It has come to our attention that, through the new state funding formula for higher education institutions in House Bill 59 (state budget bill), The Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute would experience a 30-percent funding cut. Obviously we have concerns about how the new funding formula impacts ATI.
As an industry, we rely on highly skilled and trained graduates from ATI, and it’s imperative that we continue to have that resource available to ensure quality employees in the future – especially since 50 percent of our workforce will retire in the next 15 years.
Vice President and dean of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University, Bruce McPheron, praised the Agricultural Technical Institute in Wooster, calling it "the nation’s number one producer of two-year associate degree graduates in the food and agricultural space," as well as the scientists and professors ATI has on staff.
We need your help in sharing the importance of ATI and the work they do there, and the importance of the employees ATI provides for our industry.
Please contact the Ron Amstutz, Chairman of the House Finance and Appropriations Committee, and Cliff Rosenberger, Chairman of the Higher Education Subcommittee, and let them know you have concerns with the new funding formula and what that could mean for new agribusiness employees in the future.
George Greenleaf on Monday 03/11/2013 at 09:18 PM
This is very well written, succinct, yet covers the real concern our industry, plus many other agricultural industries across will suffer if this great institution is cutup into irrelevancy by our own Ohio educational leaders (legislators) whose foresight created this #1 of all 2 year Agricultural Technical institution in the USA!!!!!!!!!!