Sue C. Jacobs

author and editor of "Young Milton: The Emerging Author, 1620-1642"

November 4, 2015

Sue C. Jacobs is the Ledbetter Lemon Counseling Psychology Diversity Professor and a professor in the School of Applied Health and Educational Psychology in the College of Education at Oklahoma State University. She came to OSU as head of SAHEP in 2001 from the University of North Dakota, where she was training director of the Counseling Psychology program. Her educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts degree from Antioch College and Ph.D. from the University of Southern Mississippi. From 1989 to 1994, she was a scientist, instructor and psychologist at the Mind/Body Medical Institute at Harvard Medical School. Currently she directs OSU's Preparing Future Faculty in Psychology program, co-directs the Oklahoma Network for the Teaching of Psychology and is team leader of the OSU Difficult Dialogue Program. She is an American Psychological Association Fellow and a faculty recipient of the 2013 Karin and Robert J. Sternberg Award for Excellence in Advancement of The Land-Grant Mission of Oklahoma State University.

In an increasingly competitive higher education environment, America's public universities are seeking ways to differentiate themselves. This book suggests that a hopeful vision of what a university should be lies in a reexamination of the "land-grant mission," the common system of values originally set forth in the Morrill Land Grant Acts of 1862 and 1890, which established a new system of practically oriented higher learning across the United States. While hard to define, these values are often expressed by the 100 or so institutions that currently define themselves as "land grants" under the three pillars of research, teaching and engagement/extension. In order to understand the unique character of a modern land-grant institution, this book focuses especially but not exclusively on the multiple components of a single organization, Oklahoma State University, founded in 1890 and currently enrolling 35,000 students across five campuses. Contributors from across the university focus on what the land-grant mission means to them in their daily endeavors, whether that be crafting the undergraduate academic experience, stimulating research, or engaging with the community through extension activities. The twenty contributions are divided into four parts, exploring in turn the core mission of the modern land-grant university, the university environment, the university's public value and its accountability. The volume ends with an epilogue by the editor, which summarizes the values underlying the activities of land-grant institutions. In a time of uncertainty in higher education, this volume provides a helpful overview of the many different types of value public universities bring to American society. It also offers a powerful vision of a future founded on land-grant ideas that will be inspiring to university administrators and trustees, other educational policymakers, and faculty and staff, especially those fortunate enough to be part of land-grant institutions.

URL: https://library.okstate.edu/news/celebratingbooks/2015/sue-jacobs

Last Updated: 12 January 2022