Future of Land-Grant Universities

OHIO STATE STUDY TO SHAPE FUTURE OF LAND-GRANT COLLEGES
     COLUMBUS -- The Ohio State University College of Agriculture
is working to transform itself into a new land-grant institution
that is able to meet the needs of students, food-related business
and industry, and the general public in the 21st century.
     The W.K. Kellogg Foundation has awarded Ohio State a grant
of $133,000 to envision and develop a model of an
interdisciplinary agricultural curriculum, including a new food-
systems education program.  Eleven other land-grant universities
won similar grants.
     Under the Morrill acts of 1862 and 1890, land-grant colleges
were established through federal aid, such as the sale of public
land or land scrip, to provide an education that included
instruction in agriculture and the mechanic arts.
     "The goal is to find out what ought to be the model for a
modern-day land-grant college of agriculture and that's a wide-
open question," said L.H. Newcomb, associate dean for academic
affairs.  "We're also interested in the bigger question:  What
should a modern land-grant university look like?"
     If Kellogg is intrigued with the depth and forwardness of
the proposal Ohio State develops, the foundation will award a
long-term grant to implement it, he said.
     "We believe that the winners of these grants will become the
shapers of the future of land-grant universities," Newcomb said.
"This project can ensure the future of this college and allow it
to become one of the most highly regarded colleges of agriculture
in the nation."
     During the next 12 to 18 months, Ohio State's planning team
will work to create a modern land-grant university that is
"responsive to the social, economic and political environment of
the 21st century, and facilitates the development of leadership
to accomplish the plan."
     "This is an extensive process to see where we need to be as
an institution to meet the constantly evolving needs of our
citizens," said Bob Moser, vice president for agricultural
administration and executive dean.
     "It's a process that many of us have considered or begun as
independent institutions.  But, the key here is that we're
pursuing this as a system -- within each state and across state
lines.  It's that concept of system that has made land-grant
education the envy of the world.  And if change is needed,
changing as a whole system will help us maintain that position."
     Leaders from the 12 universities will meet seven times to
discuss plans and consider input from students, faculty, advisory
committees, and industry and business leaders.
     Partners in the planning of Ohio State's project included
the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, The Nature Conservancy, Ross
Laboratories, and the Ohio departments of Agriculture and Natural
Resources.

     Partners in the visioning process will extend broadly across
the state to include a diverse population of individuals from
non-traditional constituent groups and underserved populations as
well as traditional agricultural groups."

     Food systems education includes more than agricultural
production, processing and marketing.  Newcomb said it also
encompasses relationships, policies and issues affected by food
production, distribution and use.

     Ohio State's study, called Project Reinvent, will involve:

     =FE Forming a project steering committee and establishing what
the land-grant institution concept meant originally.

     =FE Conducting focus group interviews of citizens across the
state to determine, from their point of view, what Ohio State
needs to change and how to do it.

     =FE Consulting futurists to discuss what technology, business,
food production systems, and other needs of the 21st century will
look like.

     =FE Talking with education experts to determine how a college
should organize and deliver education.

     =FE The team also will create a plan to sustain the changes
over time, adjust as needed, and extend them to other areas of
the university.

     Seven other colleges at Ohio State have expressed interest
in working with Agriculture on the Kellogg project.  Newcomb said
that the Agriculture exercise will provide a reference for other
colleges to engage in similar projects.

     The study will extend through September 1995.

     The W.K. Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek, Mich., provides
seed money to organizations that have identified problems and
designed constructive action programs aimed at solutions.  Most
grants are awarded in the areas of youth, leadership,
philanthropy and volunteerism, community-based health services,
higher education, foods systems, rural development, groundwater
resources in the Great Lakes area, and economic development in
Michigan.

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Contact:  Bob Moser or L.H. Newcomb, (614) 292-6891.
Written by Tom Spring and Cheryl Hoot.


[Submitted by: GERSTNER  (gerstner@ccgate.ucomm.ohio-state.edu)
               
Tue, 31 May 1994 14:24:24 -0500 (EST)]
All documents are the responsibility of their originator.