2023 Mini Land-Grant Conference

Advancing the LGU mission through collaboration and communication

Join your colleagues in the North Central Region for a live, in-person experience on Monday, July 10 and Tuesday, July 11, 2023.  The conference, hosted by the University of Minnesota, is open to all faculty, staff, administrators, CARET representatives, and others who support the land-grant mission in the North Central Region. 

Meeting purpose/objectives 

The North Central Region's Mini Land-Grant Conference intends to build relationships among CARET representatives and LGU research, extension and teaching administrators to foster potential interdisciplinary partnerships and build networking opportunities among administrative leaders within the North Central Region. 

This year’s conference theme is "Advancing the LGU mission through collaboration and communication." The conference will feature interactive presentations at the University of Minnesota’s St Paul campus and the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.

Agenda

Monday, July 10, 2023 - Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Chaska MN

Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
  • 11:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m. Conference check-in and registration | DoubleTree by Hilton Bloomington – Minneapolis South, 7800 Normandale Blvd,  Minneapolis, MN 55439 
    • Check-in is located in the hotel lobby; You’ll receive a boxed lunch which you can eat on the bus as we await departure or while we drive to the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.
    • The bus loading area is in the hotel parking lot. Buses will be parked and open for seating at 11:45 a.m. and will depart promptly at 12:30 p.m.
    • All participants are encouraged to attend conference check-in at the hotel regardless of lodging; you can leave a vehicle in the hotel parking lot.
  • 12:30 p.m. Bus departs the hotel.
  • Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Chaska MN
    • 1:30 p.m. Sessions | Farm at the Arb, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, 3210 W 82nd St, Chanhassen, MN 55317 
      • Communicating the Value of Food Systems to the Public
      • Communicating the Value of Plant Breeding Research
      • Communicating Climate-Smart Resilience and Adaptation for NC US
    • Buses will shuttle participants from site to site during the afternoon at the Arboretum
    • 4:30 p.m. Walking tours of crops or food systems 
    • 5:00 p.m. Welcome Reception & Dinner 
  • 6:45 p.m. Load bus back to hotel 

Tuesday, July 11, 2023 - Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN

St. Paul campus watertower
  • 7:45 a.m. Load bus, North Entrance of Doubletree Bloomington
  • Bus departs promptly at 8:00 a.m. 
    • The Doubletree front desk will offer luggage storage for conference attendees who are checking out Tuesday morning.
  • St. Paul Campus of the University of Minnesota | Alderman Hall, Room 405 
    • 8:45 a.m. Breakfast 
    • 9:00 a.m. Cultivating sustainable dairy production across the NC Region
    • 9:30 a.m. Break/prepare to go outdoors—guided walking tour with wagon ride option
    • 9:45 a.m. Collaborating to create resilient small grains systems
    • 11:00 a.m. Renewable energy advances to fuel the future 
    • 12:00 Lunch & closing comments (Alderman 405)
    • 1:00 p.m. AES/Extension/CARET representatives meetings (AES - Alderman 405, Extension - Alderman 398, CARET - Alderman 310)
    • 1:35 p.m. APLU update (NCCEA and NCRA); CARET is welcome to join (Alderman 405)
    • 1:55 p.m. LBA update (NCCEA and NCRA); CARET is welcome to join (Alderman 405)
    • 2:15 p.m. NCR CARET delegates discussion with NCCEA and NCRA Directors (Alderman 405)
  • 3:00 p.m.  Adjournment; Shuttle provided back to Doubletree Bloomington
    • Bus departs from Alderman Hall promptly at 3:15 p.m.

Registration

Registration is open now and costs $300 per person. Please register at the link below.

Register to attend the Mini Land-Grant Conference

Lodging

Book your stay at the Doubletree by Hilton Bloomington - Minneapolis South.The guaranteed room block closed on June 28, however you should still book through this link. We will provide coach bus shuttles to and from this hotel to the sites on the conference agenda. Rooms are blocked for the nights of July 9, 10 and 11, 2023.

Hotel amenities include complimentary surface parking lot and airport shuttle to MSP Airport. 

Book your hotel room in the conference room block 

Questions? For questions regarding conference registration, please contact Betsy Wieland (eliza003@umn.edu). For questions regarding conference content, please contact Joleen Hadrich (jhadrich@umn.edu) and Michael Schmitt (schmi009@umn.edu).

Frequently Asked Questions

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where should I stay?

Out-of-town guests should stay at the Doubletree by Hilton Bloomington - Minneapolis South.

Book your stay at the Doubletree by Hilton Bloomington - Minneapolis South in our room block for the conference, by the cutoff date of June 19, 2023. We will provide coach bus shuttles to and from this hotel to the sites on the conference agenda. Rooms are blocked for the nights of July 9, 10 and 11, 2023.

Hotel amenities include complimentary surface parking lot and airport shuttle to MSP Airport. 

What is there to do outside of the conference agenda?

Visit the Twin Cities and see what all the fuss is about! The following activities are in close proximity to the conference hotel and St. Paul campus:

Things to do near the conference hotel (Doubletree Bloomington)

  • Visit the Mall of America - take the hotel airport shuttle to the MSP Airport, ride the Blue Line lightrail two stops. Shuttles leave the hotel lobby on the half hour heading to the airport; return shuttles from MSP to the hotel run on the hour, last one at midnight.
  • Take the Blue Line lightrail or rideshare into Minneapolis - there are more things to do than we can list here!

Things to do near the St. Paul campus

  • Grab some University of Minnesota-made ice cream in the Gopher Spot in the St. Paul Student Center
  • Visit the Bell Museum, Minnesota's official natural history museum, located on the north end of our St. Paul campus.
  • Take the Campus Connector bus (stops outside of the St. Paul Student Center) to our East Bank campus to check out Coffman Memorial Union, the Weisman Art Museum, and a view of the Mississippi River from the Washington Ave Bridge.
  • Try out a Kernza® beer at Bang Brewing, a taproom and brewery inside a grain bin near the St. Paul campus.