of excellence include human nutrition and wellness, soybean production, biotechnology and genomics, animal nutrition, renewable energy, weed science, rural economic development, outdoor recreation, water quality, and forest resource management. Research faculty members continue to aggressively identify problems and concerns of our constituents, and secure funding to complete research to find solutions. A little over $8.0 million in active grant funding was brought in during the past year. That equates to over $200,000 in funding per full time research faculty member.

The College of Agricultural Sciences is very fortunate to have a 2,000 acre research and teaching farm system contiguous to the campus. The facilities serves as the hub for our teaching and research programs and includes beef, dairy, equine, swine, agronomy, horticulture, turfgrass, and tree improvement centers in addition to a bull testing station. The centers provide real world, hands-on experience for our students in addition to providing opportunities for graduate and undergraduate research.

Additionally, the College of Agricultural Sciences at SIUC is blessed with outstanding alumni and industry clientele. From that group, the College established a new College Leadership Board to help guide and support the College teaching, research and outreach programs. The 90 member board has met four times to critique our curriculum, research programs, facilities, farms, and capital campaign. Working along side the faculty, they have provided great ideas and support.

In summary, the College of Agricultural Sciences at Southern Illinois University is providing futuristic degree programs for our students to contribute globally through satisfying and productive careers. And, our research and outreach programs are generating the knowledge and disseminating the results that will enhance the economic vitality and quality of life of the people and stakeholders we serve.

Sincerely,

 Gary L. Minish, Dean

College of Agricultural Sciences