CAHNR Strategic Vision
2020 - 2024 Progress Report
Improving quality of life for a sustainable future.
Vision and Values
The College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR) launched a strategic visioning process in 2019, culminating in a Strategic Vision for 2020-2025 and Strategic Vision Implementation Committees (SVICs) to lead and support work in five key areas. This report summarizes and highlights completed work, impacts, and next steps.
Our Vision
CAHNR leads communities and stakeholders toward a sustainable future through scientific discovery, education, and community engagement. Our leadership and innovation advance safe, sustainable, and secure plant and animal production systems; healthier individuals and communities; greater protection and conservation of our environment and natural resources; balanced growth of the economy; and resilient local and global communities.
Visioning Process
CAHNR has a robust legacy and global visibility as a land-grant institution excelling in teaching, research, and extension. Our Strategic Vision is the result of collaboration and innovation among faculty and staff to identify challenges faced by our communities and ways to lead in areas of strength for our College. The trends, expertise, areas for improvement, operational goals, and our core values inform decisions and ensure we continue improving quality of life for a sustainable future.
Diversity Statement
Vision Statement for a Diverse, Equitable, Inclusive, and Just College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources
Spring 2024 Workshops & Follow-Up Revisions, Compiled and Edited by the DEIJ Committee
The College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR) is committed to the transformative work of creating a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and just (DEIJ) College. As the oldest College of Connecticut’s public land-grant institution, we recognize that we benefit from Indigenous dispossession. And as an institution of higher education, we recognize that education systems often mirror, embed, and reinforce social and environmental inequalities. To address these intersecting challenges, we envision a CAHNR that serves as a catalyst for transforming the systems that shape the landscapes of injustice today. This work must extend beyond our existing commitments to providing equal access and opportunity in education and employment. It is the responsibility of all members of the CAHNR community, not just those who serve on the DEIJ Strategic Vision Committee or administration.
To enable these transformations, we commit to the following DEIJ principles for further planning and action.
- We commit to fostering a diverse CAHNR. A College that respects and celebrates the diversity of life experiences, world views, cultures, values, and specializations of our students, staff, faculty, alumni, volunteers, administrators, and the communities we serve, and creates a culture where every person and interaction matters.
- To respect diversity, we commit to creating an inclusive CAHNR. A genuinely inclusive environment embodies cultural humility and is one where everyone feels that they belong, are valued, and inspired to achieve their full potential.
- Meaningful inclusion requires a commitment to equity in CAHNR. Equity requires allocating resources where they are needed most, including addressing disparities in access, power, and potential for harm.
- Achieving real equity requires CAHNR to commit to justice. Justice requires recognizing the potential harm of policies, barriers, and actions, repairing those harms, and transforming the systems and individuals that have perpetuated harm.
With these principles, we commit to addressing DEIJ in our research, teaching, extension, and service as a continuous and evolving process of reflective learning, goal setting, and implementing actions through CAHNR’s strategic vision and plan. We also commit to accountability with regular reporting of successes and challenges.
This vision statement serves as a living document and is part of our ongoing effort to work toward a more diverse, equitable, inclusive, and just College.
By the Numbers
CAHNR accomplishments from 2020 - 2024
$148M
million in external grant funds
200+
faculty and staff across all
departments participate in SVIC committees
32%
increase in graduate students
1,600
peer-reviewed publications
10%
increase in
undergraduate students
3,800
Extension certifications
2,300
clients annually with
the Connecticut Veterinary
Medical Diagnostic Laboratory
720
Extension fact sheets
and publications
20
patents
Focus Areas
Discussion and Next Steps
Co-chairs from across CAHNR departments lead Strategic Vision Implementation Committees (SVICs) to provide direction within and across the five core strategic vision areas. These are:
- Ensuring a vibrant and sustainable agricultural industry and food supply
- Enhancing health and well-being locally, nationally, and globally
- Promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice
- Advancing adaptation and resilience in a changing climate
- Fostering sustainable landscapes at the urban-rural interface
College-wide, faculty and staff align their mission-driven teaching, research, extension, and service to one or more strategic vision areas, contributing significant amounts of energy and outputs. Growth in student enrollment, external research awards, and extension engagement all indicate CAHNR’s impact. This alignment and SVIC-led efforts created new interdisciplinary projects; workforce development through undergraduate, graduate, and extension education; and improved outcomes regionally, nationally, and internationally.
One example of the improved outcomes through SVIC-aligned initiatives is the three conferences CAHNR recently led, where the College engaged university and external partners. First, a two-day Cannabis Symposium in March 2023 explored research, health benefits, entrepreneurship, law, science, and recreation. An October 2023 symposium connected researchers and fostered collaboration for a sustainable environmental future. The inaugural One Health Conference, held in April 2024, encouraged discussion and collaboration in the pioneering transdisciplinary approach to research and problem-solving on major global challenges aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
CAHNR continues to invest in SVIC success, through various initiatives, including internal funding to 24 projects across strategic vision areas. These ongoing efforts also highlight the interconnectedness of research, education, and extension initiatives across two or more SVIC areas.
