Animal and dairy science departments at land-grant universities have long served their livestock industries through teaching, research and extension. The number of livestock producers has declined dramatically, and the number of students with farm and ranch backgrounds majoring in animal or dairy science has declined simultaneously. Additionally, Colleges of Agriculture and Departments of Animal Science and Dairy Science have become smaller and less influential components of land-grant universities. As the livestock producer constituency has declined in size, the power of livestock organizations to influence state funding levels and priorities for that state funding has also diminished. Other forces affecting departments include increased emphasis on federally funded research, rising standards for scholarship productivity for faculty members to achieve tenure and promotion, loss of livestock units in proximity to campus, loss of faculty positions, particularly tenure-track positions, greater investment of scarce resources in compliance, and greater emphasis on universities protecting intellectual property and capturing full research costs. The potential exists for stronger relationships between industry and university departments that will ultimately strengthen departments. The strong relationship requires that departmental leadership fully understands the needs and constraints of industry. Likewise, industrial organizations must also understand the nature of universities, and the variables that affect departmental and faculty behavior.