Contents
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This is the report of a study of strategic
innovations that Oregon State University put into place in the mid-1990s.
They are described here as “Third Mission Innovations” in reference
to the mission of outreach or extended education, which is often referred
to as the third mission of land grant universities, alongside two other
university missions, teaching and research.
The national Cooperative Extension system, which is based at the land
grant university in each state, is equated in many states with the fulfillment
of the third mission. Historically, Cooperative Extension typically found
its campus home in the colleges of agriculture. In fact, most of the land
grant universities began as state agricultural colleges which then had
comprehensive universities grow up around them. Now, in a substantial
minority of the states, Cooperative Extension has repositioned itself
as a university-wide function.
Oregon State University’s innovations of the mid-1990s can be understood
as part of that trend, but the unique way that Oregon State University
has re-positioned and re-conceptualized its extension or extended education
function has made it a national model, worthy of careful study.
Chronology
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