Integrating Research and Extension in in an Academic Department: Opportunities and Challenges

1. Integrating Research and Extension in in an Academic Department: Opportunities and Challenges Invited SeminarDepartment of Agricultural EconomicsMississippi State UniversityStarkville, MS J. Matthew Fannin Associate Professor, LSU AgCenter and LSU A&M January 21, 2014

2. Who am I? • Southern native: Rural North Louisiana (Jackson Parish) • Local Influences • Elementary and High School: • Agriculture and Manufacturing Dep. Economies • Undergraduate and Graduate School: Non-Ag. Rural Development / Public Sector • Education: B.S. and M.S. Ag. Economics – LSUPh.D.: Ag. Economics- Univ of Missouri • Assistant/Associate Professor/ Rural Development, LSU 2003 - Present

3. Outline • Research-Extension Continuum • Planning a Joint Program • Example: Financial Resiliency • Going from State to Regional • Challenges SRDC Director/MSU Faculty Member • Directions

4. Research-Extension Continuum • Rural Development Criticisms • Research • Where are the experiments? Where are the controls? • Is policy analysis actually research? • Social science isn’t real “science” • Extension • You aren’t touching enough skin! • Extension is about helping people not places. • You can’t measure success!

5. Research-Extension Continuum • Quality RD research and extension at intersection and constantly crossing boundary • Distinction blurred by many funding sources • E.g. Sea Grant RD Scholarship Research Extension

6. Planning a Joint Program • What is the rural/community problem? • Cliché – Begin with the “end” in mind • What are your proposed outputs, impacts, and outcomes? • How will they be measured? • Does (or will potentially) anyone value program? • Does program have public value?

7. Planning a Joint Program • Identify unit(s) of analysis • Decision makers – household, business, government • Aggregates – industry, geography

8. Example: Financial Resiliency • Problem: Parishes/municipalities financially unprepared for Hurricane Gustav • End Deliverables • Output: Decision tool for reducing financial vulnerability/improving capacity • Impact: Public sector incorporating policy to increase financial capacity / reduce vulnerability • Outcome: Lower costs incurred during next similar hurricane; fiscal health maintained / improved following disaster

9. Financial Resiliency (Research) • Measuring vulnerability • Fannin, J.M., J.D. Barreca, and J.D. Detre. 2012. “The Role of Public Wealth in Recovery and Resiliency to Natural Disasters in Rural Communities.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics. 94(2): 549-555. January. • Measuring capacity/resiliency • Fannin, J.M.and J.D. Detre. 2012. "Red Light Ahead: Preparing Local Governments Financially for the Next Disaster." Choices. 27(1). Available online at http://www.choicesmagazine.org/magazine/pdf/cmsarticle_209.pdf. • Brown, K., J.M. Fannin, and J.D. Detre. 2013. “Fiscal Health Revisited: Evaluating County Government Finances as Local Government Vulnerabilities Increase.” Presentation Made at Annual Meetings of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, August 4th-6th, Washington, DC.

10. Financial Resiliency Extension • Financial Disaster Resiliency Case Studies • Tangipahoa Parish, LA (2009-10) • Calcasieu Parish, LA (2011-12) • Foley, AL (2013) • Waveland, MS (Expected 2014)

11. Financial Resiliency (Extension) • Train-the-Trainer Manual (2011) • National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) Workbook (2014) • Webinars • NADO (July 2013) • National Association of Counties (NACo) (Nov 2013)

12. Financial Resiliency Funding • Total Funding in Program Theme (2009 to 2013): $519,305 • Fannin, J. Matthew. “Educating Stakeholders on Regional Financial Resiliency.” Rural Policy Research Institute, University of Missouri. $19,230. (05/01/2013-12/31/2013). (100% LSU AgCenter). • Fannin, J. Matthew and Carol Franze. “Delivering Decision Support to Local Governments to Financially Plan for Future Natural Disasters.” Smith Lever Special Needs Competitive Grant Program. National Institute for Food and Agriculture, USDA. $53,826 (08/15/2012 – 08/14/2014) (100% LSU AgCenter). • Fannin, J. Matthew, Jody Thompson, Carol Franze, Joshua D. Detre, and Ashok Mishra. “Measuring the Relative Financial Vulnerability of Municipal Governments to Tropical Natural Disaster Risk.” Coastal Storms Program, Multi-State Sea Grant Consortium administered by Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium. $99,283. 02/01/2012 – 01/31/2014. (LSU AgCenter Portion $87,494)

13. Financial Resiliency Funding • Detre, Joshua D., J. Matthew Fannin, Ashok K. Mishra, R. Wes Harrison, Rex H. Caffey, and Kurt M. Guidry. “Improving the Economic Resiliency of Rural Communities Under Natural Disaster and Environmental Risk.” USDA/NIFA/ Food and Agricultural Sciences National Needs Graduate and Postgraduate Fellowship (NNF) Grants Program. $238,500. 01/01/2012 – 12/31/2016. (100% AgCenter) • Fannin, J. Matthew, Carol Franze, Joshua Detre, Thomas Hymel, and Kenneth Savoie. “Decision Support to Local Governments in Budget Planning Under Coastal Risk in Louisiana.” Louisiana Sea Grant College Program. $100,280. Feb 2010 - May 2012. ($88,000 LSU AgCenter). • Fannin, J. Matthew and Carol Franze. “Decision Support to Local Governments in Budget Planning Under Coastal Risk.” Coastal Storms Program: Community Risk and Reiliency. Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium. May 2009 – Apr 2010. $19,975. (100% AgCenter).

14. Financial Resiliency – Next Steps • Train-the-Trainer Extension Events • Research on Fiscal Stress/Bankruptcy • Extend outreach/research to Sandy affected regions • Extend research /outreach approach to non-disaster economic resiliency

15. Opportunities - State to Regional • Need a local (state) problem(s) to build a regional/national program • Fits “applied” mission of the land-grant • More closely links research/extension functions • Allows local “cases” to build into regional and national models for research and extension

16. Opportunities - State to Regional • The role/contribution of micropolitanregions on rural performance/sustainability • Why micropolitan? – Importance to Mississippi • Almost a third of urban population in MS live in micro areas (5th highest in continental U.S.) • Over a third of rural MS population resides in Micro areas– (7th highest continental U.S.; highest in South)

19. Opportunities - State to Regional • Coastal development Issues • Current domain coastal/resource scholars • Environment People • Rural Development scholars bring the following perspective • People Environment

20. Opportunities State to Regional • Scholars need to work together • People Environment • 9 of 13 Southern states have coastline • Lessons from MS to other Southern states

21. Intersection of State/Regional Initiatives

22. Challenges to SRDC Director and MSU Faculty Position • Challenge: “Managing busy-overhead work / Investment in Writing” • Address – Compartmentalize overhead time • Challenge: “Advising undergraduate and graduate students” • Address - Develop initial in-person relationship; move to alternative interaction methods with value-added components

23. Challenges to SRDC Director and MSU Faculty Position • Challenge – “Maintaining disciplinary support/service” • Address – Push SRDC research/outreach scholarship as much as possible to disciplinary outlets • Challenge – “Mentoring junior faculty” • Address – Involve in grant proposal

24. Challenges to SRDC Director and MSU Faculty Position • Challenge – “Extensive travel schedule” • Address – Increase intensity of travel effort – learn how to say “no” when not mission critical; use of distance technology effectively • Challenge: “Competing agendas between multiple stakeholder groups” • Address: “Who said this job was going to be easy?”

25. Directions for Research, Extension, and Teaching @ Mississippi State University

26. Research Directions • Regional wealth creation • Dimensions • (people-based vs place-based) • (public vs private) • (local vs non-local) • Measurement/price

27. Disaster Resiliency / Security • Tradeoffs – physical vs. financial • Contractual arrangements – disaster services

28. Fiscal Health • Optimal “risk-adjusted” thresholds for major financial ratios • Municipal bankruptcy analysis

29. Outreach / Service • Data creation/delivery • Develop alternatives/substitutes for discontinuing federal data series • Update/maintain community policy toolkit • Modify and deliver financial resiliency program • Leverage federal and university partners

30. Teaching • Regional economics taught at all levels • Undergraduate (intro to space in production and consumption; Germanic geography, spreadsheet-derived spatial metrics, multiplier interpretation) • Masters – nonparametric regional analysis, spatially granular data analysis and correlations, custom mapping • Ph.D. (I-O, SAM, CGE, Spatial Econometric (SAR, SEM, GWR, spatiotemporal, etc) • Develop undergraduate/M.S. class on “Rural Wealth Creation” • Teaching innovations • Flipped classroom • Service learning

31. Funding the Program • “It costs money to conduct quality research” (Abner Womack, FAPRI Director, August 1998)

32. Funding the Program • Aggressively seek funding from traditional and non-traditional sources • USDA, Commerce, Interior, NSF, NIH • Previous success in competitive and non-competitive at federal level • Focus on strengthening faculty success across department • Evaluate ROI • Multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional collaborations • Small vs large funding sources

33. Funding the Program • Leverage state and federal partners • (Regional RDCs, RUPRI, RFI, NACo, NADO, etc) • Evaluate related to general mission and core competencies • Step out on a limb!!

34. Thank You! mfannin@agcenter.lsu.edu 225.578.0346