Engagement and Public Involvemen t
Growing student participation
Creating public policy links
Involving diverse, external stakeholders

Summary

Diverse audiences are getting more involved in important decisions made in higher education institutions.  Important stakeholders -- both individuals and groups -- who are influenced by such decisions previously had little or no impact on decisions.  Now they are welcomed into the decision-making process of institutions involved with FSPE.  In some cases, external stakeholders are even included on sensitive university committees, such as selection committees for hiring new faculty and appointing new deans -- areas long perceived by academics as their sole province.

Several FSPE projects are also testing promising new paradigms for learning which shift the teaching-learning relationship to a more student-centered process.  Already, FSPE projects have focused successfully on improving learning opportunities for students through mini-grants, internships, increased access to higher education and programs that encourage students from underrepresented groups to enroll and succeed in college.  In addition, the focus of most FSPE universities has broadened to include K-12 students, teachers and adult learners.  If successful, such paradigms could reach far beyond training food systems professionals to other academic segments in higher education.

Project Outcomes

Several Minnesota/Dakota efforts are underway.  The Minnesota Legislature funds Visions For Change-supported Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships, where citizen/faculty teams identify and address issues important to bioregions of the state.  The partnerships develop and provide financial support to collaborative research, education and outreach that develops long-term solutions to issues that affect sustainability of the natural resources base.  In addition, the Regional Student Leadership Development Network engages undergraduate students in the three states in leadership development on such topics as Native American food systems, rural and production agriculture, food access and hunger, democracy and citizenship, trade and policy, and international agriculture.

Pennsylvania Keystone 21, in cooperation with a group of community members, is developing a community food system center for an under-served urban area.  The community food center will serve as a focal point for leadership and community development activities and will address needs identified by community members in such areas as nutrition education, employment, computer and parenting skills.

In Nebraska, the governor has established a state task force on natural resources and agricultural education to integrate agricultural literacy into the lives of all citizens and to stimulate preparation of a more diverse, competitive and productive workforce. Planning is now underway, thanks to a Nebraska Network 21 grant, for a unique agricultural sciences magnet school in rural Nebraska that will utilize distance education as well as a nearby university research and development center. Other Nebraska Network 21 outcomes include a successful summer learning program for disadvantaged urban youth; teacher inservice training in biotechnology for K-12 students; a Food Systems Inventory for use by secondary school students; and a multicultural curriculum for small high schools using visiting artists of diverse backgrounds.

The SOFSEC Consortium has experienced some early successes using their collective strength to inform legislation and policy.  For example, the SOFSEC institutions recently sponsored an environmental justice initiative.  The consortium also worked to inform Farm Bill to be more beneficial to the 1890 institutions.

At Wisconsin, the Science Education and Employment Development (SEED) program links the University with primary, middle, and high schools with high enrollments of minority and poor students. SEED works with teachers to develop an integrated series of science education programs that students can follow from K-12 and on into higher education and employment.

Engagement and Public Involvement 

Partnerships and Collaboration

Changing Campus Culture/Redefining Scholarship and Faculty Rewards

Institutional Change

FSPE is part of the Foundation's Food Systems and Rural Development (FSRD) initiative. Find out how it all fits together

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About the
W.K. Kellogg Foundation

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WKKF Annual Report