Mentoring programs at universities have become common because of the perceived benefit to student persistence and retention. Evaluation of the effectiveness of these programs has not kept pace, primarily due to the following three problematic issues: (1) lack of theoretical guidance, (2) lack of an operational definition of mentoring, and (3) lack…

Rural communities face incredible challenges and emerging opportunities. Land-grant universities are well-positioned to assist by developing new approaches to inspire university students to become civically engaged, rural community members. With this aim, the Rural Scholars program at Oklahoma State University was developed as an opportunity for…

In keeping with its land grant mission, a university campus library partnered with several OER advocacy efforts on both national and state levels to promote the creation and use of OER at the university. While the program had some initial success in inspiring faculty to create and use OER in their courses, the effort proved difficult to sustain.…

Community college students are an untapped reservoir of talent and including them in social work education aligns with the values of the profession. Yet these students encounter formidable obstacles on the path from a 2-year degree to an affordable social work degree. In this article, we describe the systems thinking underlying a newly instituted…

Mental health challenges for youth continue to be a growing concern. Youth-serving organizations have the potential to play a significant role in recognizing the signs and symptoms of mental health challenges in youth. The Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) training course is widely used to equip adults working with youth with skills to support…

Effective recruitment initiatives for underrepresented student populations interested in pursuing degrees in agricultural-related sciences have the potential to diversify colleges of agriculture while also increasing enrollment. In the current study, we used a qualitative case study approach to examine the effectiveness of the recruitment…

Purpose: The agricultural sector is facing a myriad of financial, environmental, social, and cultural challenges which affect the mental health of those working on-farm. This study focused on a tertiary education programme designed to increase recognition of mental health issues and convey strategies to address these. Methodology: To identify the…

Distance Education (DE) provides a means for which people, who are unable to attend on-campus courses for any of various reasons, to receive a college education. While there are many benefits cited for DE and many students show a partiality towards DE (Guthrie, 2009; Kelsey, Lindner, & Moore, 2002; Koch, Townsend, & Dooley, 2005; Mink…

Pearson sought to explore whether the use of Mastering Chemistry, an online tutorial system designed to help students with chemistry concepts, problem-solving skills and quantitative reasoning, is related to students' course scores and exam scores. This Research Report presents findings from two research studies: one correlational study conducted…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the process of knowledge transfer. The setting is a health and nutrition educational program at University of Minnesota Extension. The main research question was how is Knowledge Transfer being implemented in Extension, specifically Educational Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program? A case study,…

This study examined the perspectives of Extension and research faculty regarding integration of Extension and research (E-R) activities. Faculty with 50% or greater appointments in Extension or research at a Land-Grant University in the northeastern United States were identified as subjects for the study (N = 59). Study objectives were to…

Lecture capture technology allows instructors to record presentations and make them available to their students digitally. This study examined one program's implementation of lecture capture. Participants were undergraduate college students enrolled in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management courses at a public land grant university in the…

Undergraduate students at land-grant institutions across the country are often unaware of the depth and breadth of Extension services and careers. Agricultural communication students collaborated with an Extension programmatic team in a blended and project-based course at Purdue University to develop online videos about small farm agricultural…

Our urban-located land grant institution has long been committed to engaged research, teaching, and service. This paper describes efforts to articulate and implement a strategic urban land grant vision that places urban/metropolitan engagement at the center of our institution's "urban age" future. We describe intentional and broad-based efforts in…

In April 2007, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities- (APLU-) Sloan National Commission on Online Learning was created through a generous grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The purpose of the Commission was to engage the presidents, chancellors, and other institutional leaders in a unique, comprehensive discussion of the…