2025 Theses Master's

Connecting Place and Purpose: Land Grant Institutions, Cooperative Extension, and Urban-Rural Linkages

Cole, Jane

Founded under the Morrill Act in the late nineteenth century, land-grant universities and their affiliated Cooperative Extension programs have historically concentrated their research, community engagement, and economic development efforts on rural communities and challenges. In recent years, however, calls to expand their presence and impact in urban and metropolitan areas—framed as essential for maintaining relevance amidst rapid urbanization—have gained significant momentum. How might these universities harness their longstanding tradition of serving the “non-university public” through Cooperative Extension to meet this mandate? And further, how can physical campus planning and Cooperative Extension programming coalesce to strengthen urban-rural connectivity in and around land-grant campuses?

Drawing on case studies of four major land-grant universities—Rutgers University–New Brunswick, The Ohio State University–Columbus, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, and the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities—this Capstone investigates how planners, Extension professionals, and city planners interpret and operationalize the land-grant mission in metropolitan contexts. Through semi-structured interviews that accompany this case study analysis, the research reveals disconnects between Cooperative Extension and campus development strategies, as well as underutilized opportunities to foster reciprocal relationships between urban and rural communities. Findings suggest that while many land-grant universities recognize the need to adapt to changing demographics and geographies, institutional silos, resource constraints, and governance fragmentation hinder integrated approaches. The project argues for a more intentional alignment of spatial planning and public service mandates—ones that are forward-looking while also reckoning with the land-grant system’s deeply colonial origins—to enhance its relevance, equity, and impact in the twenty-first century.