<p>Cayuga - I don't know what you actually do, but I think you should really look into working toward some administrative position at Cornell overseeing the overall mission of the school. You'd do very well for the school.</p>
<p>The schools and their programs grew naturally and probably made sense when they were designed, but I agree that they simply don't make the most logical sense anymore.</p>
<p>You're right that people would be upset about losing ag in the name - especially to replace it with some "hippie" word like environmental, but they've already taken it out of the academic priorities, so it's only a logical next step.</p>
<p>I like College of the Atlantic's definition of Human Ecology over Cornell's.</p>
<p>I still really like College of Environmental and Life Sciences as a name.</p>
<p>i kinda think ILR should change its name to something like School of Applied Social Sciences. Cause that's really what it is</p>
<p>if all this admittedly logical restructuring was to occur, there would have to be more provisions for taking classes outside of one's college, because the breadth of courses would be too narrow.
plus it's kind of cool to minor (or double major) in AEM and some science in CALS and I know that was appealing to me when I was applying. I also like the agriculture part of CALS and I have built at least one agriculture course into my schedule so far because I feel like checking it out.</p>
<p>ifihadahammer:</p>
<p>LOL... you want to change the name of ILR to SASS... that would interesting :D</p>
<p>I think CoE should have a funny acronym, it's way too serious. like umm... </p>
<p>College of Applied Mechanics and Engineering (CAME)</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>School of Engineering and eXperiments. (SEX)</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>College of OverWhelming Stress (COWS) :D</p>
<p>Change the College of Engineering back to its original name: Sibley College of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanic Arts (SCMEMA). That'd be cool.</p>
<p>I thought that AEM was in CALS because there's a lot of research on agribusiness and agricultural economics? Anyway, I visited the aem website and I really like description on the main page. And this part:</p>
<p>Every fall when the market for new hires heats up, the world's top employers go looking for Bear—the Big Red Bear graduates of Cornell's Department of Applied Economics and Management (AEM), home to the University's premier Undergraduate Business Program. </p>
<p>Why? </p>
<p>They’re Ivy League Smart. </p>
<p>Take that Ann Coulter lol i'm bored</p>
<p>
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They’re Ivy League Smart.
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</p>
<p>I'm not certain what that means.</p>
<p>My guess is that there won't be a name change until someone donates a lot of money to CALS.</p>
<p>Beef Supreme's College of Agriculture. Offers specialist programs in cattle husbandry.</p>
<p>I think AEM might have originally been called Agricultural Economics and Management. If so, they might have changed the name but trying to keep the acronym the same akin to Home Economics to Human Ecology I kind of remember that Warren has Agricultural Economics and Management across the top that faces the Ag quad or maybe on the entrance to Mann...but someone on campus might want to check that out, I'm not entirely sure. That's probably why AEM is in CALS.</p>
<p>Less than ten years ago AEM used to be agricultural, resource, and managerial economics, or ARME. And prior to that it was just known as agricultural economics. And before that I believe it was called farm administration.</p>
<p>I don't know much about this, but from afar:</p>
<p>FWIW, I think Agriculture and related activities are pretty important, both in NYS and more importantly in the world, and SOME colleges had better be the premier places to study these things. This school was set up to be one of those places. That mission better not have gotten too out of style, because I think it's pretty important to the world. My guess is that function is what NYS had in mind via land grant status, and that is the mission behind what they are paying the $$ for. So the university ought to be doing it, centrally not peripherally, and very well. And proclaiming for all to see that this is what they are, and what they do. </p>
<p>IIRC the Ag Ec program involved programs focused towards agri-business and resource economics, and those are legitimate, though possibly tangential, areas related to the school's mission. And indeed it did always seem strange that this was the only undergrad business program on campus. Most business types don't really care to study biology and food science as well.</p>
<p>I don't think the intent was to train a bunch of people to be I Bankers on Wall Street. There are other places where that is more the focus.</p>
<p>The original mission of the school , as I see it, has not gone out of style, and is still very much needed.</p>
<p>If a bunch of people are there now who don't care about this, then maybe the school needs to go back to its roots, trim those programs to appropriate proportions/ content, and some other program should be set up someplace else for those other people. An undergrad program at Johnson would seem to make the most sense.</p>
<p>But I wouldn't think the school should be seeking to change its name, or its mission, or its focus. But perhaps a more clearly focused rededication to same might be in order, if things have gotten a bit fuzzy.</p>
<p>I'm not suggesting getting rid of the agricultural mission of CALS. That remains at the heart of its work in researching better crop yields and in genetics and all sorts of great stuff. </p>
<p>But, if you look at the "Agriculture and Life Sciences" programs at other universities (Texas A&M, Wisconsin, etc...) you will see that the breadth of their programs pales in comparison to what Cornell is pursuing through their equivalent school.</p>
<p>The others are true agricultural schools. Cornell's CALS has expanded so far beyond just ag and even traditional life sciences into the realms of genetics, bionanotechnology, microbiology, and genomes that its name no longer fully embodies its mission. </p>
<p>Cornell's "academic priorities" defined by the heads of CALS does not even include the word agriculture, though they make it clear agriculture fits within all of the priorities: environmental science, social science, new life science, and international land grant. </p>
<p>So it's not about walking away from agriculture, the most important industry we will ever have. It's also not about trying to keep up with the latest fashions. I've always respected Cornell for sticking to the practical matters while other schools were off trying to ride the trends to create the next I-Banking millionaires or whatnot.</p>
<p>It's just about coming up with a name and brand that reflects and embodies the cutting edge work (which is most often applied to agriculture) they're doing and generates an enthusiasm in people for being part of a school on such a cutting edge. Right now, students tend to feel a little sheepish about it because of public perception.</p>
<p>"..students tend to feel a little sheepish about it .."</p>
<p>I would like to overlook this but I just can't.</p>
<p>hahaha. Definitely no pun intended.</p>
<p>monydad has a knack for picking out puns :-P</p>
<p>On a more serious note, I personally think there's nothing wrong with the name, or the college, and you should feel pretty good about it as is.</p>
<p>I see nothing wrong, or "lesser" connected with the study of Agriculture, or studies relating to Agriculture. Particularly at Cornell. If some others do, that's in their head. Don't let it be in yours.</p>
<p>But if it is going to be in your head, and it would make you feel bad forever, or feel that your accomplishment is somehow consequently diminished, don't matriculate.</p>
<p>
[quote]
If a bunch of people are there now who don't care about this, then maybe the school needs to go back to its roots, trim those programs to appropriate proportions/ content, and some other program should be set up someplace else for those other people. An undergrad program at Johnson would seem to make the most sense.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Well... the dirty little secret is that the AEM program is a revenue generator for the Ag School. Close to one in four undergrads are AEM students, and that's not to mention the amount of money that the other colleges at Cornell have to pay the Ag school every time one of their students takes an AEM course.</p>
<p>Same thing with Communication... between AEM and Communication you have roughly close to half of the undergraduate population of the Ag School, but nowhere nearly close to the number of faculty.</p>
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But if it is going to be in your head, and it would make you feel bad forever, or feel that your accomplishment is somehow consequently diminished, don't matriculate.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I actually think that applejack brings up a really good point -- image and recognition matter, and while nobody who is learned would ever speak disparagingly about Cornell, it's reputation among the broader population could be improved. </p>
<p>I can remember when I first decided to attend Cornell over Notre Dame and Northwestern... my next door neighbor immediately made some completely unfounded joke about the Ag School.</p>
<p>
[quote]
On a more serious note, I personally think there's nothing wrong with the name, or the college, and you should feel pretty good about it as is.</p>
<p>I see nothing wrong, or "lesser" connected with the study of Agriculture, or studies relating to Agriculture. Particularly at Cornell. If some others do, that's in their head. Don't let it be in yours.</p>
<p>But if it is going to be in your head, and it would make you feel bad forever, or feel that your accomplishment is somehow consequently diminished, don't matriculate.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You're really missing my point here and trying to turn this into some insecure kid wanting to be invited to the cool party. </p>
<p>It's not about being embarrassed about agriculture or seeing it as "lesser". As I've stated throughout, I've made it clear there is nothing more important to our world than food and creating systems that can get that food to everyone. </p>
<p>My point was simply that the school in general embodies far more than JUST ag, is pushing frontiers for entirely new industries far beyond Ag, and its self-proclaimed priorities embody far more than ag. Therefore, its name and brand should reflect that evolving responsibility. </p>
<p>It is not just an Ag school anymore in the way that other Ag schools are.</p>
<p>don't they get at that in the "and Life Sciences" part of the name?
FWIW, I got the idea some people were concerned about the aspect i addressed from reading some of the previous posts, I think.</p>