Searching on a Model for Sustainable Agricultural Higher Education Center (SAHEC)

This research has used a mixed methodology with bothquantitative and qualitative approaches. the study populationincluded three groups; the post-graduate students, professorsand academic staff at two universities, khouzestan raminagriculture and natural resources university and bu-ali sinauniversity. for collecting quantitative data among 320 students,175 were selected using random sampling and based on themorgan table. in order to collect qualitative data, 41 professorsand academic staff of the two universities were selected basedon a criterion purposeful sampling. gathering tool in quantitativepart was a questionnaire including three-parts. the questionnaire'sreliability was tested by cronbach's alpha technique and thetotal mean reliability of scales was 84% (?=0.84). for collectingqualitative data, semi-structured interviews were used. a summarizedcontent analysis was used in order to analyze the interviews'data. quantitative data analysis was conducted intwo parts: descriptive and analytical. results showed that asustainable agricultural higher education needs a series offactors, characteristics and conditions. these factors at economic,social, cultural, and environmental dimensions include: financialand credit, employment and entrepreneurship, the agriculturalproductivity, social issues, building culture, and environmentalawareness. results also indicated that a sustainable universityshould address four elements of education, research, managementand planning, and outreach programs in a pool of two-waycommunication between these elements and the real needs ofsociety and environment.