Agriculture and the rural economic bases in mining, fisheries, forestry, and natural resource extraction are experiencing major social and economic changes. The farm and rural crises of the 1980s are not short-term aberrations, but symptoms of long-term trends that were partially hidden by the relatively good times for agriculture and rural areas…

This investigation traces the history of change in public higher education as it relates to its third mission, from the traditional service to the contemporary engagement. The article begins with the emergence of U.S. higher education institutions in the 1600s and documents the changes era by era to the present. In each era, higher education's…