This article explores the challenges of reporting outcomes of the Extension educational programs at land-grant universities and presents a model highlighting the focus and expectations of reporting in Cooperative Extension. This model provides a rationale for recognizing the relationship between program planning, evaluation, reporting, and…

Extension professionals often communicate program outcomes to external stakeholders using impact statements. We developed and evaluated four impact statements for the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP). We drafted the statements after conducting literature reviews for core content areas of EFNEP that include diet quality, food…

For over 100 years, Cooperative Extension has been bringing university research and resources to communities to help them address critical issues. Historically, Extension was one of the first university engagement models in the country. In the last 20 years, community-university engagement models on campus have intersected and competed with…

Effective Cooperative Extension programs produce important private and public value for individuals, families, businesses, and communities. However, the public value of Extension programming often goes unmeasured and unarticulated. Extension needs to reclaim its role as a key provider of public value for Land-Grant Universities through strong…

Land-grant Extension institutions face increasing expectations to use data to communicate value and drive program and organizational development. In this article, we introduce the University of Wisconsin--Extension Data Jam Initiative, an integrated qualitative software, methods, and data analysis curriculum. The Data Jam Initiative is an…

The Cooperative Extension System was created in 1914 with the passage of the Smith-Lever Act. The act provided resources to improve access to education by creating this nationwide organization to bring land-grant university research and resources to people where they lived and worked. Cooperative Extension was the first formal nationwide structure…

Many undergraduates are interested in community-based programming, but at most land-grants undergraduates have little contact with Extension. This article describes a grant project that developed two undergraduate courses about Extension and community-based, experiential education. The academic-year course incorporates lecture, discussion, guest…

"Strategic Opportunities for the Cooperative Extension" was developed based on responses by Extension administrators and directors, informed by program leaders and others and based on state and local needs identification processes, including advisory and user input. The respondents to a survey ranked the Strategic Opportunities in the order…

For decades, family and consumer sciences (FCS) Extension educators have provided health related education to consumers through Cooperative Extension programming at land grant universities. However, offering diabetes education can be extra challenging due to the complicated nature of the disease and the multi-faceted treatment required. Faced with…

We explain in this article the need for board training in rural America irrespective of industry or government sector. We discuss how an assessment of training needs has led to the launch of a new project called the National Board Basics Curriculum (NBBC) project. In this project, we have identified four key core competencies that every board…

The authors provide an overview of the Cooperative Extension System and its program evaluation challenges. Part of the historic land-grant system, Extension exists in all states and territories of the United States and is funded through federal, state, and local (usually county) appropriations, as well as competitive grants and other sources.…

The land-grant universities, through Cooperative Extension Services, have performed the most important university outreach function in America. The Smith-Lever Act of 1914 stated that the function of Cooperative Extension was to provide practical instruction in subjects related to agriculture and home economics. Subsequent amendments to the Act…

The future of any society depends on how well it prepares its young people to make the decisions and carry the responsibilities of mature citizenship. There is much evidence that society is not measuring up in helping all youth become useful, well-informed, self-reliant, socially responsible people. The Cooperative Extension Service's youth…

A 5-phase plan was initiated in New York's Schuyler County to develop a Community Resources Development (CRD) program which would bring about communication, educate citizens, and build leadership. This was a joint effort involving county citizens and organizations, a county extension agent, a regional CRD specialist, the resources at both the land…

Historically, land-grant university research stations focused on demonstrating successful farming methods. The land-grant mission and the principles at its foundation have broad applicability, and we believe the land-grant principles can be successfully applied in urban settings to a university's work with youth and families. In this article we…