Vision
The Southern Association of Agricultural Experiment Station Directors administers the cooperative research of the 13 Southern states, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It embraces the scientific, social, and political agendas that drive the Southern state agricultural research complex. This research complex serves a critical role in the production of safe, nutritious food, fiber, and forest products; prudent use and protection of natural resources; and contributes to the quality of life of every citizen in the Southern Region, the nation, and the world.

The Southern Association will be proactive in planning, motivating, stimulating, and creating interactions among institutions and scientists to address the critical agricultural and related issues of the member states, the Southern Region, and the United States.

Specifically, the Southern Association will:

• Broaden its communication with both traditional and new stakeholders in the research products at the regional and national levels to more effectively identify the changing agenda for the Southern state agricultural experiment stations.

• Facilitate advocacy of resources for its members to support both traditional production research and research related to the broader agendas of the food, agricultural, natural resources/environmental system.

• Develop new regional relationships with other parts of the land-grant system and other academic and industrial communities to more effectively link and share resources and assure timely application of new knowledge and technology.

• Develop new paradigms of cooperation to expand the corporate impact of each experiment station through more effective shared use of existing resources.

Mission

The mission of the Southern Association is to provide a forum for consensus-seeking among members and to represent and provide service to the individual Southern Region agricultural experiment station directors on matters of regional, national, and international concern.

Specifically, the Southern Association:

• Plans and develops broad-based programs of enlightened, relevant, cooperative research that expands the quality and effectiveness of individual member land-grant institutions and their impact in the states and the Southern Region.

• Develops and uses strategic planning that identifies the needs for regional research and both drives and reacts to the related national plans.

• Initiates, monitors, and reports the results of a series of regional research activities, including projects, cooperative efforts, and communications.

• Is the research focal point for linking to related academic, political, and industrial entities.

• Represents the nature, importance, and needs of state agricultural experiment station research to its various regional publics and develops political, social, and industrial alliances to appropriately enhance the broad advocacy for agriculture and agricultural research.

The Southern Association takes a proactive role in national planning and budget activities. At the national level, it is the regional agricultural research linkage to the state-federal partnership between the land-grant universities and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, the Congress, and other parts of the federal science establishment. The Southern Association maintains a national and regional communications system to provide timely information to Southern directors, which allows them to more broadly and effectively engage the interested publics and funding sources.