America's diet-related illness crisis intersects with a lack of nutrition literacy, nutrition security, and systemic inequities. The Cooperative Extension Service's (CES) national infrastructure could potentially provide equitable access to quality nutrition education in the US utilizing a Master Food Volunteer (MFV) model. This research brief…

The Developmental Stages of an Extension Professional (DSEP) model depicts how professionals can move through the stages of service, education, management, and leadership to build volunteer and program capacity. It encourages Extension professionals to assess the situation and adjust their leadership style. Researchers used a mixed methods…

Meaningful volunteer engagement depends on the Extension professional's volunteer management philosophy, training, and organizational support for using volunteers. Volunteer development and leadership development are typically absent from management-focused volunteer models used in Extension. Professional development of the Extension professional,…

Extension personnel are tasked with ensuring that 4-H volunteers have competencies identified in the Volunteer Research and Knowledge Competency (VRKC) Taxonomy, 4-H youth development's foundational volunteer skills framework. The VRKC Codebook is a qualitative analysis tool for accurately identifying VRKC-aligned needs expressed in volunteer…

The Georgia Master Composter Program is both an adult environmental education course and an Extension volunteer program addressing the growing demand for composting education across the state of Georgia. The 9-week program includes lectures by experts, hands-on learning, and field trips and differs from traditional master Extension programs…

State volunteer forums can be an invaluable resource for providing opportunities for volunteer training on positive youth development. Some western states have experienced decreasing attendance and have questioned the practicality of hosting such forums. In this article, we showcase successes that one western state has experienced as a result of…

The National 4-H Volunteer e-Forum is an alternative to multistate, face-to-face volunteer forums. Building on the success of regional e-forums, a collaborative group planned and offered three webinars that were relevant, economical, consistent, and convenient to attend. A blended learning strategy can successfully be used for focusing on both…

We developed a master food volunteer (MFV) continuing education program (CEP) for MFVs assisting Extension agents with a diabetes self-management program. Our development process included two phases of pilot testing. First, seasoned MFVs tested and provided formative feedback on the first iteration of the MFV CEP modules. After revising the…

Stakeholders in Mississippi perceived that Extension could lead volunteer management and donations management after a natural disaster. In response, Mississippi State University Extension professionals developed a training on volunteer management and donations management to supplement the existing Incident Management System/Incident Command System…

This article identifies key strategies for selecting and training chaperones for youth programs. Although substantial research on volunteer core competencies and training exists, very little has been written to specifically address volunteers who serve in a chaperone capacity. We surveyed chaperones who had participated in an international youth…

Citizen science is on the rise, and Extension is poised to support this movement by offering technical assistance to citizen science programs, communities, federal partners, and researchers. The expansion of citizen science provides an opportunity for fostering innovative access to Extension resources and increasing engagement with new audiences.…

This article explores how a one-time training designed to support learning transfer affected 4-H volunteers' comfort levels with the training content and how comfort levels, in turn, affected the volunteers' application of tools and techniques learned during the training. Results of a follow-up survey suggest that the training participants…

MG SPROUTS was developed as a "project-in-a-box" program, a self-contained educational programming tool for Extension agents working with master gardener Extension volunteers (MGEVs). The program design incorporates programmatic materials and project management materials and follows best management practices for volunteer management. MG…

Diversity in learning options can increase efficacy of volunteer development systems. The University of Florida Critical Thinking Inventory (UFCTI) is designed to explicate an individual's critical thinking style based upon a continuum from Seeking Information to Engagement. Static and interpretive materials are best used with individuals of a…

Record-keeping systems (or volunteer management systems) were identified as a capacity-building tool for Extension master gardener volunteer (EMGV) programs. Not all states have or use such systems, and there are differences among existing systems. A survey was conducted in June 2015 to document and compare record-keeping systems for EMGV programs…