Communication Function of Land Grant Universities in Transition

1
Communication Function of Land Grant
Universities in Transition

• Deva Eswara Reddy
• Presented at USAIN Conference
• Wooster, OH 26-30 April 2008
• dereddy_at_tamu.edu

2
Communication in Land Grant University Context

• LGUs functioned as Peoples colleges
• Teaching, research and extension functions
  evolved over a period of half a century
• Morrill (1862), Hatch (1897),and Smith-Lever
  (1914) acts
• Influence of the people outside the academic
  world on curriculum, programs of public service
  or extension was all pervasive

3
Sources of Communication and Objects of it

• Organizations, institutions, external groups, and
  individuals with different views
• Agribusiness , trade and marketing
• Chemical and food industries
• Farm organizations, farmers and ranchers
• Legislature and the Governor
• Congress and Congressional aides
• Most do function as employers LGU products

4
Board of Regents and the Linking Function

• They are the intermediaries between the
  legislature, and other arms state government, the
  public, and the university
• They represent the institution to society, and at
  the same time they reflect societys concerns in
  university management
• Disseminate programs across the state through
  outreach and public service efforts

5
President / Dean of Ag. College

• Getting technical information to farmers is
  hardly the first thing the LGU president or the
  dean would mention when asked
• The most difficult problems of communication
  -telling a wide variety of publics what
  university resources are available to them,
  informing them about universitys needs , and
  making sure they understand what the university
  can and cannot do
• They hear and get feedback regularly from parents
  , alumni, students, taxpayers, and organized
  groups

6
Legislature and Governor

• For LGU, the arms of state government (chiefly
  the Legislature and the Governor) are an
  important object of communication efforts
• The LGU wants the understanding of its state
  legislature and governor not their
  interference, but their informed awareness of its
  work
• Although the funding comes from variety of
  sources, LGU budget is enacted by the legislature
• Budget - a way of mechanism of asking the
  university by the people what have you done for
  me lately

7
Congressional Aides

• Farm Foundation Findings
• LGUs were viewed as sources of policy information
  and perceived the research to be practical
• Congressional aides tend to favor interpersonal
  communication channels, such as personal contacts
  and e-mail, for receiving policy information
• World Wide Web tend to be mentioned as the single
  most preferred channel

8
Faculty

• Faculty perceives the need to serve the
  stakeholders
• It is a source of painful cross pressure to the
  faculty to ensure higher income for farm people
  and better diets at a lower cost to the consumers
• Direct service includes giving workshops at
  growers meeting on management practices
• Setting research agenda, interaction with ag
  business
• Indirect service includes publishing applied
  results in nontechnical magazines

9
Agribusiness and Communication

• LGUs keeps informed with firms that produce and
  supply the farmers production inputs , those
  that buy and process his products such as
• Entomologist, Human nutritionist - chemical and
  food industries
• Animal scientist and Ag.Economists Livestock
  markets and processors
• Dairy Scientist Breed associations, dairy men
  organizations, milk cooperatives, dairy
  manufacturers

10
Farmers

• Land grant university no longer holds the
  monopoly position it once did over scientific
  information
• Agricultural industries have their research
  departments
• For farmer, a variety of organizations such as
  agribusiness, commodity groups farm organizations
  communicate facts useful to him
• The larger and prosperous his operation the more
  likely he is to be drawing information from
  variety of sources

11
Farm Organizations

• They help report on its work, and tell the
  university what they think about what they are
  doing
• Like other professional schools of medicine or
  law fields, the people practicing the profession
  have firm views about how others are to be trained

12
Mass Media

• Takes considerable initiative in transmitting
  scientific and technical information and
  reporting other university activities and needs
• In addition they report to the university and
  officials some of the views held by those outside
  its immediate family of students, faculty, and
  staff
• This tends to be sporadic kind of communication.
  However, overemphasizing conflict, dissent, and
  interruptions of normal continuity is not uncommon

13
Extension Service A two-way Communication device

• The function of communication between the
  university and its community on equal terms can
  be better typified and personified in the county
  extension agent
• It is a source of strength in evaluation of
  university accomplishments
• The university could count on every legislator
  knowing well at least one university staff
  member in the legislator's home district which
  could influence the legislative and funding
  needs

14
Transition and Challenges

• Aftermath of September 11
• Agro terrorism and initiatives in agricultural
  security
• Globalization and interconnectedness of nations
• Influx of foreign students
• Budgetary cuts
• Decrease in the number of farmers and farms
• Outsourcing of agriculture
• Emergence of new nations
• Move towards energy independence

15
LGUs are Changing

• The industrialization of agriculture has left
  farming with many fewer farmers
• Farmers are far better educated and informed
  about all dimensions of their business and pay
  consultants and firms for highly specialized
  information and services tailored to their
  specific farm and its location.
• The role of extension is slowly being privatized

16
Departments in Transition

• Agriculture related departments are getting
  reduced. General university faculty is competing
  in basic research.
• LGUs have expanded with Health science programs
  in addition to veterinary medicine
• Biotechnology, Genome ..

17
International Student Enrolment in United States
in 2007

• India 83,833
• China 67,723
• Korea 62,392
• Japan 35,282
• Taiwan29,094
• Canada 28,280
• Mexico13,826
• Turkey 11,506
• Thailand 8,886
• Germany8,656

• United Kingdom 8,438
• Saudi Arabia 7,886
• Nepal 7,754,
• Hong Kong 7,722
• Indonesia 7,338
• Brazil 7,126,
• Colombia 6,750,
• France 6,704,
• Kenya 6,349,
• Vietnam 6,036,

18
Labor Force

• In 1862 50 of all US residents lived on farms
  which employed 60 of the labor force.
• In 2007 farming, forestry, and fishing 0.6,
• Manufacturing, extraction, transportation, and
  crafts 22.6,
• Managerial, professional, and technical 35.5,
  sales
• Office 24.8, other services 16.5
• note figures exclude the unemployed
• US labor market needs both high human capital
  immigrants such as working class immigrants. The
  need arises to educating incoming labor force

19
Farmers Crossing The Border - To Mexico

• Western Growers, an association representing
  farmers in California and Arizona, conducted an
  informal telephone survey of its members in the
  spring. Twelve large agribusinesses that
  acknowledged having operations in Mexico reported
  a total of 11,000 workers here.
• Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., displayed a
  map on the Senate floor in July 2007 locating
  more than 46,000 acres that American growers are
  cultivating in just two Mexican states,
  Guanajuato and Baja California.
• http//www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/09/eveningn
  ews/main4004958.shtml?sourcesearch_story

20
Current Major Foci of International Agricultural
Programs

• Making imported food safe
• Securing the homeland from poisonous plant
  materials
• Meeting the human resource needs of American
  companies operating in other countries
• Providing international experience to students
  and faculty
• Gaining germplasm from research
• Establishing collaborative global research
  programs
• Energy Independence and bio-fuels

21
Agenda by the Task Force of NASULGC

• Enhance global competitiveness of U.S.
  agriculture through human resource development
• Develop and disseminate information about market,
  trade, and business opportunities
• Establish mutually beneficial global partnerships
• Promote trade through global economic development
• Promote global environmental quality and the
  stewardship of natural resources management

22
Implications on Information Services

• Privatization of information leads to less
  reliance on Extension and more dependence on
  private technical consultants
• Since libraries and Extension have common goals,
  mission, and commitment of not for profit
  service, both can establish linkages in
  e-extension in dissemination of information to
  new constituencies
• Open access will enable universities to maximize
  their own investment in research, as the results
  are more readily available for others to build
  upon
•  

23
Conclusion

• Extension and outreach are information-rich
  areas.
• Interactive, collaborative, web-based
  applications are
• changing the process of information delivery.
• Internet appears to be changing the land rant
• Universitys communication function and outreach
• Thank You !