I would like to sincerely thank members of the American College of Animal Sciences (ACAS). I am honored to have been elected as an ACAS officer and look forward to serving as ACAS president through the coming year. I also want to thank Andy Cole for his service as ACAS president for the past year, Kenneth Cummings for his service as ARPAS executive vice president, and Cornicha Henderson of FASS for her assistance with the ACAS administrative duties.
The annual meeting of ACAS, the board certification arm of the American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists (ARPAS), was held during the American Society of Animal Science meeting in Baltimore on July 10, 2017. Six new ACAS members were announced: Art Goetsch of the US Goat Research Center, Langston, Oklahoma; Fernando Diaz of GPS Dairy Consulting; Stacy Gunter of USDA-ARS, Woodward, Oklahoma; Luis Tedeschi of Texas A&M University; Mike Looper of the University of Arkansas; and Terry Engle of Colorado State University.
As we continue to expand membership in ACAS, a great way to become an ACAS member is through the “highly qualified individual” designation. If you know highly qualified ARPAS members that should become ACAS members, urge them to apply through this method. Qualifications include current membership in ARPAS, a MS or PhD in animal science or a closely related field, and experience as a professional animal scientist. Qualified individuals can gain membership/accreditation either by being recognized as a highly qualified professional or by passing a series of exams. Young professionals who are still early in their career are also excellent candidates for ACAS membership through the examination process. If you have young professionals in your organization, please encourage them to consider ACAS membership. If there are questions, check out the ACAS section on the ARPAS website, or contact your officers.
Officers for the coming year are Randy Walker, president; Patrick French, president elect; Andy Cole, past president; and Jim Chapman, secretary-treasurer. Directors for the individual disciplines are Jeffrey DeFrain, animal nutrition; Kenneth McMillin, animal food science; Allan Schinckel, animal breeding and genetics; Jonathan Goodson, animal physiology; Geoffrey Cochrane, animal welfare; and Jeff Pendergraft, applied animal behavior. One of the duties of the discipline director is to oversee the development and updating of the ACAS exams. If present ACAS members would like to assist with these duties and/or would like to serve on one of the discipline committees, please contact the appropriate director.
As I am sure you are aware by now, the American Society of Animal Science (ASAS) and the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) will not be meeting together for the next few years. In 2016, the ARPAS governing council voted to meet with ASAS in Baltimore in 2017 and with ADSA in Knoxville in 2018. The ACAS membership voted to meet at the same time and location as the ARPAS governing council. Because most ARPAS members are members of either ASAS or ADSA, but not both, ASAS and ADSA have agreed to let ARPAS members, who are not members of their society but who attend the ARPAS meeting, pay the same registration fee as if they were a member. I look forward to seeing you at ADSA next year (2018) in Knoxville.