Not all Extension professionals enter the workplace with knowledge and experience in program development. Some may possess extensive expertise in their subject matter but need additional training in teaching-related competencies for adult or youth audiences. Even educators with extensive skill and experience benefit from thoughtful and intentional…

This study utilized a quantitative approach to compare extension employee perceptions across organizational structures in the West region on the following issues: program delivery, program evaluation, funding, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The three extension structures characterized in this study were county-based, area-based, and a…

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a highly prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder. ASD community-based organizations (ASD-CBOs) underutilize or inconsistently utilize evidence-based practices (ASD-EBPs) despite numerous available EBPs to treat ASD. Nonetheless, ASD-CBOs implement changes to practices regularly. Understanding ASD-CBO's…

Purpose: We defined a methodological framework to monitor and evaluate farmer's knowledge exchange and learning processes. Our proposed methodology can help farm advisors during the set-up, facilitation and evaluation of interactive activities with farmers, enabling the learning environment for adopting agroecological measures. Approach: We used a…

Purpose: To evaluate the success of behavioural interventions designed to improve preventative animal health planning by dairy farmers in Wales. Methods: Interviews of farmers, veterinarians; focus group with extension officers; post-hoc written reflections from project managers; survey of farmers and veterinarians; farmer dropout analysis.…

North Carolina Extension specialists conducted a needs assessment of Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) agents to determine their foods and nutrition programming needs. Researchers examined agent and community needs, agent-offered programming, and barriers and facilitators to program implementation. Results will help inform the development of…

This article describes the curriculum and program development process that was used to create the North Carolina Extension Master Food Volunteer program. We used a rigorous program development process, including conducting a needs assessment, piloting and evaluating the program, incorporating revisions based on feedback, and receiving external…

Greater engagement has been emphasized as a need for Cooperative Extension for decades. Today this emphasis is also seen in higher education. Accordingly, there is need for clarity regarding the definition and community implementation of engagement. In the study described, I sought to address this need by conducting semistructured interviews with…

Extension educators across the United States are being asked to expand their direct education efforts to include policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) changes. However, professional development opportunities and tools are needed to familiarize Extension professionals with PSE change approaches, build their capacity to implement PSE change, and…

The purpose of the Delphi study described in this article was to determine barriers, challenges, and alternatives related to planning and implementing 4-H international visitor exchange programs. The Delphi panel comprised 21 Extension agents selected from two southeastern states on the basis of their experience and/or interest in international…

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to understand the perceptions Extension professionals have about healthy food retail programs (HFRPs). Family and Consumer Science (FCS) agents from one state in the southeastern United States were interviewed about their definitions of HFRPs, what challenges and benefits existed, and strategies for…

Oklahoma Extension educators encountered barriers related to trainings and program delivery for a caregiver education program produced by Oklahoma State University Extension. Oklahoma family and consumer sciences educators were interviewed about perceived barriers to attending trainings and delivering the program. Findings indicated that staff…

Train-the-Trainer (TTT) methodology uses an expert to train a non-expert on how to implement an intervention and is often used by Cooperative Extension personnel for delivery of programs in the natural setting. In these interventions using multiple educators and/or non-experts, a measure of implementation (fidelity of implementation) is necessary…

International Extension experiences can provide valuable outcomes to clientele. Careful planning is necessary to maximize the benefits to participants and the potential impacts of the tour. International agricultural sciences students can benefit from participating in these tours and greatly add to their success. In this article, we describe the…

Public health efforts have emphasized changes to policies, systems, and environments (PSEs) to improve health behaviors for individuals and communities. Extension has increasingly emphasized these approaches, particularly for the work of Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) agents. In part, this emphasis on PSEs in Extension has been driven by…