The service university movement in the US: Searching for momentum

While for much of the postwar period becoming a research intensive university has been the goal of most large American universities, in recent years many are reappraising their missions. This paper focuses on two institutions, Michigan State University and the University at Buffalo, that are seeking to combine a focus on a strong research mission that creates new knowledge with new initiatives to convey the practical implications of that knowledge to local clientele. These two institutions are seeking to serve their constituencies through both knowledge extension and instructional extension. In the process they face the challenge of sustaining the commitment of leaders, of altering long-standing structures, and of reforming financial procedures. Through focusing on two cases, the study seeks to identify some of the generic problems American institutions of higher education are encountering as they strive to strengthen their service function.