Trends and Issues in Extension

I’m a co-author of a Journal of Extension feature article this month entitled Applied Research Initiative: Training in the Scholarship of Engagement. The article describes a program started in Northwest Ohio in the 1990’s to increase the level of creative and scholarly work by Extension professionals. County level professionals were the primary audience.

One major goal of the program that has generally been successful has been to demonstrate that scholarship and research are already part of local Extension programming, not an additional duty.

One of my co-authors, Cindy Torppa along with Keith Smith and Daney Jackson are moving forward with related ideas in a paper at the next ESP national meeting. We’re still determining future directions, but there are a lot of opportunities for training, collaboration and development. Especially using newer Web 2.0 technologies.

Below is the abstract for our ESP presentation.

Empowering Extension Professionals to Conduct Research

Abstract:

As federal, state, and county budgets tighten, Extension systems across the nation are challenged to find ways to enhance our images with legislators and other stakeholders.  At the same time, there is a growing expectation at all levels of government and community practice that agencies and organizations must be able to demonstrate the value they provide to the citizenry.  Together, these two pressures are making the ability to conduct research critical to Extension’s ongoing success.

Despite these changes, it can be difficult for Extension personnel to come to terms with the need to add this particular set of skills to their repertoire – particularly when so many of us are already stretching our work lives by being asked to do more with less!  In this presentation, we will discuss four aspects of evaluation and outcome research that may help to motivate and inform Extension personnel’s thinking about the need for embedding research practices into their educational programming.

• First, to document the outcomes from educational programs create.  It is becoming more critical to demonstrate to stakeholders that Extension programs impact clientele in ways that make a meaningful difference.
• Second, to ensure that the curricula we write and programs we design address the most relevant issues and critical needs of the clientele served.
• Third, to market Extension.  Strategic marketing is about identifying an audiences’ needs and then showing them how you fulfill them.  By conducting evaluation and applied research that documents the outcomes our programs create, we have the ability to demonstrate to our audiences that we are the source they want to come to get their needs met.
• Fourth, as identifying funding streams to support Extension programming becomes more critical, basic knowledge of research methods and designs is becoming necessary in order to write successful grant applications.  Many funders now require that grant applications (a) explain the contribution their program and its evaluation will make (b) include a logic model and, (c) many federal grants now require an experimental or quasi-experimental evaluation design in order to demonstrate that a program “causes” the outcomes it claims to produce.

Literature and information will be shared via lecture and discussion with class participation. Resources that Extension professionals can access and use will also be shared.