Entomology - Graduate Student Handbook

Version 5 - August 2005
Co-Edited by:
Jacqueline C. Wolfe
Ellen Johnson and
Dr. Michael C. Saunders

Our mission is to acquire, produce, and disseminate scientific knowledge and technology and to develop scientific pioneers and leaders in the Entomological Sciences. Our focus is to solve problems for people, agriculture, and the environment, improve policy making and public science education, and develop a workplace that promotes excellence, teamwork, creativity, and individual diversity. Our goal is to achieve increased professional satisfaction and to become recognized leaders among the commonwealth, the nation and the world in serving agriculture, science, and society.

We will achieve our mission through the skill and commitment of each of us to these principles in our daily working roles.

Strive for excellence and ethical behavior in all that we do while maintaining a focus on serving our stakeholders locally, nationally, and internationally, and have fun doing it. These stakeholders are students, agricultural commodity groups, the public, the scientific community, policy makers, action groups, and industry.
Promote open communication, interdisciplinary teamwork, risk-taking, life long learning, creativity and innovation, individual diversity, and entrepreneurial activities in an environment that fosters individual and collective professional growth.
Strive to improve our ability to convert scientific knowledge to useful technology and solutions to society's problems in agriculture and the environment while balancing this with individual freedom of scientific inquiry.
Seek to make the products of our programs easily available to the scientific community, policy makers, action groups, and the public.
Promote networking among all agencies with similar missions around the world.
Maintain a world view of science, society and technology as essential for the future success of our students, ourselves, and our department.

Promote "individualized development" as the ideal educational approach by progressively empowering students through encouraging risk-taking together with continual mentoring by faculty, staff, and other students.