FSML - Strategic plan for Cedar Point Biological Station

University Of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln NE

Investigators

Abstract

The University of Nebraska, Lincoln is awarded a grant to develop a strategic plan for the Cedar Point Biological Field Station, located in Ogallala in Western Nebraska. Cedar Point offers access to: short grass prairie, the Platte River valley, many streams, rivers, lakes and ponds, and the Nebraska Sandhills and has been the site of field based biology courses as part of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), School of Biological Sciences (SBS) undergraduate curriculum. The audience that Cedar Point has served in the past is rapidly changing. This grant will support a comprehensive, two year strategic planning process with 7 workshops that will evaluate: 1) ways to attract new research faculty, 2) develop new undergraduate curricula and approaches, 3) explore the development of consortium of field stations that would coordinate the offerings of specialized courses, linked with a tuition agreement which would allow students at participating field stations to pay in-state tuition, 4) explore their need for local formal and informal education and determine how Cedar Point can fill these needs, 5) explore research and training opportunities that Cedar Point, its faculty and students can offer to other agencies, such as the Nebraska Department of Game and Parks, the Nature Conservancy, Audubon Society, US Forest Service, Power and Irrigation Districts, that manage various natural areas in Nebraska, 6) develop a facilities management plan to improve energy efficient and lower ongoing maintenance costs, 7) develop a Friends of Cedar Point group based on Cedar Point alumni. These workshops will enable UNL to reevaluate Cedar Point's mission, identify challenges and opportunities, and develop a comprehensive teaching, research, outreach and infrastructure strategic plan that can guide Cedar Point in the future. For more information about the station visit their website at http://cedarpoint.unl.edu/.