Four universities collaborated to develop mechanized systems management (agricultural systems management, agricultural systems technology, etc.) courses to be shared via distance education. Funded by a USDA Higher Education Challenge Grant, these undergraduate and graduate courses were initially offered to students at Iowa State University, Kansas State University, the University of Missouri, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. This effort is affiliated with the Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance (Great Plains IDEA).

The objectives of this cooperative effort were to: (1) develop a collaborative, multi-state educational effort to add depth and breadth to each university’s instructional program in mechanized systems management; (2) capitalize on the strengths of individual faculty members between the institutions; (3) reduce overall faculty teaching load; and (4) focus teaching talents and efforts in specific areas within each of the four institutions, thereby facilitating curriculum review. This presentation will describe how the project was developed, the collaboration between institutions, and the procedures and infrastructure that were created to achieve the objectives.