Local leaders are essential for helping Michigan achieve its 30-year water strategy goals. The Michigan Water School is an Extension nonformal educational program to address the knowledge gap of local leaders. We evaluated programs conducted from 2017 to 2019. Results revealed program outcomes in knowledge, attitudes, perceptions of criticalness…

This article provides a national overview of women owning woodlands (WOW) networks and the barriers and successes they encounter. Qualitative interview data with key network leaders were used for increasing understanding of how these networks operate. Network leaders were all connected professionally, and all successful WOW networks involved…

This article describes findings from a qualitative study of volunteer leaders in the StrongWomen strength training program in Arkansas. The study explored reasons volunteers initially agreed to serve, perceptions of volunteer role, and motivations for continuing to lead strength training groups long-term. Findings suggest a combination of factors…

Community organizations must be self-sustaining in order to remain active, viable, and strong. The three primary steps involved in sustaining members, volunteers, and leaders include evaluate, recognize, and either retain, redirect, or disengage. A volunteer performance evaluation will determine whether individual and organizational goals are…

West Virginia University's Extension Service partnered with the Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Resources Program to improve guide performance in West Virginia's tourism industry. The result of this partnership is a West Virginia Interpretive Guide Training program aimed at providing low-cost, widely available training to guides throughout the…

Founder's Syndrome can create barriers to change in Extension programs. As a result, Extension staff have experienced challenges in effecting organizational change where Founders are present. 4-H Youth Development staff in Wisconsin applied a variety of strategies to move forward with 4-H programming, despite the influence of the Founders. Staff…

This study focusses on finding out how leaders in three small communities view Extension. The results show that community leaders see the importance of Extension primarily as it contributes to the economic development of their communities. The author discusses implication for Extension and outlines some strategies for working with community…

An exit survey of 160 4-H adult volunteer leaders who had terminated their leadership role (51 responses) indicated they had participated because their children were involved or they desired to make a difference for youth. They left because children were no longer involved and because of time demands. Program factors did not influence leaving,…

Additional volunteer middle managers to work with extension agents in Four-H Clubs are needed for effective organizational structure and quality programs. The article discusses the value of these middle managers and their recruitment, selection, training, use, recognition, and evaluation. (MF)

To better understand the relationship of the morale of Extension agents and their perceptions of the leader behavior of the county agent chairman, 201 Georgia county Extension agents from 68 counties were studied. It was determined that agents' morale and leader behavior are significantly related. (AG)

Survey responses from 68 civic and community organizations in South Dakota indicated that one-fourth currently had some level of youth participation. Service/community, religious, 4-H/scout leaders, and youth center/after-school programs, but none of the government or business organizations, indicated that youth participated in decision making.…

A survey identified the predominant conflict resolution style of 371 4-H youth development volunteer leaders. The use of solution-oriented styles differed by leaders' program area. Differences between those who received more and less conflict resolution training were small. A variety of skill levels in conflict resolution were found. (SK)

A study of tasks and duties performed by 4-H agents employed by the Iowa Cooperative Extension Service identified seven critical duty areas: recruit, train, and utilize lay leaders; conduct programs; prepare specific program plans; respond to client requests for information; prepare annual plan; develop public relations; and assess community…