Challenges for Agricultural and Applied Economics

Programs:Market Niches and Critical Success

Factors

Robert P. KingDepartment of Applied Economics

University of Minnesota

National Association of AgriculturalEconomics Administrators

Washington DCSeptember 9, 2011

Introduction

• Declining public sector support for higher education

• Declining public sector investments in agricultural and social science research

• Sense that the “ag” brand may be too narrow for our faculty and students

• Dramatic turnover of faculty and agency staff due to retirements

Introduction• Strategic challenges and opportunities

go far beyond departmental names.

• Discussion will center on three basic activity areas:– undergraduate teaching– research and graduate programs– outreach

• We’ll also talk about opportunities for regional/national collaboration.

Undergraduate Teaching• Key Challenges

– Increasing enrollment• more offerings• larger sections• serving majors vs. service courses

– Staffing courses• retirements of key people• economics training vs. business training

Undergraduate Teaching• Environmental Factors

– Capped enrollment vs. growing enrollment

– Strengths and strategies of competing programs• Economics Department• Business School

– Strengths and strategies of “home” college

– Degree to which home university has an agricultural orientation

Undergraduate Teaching• Strategies - Enrollment

– Grow the major

– Grow a minor• service to students in home college • service to students across the university – here

name matters

– Partner with Economics or Business

– Partner with emerging interdisciplinary programs

Undergraduate Teaching• Strategies - Staffing

– Increase teaching loads

– Adjunct faculty• department’s own retirees • local Ph.D. economists

– Graduate students• teaching assistants • instructors

Much will depend on university budget model and competitive environment.

Research and Graduate Programs• Key Challenges

– Declining (or already non-existent) support funds

– Declining pools of competitive grant funds

– Increased emphasis on funding for interdisciplinary, cross-institutional projects

– Rising cost of graduate student support as tuition increases

Research and Graduate Programs• Environmental Factors

– Structure and strength of state support for agricultural research

– National/international reputation of home university

– Distribution of economists across other units in home university

– Collegiate home of Economics Department

Research and Graduate Programs• Strategies - Research

– Partnerships• Intra-collegiate multidisciplinary partnerships• Intra-university multidisciplinary partnerships• Multi-university partnerships of agricultural and

applied economics faculty

– Incentives• Centers• Nine month appointments• Allocation of ICR funds to faculty who generate

them

Research and Graduate Programs• Strategies – Graduate Programs

– Agricultural Economics

– Joint with Economics Department

– Expand to include other applied economists outside of Economics Department

– Grow M.S. program• agribusiness focus• economic analyst focus

Outreach

• Key Challenges

– Shrinking traditional clientele– Competition from other educational

service providers

– Rapidly declining resources

– Attracting talent

– Promotion and tenure

Outreach

• Environmental Factors

– Current and projected organization of field staff … their links with department

– Size of state … diversity of state economy

– Integration of teaching, research, and outreach in “home” college

– Flexibility in appointment splits

Outreach

• Strategies

– Exploit complementarities between extension teaching and undergraduate programs

– Foster strong research/extension teams within faculty• Win-win for promotion and tenure• More competitive for integrated research and

extension competitive grants

Outreach

• Strategies

– Outreach/Research Centers

• Purdue Center for Food and Agricultural Business• Michigan State Center for Economic Analysis• Florida Agricultural market Research Center• Texas A&M Agribusiness, Food & Consumer

Economics Research Center

Can these be organized regionally?

Regional/National Collaboration• Regional or national collaboration

may become the new normal. Here are just a few possibilities

– Regional or national groups of economists to take the lead on major NIFA proposals

– Regional or national graduate courses on specialized topics … distance delivery or summer short courses

– Regional extension programs

Breakout Discussions• Group by region.

• Share ideas and strategies that have worked in each activity area.

• Explore opportunities for regional or national collaboration.

• Report back up to four “actionable” ideas.