Strategically Planning the Future of ACE

Those of you who were at the 2010 ACE meeting in St. Louis will recall the very productive discussion we had during the Future of ACE lunch session. All of the input that was collected during that session was used by the ACE Board during their  Fall meeting in Tucson, AZ to distill six basic issues which warranted further consideration. For each of these issues the Strategic Planning Committee then added proposed goals, strategies and suggestions for implementation. All of this work is now included in a report which we will review in Denver. There we will seek your feedback before determining implementation steps at this year's Fall Board meeting in Manhattan, KS.

Some of these steps will result in a radical shift in our operations, but we believe these changes are important to the survival of the organization. As a recent NPR story pointed out, associations like ours will have to totally reinvent themselves in order to avoid becoming obsolete.

We encourage you to read this report before coming to Denver. It is the result of the persistent efforts members over the past year by members of the Strategic Planning Committee and promises to reshape ACE in many ways. As committee member Janet Rodekohr aptly put it:

If they implement just half of our suggestions, it will be a new day for ACE. I'm very proud of the work we've accomplished here. It could be a turning point for ACE. Thank you to Jeff and Tom and Steve for your leadership and to the other committee members for some great teamwork!

You can find the report at: http://www.acenetc.org/runtime/ACE_Strategic_Plan_2011.pdf. Please read it carefully.

Robert Casler, ACE President

Coming to Denver? Don’t Forget Your Auction Item!

While you’re packing for ACE/NETC in Denver, don’t forget to bring something memorable for our annual ACE Auction!

We're coming back with not only a silent auction, but a return to our absolutely exhilarating live auction!

Remember, ACE’s silent auction is a great place to shop for gifts and to promote your home state, while supporting professional development. However, the auction is only possible through members' generosity in bringing items for sale.

Goods from across the United States and even from around the world will be available during the silent auction. Holly Young, Development Committee chair, encourages conference participants to bring items that represent their home states.

"Bring specialty items and an open wallet,” she said. "Bid early, bid often and get a head-start on your year's gift shopping, even if it’s for yourself.”

Here’s what you need to do. If you're attending the annual meeting in Denver, plan to bring items to tempt your fellow attendees. Chocolate is always welcome, although it’s been reported it doesn’t make it back home with the recipient. Some ideas from past auctions include

• Local artists' works from your city or state
• Regional crafts
• Regional foods
• Items produced by always-creative ACE members
• Frankie Gould’s original artwork (the ACE Development Fund Chair cherishes hers)
• Signature memorabilia from the institution at which you work

Auction contributions are limited only by your imagination and luggage capacity. If you aren't attending, please help your state's representatives by sending items for auction.

Robert Casler, ACE president, says he looks forward to the annual event and encourages all ACE/NETC attendees to join in the fun, and good cause, by taking a moment to stop by the silent auction and bidding on the many intriguing silent auction items.

In 13 years of supporting professional improvement, the ACE Development Fund has made grants of varying amounts to members. SIGs, committees, and individuals have benefited from a wide range of studies and activities. See you, and your auction item, in Denver!

Gary Hermance Speaker: Temple Grandin

On Sunday, June 12, ACE/NETC 2.011 welcomes Gary Hermance speaker, Dr. Temple Grandin. Grandin is an animal science professor at Colorado State University where she conducts ongoing research on animal handling systems and teaches courses on livestock handling and facility design.

Grandin is a strong advocate for more humane livestock handling, and has designed numerous innovations at such facilities that help to reduce stress in animals during their final minutes. She has devoted her career to improving conditions at the large processing plants that slaughter some of the 40 billion pounds of cattle and pigs for human consumption every year in the United States. In 2010 she was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential people.

At age two Grandin had no speech and showed signs of severe autism. Her mother defied the advice of the doctors and kept her out of an institution. Many hours of speech therapy and intensive teaching helped Grandin learn to talk. Despite a childhood of constant teasing, Grandin persevered. Her high school science teacher and experiences on her aunt’s Arizona ranch motivated Grandin to study and pursue a career as a scientist and livestock equipment designer.

Grandin has published several hundred industry publications, book chapters and technical papers on animal handling, 45 refereed journal articles, and seven books including New York Times best seller Animals in Translation. In 2010, HBO premiered a movie about Grandin’s early life and career with the livestock industry. The movie received seven Emmy awards including Best Actress in a Drama for Claire Danes.

No More Rooms? How Did That Happen?

As many of you have already learned, there is limited room availability at the Inverness Hotel and Conference Center, initially on the nights of June 9 and 13, and now for all nights. Fortunately there are two overflow hotels nearby, with similar -- or in some cases even better -- rates. [You can view overflow choices here: http://www.acenetc.org/en/venue/] But having been program chair for the Albuquerque meeting when many of us had to shuttle between two hotels, I understand everyone's frustration with this arrangement. For those of you wondering whether this is due to poor planning, I thought I would offer an explanation of what led to this situation.

First, when we requested hotel proposals over a year ago, we were following the model of the St. Louis meeting -- keeping the meeting short so people could get in and out in a few days. The restricted travel budgets for attendees played a primary role in planning for both a shorter meeting and for lower-than-normal attendance. By ending the meeting at noon the last day, participants would avoid an additional hotel night. Since then we have had proposals to add workshops and sessions, in part to meet the more diverse interests of a combined ACE/NETC audience, and also to again incorporate SIG and other meetings, based on feedback after last year's conference. In addition, people just seem interested in spending extra time in Denver.

Combined with that we have the Boycott Arizona factor. We had originally settled on a facility in Arizona where we would have run of the place, very reasonable networking and food rates, and large rooms for everyone. Shortly after we officially chose that hotel -- releasing the holds we had at other locations -- the Board began to hear complaints from a number of members. Consequently they voted to support the Arizona boycott in reaction to the governor's signing of the immigration bill SB 1070. An online poll of ACE members, combined with an informal poll of NETC attendees in Auburn, then determined Denver as our 2011 conference site. We had to negotiate with the Inverness to get us rooms at rates comparable to what they had originally offered. All they had available was over a weekend, since they are heavily used on weeknights.

Apart from the irritation factor, though, we expect everyone will be very pleased with this facility. Many of us have visited there over the past year and found everything to be excellent. It is in large part because of their high demand as a well run conference center that rooms have been in short supply.

Robert Casler
ACE President

"We should have seen that coming."

Those words might cross your mind when you and your college administrators are blindsided by unexpected criticism (or worse), or when you realize you missed a golden opportunity for your college.

Learn how never to utter those words again at the day-long symposium, "Issues Management for Land-grant Universities" at ACE/NETC in Denver.

The symposium, 8:15-11:30 a.m. and 2:30-4:15 p.m. on Monday, June 13, will share findings from a multi-state team that has examined Issues Management since 2008.

During this session you will:

• Get an overview of Issues Management and how it applies to land-grant universities.
• Learn best practices identified by the Issues Management team and how to put them to work.
• Talk with Tracy Irani at the University of Florida's Public Issues Education Center about how its work helps both the university and the state's agricultural industry.
• Discuss how a concerted effort in issues management can provide a stronger national voice for land-grant universities.
• Engage with a panel of communicators and administrators from Purdue, University of California, and Colorado State about how they've handled issues.

Special Invitation: If you work with administrators when issues arise — and you want to help them be more proactive — ask them to attend this session with you. ACE/NETC offers a one-day registration fee of $135. Attending the symposium together will make it easier to put recommendations into practice once you return home.

Land-grant deans have already been notified of the symposium at the annual APLU meeting (Association of Public and Land-grant Universities) earlier this year. Many expressed interest in attending or sending someone on their cabinet. Give them a nudge and ask them to join you.

It's past time to shift from constantly reacting — draining your time, money, energy and focus — and dealing proactively with issues that are plainly on the horizon. When handled properly, they can be win-wins for you, your administrators, and your institution.