Good ideas can come from the most surprising places, according to Robert Houtz, one of two candidates vying to become dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.
When it comes to problem solving, he said, sometimes it only takes one small thing to change things in a big way.
“Nobody has a monopoly on creative ideas,” Houtz said. “Nobody.”
Houtz, the current chair of the Department of Horticulture at the University of Kentucky, gave a brief presentation Tuesday and took questions from an audience of students, faculty and search committee members.
The most serious problem he hopes to address at the University of Idaho isn”t just a problem facing the sciences, but one facing academia in general.
“When we hire young faculty, more often than not, we automatically tell them to go out and get more money,” Houtz said. “So they”re busy chasing money, but the fact is there”s less money available, and it”s likely there won”t be more in the future.
According to Houtz, the average age at which scientists received their first research grant in 1980 was 36. Now, he said, that number has risen to 42.
Houtz
Young scientists are putting their careers on hold when they”re recruited into higher education, Houtz said.
“Something needs to change,” he said.
Young scientists aren”t the only ones Houtz hopes to draw back to higher education. He also said the university needs to offer programs that students won”t find at peer institutions in the region to increase enrollment.
Houtz said he already has some experience with this after helping start the Agricultural Biotechnology program at Kentucky, an interdisciplinary program he said is one of the most rigorous at the university.
Houtz said he also sees gaps in UI”s curricula that could be filled by emerging industries, such as fermentation sciences.
UI Agricultural Economics student Tanner Beymer said he liked how aggressively research-oriented Houtz seemed – however, Beymer didn”t leave the forum without his concerns.
Beymer said that the agricultural regions in Kentucky and Idaho are vastly different, but he”s not sure Houtz realizes just how different they are.
“A question was asked about water rights, and that”s a very good question – it was a little concerning that he didn”t know a ton about that,” Beymer said. “He also talked about tobacco, and I don”t think we grow a single acre of commercial tobacco in Idaho.”
Beymer also said while the creation of courses and other methods of conventional recruiting are important to draw students to an institution, a 50 percent increase in enrollment is more ambitious than that.
“I hope he has other ideas,” Beymer said.
Ultimately, Beymer said without other candidates to compare Houtz with, he”s not sure what to make of him. He said the role of the dean is to be the advocate for the entire college – and with CALS it means having a presence in all but two counties in Idaho. It”s a big job, Beymer said.
“He seemed a little bit soft-spoken,” Beymer said. “But it”s hard to get to know someone in an hour and a half.”
Hannah Shirley can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @itshannah7