Land-Grant Universities Announce New System-Wide Online Resource

WASHINGTON, March 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Association of Public Land-Grant Universities announced the official launch of the Land-Grant Impacts website, a public online resource that highlights the teaching, research, and extension efforts by the land-grant universities. Specifically, the website provides access to university or regional-specific impact stories, which document the research and community programming planned, performed, and implemented by land-grant universities. The website, as a cooperative effort of the U.S. land-grant universities, represents a single voice for the universities' agricultural experiment stations and Cooperative Extension. 

"The Land-Grant Impacts website is a new tool that will better inform the American people and the international community of the significant agricultural research, education and extension impacts taking place at land grant universities across our nation, which offer practical solutions to today's critical societal challenges. This website will help policy makers and the public learn more about this work that is partially supported with NIFA funding," said Dr. Sonny Ramaswamy, director, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Impact statements relay the results and impact of local and regional research and outreach education programs. They include contact information for university research and extension project leads and updates on grant funding, project implementation, or community impact. Impact statements are categorized according to six focus areas: Food Security; Nutrition and Health; Youth, Family, and Communities; Environmental Stewardship; Agricultural Systems; and Energy and Bioproducts.

"Articulating positive changes as a result of Agriculture Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension research and education is critical today. The Board on Agriculture Assembly (BAA) celebrates the launch of this web site," said Barbara Allen-Diaz, vice president, University of California, and chair, BAA Policy Board of Directors. "Having a searchable source for outcomes of our work will help to communicate the value of our research and extension programs in our land grant universities."

The website also informs users about the history of the land-grant university system and how its mission has evolved since the systems' founding. Land-grant universities are committed to a three-fold mission of advancing learning, cultivating practical fields, and contributing to the economy. The website fully demonstrates why teaching, research, and extensions are interrelated and how they better our students, improve our communities, and benefit our country.

The Association of Public Land-Grant Universities represents 238 public research universities, land-grant institutions, state university systems, and affiliated organizations across all 50 states, the four U.S. territories, the District of Columbia, Mexico, and Canada. The land-grant universities were founded in 1862 after Abraham Lincoln singed the Morrill Act, which granted each sate funding to charter a university with the purpose to teach agriculture, military tactics, and the mechanic arts as well as classical studies to help members of the working class obtain a liberal, practical education.

About Agriculture is America

Agriculture is America. In short, the agriculture industry — sustained in large part by the American land-grant university system through both Agricultural Experiment Stations and Cooperative Extension — is integral to jobs, national security, and health. For more information, visit http://agisamerica.org

SOURCE Agriculture is America

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