Candidate Information

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Nominees For President Elect
(to serve three consecutive one-year terms as President Elect, President and Past President)

Keith E. Belk
Professor, Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado

AMSA Activities

AMSA Board, 2003-2005; RMC Muscle Growth Biology Program Committee, 1995-1996; International Award Selection Committee, 1995-96; Carcass Assessment Task Force, 1995-96; 1997 RMC International Markets Program Committee, 1996-97; MIRC Planning Subcommittee, 1997-98; International Relations Committee, 1997-99; Chair, RMC Achievement Award Committee, 1999; Regulatory Affairs Committee, 2000; Scientific Information Committee, 2001; Chair, Scientific Information Committee, 2002-2003;  Scientific Information Committee, 2006-2008

Based on your experience with AMSA and your knowledge of the current state of meat science and the meat industry, what do you believe is the biggest challenge facing this association?

Over time, both external and internal funding of Meat Science and Agricultural Sciences in American Universities has gradually diminished. Furthermore, and in contrast with other manufacturing- and service-oriented industries, meat industry and state/federal funding of research and educational activities in Meat Science is minimal. Funding issues have impacted large, medium, and small universities, and the trend is beginning to have dire consequences in multiple areas:

1. While demand for trained students has not diminished in the meat industry, the capability to adequately educate enough students nation-wide to meet demand is decreasing; the long-term ramifications of this trend should be of great concern to meat scientists and industry leaders alike.
2. The “mission” of land-grant and other universities that previously have focused on agricultural production is changing rapidly; state legislators, university administrators, and society as a whole have de-emphasized the importance of Meat Science and agricultural production.
3. The aforementioned factors have placed pressure on Meat Science, Animal Science, and Food Science administrators; the size and number of Meat Science groups continue to erode and/or become consolidated with other entities to the point that groups capable of providing Meat Science education, research, and outreach are greatly diminished. Capabilities to service constituents of Meat Science have become limited, and continue to erode.

All of these factors have impacted AMSA significantly. Review of the current AMSA Strategic Plan suggests that membership recruitment, maintenance of membership numbers, conversion of student members into professional members, and financial stability comprise a substantial proportion of identified key result areas and critical objectives. The Association needs to begin to address membership and financial issues at the root cause; a continued national reduction in students and academic faculty associated with Meat Science.

As a potential AMSA officer what would be the most important thing for the next Board of Directors to do?

To the extent that the Board of Directors feels comfortable with it, effort should be expended to improve awareness and appreciation of Meat Science on a broad level. More actions are necessary to educate society and policy-makers on the importance of Meat Science education, research, and outreach. In part, this may be accomplished by generating useful products. Likewise, AMSA should continue efforts to improve efficiency of program delivery; cost management is imperative. The last update and refinements of the AMSA Strategic Plan were made in 2006 and it again is time to begin the process of refining/updating Key Result Areas and Critical Objectives; this should occur during the next one to two years. Finally, member services clearly have improved during the past five years; nonetheless, the organization must continue to develop and improve in this area to justify membership.