Forces Driving Changes in Colleges of Agriculture

Abstract

ABSTRACT Institutions of higher education in general and colleges of agriculture in particular are under increasing pressure to change. The recent restructuring of the College of Agriculture (now known as the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences) at the Ohio State University resulted in the dissolution of the college's former Department of Agronomy. As the former chair of that department, I have reviewed those forces and factors that are impinging on institutions of higher education and colleges of agriculture and that set forth a new paradigm. This new paradigm is characterized by undergirding production agriculture with a social objective of sustainability, environmental compatibility, and stewardship of the natural resource base upon which both agriculture and our rural‐urban society are dependent for their sustenance, economy, and ecological well‐being.