Presidential Goal #3: Increase land-grant impact

By Chris Buchignani

Dr. Larry Terry, Vice President for Outreach, will lead up an initiative of particular interest to us here at HappyValley Industry. His charge to ensure the University continues to hew closely to its founding mission as Pennsylvania’s sole land-grant institution means not only keeping its traditional focus on agriculture vibrant and relevant to modern challenges, but also adapting and extending the spirit of that mission to stoking the entrepreneurial fires that will power the commonwealth’s economy in the 21^st century.  Co-leads on this land-grant focus are Zack Moore (Vice President for Government and Community Relations) and Rachel Pell (Vice President for Strategic Communications).

Focus areas that caught our eye:

• Developing a plan for leveraging the Commonwealth Campuses and current extension and outreach structure to further fuel economic development in the state
• Increasing individual support — particularly across the commonwealth — for Penn State by growing understanding of the University’s critical importance to the state’s overall success
• Attaining per-student funding equal to the per-student allocation for other state-owned or state-related universities as part of the University’s commitment to keeping a Penn State education accessible and affordable for Pennsylvania families

Read the full article on Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi’s vision for the University