EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of the study was to identify professional development needs for Extension professionals at 1862, 1890, and 1994 Land-grant universities in the US and US territories. A committee comprised of the researcher and selected members of the Extension Foundation leadership team served as a panel of experts carrying out a two-stage approach including key informant interviews followed by a national survey of Extension professionals. The survey provided insight into the top challenges Extension professionals feel can be alleviated by professional development training or other resources, training needs across Extension, and training that Extension professionals find to be impactful, or that adds value to their personal or professional lives. Respondents selected from pre-identified categories followed by subcategories to provide further insight into their original selections. In addit ion, respondents were encouraged to select “other” throughout the survey to provide open-ended comments. A total of 1168 responses were received, with 737 complete responses. Responses represented all 1862, 95% of 1890 and 37.5% of 1994 Land-grants. Extension professionals in numerous roles participated in the survey with community-based faculty and staff being the largest at 40%, followed by campus-based faculty, staff, and Land-grant coordinator at 18.93%, and administrative faculty including directors, deans, associate leadership, and program leaders coming in 3 rd at 16.01%. Years of service for the respondents ranged from 0.4 to 53 years. The maximum years of service for the 1862 and 1890 Land-grants was 53 and 50 years, respectively, but only 29 years at the 1994s. Respondents were also identified in a stratified break down of years of service as well as by self-identified career stages. The largest career stage represented in the survey was the colleague stage at 36.83%. The top three challenges selected across 1862, and 1890 Land-grants were 1) Funding and Other Resources, 2) Professional Development, and 3) Institutional Support. The top three challenges selected by the 1994 Land- grants were 1) Institutional Support, 2) Funding and Other Resources, and 3) Strengthening the National Extension Organization. Sub-categories within each of the challenges helped to add meaning to the category. Limited staff capacity and resources associated with small staff was the top contributor as identified by 20.55% of those selecting the funding and other resources category across all institutions. Employee retention and burnout were the top contributors to professional development with 12.90 and 12.85% by those across all institutions selecting these sub-categories. The limited staff capacity and funding and other resources were the primary selections of those selecting the institutional support category at 28.88 and 25.17% across all organizations. However, organizational trust and linkages across the missions of the Land-grant were selected by 16.11 to 13.06% of the respondents. Over 50% of those selecting the Strengthening the National Extension Organization Category across all organizations indicated need for developing connections to positions across Extension organizations (50.98%) with linkages across Land-grant types also highly selected (45.10%). The top three training needs selected by 1862 Land-grants were community engagement, telling our story, and career progression at 10.99%, 10.86%, and 9.90%, respectively. The top three training needs for the 1890 Land-grants were telling our story, supervisory skills, and community engagement at 12.01%, 10.39% and 10.06% respectively. The top training need for the 1994 Land-grants was professional development (12.04%) with telling our story and funding and other resources tied for second, both at 11.11%, and community engagement ranking third at 10.19%. Finally, respondents were asked to reflect on meaningful training in which they have participated. First, the focus was on impactful training provided by their home institution. The top three categories of impactful training reported as being provided by 1862 Land-grants were Core Values, Reporting, and Program Development at 14.05%, 12.89%, and 12.24%, respectively. There was a three-way tie for the top impactful training provided in the 1890 Land-grants with Core Values, Reporting and Community Engagement all being selected by 10.37% of the respondents. The top two impactful trainings selected for 1994 Land-grants were Program Specific Topics and Community Engagement at 23.53% and 14.71%, respectively. The 1994s reported a two-way tie for third with Core Values and Career Progression both being selected by 11.76% of the 1994 respondents. Respondents were also asked to identify training that added value to their personal or professional lives that was provided at the regional or national level in Extension or by an external organization to Extension.
5
Powered by FlippingBook