TOP CHALLENGES FACING EXTENSION ORGANIZATIONS
The survey request for this section was “Please select up to three challenges facing your Extension organization that may be alleviated by professional development programs or other sources of support” (Appendix B). Examples were provided as well as the “other” category where additional challenges could be identified. Respondents were then asked to identify sub-categories within each of the three top challenges to provide more detail related to that top challenge. Once again, respondents were able to select from a list of possibilities or add a specific item as “other.” The top challenges and further clarification are provided for all respondents and then by university type (Table 9). Descriptions provided in the prompt are included in the following sections and in the survey (Appendix B).
Table 9 Top Challenges categorized by institutional type. The minimum number of selections made by respondents was 0, with some respondents selecting nine responses. The mean number of selections was 2.3 and the median was 3. The standard deviation was 1.47.
Institutional Rank from Highest to Lowest % Responses All Institutions 1862 1890 1994
Top Challenges
Funding and Other Resources
1 – 16.74
1 – 16.72
1 – 15.23
2 – 18.57
Professional Development
2 – 14.32 3 – 13.66 4 – 12.70 5 – 11.31
2 – 14.43 3 – 13.32 4 – 13.07 5 – 11.19
2 – 14.72
5 – 10.00
Institutional Support
3 – 13.71
1 – 24.29
Community Engagement
6 – 9.14
5 – 10.00
Human Resources
3 – 13.71
4 – 11.43
Leadership Development
6 – 9.65
6 – 9.71
5 – 11.17
7 – 4.29
Program Development Processes
7 – 9.43 8 – 5.54
7 – 9.22 8 – 5.66
4 – 13.20
6 – 7.14 8 – 1.43
Core Values
7 – 5.08
Strengthening the National Extension Organization
9 – 5.03
9 – 4.92
8 – 3.55 9 – 0.51
3 – 12.86
Other
10 – 1.62
10 – 1.76
No Response
Number of Question Responses
2724
2440
197
70
Items are tied for third ranking within the specific Land-grant group. Items are tied for fifth ranking within the specific Land-grant group.
The top challenges vary by institutional type. There is agreement for rankings across all groups and 1862 Land- grants, most likely due to the larger number of respondents from the 1862 Land-grants. Funding and Other Resources was selected as the top challenge for all, 1862 and 1890 Land-grants while Institutional Support was the top challenge for the 1994 Land-grants. Top challenges included in the survey are reviewed in this document with the top three challenges for all institutions summarized here.
Other top challenges written in by respondents from 1862 Land-grants that did not relate to predefined challenges are as follows:
Continuing to ask us to do more with less. By less, I mean they take part of our funding that we make to do more programming and pay for professional development to just keep the lights on. When I first started, we got $900 per year to help with professional development. Now we get nothing and they take 5% off the top of everything we make. On top of that they are going to start tapping into our revolving accounts to staff people. They want to know how we are going to create a revenue stream. We educate--we are not for profit!
Development of international training and development programs, presented around the world.
Digital infrastructure development (with a focus on communications) and data management to better organize fact sheet information and other science-based resources
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