An ad hoc study committee (Blue Ribbon Panel) will identify key factors for successful outcomes of coordinated and collaborative projects between colleges and universities in the land-grant system, including those involving historically Black colleges and universities, and other institutions, which address national challenges and global food security. The committee will prepare a report recommending actions to enhance the success and impact of inter-institutional activities.
To accommodate a compressed study timeline, the committee will explore the opportunities and limitations of inter-institutional projects by focusing on case studies chosen from the portfolio of past Multistate Research and Extension Activities, Coordinated Agricultural Projects (CAP) of the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), and other regional initiatives involving research, education, and extension.

The committee will use the selected case studies to develop a framework of principles for fostering successful coordination and collaborations in pursuit of diverse outcomes. Outcomes may include those related to addressing specific national priorities, advancing knowledge, building human resource capacity, supporting commercial innovation, producing economic, environmental, and social benefits, and/or increasing public engagement. The committee will also consider factors that contribute to administrative goals of efficiency, ease, and transparency in reporting and in documenting impacts within and across projects. After deliberating on the case studies, the committee will present to stakeholders, at a multi-day virtual workshop, a conceptual overview of its framework of principles for successful coordinated and collaborative activities.

Based on feedback from the workshop participants, the committee will finalize and describe the principles in a short report that includes recommended actions to reduce barriers to effective coordination and to foster impactful collaboration. The committee's report also will recommend processes that land-grant schools can use to capture and share successes, outcomes, and impacts of joint projects.