The Cooperative Extension Service: A National AssessmentThe Cooperative Extension Service, a publicly supported educational agency, is continually struggling to define its proper function and purpose in our changing society. Should its mission be broadly based or narrowly focused? Should staff members be generalists or specialists? Should its clients be primarily rural or urban, farm or nonfarm? What role should Extension play in the information networks of the twenty-first century? Professors Warner and Christenson take a broad look at these and other questions concerning where the Extension Service has been, how well it is doing, and where it ought to go. Theirs is, first, the only comprehensive national survey that looks at the total Extension organization rather than at just one program area. Second, it expresses the viewpoint of Extension clients and the public, rather than that of the organization's staff; and third, it combines outside survey information with data recorded in the Extension Management Information System (EMIS) and other routine agency reports. The authors evaluate, among other things, the extent of public awareness of the agency and its four major program areas (agriculture, home economics, 4-H, and community development), determine the users and nonusers of the programs and the accessibility of programs to the general population, identify the level of satisfaction with existing programs, and outline priorities and policy issues for the future. |
Contents
| 31 | |
| 37 | |
An Unprecedented Funding Arrangement | 44 |
Issues Facing Extension | |
Public Awareness of Extension | |
Who Are Extensions Clientele? | |
Some Clients Are Satisfied and Some Are | |
How Frequency of Use Affects Satisfaction | |
The County as the Focus of Service Delivery | |
Summary and Priorities | |
Policy Issues Facing Extension | |
Who Should They | |
The National Survey | |
Additional Findings | |
Other editions - View all
The Cooperative Extension Service: A National Assessment Paul Warner,James A. Christenson No preview available - 2019 |
The Cooperative Extension Service: A National Assessment Paul Warner,James A Christenson No preview available - 2021 |
Common terms and phrases
4-H program agricultural programs allocation assessment Aware of Extension budget Census changes Christenson client community development program Cooperative Extension Service county Extension county staff defined educational program efforts EMIS environment expected Extension agent Extension clientele Extension organization Extension programs Extension staff Extension users Extension's farm and rural farmers federal formula four program areas funding goals identify impact income increased indicators individual inputs Katz Kentucky counties Kentucky Extension Knowledge of Extension land-grant universities Less level of satisfaction Management Information System measures national survey needs nonwhites number of contacts organizational effectiveness output overall percent Personal Characteristics Place of Residence population public agencies Race White random digit dialing reported response rural and farm rural areas Rural nonfarm Rural Sociology sample Satisfaction with Extension satisfied serve services of Extension Smith-Lever Act specific support for Extension Systems Effectiveness Model Table U.S. Department University of Kentucky urban Users and Nonusers utilized