Benefits without Boundaries

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Multi-State Collaboration Conference

• Farm Foundation-led gathering of leaders from
  academia, industry, stakeholder and advocacy
  groups
• with help from W.K. Kellogg Foundation and USDAs
  Cooperative States Research, Education and
  Extension Service

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Multi-State Collaboration Conference

• Process Take a hard look at our operating
  environment, stakeholder expectations and the
  status of collaborative projects among the Land
  Grants

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Multi-State Collaboration Conference

• Goal Identify the strategies with the most
  potential for creating strong education, research
  extension and international programs in
  agriculture

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Environment

• Budget constraints
• More competition for top people, fewer dollars
• Increased stakeholder demand
• New audiences, clientele
• Expectations for excellence

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Environment

• Youre broke. You dont have enough money to
  hire all the people you need. The ones you have
  are the wrong ones and theyre working on the
  wrong things.
• Youre also trapped in an historically abysmal
  management system called tenure
• Arthur Hecker, vice-president of Research and
  Development and Scientific Affairs, Ross Products
  Division of Abbott Laboratories

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Expectations

• Stakeholder
• Industry
• Policymakers
• Funders

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Multi-State Collaboration Conference

• Two distinct strategies emerged

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First Strategy

• When in danger and in doubt,
• Run in circles
• Scream and shout.

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Second Strategy

• Promote collaboration
• Repeat success
• Start now

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Success stories exist

• Three themes
• Complex problems
• Efficiency and effectiveness
• Shared excellence

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Success stories

• CASGMS
• Midwest Poultry Consortium
• IPM CRSP
• Southeastern Horticultural Extension

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Common elements of success

• Mutual benefits
• Champions at all levels
• Need-based, Outcome driven
• Involved stakeholders
• Adequate resources
• Advance agreement on policies

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Common elements of success

• Effective evaluation of people and programs
• Integrated research, education and outreach
• Interdisciplinary approach to sound science
• Collegiality among collaborators and clientele
• Innovative delivery methods

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Barriers to collaboration

• Funding
• NIH Held hostage by stakeholders, internal
  and external
• Turf
• Transactional costs and logistics

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Recommendations

• Think big, start small
• Need-driven
• Mutual benefits are mandatory
• Identify champions

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Recommendations

• Look across as well as out
• Lead, dont follow
• Agree in advance
• Model best behavior
• Communicate success

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Multi-State Collaboration Vision

• Expanded opportunitiesbuilt on a foundation of
  mutual objectives a vision of shared benefits
  unbound by discipline or political borders

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Multi-State Collaboration Conference

• Just Do It