Strategic Roadmap

Focus area 1: Collaborative Discovery

Desired Result: Accelerate research and innovation by facilitating collaborative discovery among the Southern land-grant institutions.

Relevance: Collaborative discovery harnesses synergies by integrating science from across disciplines and utilizing specialized, advanced capabilities to address the most challenging and complex issues of our time.

Influences: Food insecurity, climate change, human and community health, biodiversity, rural poverty, agricultural resiliency

Strategies:

1. Establish regional research priorities, promoting the development of complementary research platforms and topics to facilitate collaborative research in areas of regional importance.
2. Leverage the strengths of specialized faculty and facilities from multiple Southern land-grant institutions to address complex problems that are beyond the capacity of a single SAES.
3. Continually assess the Southern Multistate Research projects portfolio to minimize redundancies and identify gaps as opportunities to create new projects.
4. Address emerging issues in the context of the Southern regional priorities through proactive leadership.
5. Promote convergent, systems-level approaches to broaden the scope of our science, including a social science research element, aligning with the movement of federal sponsors into policy, human dimensions, conflict/dispute resolution, and economics.

Focus area 2: Strategic Alliances

Desired Result: Extend the reach and impact of our research programs through strong linkages among our institutions with Extension and relevant academic, government, industry, and private entities to foster productive alliances.

Relevance: Combined voices reach a broader and more diverse audience to strategically influence, effectively engage, and serve as a resource to amplify the utility and impact of our discoveries.

Influences: National research agendas, public-private partnerships, equity and inclusion, state and national policy, next generation of scientists

Strategies:

1. Coordinate and promote research initiatives that leverages unique or specialized resources among agInnovation South member institutions.
2. Utilize the strengths of all components of the land-grant mission by facilitating partnerships with regional land-grant university associations to advance shared priorities, focusing on the Association of Southern Rural Extension Directors (ASRED), the Southern Academic programs section (S-APS), and the Southern Rural Development Center (SRDC).
3. Engage and seek out opportunities for collaborative research and graduate student programs with the 1890 land-grant universities and Association of 1890 Research Directors (ARD).
4. Leverage the assets of our land-grant institutions and missions to engage, inform, and influence the dialog of regional, national, and global governmental agencies, including federal funding agencies.

Focus area 3: Building Capacity and Resilience in Agricultural Systems

Desired Result: Future-proof agricultural productivity in the Southern Region by investing in workforce development, technological advancements, and strategic industry support.

Relevance: Strong farmer and industry relationships in the Southern region create opportunities for innovation, but challenges such as land loss, workforce shortages, and the need for advanced mechanization must be addressed to ensure long-term agricultural success.

Influences: Farmers and agricultural producers, agribusiness and industry leaders, policymakers and government agencies, consumers and food supply chains

Strategies:

1. Infrastructure Investment: Upgrade facilities for crop research, automation, and specialty agriculture to boost productivity.
2. Technology Integration: Expand the use of automation and precision agriculture to improve efficiency and sustainability.
3. Workforce Development: Enhance training programs for agricultural technology, equipment maintenance, and industry needs.
4. Advanced Crop Development: Support research in high-throughput breeding techniques to improve crop quality, yield, and resilience.
5. Policy and Market Support: Advocate for agricultural policies that ensure fair competition and promote long-term farm viability.

Focus area 4: Effective Communications

Desired Result: The Southern Research Communicators Consortium (SRCC) will strengthen the reputation of Southern agricultural Land-grant researchers and institutions by showing the impact of their research innovations.

Relevance: Effective communications tell the story of our research accomplishments to convey the value of our work and grow the resources that are necessary to deliver innovative approaches to effectively address the complex challenges in agriculture and the life sciences.

Influences: Federal capacity and competitive funding, regional and national reputation, federal and state policy, public

Strategies:

1. Collaborate to amplify the southern region research message by encouraging every SRCC member institution to collaborate with other members on regional research stories.
2. Increase the visibility of Southern Region research impacts to funding agencies and major stakeholders by showcasing return on investment and creating consumer awareness through stories that highlight how Southern Land-grant research improves lives.
3. Position scientists in the Southern Region as trusted expert sources for the media by actively promoting their research, facilitating media engagement, and highlighting their contributions to solving pressing societal challenges.
4. Develop and Grow communications train the trainer modules and workshops for administrators, faculty, research support teams and communicators in the areas but not limited to impact writing and use, media relations, communication, Issues and Crisis Management.

Four Overarching Goals

1. Increase scope, diversity and relevance of our collective research portfolios

Strengthen our current relationship with USDA-NIFA by continuing to address high priority research aligned with their goals, and forge new relationships with other funding agencies. This requires a commitment to collaboration, identifying high-priority research areas where, as a region, we can build on specialized strengths of individual SAES to make an impact.

2. Strengthen collaborative research that has regional relevance

Broaden the scope of activities we support to elevate and extend beyond Multistate Research projects, promoting science-based decision support to address the complex, multifaceted challenges facing agriculture and life sciences. Building on areas of synergy among SAESs and incentivizing collaborations will make us more competitive for research funding and stimulate the formation of regional centers of excellence. Likewise, strategic investments in Multistate Research projects can provide incentives to engage in competitive grant programs.

3. Support and develop excellent human capital

Create opportunities to enhance the recognition and visibility of our faculty at the regional and national levels. Encourage a diverse and inclusive workforce and support regional initiatives for professional development and regional leadership training of directors and faculty at all career stages. Engage graduate students and postdoctoral researchers by providing regional opportunities to broaden their professional experiences.

4. Showcase member successes, both internally and externally

Increase the clarity, consistency, and scale of messaging coming from our research programs by speaking with a coordinated voice on regional issues that complements, reinforces and elevates messages from our respective universities. The scope of our individual communications can be broadened by engaging communicators from our member institutions to effectively network and provide substantive and regular information to generate impactful products.

Annual Action Plans

A Strategic Roadmap Implementation Team will develop annual action plans to:

• Identify and prioritize specific needs based on input from Southern Advisory Committees, key stakeholders, and members
• Identify, update, and prioritize emerging opportunities within the five focus areas
• Evaluate accomplishments and develop annual action plans to support the goals
• Monitor progress, evaluate results, and share recommendations with agInnovation South members
  

Appendices

• agInnovation South Programs and Services
  • Serve as an active and effective advocate for the Southern regional research system at the regional, national and international levels
  • Provide a forum to identify high priority research opportunities across member institution
  • Facilitate the development of and coordinate relevant multistate research activities that address the needs of the Southern Region
  • Establish and maintain strong linkages to Extension and related academic, governmental, industrial and private entities
  • Serve as an internal and external information hub for research activities across the Southern Region

• Regional Associations:
  • agInnovation
  • agInnovation North Central
  • agInnovation Northeast
  • agInnovation South
  • agInnovation West
  • Association of 1890 Research Directors
  • Association of Southern Region Extension Directors
  • National Institute of Food and Agriculture
  • Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists
  • Southern Association of State Departments of Agriculture
  • Southern Legislative Conference
  • Southern Region Aquaculture Center
  • Southern Region Program Leadership Network
  • Southern Rural Development Center