In 1862, the United States was a young country mired in the devastation of the Civil War. The country also struggled as a land abundant in natural resources but with an agriculture system that lagged behind our European counterparts.
In a society with limited access to formal education, Vermont congressman Justin Morrill envisioned a higher education system that provided access to education for all and universities that applied their expertise to address societal issues, including agriculture.
His vision created one of the most powerful economic engines in the world, the land-grant university, named after the origin of their funding. These educational institutions gained funding through the selling of federal lands granted to states and territories with proceeds used to establish colleges in engineering, agriculture and military science.
Penn State became one of the nation’s first land-grant institutions when President Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Act in 1862.
The Morrill Act led to the creation of public research universities nationwide that played a key role in addressing the problems of those times.
The beginning of the 21st century presented a myriad of new societal challenges unanticipated in the late 1800s. Today, only two states have a higher percentage of residents over 65 and more than one-third of our children are overweight or obese.
Penn State’s first land-grant institution work focused on research of fertilizers to ultimately help farmers feed the nation’s population. These days, university science expertise, through Cooperative Extension, is applied to the most pressing agriculture and food issues in the commonwealth.
Extension, which is not supported by student tuition dollars, now also tackles other salient issues across the commonwealth — such as childhood obesity, an aging society, rural health, watershed management, and workforce and infrastructure needs.
One specific example is sharing important university research with communities and individual landowners regarding the impact of the Marcellus Shale natural gas opportunities. Thanks to free and nominal fee Extension seminars, thousands of Pennsylvania homeowners have gained more insight about their land leasing rights when negotiating with natural gas companies.
Penn State is proud to offer these kinds of impactful outreach programs. However, today, land-grant universities find themselves at a unique juncture. State funding for many of these programs remains flat as they compete with other important state needs in a tough economy.
Given increasing operating costs and greater demand for these services, land-grant universities everywhere are reassessing whether, and how, they can continue these programs.
It means admitting that we can’t be everything to everyone and making hard choices on which services to diminish or stop altogether. It requires us to be more focused and more innovative in creating new funding support to advance our important work, a concept we have started implementing.
Beyond our work in Extension, the Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program, run by Penn State, conducted nearly 500 no/below market cost pollution prevention and energy efficiency visits to businesses, resulting in $11.5 million of client-reported economic benefits in 2009.
Despite an elimination of funding in the state budget, PennTAP was awarded a $2.3 million “Emerging Energy” grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development and the U.S. Economic Development Administration. This grant allows PennTAP to develop a program to assist Pennsylvania businesses to improve energy efficiency and adopt emerging energy technologies.
In fall 2008, WPSU-TV, Penn State’s public broadcasting station, produced a documentary on America’s failing drinking water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure, which aired on PBS stations across the state and country.
“Liquid Assets” explored those complex and aging systems — some in the ground for more than 150 years — which are critical components for basic sanitation, health, public safety, economic development and several other life necessities. Included with the DVD was a toolkit that allowed numerous organizations and communities to host free public viewing sessions. Members of the public discussed the issue and ways to become part of the solution. The film was funded by individuals, foundations and professional organizations.
Like PennTAP, the 2009 state budget dramatically reduced funding for all Pennsylvania public broadcasting stations. At WPSU and PennTAP, the reductions led to staff layoffs.
Moving forward, we hope to use our Liquid Assets funding model for future PBS projects. As stewards of the state’s money, we recognize the importance of reducing expenses.
At the same time, we believe we must provide value, not just for our students, but for the commonwealth, too.
This value will be realized through focused collaborations that solve real-world problems using innovative solutions in financially responsible ways.
It has been nearly 150 years since the passing of the Morrill Act. The challenges that faced society in those days have grown dramatically today.
But the vision that brought about that profound piece of legislation proudly remains Penn State’s commitment to our commonwealth as we move forward in the 21st century.
CRAIG D. WEIDEMANN is vice president for outreach at Penn State University.