INSTITUTIONAL ENGAGEMENT WITHIN A LAND-GRANT COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE: PERCEPTIONS OF FACULTY, STAFF, AND ADMINISTRATORS

Significant movement is afoot in land-grant colleges of agriculture around a reinvigoration of institutional engagement as well as efforts to reform the ʹivory tower ʹfrom societal isolation and irrelevance. This movement is based on the claim that land-grant institutions should play a key role in sustaining our democracy and collaborating to solve complex societal problems. Against this backdrop, in February 1999, the Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and LandGrant Universities issued the third of its reports, Returning to Our Roots: The Engaged Institution (NASULGC, 1999), calling for greater institutional engagement with society. In light of the Kellogg Commission report, the purpose of this research project was to obtain empirical evidence of the perceptions held by college of agriculture faculty, staff members, and administrators regarding the engagement initiative.