LAND-GRANT ORGANIZATION TO MEET THE FUTURE

James E. Martin shortcomings were common to higher educaI am pleased for this opportunity to renew tion when the land-grant colleges were estabfriendships with many of my former collished, and universities are not immune to leagues in the field of agricultural economics them today. Thus, administrators and faculty here today. My topic probably has as much have to be especially wary to avoid irrelpersonal interest as professional interest for evance and parochialism of their institutions. those of you who are at land-grant instituLand-grant institutions require an effective tions-I assume that would cover most of the administrative and academic structure to audience. At any given time, an academic inaccomplish their three-fold mission of instrucstitution is probably either changing its tion, research, and extension. Society cannot organization or contemplating a change. As afford for these institutions to produce members of land-grant institutions, we are graduates who are ill-prepared to be producpersonally affected by the changes made, and tive citizens. Therefore, the quality and conour professional interests are frequently protent of academic offerings should be subjected voked by the effects of these changes on the to frequent review. traditional land-grant constituencies. These institutions are also the source of The land-grant concept is just as valid today many of the nation's most valuable research as in 1862, when the Morrill Act made higher efforts; thus, research programs designed to education available to a broad spectrum of generate new information applicable to busisociety-but neither society nor the landness, industry, agriculture, and individual grant institutions are the same today as they citizens need attention. were in the 19th century. Land-grant instituThe extension role also deserves emphasis -tions have changed the nature of higher to remove the walls that academic profes-education in this country, and they remain sionals tend to build around college campuses. important in today's information society. Extension is often the initial contact between After 1862, higher education was no longer academic institutions and the general public; limited to the few and the privileged. It it is both unique and critical to the success of became available, in the words of the Morrill the land-grant mission. Act, to the "industrial classes in the several There will never be an ideal administrative pursuits and professions of life." Land-grant structure for academic institutions, so univercolleges were established with the mandate to sity administrators look for the best system educate the general public instead of a few. for their institutions at a given time. People Over the years, as the needs of society are always the first consideration for an adchanged, the methods used to meet those ministration structure. Good people can overneeds have also changed. come a flawed organization, but a perfect plan Land-grant colleges and universities today on paper cannot overcome the weaknesses of are trying to overcome two obstacles that poor administrators. A strong administrator point to the need for constant review and needs to be in charge of any reorganization periodic reorganization. First, they must attempt, and that administrator should be as avoid the danger of becoming locked into a high within the existing organizational strucbureaucratic administrative structure that is ture as possible. Preferably, that individual not relevant to education in a rapidly changing should report directly to the president, and he society. The second danger is that their or she should be someone of the president's academic structure could become too interchoosing. nalized, ignoring the needs of society. Such Properly managed, an institution can be