Iowa State’s mission to become the nation’s top land-grant institution is an attractive goal to one candidate for the position of dean in the College of Agriculture.

Thomas Fretz, dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Maryland, College Park, is the first of three candidates to visit campus.

He spoke at an open forum Monday.

“ISU has rather boldly stated that it wishes to become the nation’s premier land-grant institution,” he said at Monday’s open forum.

“I’m not so sure that at the University of Maryland that we have as boldly stated our aspirational goals. There’s something about the land grant that is embedded in me and is embedded in this institution.”

Fretz served as the associate dean of the ISU College of Agriculture and associate director of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station from 1989 until 1994, when he accepted his present position at the University of Maryland.

He said he sees the roles of the dean of the College of Agriculture as a stepping stone to creating a culture of excellence at the university level.

“It’s about building on a strong family of friends and alumni of the college, and it’s a little bit about addressing and helping to solve problems,” he said. “It’s about representing the faculty and the chairs to the president as well as at the state and national level. It’s to try to find a way to enrich the experience of our students. It’s about leadership, and it’s about leading.”

Although Iowa State is becoming a leader in academic excellence, Fretz said the university needs to look inward at its service and organizational excellence to make the complete package more accessible to its students.

“I think that while we are coming close to achieving academic excellence, there is an area where we fall short – and that is in service excellence and the building of relationships and organizational excellence,” he said.

“As you are downsizing and experiencing budget cuts, you really have to look for organizational excellence. I think it should be looked at as an opportunity for the institution to become stronger by becoming more focused.”

Appointing a new dean is important to students in the ISU College of Agriculture, said Holly Kasperbauer, sophomore in agricultural education.

“The new dean will definitely have an effect on me as a student in the College of Agriculture,” she said.

“I wish there would have been more students in attendance tonight, which reflects on the lack of involvement of the students in the College of Agriculture. I think this is an important issue that needs to be addressed by the new dean.”

The next candidate for the position to visit campus will be Lee Sommers, director of the Agricultural Experiment Station at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colo.

She will present an open forum from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 5 in 1204 Kildee.

For more candidate information, look at the provost Web site at www.provost.iastate.edu/agdean.