IN RECENT YEARS, CFAES has experienced significant growth and change. With 416 faculty, 1,335 staff, nearly 3,000 students, 47,491 living alumni, 11,598 animals, 88 counties, and 10,800 acres, our college is using this momentum to become the model land-grant university for the future.
We lead the university in student success metrics with our “students-first” philosophy. We award over $3.5 million in scholarships annually, our first-year retention rates are almost 95%, 95.2% of our graduates are enrolled in graduate education or employed within six months of graduation, our four-year and six-year graduation rates exceed the university’s average, and 74.7% of our graduates stayed in Ohio in 2023.
Our new Buckeye Agricultural Leaders Pathways program aims to increase undergraduate enrollment by focusing on earlier notification of admissions decisionsand increasing outreach to admitted students, while including additional consideration for FFA and Ohio 4-H youth development participation, and leadership experience. In autumn 2023, first-year enrollment in the agriculture-related majors that were part of the pilot experienced a 45% increase. Including programs not part of the pilot, we saw a 16% increase in first-year enrollment. Graduate student enrollment has also increased by nearly 20% in the past five years.
Since 2022, we’ve welcomed over 50 new faculty, with over 15 searches underway. In the last five years, our research expenditures increased by nearly 40%. We’ve also experienced remarkable growth in new innovators (32%), licensing revenue (140%), and patents issued (150%).
Ohio State University Extension educates 2.5-plus million Ohioans across the lifespan. Our efforts in local communities focus on food accessibility and security, precision agriculture, broadband connectivity and access, rural vitality, health and wellness, 4-H, and workforce development.
In 2023, we received gifts from 10,900-plus donors, with 1,100-plus being new donors. New CFAES fundraising activity increased by over 105%, from $29.4 million in fiscal year 2017 to over $60 million in fiscal year 2023.
Over 47,000 living CFAES alumni continue to partner in our work. We honored Jim Chambers ’89 BS with the CFAES Distinguished Alumni Award, and we share our gratitude to Trimble for the new agriculture and construction technology labs on our Columbus and CFAES Wooster campuses. We also welcome four new members to the CFAES Alumni Society Board of Directors: Roger Nicol ’72 MS, ’69 BS; David Mollenkopf ’93 BS; Allison Sanders ’23 BS; and Nathaniel “Than” Hartsock ’99 BS. Thank you for your service.
Our physical spaces have seen significant change. The Controlled Environment Agriculture Research Complex (CEARC) opened in 2022, securing $10 million in grant funding. In January, we broke ground on our Multispecies Animal Learning Center (MALC), a world-class facility bringing people and animals together to support education for learners across the lifespan.
At CFAES, we believe that inspiration ignites potential. We hope that our community is inspired to rise to their greatest potential, achieve their greatest goal, and live a meaningful life. Our progress would not have been possible without our community. Together, we sustain life.
Sincerely,
Cathann A. Kress, PhD
Vice President for Agricultural Administration and Dean,
College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences