University of Minnesota. College of Forestry

At its May 13, 1910, meeting, the Board of Regents voted to establish "a new special department, to be known as the Department of Forestry; to be presided over by a person to be known as the Dean of the Forestry Department, who shall be in charge of the forestry instruction and experiment work at the University." Terms for academic units were often interchanged during this time, so the Department of Forestry is also referred to as the College of Forestry in University publications. Within the academic organizational structure, Forestry, whether referred to as a department or college at this time, was a part of the Department of Agriculture. In 1918, R.W. Thatcher became Dean of the Department of Agriculture and enacted several administrative changes. The collegiate-level instruction in the Department of Agriculture was grouped into one college within the Department - College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Home Economics - so Forestry became a Division of the newly formed College. After several other name and administrative changes, in 1988, the Board of Regents approved the name of the College of Forestry to the College of Natural Resources. On July 1, 2006, as part of the "strategic positioning" initiative, the College of Natural Resources merged with COAFES and the College of Human Ecology's Department of Food Science and Nutrition to form the new College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences and ceased to exist as an independent collegiate structure.

Forestry was first listed as a College of Agriculture collegiate-level course in the 1889-1890 University Bulletin. The 1902-1903 College of Agriculture Catalogue introduced Forestry as a full course of study, explaining that Forestry was established “in response to urgent calls for instruction in this subject. Forestry is a branch of general agriculture and means cultivation of forest crops…the object is to produce the greatest amount of serviceable material on the soil in the shortest time. It is a business and contemplates business methods.”

At its May 13, 1910, meeting, the Board of Regents voted to establish “a new special department, to be known as the Department of Forestry; to be presided over by a person to be known as the Dean of the Forestry Department, who shall be in charge of the forestry instruction and experiment work at the University.” At the same meeting, the Regents appointed Samuel B. Green as Dean of the Department of Forestry.

Terms for academic units were often interchanged during this time, so the Department of Forestry is also referred to as the College of Forestry in University publications. Within the academic organizational structure, Forestry, whether referred to as a department or college at this time, was a part of the Department of Agriculture.

Professor Green died on July 11, 1910, and Edward G. Cheyney was named Dean of the Department of Forestry.

The 1911-1912 President’ Report noted that the Department of Forestry “trains men along technical forestry lines, for private forest administration, government forest positions, and special related industries, combines a broad collegiate training with technical work” and that the “time has come when the forest lands of the State ought to be put under forest management and made productive. The College of Forestry trains men to handle this work.”

In 1918, R.W. Thatcher became Dean of the Department of Agriculture and enacted several administrative changes. The changes were outlined in the Department of Agriculture section of the 1917-1918 President’s Report. The collegiate-level instruction in the Department of Agriculture was grouped into one college within the Department – College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Home Economics – so Forestry became a Division of the newly formed College.

The curriculum for the Division of Forestry focused on general forestry, commercial lumbering, forest technology, grazing, game and wildlife management, and forest science during the 1920s and 1930s. In the late 1940s, wood technology was added to the curriculum.

At their June 16, 1949, meeting, the Regents voted that the “present Division of Forestry…be designated as the School of Forestry” and that the present Chief of the Division be given the title of Director of the School of Forestry.

At December 4, 1970 Board of Regents meeting, upon recommendation of the Vice President for Academic Administration and the President, the Board voted to “approve the establishment of three collegiate units within the administrative structure of the Institute of Agriculture: College of Agriculture, College of Forestry, and College of Home Economics, each to be headed by a Dean responsible to the administrative head of the Institute of Agriculture.”

When the College of Forestry was established, core curriculum areas included forest resource development, forest science, forest products, and recreation resource management.

At the August 12, 1988, Board of Regents Educational Planning and Policy Committee meeting, committee members reviewed a proposal to change the name of the College of Forestry to the College of Natural Resources. The proposed change had been initiated by the college faculty. The Committee voted unanimously to recommend approval of the change, and the Board approved the name change. In addition to forest products, forest resources, and recreation resource management, the College of Natural Resources included fisheries and wildlife and urban forestry in its curriculum.

In September 2004, President Robert Bruininks announced the launch of a systemwide self-assessment and planning process known initially as "strategic positioning." The goal was to make the University of Minnesota "one of the top three public research universities in the world within a decade." Among the President’s recommendations for this initiative was a proposal to reduce the total number of colleges on the Twin Cities campus by three which would realign their departments and programs into “stronger collegiate wholes.” The May 6, 2005, recommendations executive summary stated, “The integrated colleges will offer students and faculty broader, interdisciplinary options for study and research; generate cost savings that can be reinvested in the academic enterprise; and create the potential for global leadership.” The President’s academic recommendations included integrating the College of Natural Resources with the academic units of the College of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences (COAFES) “to create a new, expanded college focused broadly on food systems, environmental science, policy, and renewable resources.”

At their June 10, 2005, meeting, the Regents approved the recommendations for the strategic positioning process, and on July 1, 2006, the College of Natural Resources merged with COAFES and the College of Human Ecology’s Department of Food Science and Nutrition to form the new College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences and ceased to exist as an independent collegiate structure.

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