Science. Service. Solutions.
Clemson's Public Service Commitment 2010
Clemson Public Service Activities (PSA) are part of a national USDA system of research and knowledge transfer, with a mandate to improve the quality of life for the citizens of South Carolina by developing and delivering research and education programs that support the state's largest industry, the $34 billion agriculture and forestry (agribusiness) sector.
The agribusiness sector touches every county through crop and livestock production, fiber production and processing, food processing, timber production, and forest products manufacturing. It also touches every citizen by providing the basic needs for life: food, clothing, and shelter.
Clemson Public Service research and technology-transfer provide the foundation for S.C. agribusiness to succeed in a globally competitive, knowledge-based economy.
Economic revitalization calls for science-based solutions to real-world issues:
- Advancing the competitiveness of the agribusiness industry
- Enhancing the economic potential of rural communities
- Safeguarding the food supply
- Preserving natural resources
- Preparing young people to become productive citizens
As a land-grant university, Clemson PSA has a federal mandate to provide research and education programs that support economic development in these focus areas.
Clemson PSA, alone, provides research/outreach specific to South Carolina's needs. Other state agencies depend on Clemson PSA research/outreach programs to support their assigned missions.
Information is delivered to the state's citizens through the most efficient communication system in the world: extension programs located in each county, and via the Internet and other media.
To spur economic recovery in agribusiness, the state's largest and most vital industry, PSA requests restoration of $15.9 million (29%) in state funds that have been cut since June 2008, and an end to further cuts in state funding. This cut was one of the most severe cuts to any extension program in the nation.