Full Text of SR0558 97th General Assembly
SR0558 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, In 1961, a new major in Agricultural | 3 | | Communications was formed within the
General Education | 4 | | curriculum at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, | 5 | | then in 1966 became a 4-year curriculum; through a
joint | 6 | | agreement, the College of Journalism and Mass Communications | 7 | | provided a core
of professional courses for agricultural | 8 | | communications students; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, In the late 1960s, a new Agricultural | 10 | | Communications Industry Advisory
Committee was formed; members | 11 | | represented agricultural publications, broadcast
stations, | 12 | | agricultural marketing firms, agricultural commodity and | 13 | | farmer organizations,
and advertising and public relations | 14 | | firms that served agricultural clients; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, By the 1970s, a strategic plan for the academic | 16 | | program resulted in
development of 7 new agricultural | 17 | | communications courses; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, The University of Illinois students collaborated | 19 | | with those from the
University of Missouri and Iowa State | 20 | | University to lay the foundation for forming the
national | 21 | | Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT); and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, In the 1980s, the Agricultural Communications | 2 | | program launched several
major international initiatives; | 3 | | through a new program for Agricultural Communications
| 4 | | Education (PACE), University of Illinois personnel worked with | 5 | | colleagues at universities in Indonesia,
Philippines, | 6 | | Australia, Pakistan, and the West Indies to plan and strengthen | 7 | | academic
programs in this field of interest; and | 8 | | WHEREAS, Agricultural Communications faculty members | 9 | | helped form a new
interdisciplinary International Program for | 10 | | Agricultural Knowledge Systems
(INTERPAKS) within the College | 11 | | of Agriculture; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, In the 1990s, Academic programs and faculty | 13 | | members in Agricultural
Communications, Agricultural | 14 | | Education, and Extension Education became part of a new
| 15 | | Department of Human and Community Development in a restructured | 16 | | College of
Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences; | 17 | | and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, In the early 2000s, there was an erosion of | 19 | | Agricultural Communications
faculty and staff positions due to | 20 | | budget squeezes, unfortunate timing, programmatic
decisions | 21 | | and organizational restructuring, but at the same time, | 22 | | enrollment in the
curriculum remained strong; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, In 2007, members analyzed future needs and | 2 | | confirmed the growing
importance of the academic program in | 3 | | Agricultural Communications at the University of
Illinois; | 4 | | their report served as a foundation for a Memorandum of | 5 | | Understanding; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, A core of 3 Agricultural Communications faculty | 7 | | members would
include a new endowed chair to be established | 8 | | through external funding and to provide
sustained leadership | 9 | | for the program; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, In the late 2000s, a new joint-college | 11 | | Agricultural Communications Program
Committee was established | 12 | | and began efforts for transition; a joint committee of faculty
| 13 | | members developed a strategic vision for the program, "Six | 14 | | Dimensions for a Center for
Excellence in Agricultural | 15 | | Communications at the University of Illinois."; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, During 2010, the Illinois Board of Higher | 17 | | Education approved the Bachelor
of Science degree in | 18 | | Agricultural Communications and formalized the new dual
| 19 | | academic program; also, a joint committee of the 2 colleges | 20 | | developed a governing
document, based on the Memorandum of | 21 | | Understanding, which outlined the mission,
governing powers, | 22 | | administrative and academic structure, and provisions for | 23 | | changes to
the Agricultural Communications program; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Enrollment in the Agricultural Communications | 2 | | curriculum continued during
the early 2010s and was at 50-plus | 3 | | students with excellent talents and strong professional
| 4 | | interest; the Illini Chapter of Agricultural Communicators of | 5 | | Tomorrow (ACT)
experienced growth and increased service to | 6 | | members through enhanced student
involvement and effective | 7 | | advisor support; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, by 2011, the Agricultural Communications | 9 | | Documentation Center was
expanding research resources and | 10 | | mission with Resources in the Center passing the
| 11 | | 37,000-document mark; documents in this unique collection | 12 | | involved agriculture-related
communications in more than 170 | 13 | | countries; therefore, be it
| 14 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL | 15 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we designate February | 16 | | 17, 2012 as Agricultural
Communications Day in the State of | 17 | | Illinois.
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