The University of Nebraska, Lincoln is awarded a grant to develop a strategic plan for the Cedar Point Biological Field Station, located in Ogallala in Western Nebraska. Cedar Point offers access to: short grass prairie, the Platte River valley, many streams, rivers, lakes and ponds, and the Nebraska Sandhills and has been the site of field based biology courses as part of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), School of Biological Sciences (SBS) undergraduate curriculum. The audience that Cedar Point has served in the past is rapidly changing. This grant will support a comprehensive, two year strategic planning process with 7 workshops that will evaluate: 1) ways to attract new research faculty, 2) develop new undergraduate curricula and approaches, 3) explore the development of consortium of field stations that would coordinate the offerings of specialized courses, linked with a tuition agreement which would allow students at participating field stations to pay in-state tuition, 4) explore their need for local formal and informal education and determine how Cedar Point can fill these needs, 5) explore research and training opportunities that Cedar Point, its faculty and students can offer to other agencies, such as the Nebraska Department of Game and Parks, the Nature Conservancy, Audubon Society, US Forest Service, Power and Irrigation Districts, that manage various natural areas in Nebraska, 6) develop a facilities management plan to improve energy efficient and lower ongoing maintenance costs, 7) develop a Friends of Cedar Point group based on Cedar Point alumni. These workshops will enable UNL to reevaluate Cedar Point's mission, identify challenges and opportunities, and develop a comprehensive teaching, research, outreach and infrastructure strategic plan that can guide Cedar Point in the future. For more information about the station visit their website at http://cedarpoint.unl.edu/.
Accomplishments. The major goal of this project was to support a comprehensive, two year strategic planning process. The audience that Cedar Point Biological Station has served in the past is rapidly changing as previously active research faculty retire and student demographics have changed. We intended several workshops to evaluate current use and problems of Cedar Point. However, we changed out effort because we discovered that our weakest point was our absence on the web and it is key to have a web presence for outreach activities, not only at a distance, but also in the local community. In the second year, the Cedar Point staff collected information from student and faculty that was used in outreach activities and communicated through social media such as Facebook, a blog and an updated webpage. We also formed informal discussion groups, including undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, and other users to discuss effective approaches to generate feedback from our current users and our past alumni. Writing of the webcontent is shared by current and previous staff and gives potential users a more personal and deeper view of the Cedar Point field experience. Cedar Point now maintains an active Facebook page, a blog site and a Webpage. (www.cedarpoint.unl.edu)
