onboarding was also expressed. Someone also wrote in a need for “training in curriculum”. In addition, a respondent indicated a “lack of strategic, democratic leadership, direction, plan, and process for 21 st century LG Extension manifesto (Shift from 20 th century “Ag” Extension paradigm)”. Someone else responded that “ University and Extension administration does not understand or value community and economic development enough to make a make a higher priority commitment to it by allocating base funding (tenure track) for 4-6 field positions across the state and we have some limited campus position support. ” Embedded in the responses to other top challenges in the parent questions were several responses that are classified as relating to professional development. In general, responses indicated need for funding for professional development as well as access to quality, graduate level, subject matter continuing education for Extension professionals. Other responses indicating needing to develop “training systems and ways for new employees to plug in and be effective quickly” in order to reduce attrition within t he first two years, and in general clearer understanding by agents of what is expected of them in their jobs through setting of clear goals and also providing easy to access and use resources. General program development tools were identified by a respondent commenting on the “l ack of structure for the basic order of operations in creating, communicating, and evaluating and reporting the impact of programs. Lack of checklists, templates. ” Need for “l earning about different cultures and practices in order to better serve the community and develop effective interventions ” was identified by another respondent. Training related to technology for communicating more effectively with communities and families to advertise programs was also identified. Finally, need for evaluation, specifically related to measuring impact was also mentioned.
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