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Dean’s Message
Dr. John Kirby, Dean
“We are the traditional Land Grant college and our mission is outreach, research and teaching, working to improve the quality of life for the residents of Rhode Island.”
“We have a diverse group of departments that have a lot of commonality to what they do. We need to look at the three areas of activity-teaching, scholarship and outreach. I like to make sure that they feel that this is a community, a fully integrated community across all departments and that is going to require us to think in an interdisciplinary way at all levels.”
“One of the big responsibilities is to be a key component of economic development, to help people achieve their dreams and to maximize their opportunities for success. That’s our responsibility-it comes from the Morrill Act. It’s why we still get federal funding to do these things. We can’t be everything to everybody but we need to be cognizant of that responsibility.”
“The discoveries and applications that are made here, the integration of discovery and education are hugely important to our state and you know that CELS is one of the flagship colleges. You look at the success and breadth of achievement of the faculty, students, staff and supporters-it’s a profound responsibility to be given this opportunity.”
Vision Statement
“We will be a national leader among colleges specializing in environmental and life sciences, environmental management, policy and design.”
Mission Statement
We strive for excellence in teaching, research and service. We prepare our students with the skills, knowledge and insight to address the challenges of today’s world and support their development as lifelong learners. We foster collaboration among our undergraduate and graduate students, staff and faculty in experiential learning and provide opportunities for students to apply their knowledge beyond the University. We address contemporary problems through innovative, relevant and scholarly research. We extend our research based knowledge through community engagement in the tradition of our Land Grant and Sea Grant heritage and are dedicated to outreach and service to our state, national, and global community.