Investing in the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design

Our research ranges from very local to global

in scope and promotes the sustainable use

of natural, renewable, and human resources,

and the advancement of design, for the

improvement of the human and natural worlds.

It’s imperative that we continue this

work—and succeed—if we want not only our

state but also our world to prosper. We must

educate the next generation of West Virginia

University students, equipping them with

the skills necessary to effect change. But we

can’t do it alone. Answering these challenges

requires bringing together many minds—the

intellect and ideas of students, faculty, and

staff and the passion and support of alumni

and friends. It’s a chance for us all to make

a difference—to create a lasting legacy of

accomplishment and impact.

Over the next 40 years, the world will need

to increase food production by 70 percent

to feed its growing population. More people, of

course, also means more housing and greater

demand on natural resources, such as trees and

clean water. All of this must be accomplished

with no additional land or water, and lots more

people. Innovative design must drive new ideas

from science to application—from the way we

live to the breakthroughs we seek.

Talk about a challenge: At the WVU Davis

College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and

Design, we’re meeting it.

Part of the state’s flagship, land-grant

university, we are discovering, designing, and

developing new products and processes to

address these very real needs. We’re teaching

the next generation of thinkers and doers.

The Davis College of agriCulTure, NaTural resourCes aND DesigN: a sTaTe of MiNDs

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To fulfill this ambitious mission, we must be

good stewards of our own resources. The Davis

College has 3,425 acres of farmland and 8,134 acres

of forest, as well as a new greenhouse and a wide

range of discipline-specific laboratories. All of these

assets give undergraduate and graduate students

an opportunity to learn beyond the classroom and

facilitate valuable service to the community.

Our faculty is involved in path-breaking

research in everything from developing

new crops to addressing world hunger, from

sustainable design in homes, businesses, and

communities, to novel recycling processes and

biomass applications—and much more.

These innovations hold promise to improve

lives here in West Virginia, across the nation, and

around the world. To realize this promise, however,

we need alumni, friends, and supporters, like you,

to invest in the Davis College and its bold purpose.

units: animal and nutritional sciences, design and

merchandising, forestry and natural resources,

plant and soil sciences, and resource management.

Our reach extends far beyond campus: Davis

College students and faculty can be found in every

county of the state and every corner of the globe.

The Davis College is at an exciting point

in its history. With a new dean in place; a

University strategic plan that emphasizes

science, technology, engineering, and math,

as well as their relation to the humanities and

social sciences; and a strong research agenda

that emphasizes sustainability in all areas, the

Davis College has never been more important or

better poised to make a difference. From design

to nutrition and from forest science to landscape

management, the College is central to WVU’s

mission of advancing the well-being of the people

and places of West Virginia and beyond.

The TrajeCTory of suCCess

T he Davis College of Agriculture, Natural

Resources and Design is the University’s

oldest academic unit. In fact, WVU opened its doors

in 1867 as the West Virginia Agricultural College.

From there, we’ve grown and flourished while

maintaining our strong roots. We are now one

of the largest of the University’s 13 colleges,

offering 22 undergraduate majors, 17 master’s

programs, and seven doctoral degrees in five

The Davis College has 3,425 acres of farmland and 8,134 acres of forest,

as well as a new greenhouse and a wide range of discipline-specific

laboratories. All of these assets give undergraduate and graduate students

an opportunity to learn beyond the classroom.

At the Davis College, our vision is simple:

we will address societal and landscape

needs while improving quality of life for

people in West Virginia and around the world.

Through this campaign, we ask you, alumni and

friends who believe in this vision, to invest in

the following priorities.

Student Support

Scholarships and Fellowships: Davis

College undergraduate students are among

WVU’s best, earning academic awards,

conducting forward-looking research and

community service, and succeeding in national

competitions. To help these talented students,

we must provide more scholarships. More

merit-based and need-based awards will lessen

student borrowing and increase opportunities

for them to compete in a global economy.

PrioriTies for ToMorrow

And at the graduate level, we seek partners

to enhance fellowships to attract the very best

master’s and doctoral candidates—tomorrow’s

leaders in agriculture, natural resources, and

design. The work these students will do will

change lives and energize our world outlook.

Student Enrichment: We pride ourselves

on connecting students with out-of-classroom

experiences that prepare them for meaningful

careers. These experiences include study abroad,

internships, local community engagement and

service-learning, and research and entrepreneurship

activities, among others. These are the kind of high-

impact learning activities that inspire a lifetime

of accomplishment. What more could we want

for our students? We need help in providing these

opportunities to enhance students’ education and

simultaneously raise the College’s profile.

Investment Total: $2.5 Million

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Faculty & Outreach Support

Endowed Positions: The Davis College has

a long tradition of academic excellence and a

reputation for outstanding faculty mentoring

and research. To continue this tradition, we

need to add to our stellar faculty by creating

named professorships and chairs. These are the

academic gold standard, key to recruiting and

retaining the talented researchers who will fire

our students’ imaginations.

Professional Development: For faculty to

remain on the cutting edge, they must continue

to develop and challenge their skills by attending

conferences and using the latest technology. We

seek partners to invest in these experiences, which

come back to benefit students in the classroom

and scholars’ professions through discoveries in

the laboratory, studio, and field.

Outreach: As part of a land-grant university, the

Davis College helps West Virginians grow better

crops, develop healthier herds, manage their

forests, and improve their communities. Through

this campaign, we want to strengthen this work.

We seek partners to endow positions to coordinate

outreach activities, fund students and faculty to

undertake these projects, and enhance initiatives

like the Hardwood Research Trust, Environmental

Research Center, Organic Research Project, and

Community Design Team, among others.

Investment Total: $5.25 Million

Research & Teaching Spaces

Through A State of Minds, like-minded supporters

can invest in an array of Davis College learning

environments. Priorities include:

The new Davis College Building, to replace

the existing Agricultural Sciences Building:

WVU has committed to constructing a new home

for the College! While this one building will not

contain all of the College’s units, it is the first in a

series of upgrades and expansions that will give the

College a fitting place to call home—a place that

will reflect our excellence and intent. As we move

into the new building (in 2014) and renovate other

College spaces, we’ll need additional resources to

purchase equipment and technology and create the

kinds of spaces that will make us most productive.

Upgrading living laboratories and studios:

Investment is needed in farm and forest

experiment stations and indoor studios—spaces

where students can learn best practices and

research methods and where instructors can

breathe life into their lessons.

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Other spaces: To showcase the bounty of

the state’s flora and fauna, support is needed

to upgrade space within Percival Hall to

house true-to-life exhibits of the West

Virginia Natural History Museum. And we

need to develop spaces where innovations,

accomplishments, and historical aspects of all

our programs have a place for display, from

fashion and crop plant varieties, to landscape

designs and outdoor adventures.

Investment Total: $8.5 Million

Opportunity Fund

What will the next advances be in agriculture,

natural resources, and design? We can’t know for

sure, but we must be ready. That’s why we aim to

establish a fund to foster forward-thinking programs.

This fund would help the new dean encourage

innovation and address promising opportunities as

they arise. This will be a fund to help our faculty

and students push the boundaries of their work

and thinking, to take measured risks in research,

development, and design, to ask the questions

that live between the disciplines, and to pursue

policy innovations to make our societies work. The

Opportunity Fund will be a source to energize the

whole of the Davis College and to help lead WVU

to be a model of next-century accomplishment.

Investment Total: $500,000

Technology: We need to provide and maintain

cutting-edge 21st-century technology in

classrooms, laboratories, and studios across all of

our programs. After all, it is this technology that

students will encounter in the workplace, and

we need them to master it before they graduate.

We want them to be the best from their first day

on the job.

Greenhouse enhancements: Additional

support is needed to expand classroom and

teaching facilities in our new greenhouse and

to pursue programs in energy-efficient plant

propagation and invasive pests, among others.

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of our time—housing, food, clean water, good

use of natural resources, and effective design—in

stable, beneficial ways. We must do these things.

The Davis College is a place of purpose,

filled with people who are poised to seize the

future. We are already very good at what we

do, but achieving excellence requires more. We

need to expand programs and opportunities

into new realms. We need to “supercharge”

learning opportunities, student scholarships, and

community engagement. On the faculty side, we

must encourage ground-breaking research and

attract more support for these efforts. We must

enable our excellent people.

The University has brought resources to

the table. We have a new College building in

the works, a new greenhouse ready to go, and a

student body ready to engage. With your help,

through this campaign, we will amplify that

investment. We hope you’ll invest in this future.

We’re looking for contributors and donors with

similar purpose, with mutual interests, with

contagious optimism—whether those interests

are novel ways to deliver fresh water, develop

sustainable agriculture, or create innovative studio

space that inspires forward-thinking design.

I ask you to join me in supporting A State

of Minds: The Campaign for West Virginia’s

University by making a gift to the Davis College.

Your time, treasure, and talent will help faculty,

students, and communities address vital issues,

translating innovation into reality in ways that

will benefit us all. Let’s get going.

Daniel J. RobisonDean

a sTaTe of MiNDs:CreaTiNg ThoughTleaDers for ToMorrow

I am truly honored to be named dean and look

forward to joining the outstanding people in,

and stakeholders of, the Davis College as we

forge into what is sure to be a dynamic period in

the College’s history.

I’ve found an incredible sense of energy here.

The people and mission of the Davis College are

perfectly aligned to address the great challenges

W E S T V I R G I N I A U N I V E R S I T Y

West Virginia’s healthcare epicenter, its flagship of service, its brain trust.

Home to some of the most innovative and forward-thinking minds in the

country, WVU serves the world by first serving its state. We have emerged as

a leader in solving today’s most complex problems, and we are ready to share

our State of Minds with the world.

A State of Minds: The Campaign for West Virginia’s University is about

investing in the values, ambition, intellect, and mindset that define one of the

most exciting universities in the country. With support from alumni, friends,

foundations, and partners, West Virginia University will be in a position to

lead the national and global dialogue on energy, health, the environment, the

economy…and so much more.

West Virginia University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Institution.

Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and DesignOffice of Development

1168 Agricultural Sciences Building | P.O. Box 6108 | Morgantown, WV 26506-6108 | 304-293-2400 | www.davis.wvu.edu

One Waterfront Place, 7th Floor | P.O. Box 1650 | Morgantown, WV 26507-1650 | 304-284-4000 or 800-847-3856 | www.astateofminds.com