RECOMMENDATIONS
The purpose of this study was to provide a national needs assessment related to training for Extension professionals. Overall, this survey has a greater response rate that similar assessments in the past. This is due in part to the approach that was used both in having different Land-grants involved in the survey development as well as in having those individuals and the directors of the Extension regions involved in dissemination of the survey and encouraging participation. While there was 100% participation among 1862 Land-grants and a 95% response rate for the 1890 Land-grants, there was only a 37.5% response rate for the 1994 Land-grants. As I think about this, I recall my interview with one of the 1890 Land-grants administrators who expressed concern that often assessments come out that are geared toward larger institutions and do not “fit” the people who might respond in their smaller institution. The methodology of this assessment was developed to try to address this. Focus groups with people working in 1994 and possibly the 1890 Land-grants to determine the best ways to gather data from these institutions might be useful in making sure their perspectives are reflected in future needs assessments. This study did provide insight into organizational changes that are taking place in Extension at the national level. New program areas in which people work were identified including DEI, Energy/climate issues, program funding, and urban Extension. Based on responses to “other” when referring to program area in which people work, greater definition is recommended by reducing general categories into more specific program areas in future surveys of this audience. For example, separate agriculture and natural resources into three categories including agriculture, natural resources, and forestry. Separation of health and nutrition is also recommended. Top Challenges Respondents were asked to identify up to three challenges facing their Extension organization that could be alleviated by professional development programs or other sources of support. Examples were provided for each challenge followed by a “other” categor y for open-ended responses. The top three challenges across all respondents were 1) Funding and Other Resources, 2) Professional Development, and 3) Institutional Support. The ranking of these varied by institutional type with Human Resources tying for third in 1862s and Strengthening the National Resources placing third for 1994s (Table 38).
Table 38 Ranking of challenges facing their Extension organization that could be alleviated by professional development programs or other sources of support by institutional type focusing on the top three challenges for each institutional type.
Extension Organization Challenges
Institutional Type
All
1862
1890
1994
Funding and Other Resources Professional Development
1 2 3 5 9
1 2 3 5 9
1 2 3 3 8
2 5 1 5 3
Institutional Support Human Resources
Strengthening the National Extension Organization
The top challenge identified by 1862 and 1890 Land-grants for their Extension organizations was funding and other resources. This ranked second for 1994 Land-grants. Breaking this down through the subcategory responses, the biggest contributor to the funding challenge is having small staff numbers to meet increased societal need. The open-ended comments provided by some respondents suggest also concerns that reduced funding at local and state levels may be a direct result of a highly politicized environment which more recently has challenged our use of scientific methods for development of recommendations whether it be related to vaccination, climate change or other issues. As an organization, Extension needs to be able to provide programming related to challenging issues while remaining non-partisan. In addition, there is a sense throughout that while funds are appropriated locally and by states, the work needs to be done across artificial boundaries. Finally, the comments indicate interest in seeing greater communication and collaboration across Land-grant types and specific organizations to better utilize existing resources and avoid redundancies.
74
Powered by FlippingBook