The Department of Animal and Food Sciences offers access to knowledge and learning for citizens and students throughout the Commonwealth. Our mission is to discover and disseminate knowledge through innovative programs in teaching, research and extension. We will continue to recruit and retain faculty and students of the highest caliber in order to maintain our status as one of the top departments of its kind in the nation.
Most Significant Challenges
1. Infrastructure and capacity appear likely to constrain further growth and advancement in all mission areas, and across most units in the Department. Limits have been reached in:
o quantity and quality of office, laboratory, meeting and teaching space,
o ability to sustain and update existing farm, laboratory and teaching facilities,
o IT and communications support and hardware,
o business and document management of grants/contracts, animal units and other functions.
2. Budget circumstances portend limited growth in faculty numbers, and may result in decreased faculty numbers. Expansion of enrollment or grant funding is difficult without addition of faculty.
3. Attracting, retaining and compensating highly skilled staff remains a challenge.
4. Recruitment or development of faculty at the most distinguished level (e.g., academy-level) remains severely limited by budget cuts and by the limitations in infrastructure for the development of state of the art laboratory and research facilities.

Strategies
1. We will strive to recruit, develop and retain nationally distinguished faculty and students.
o We will opportunistically reallocate resources to retain exceptional mid-career faculty who bring elevated recognition and leadership to the department.
o We will improve strategies for recruiting and developing new faculty who have the potential to become national leaders in their area of expertise.
o We will continue to recruit and support excellent graduate students and postdoctoral scholars who can contribute to the research, teaching and extension missions of the Department.
2. We will further develop plans for expanding and enhancing the physical infrastructure needed to sustain the growth and advancement of the last decade.
3. We must seek increased funding for high-quality lab, teaching, and field facilities, as well as for extension programs and projects.
4. We will seek to improve recruitment, retention, and remuneration of staff.
5. We will continue to improve access to resources and infrastructure through enhanced business management, information technology, and support systems.

Key Indicators, by 2014 the Department will have:
1. Sustained its funding and publication record.
2. Increased the principal value of its endowment by 10%.
3. Continued its high level of nationally and internationally-recognized programs, faculty and graduate students.
4. Continued to renovate and maintain the functionality of existing facilities, laboratories and classrooms to support teaching, research and extension programs.