Dear ARPAS members,
There is a particular satisfaction in reaching the end of a busy year and seeing that the work adds up to something. Much of what I want to share here is work that makes this organization easier to join, easier to use, and more useful to the people who rely on it.
I want to start with a group I have been thinking about a great deal this year. ARPAS was built on a strong foundation of university animal scientists, and that foundation remains strong. But, much of the animal science being practiced every day is being done in feed mills, on farms, in company laboratories, and in the passenger seat of a truck between herd visits, and a large share of our membership reflects that. Those of us consulting and working in industry have an added challenge: we have to walk into a room and earn the respect and trust of our clients. That is precisely what ARPAS certification is for, and it is where I believe our ranks have the most room to grow.
Certification and Exams
We have continued the ongoing work of making the ARPAS certification exams easy to use! As you know, our exams are available to take anywhere and anytime online, and we’ve expanded that to include group in-person digital exams that can easily be set up at meetings, on campuses, at offices, and anywhere it’s convenient.
Over the past year, we brought in-person testing to members and prospective members at the ADSA, PSA, and ASAS annual meetings and to campuses including the University of Arkansas; the University of Illinois; the University of New Hampshire; the University of California, Davis; South Dakota State; Penn State; Michigan State; and the University of Nebraska.
Our graduate student pizza exam program has been a real bright spot. The concept is simple. We bring the exam and lunch to a department. If you are on a campus and would like to host, please reach out. We now have dedicated landing pages for graduate group exams and the pizza program and for professional group exam options with all the details.
The ARPAS Symposium
This year’s symposium was hosted at the ADSA annual meeting in Milwaukee, and the afternoon session on transition cow nutrition was a packed house and brought together four leaders on this topic: Jose Santos of the University of Florida on preventing postpartum hypocalcemia, Jim Drackley of the University of Illinois on controlling energy balance, Thomas Overton of Cornell on protein and amino acid nutrition, and Barry Bradford of Michigan State on modulating inflammatory status.
In partnership with ADSA, we are making that session available for all ARPAS members to watch or rewatch. Keep scrolling for more details, and stay tuned for more information on the 2027 symposium topic.
The Journal
Bill Weiss and the entire Applied Animal Science (AAS) team have been hard at work ensuring the journal continues to be an essential resource for our members and the profession at large. We are thrilled that its Impact Factor rose from 1.4 to 1.8 this year and encourage you to explore the two author-focused webinars hosted by Bill this year—Structuring Your Science and Mastering Your Manuscript—both offering CEU credit.
A note for those who publish with us, the open access publication fee for AAS will increase starting with the February 2027 issue to $1,950 for nonmembers and $1,560 for members. We’re committed to keeping our rates affordable, especially for our members, ensuring that if you publish even one paper a year, membership more than pays for itself!
Your CEUs and Your Badge
This is the season to log your 16 required CEUs before the end of the year! If you have been to a producer meeting, a company training, a webinar, or a professional conference this year, you have likely already earned them. What remains is the reporting, and that 10 minutes of administrative work is what keeps your certification current.
When it is current, you have a digital ARPAS member badge and ARPAS logo wear to show for it. I would encourage you to use both. Put the badge in your email signature, on your LinkedIn profile, on your business card, and in your proposal cover pages. For those of us in industry, a verified credential from ARPAS with a code of ethics behind it is a quiet but real differentiator in front of a customer who is deciding whether to trust your recommendation.
What I Am Asking of You
Professional associations are critical to the progress of science and to the strength of our shared professional community. Tell one person this fall about ARPAS. If you work in industry, think about the nutritionist down the hall, the technical service colleague you work alongside, the young professional who just moved from a graduate program into a company role and has not been told this credential exists. They are among the members we are most likely to be missing—and among those who may have the most to gain from ARPAS. Thank you for the work you do and for the part you play in the success of our professional community.
Patrick French, PhD, PAS, President