According the UMass-Amherst CFNR Futures Document: "The primary mission of the College of Food and Natural Resources is to further knowledge by carrying out the Land Grant obligations of the University of Massachusetts." I believe that in order to serve this stated mission, it will be necessary to recognize university outreach as a form of scholarship that includes teaching, research and public service. In this context, university outreach involves generating, transmitting, applying and preserving knowledge for the benefit of external publics in ways that are consistent with university strengths and mission. I believe that scholarship should be a defining characteristic which describes the professional outreach activities of land grant faculty and staff. Finally, I believe the Cooperative Extension System should serve as a model for university outreach programs which will be supported by CFNR and other UMass colleges in the future.

     University outreach must help people, families, businesses, industries and communities put research-based knowledge to work. Outreach programs must be built upon a strong coupling of the traditional land grant functions of research and extension education. This will require a shift in thinking within the university system. President of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, Peter McGrath, said; "...the order of the day is thoughtful change brought about by leaders and supportive trustees, presidents and chancellors who make restructuring and revitalization of the land-grant mission a personal priority, and extension directors who, with other university academic officers, can help put together the new structures of service to society through outreach."

    Personally, I agree with Hunter Rawlins, President of the University of Iowa, when he calls for a paradigm shift away from, "...the German model, with a heavy emphasis on research..." toward one in which we "...infuse an ethic of service into everything we undertake." Many university presidents have recognized that "productivity" of research-based knowledge is just as important as the "production" of knowledge by their institutions, which according to Bryce Jordan, President-emeritus of Pennsylvania State University, must "...make themselves far more valuable to the American people." Locally, Michael Hooker, President of the University of Massachusetts System, has described the university as an "engine for economic growth," and David Scott, Chancellor of the UMass-Amherst campus, calls for greater "connectivity" between the university and the people of the Commonwealth. I believe these messages signal a new era in which university programs that put research- based knowledge to work in service to the public good will receive increased public support. Finally, a sincere, renewed commitment by the our faculty and staff to serving the public good through university outreach will begin to restore public confidence and enhance the competitive position and public funding for the University of Massachusetts Cooperative Extension System.

                                John M. Gerber; April 11, 1994