Agriculture is perhaps more important than ever before, as the world prepares to feed and fuel a growing population with limited resources, said Kathryn Boor, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), to nearly 200 Cornellians at an open forum in Kennedy Hall March 14.

"Our college is very well positioned to address and shape solutions for critical emerging global issues," Boor said. "To achieve that objective, we must together thoughtfully and mindfully evolve our college so that we are in a position to lead the way."

She acknowledged there likely will be short-term challenges, including recent state budget cuts to the SUNY system and the Department of Agriculture and Markets.

But by making strategic decisions now -- such as investing in new faculty and facilities, evolving curricula in response to student needs and being flexible with federal funds to support applied research -- the long-term gains could be great, Boor said.

"We've taken some hits in the last three years, and we're taking another hit this year. I can assure you that even with those hits, they will not kill us. In fact, if we're really smart, the decisions that we make right now will make us even stronger," Boor said.

The college's priority must be to support its mission as a land-grant institution with a commitment to "knowledge with a public purpose," and to do so by maintaining a focus on food and energy systems, environmental sciences, life sciences and applied social sciences. The common thread weaving its way through each is sustainability, she added.

"Our teaching, our research, and our extension are all conducted with a mindset that what we do matters beyond the borders of this campus; it matters throughout the entire state of New York, it matters throughout the country and around the world," Boor said.

Making the most of SUNY capital funds by investing in CALS' 603 buildings is not only vital to the college's ability to complete its mission, but it also supports the local economy through construction jobs, Boor said.

"You reach a point of diminishing returns on the ability to patch with bubble gum and duct tape before you really have some very serious issues that you need to address. We've reached that point with a number of our buildings," Boor said.

The budget was a top concern of several faculty members who questioned administrators during the forum.

Boor assured them that college administrators were pulling out all the stops in appealing to legislators in Albany.

She added that she is hopeful that a new budget model and "One Cornell" concept under consideration by university administrators will mean CALS will no longer be an island when it comes to absorbing cuts to public funding.

CALS has undertaken several expense-cutting measures in recent years and is prepared to tap into its reserves to keep its budget balanced, she added.

Earlier projections suggested the college might have to shrink its faculty by about 30 people. Boor said she is hopeful the college won't reduce its faculty size much beyond the current 361, and that any reductions will come through retirement and attrition.

Senior Associate Dean Jan Nyrop acknowledged that some decisions have been difficult, such as choosing to shore up resources for shared facilities like farms, fields and greenhouses over maintaining core funding for laboratory technicians.

"We are trying to prioritize these reductions so that we are able to maintain our capacity broadly," Nyrop said. "We understand that these things hurt individually."

He added that while the "Reimagining CALS" process began as a budgetary exercise, it has evolved into a strategic one.