WASHINGTON — Congress should take action to facilitate the participation of all land-grant colleges and universities in multistate research projects, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Funding disparities have prevented many historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) from fully collaborating with other land-grant institutions.

Created by the Morrill Act in 1862, the land-grant system enabled states to establish public colleges and universities — giving farmers and other working people access to higher education for the first time. A second act in 1890 designated many HBCUs as land-grant institutions, and legislation in 1994 brought TCUs into the land-grant system. All institutions receive some funds for research, but only institutions with 1862 land-grant status receive funds specifically set aside for multistate collaboration. Moreover, the federal research dollars for both 1862 and HBCU land-grant schools require matching funds from the state — which the report says leads to HBCUs often losing out on federal funds when their states do not or cannot provide a match, and is seldom the case for the 1862 institutions.

The report, Enhancing Coordination and Collaboration Across the Land-Grant System, presents a range of recommendations to increase the collective impact of the system through participation in multidisciplinary, inter-institutional activities. For example, funding agencies should organize workshops to connect faculty with complementary expertise, and faculty members should consider how collaboration fits into the trajectory of an academic career and advocate for the rewards of collaboration.

The report says of the 247 current multistate research projects among land-grant institutions, few, if any, include HBCU or TCU institutions. Collaborations also take place through competitive grants — 2022 was the first year that an HBCU received a Coordinated Agricultural Project award as the lead institution. Other approaches, such as collaborative platforms that enable seamless sharing of data and computing tools, have the potential to bring institutions across the system together to conduct impactful science. Congress should address the need for dedicated funding to support participation in collaborative activities, says the report.

“With so many challenges ahead for our food system — the need to increase efficiency, make operations more sustainable, and ensure resilience in increasingly extreme conditions — collaboration is a key ingredient to successful land-grant research that can yield new solutions,” says Kathryn J. Boor, dean of the graduate school and vice provost for graduate education at Cornell University, and chair of the committee that wrote the report. “All land-grant institutions must be enabled to participate fully in critical collaborative research efforts.”

The report also points to principles that are required to successfully foster improved coordination and collaboration in the land-grant system:

• Support for large-scale collaborative projects at the highest administrative levels of land-grant institutions
• Targeted financial resources to enable planning and communication among institutions
• Focused operating resources, including administrative support and trained project and data management support, in addition to directed funds to support research, teaching, and outreach
• Incentive structures that enable faculty to participate in large-scale projects without compromising their other responsibilities
• Uniform, shared data management systems that enable seamless access to emerging information
• Outstanding communications support to inform the public, including legislators, of the outcomes of their financial investments

The study — undertaken by the Committee on Enhancing Coordination between Land-Grant Universities and Colleges — was sponsored by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are private, nonprofit institutions that provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions related to science, technology, and medicine. They operate under an 1863 congressional charter to the National Academy of Sciences, signed by President Lincoln.

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