1. ARIZONA EXPERIMENT STATION
The purpose of the Experiment Station in Arizona
Jeffrey Ratje
University of Arizona, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

3. Arizona Experiment Station:
• 8 Units - 12 Locations - 5 Counties
• 140,000 acres
• Farming, Ranching & Rangeland
• Veterinary Diagnostic Lab
• Public & Science Engagement
• Lab Space
• Research & Cooperative Extension
• Cyber Research Computing

4. Environmental Scan

5. SWOT Analysis:
Pre-intervention (2015)
Strengths
• Support from local
constituents
• Significant facilities invested
in 90’s and 00’s
Weaknesses
• Separate units acting
independently
• Lack of connection to
academic home units
• Lack of dedicated funding
Opportunities
• Blank strategic slate
• Educate campus leadership
about relevance and purpose
of AES
Threats
• Water
• State budget cuts
• Apathy
Arizona
Experiment
Station
• Loose set of independent actors
doing “business as usual.”
• No state budget line: competed for
financial resources with academic
units.
• Few knew the value and purpose of
AES. Even fewer cared!
• Decline of a $50 million
endowment from land sales left
few dedicated funding sources.
• Existential threat: 1) new budget
model, 2) increasing water prices,
and 3) State budget cuts required
a different approach.

6. Water – Central Arizona Project (CAP)
One site receives CAP water.
Ag water rationing begins when:
• Lake Mead reaches 1,075’
(measured at year end); or
• Year 2030, agricultural subsidy
for CAP water removed
Lake Mead level today: 1,076’

7. • 4th highest poverty rate in US
• 19% of population below the
federal poverty level of $23,440
for a family of 4 (avg. US is 15%)
US Census Bureau 2014
• 1 in 4 on Medicare
• Prison population has grown by
75 additional prisoners per
month average since 1971 (net in
and out)
• Children in out-of-home care
increased 12.8% in last 5 years
Source: OSPB Director, 9/12/15
Poverty in Arizona
Arizona Community Action Association

8. 8
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
$0
$1
$1
$2
$2
$3
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Billions
The New Financial Reality: University of Arizona Revenue Sources
General Fund Total Funds %GFSource: UA Fact Book 2014-15

9. Solutions

10. Hired an Organizational Consultant
Needed unbiased third-party:
1. Suggested new organizational structure and reporting line
a) Didn’t have political loyalties – called it as she saw it
b) Was focused on future rather than the past
2. Facilitated strategic plan, mission & purpose
3. Mediated dialogue to work through resistance to change and
fears

11. Mission
Provide a diverse world-class infrastructure essential to
generating and disseminating critical knowledge and
technologies for Arizona and the world.
Purpose
To be the leading infrastructure in Arizona underpinning
Teaching, Research and Cooperative Extension excellence.

12. AES units had to justify how they supported
the system
NOT how the system supported them

13. Relocation of Faculty to Academic Homes
Pre:
•AES units “owned” 49% of faculty stationed
with them
Post:
•AES units “owned” 0% of faculty
appointments

14. Focused faculty on the mission and their
impact to the community
NOT the politics of individual AES units

15. Zero-Based Budget
Teeth Required to Cause Change:
• Budget was the enforcement mechanism
• Based on justified need
• Budget “right sized” annually (increased or decreased)
• Pre-intervention: budgets were historical artifacts; rarely adjusted

16. Reduced college subsidy of AES &
incentivized mission entrepreneurship
Emphasized that AES serves a mission
greater than itself

17. Impact to Stakeholders
Process:
• AES awareness activities: tours, poster sessions & small grant incentives
• Annual performance appraisals of faculty document their programmatic impact
Outputs:
• sponsored research, Extension and instruction programs at AES
• sponsored research by non-ag faculty
Outcomes:
• engaged externally – nimble – responsive to stakeholders’ needs
• articulation among faculty – connected to academic community

18. Focused effort on outcomes for stakeholders
Not process or outputs

19. Added strategic outlook to the former tactical approach
Has not been easy
Created two-way communication with citizens and the University
Able to identify AES as one solution for the state’s challenges rather
than just another “mouth to feed”
Gaining acceptance on campus and among unit leaders
More still to do, especially setting and measuring outcome goals

20. The future will tell
if we got it right…