The night before Amy Charkowski“s Wednesday presentation to faculty, staff, students and members of the College of Agricultural and Life Science dean search committee, she said she scrapped the slide show she had and made a completely new one.
Her new presentation got back to basics, opening with a quote from the Morrill Act – the legislation that allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges.
“Agricultural colleges are unique in how they provide education,” Charkowski said. “We teach similar things to what you might find in a liberal arts education “¦ but there”s also a practical aspect.”
Charkowski is one of four candidates vying to become dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Other candidates include Michael Parrella from the University of California, Davis, Jack Elliot from Texas A&M University and Robert Houtz from the University of Kentucky.
Charkowski has spent much of her life in agriculture, but said her passion is now inspiring young scientists.
Charkowski received her doctorate in plant pathology from Cornell University and has been the associate chair of the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison since 2013. She”s been in the department since 1998.
At UW-Madison, Charkowski”s focus is on seed potatoes. Approximately 7.5 percent of U.S. potato production can be traced back to the program Charkowski oversees, she said.
Charkowski knows what”s worked for her program, but she said the last thing she wanted to do was come into a new university acting like she had all the answers.
“I could come in and say, “We”re going to do this kind of a center.” But I don”t know you guys that well,” Charkowski said. “It”ll take time.”
Much of Charkowski”s presentation was spent opening the dialogue back up to attending faculty, staff and students. After discussing her ideas for each aspect of the program, Charkowski asked her audience, “What do you think would work for your program?”
Charkowski said she did see room for CALS to improve grant success rates, research station facilities and faculty salaries and morale.
As for enrollment, she doesn”t believe there”s any shortage of students.
“It seems like there are many people in Idaho who should be going to college but aren”t,” Charkowski said. “They may as well come here.”
She said her main concern as a dean would be how the college would adapt to larger numbers – how many new professors and teaching assistants the college would need to accommodate more students, and where the resources to pay new staff would come from.
“A big part of this job is asking the questions that need to be asked so faculty can plan accordingly,” Charkowski said.
Hannah Shirley can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @itshannah7