23pgs, While the three-part mission of the land-grant university has been a pivotal component of agriculture and natural resources in the U.S., the land-grant mission is not always well understood by all audiences, including faculty members who are the key deliverers of the land-grant mission. As such, it is important to understand how faculty members view the land-grant brand identity. A series of focus groups were conducted with tenure and non-tenure track faculty members at [university]. Faculty members’ perceptions of the university’s brand came out in four themes: overall description of the brand identity, connections to [City], university values, and increased emphasis on research. How faculty members conceptualized the land-grant mission presented two themes: aware but uninformed about the land-grant mission (subthemes: concerns about public awareness and stakeholder priorities, and unawareness of Extension) and having varying definitions of the land-grant mission (subthemes: land-grant is about the land, the land-grant mission is for more than agriculture, the land-grant is successful when serving the state, the land-grant mission is intended to improve society, and the land-grant mission is delivering equal opportunity education). Recommendations for universities included providing faculty members with a full understanding of the land-grant missions and ensuring students are taught about the land-grant mission. Future research was recommended to assess perceptions of faculty members at other land-grant universities and perceptions of non-faculty audiences such as students and external stakeholders. A quantitative survey was also recommended to provide a more generalizable view of faculty perceptions of the brand of land-grant universities.
9 pages, via online journal, The U.S. university-based extension system model has been successful nationally, but not adopted globally. Various historical factors rendered the U.S. system a less attractive option for emerging post-WWII nations. However, current changes in education and extension landscapes are creating new opportunities for the globalization of U.S. Extension. Specifically, both the U.S. and Chinese extension systems now face the common challenge of delivering meaningful university-based extension under shifting conditions. This commonality creates opportunities for exploring long-term, synergistic university-based extension systems and potentially achieving associated benefits worldwide.
