This work was supported through funding from USDA-NIFA, New Technologies for Ag Extension, grant number 2020-41595-30123 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The purpose of the study was to identify professional development needs for Extension professionals at 1862, 1890, and 1994 Land-grant universities in the US and US territories. The Extension Foundation issued a request for applications for a Fellowship to complete this needs assessment. Dr. Karen Vines, Assistant Professor, Continuing Professional Education Specialist, Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education at Virginia Tech was selected as the Fellow and researcher for this project.
A committee composed of the researcher and selected members of the Extension Foundation leadership team served as a panel of experts carrying out a two-stage approach including key informant interviews followed by a national survey of Extension professionals. The survey provided insight into the top challenges Extension professionals feel can be alleviated by professional development training or other resources, training needs across Extension, and training that Extension professionals find to be impactful, or that adds value to their personal or professional lives. Respondents selected from pre-identified categories followed by subcategories to provide further insight into their original selections. In addition, respondents were encouraged to select “other” throughout the survey to provide open-ended comments.
A total of 1168 responses were received, with 737 complete responses. Responses represented all 1862, 95% of 1890, and 37.5% of 1994 Land-grants. Extension professionals in numerous roles participated in the survey. Community-based faculty and staff being the largest at 40%, followed by campus-based faculty, staff and Land-grant coordinator at 18.93%, and administrative faculty including directors, deans, associate leadership, and program leaders coming in 3rd at 16.01%. Years of service for the respondents ranged from 0.4 to 53 years. The maximum years of service for the 1862 and 1890 Land-grants were 53 and 50 years, respectively, and 29 years in the 1994s. Respondents were also identified in a stratified breakdown of years of service as well as by self-identified career stages. The largest career stage represented in the survey was the colleague stage at 36.83%.
Challenges
The top three challenges selected across 1862, and 1890 Land-grants were 1) Funding and Other Resources, 2) Professional Development, and 3) Institutional Support. Institutional support includes funding and other resources and limited staff capacity/resources (small staff) also referenced in funding and other resources. This category also includes linkages across the Land-grant missions of Extension, research, and teaching. The subcategory that is unique to the institutional support category is organizational trust.
The top three challenges selected by the 1994 Land-grants were 1) Institutional Support, 2) Funding and Other Resources, and 3) Strengthening the National Extension Organization. Subcategories within each of the challenges helped to add meaning to the category. Limited staff capacity and resources associated with small staff was the top contributor as identified by 20.55% of those selecting the funding and other resources category across all institutions. Employee retention and burnout were the top contributors to professional development with 12.90 and 12.85% by those across all institutions selecting these subcategories. The limited staff capacity along with funding and other resources were the primary selections of those selecting the institutional support category at 28.88 and 25.17% across all organizations. Organizational trust and linkages across the missions of the Land-grant were selected by 16.11 to 13.06% of the respondents. Over 50% of those selecting the Strengthening the National Extension Organization Category across all organizations indicated the need for developing connections to positions across Extension organizations (50.98%) with linkages across Land-grant types also highly selected (45.10%).
Training Needs Identified
The top three training needs selected by 1862 Land-grants were community engagement, telling our story, and career progression at 10.99%, 10.86%, and 9.90%, respectively. The top three training needs for the 1890 Land-grants were telling our story, supervisory skills, and community engagement at 12.01%, 10.39%, and 10.06% respectively. The top training need for the 1994 Land-grants was professional development (12.04%) with telling our story and funding and other resources tied for second, both at 11.11%, and community engagement ranking third at 10.19%.
Finally, respondents were asked to reflect on meaningful training in which they have participated. First, the focus was on impactful training provided by their home institution. The top three categories of impactful training provided by 1862 Land-grants were Core Values, Reporting, and Program Development at 14.05%, 12.89%, and 12.24%, respectively. There was a three-way tie for the top impactful training provided in the 1890 Land-grants with Core Values, Reporting, and Community Engagement all being selected by 10.37% of the respondents. The top two impactful trainings selected for 1994 Land-grants were Program Specific Topics and Community Engagement at 23.53% and 14.71%, respectively. The 1994s reported a two-way tie for third with Core Values and Career Progression both being selected by 11.76% of the respondents. Respondents were also asked to identify training that added value to their personal or professional lives provided at the regional or national level in Extension or by an external organization to Extension.
Recommendations
This report concludes with recommendations to use the data provided by this study to develop collaborative efforts to strengthen Extension professional development training that encourages effective resource management. The Extension Foundation is recommended as an organization to facilitate national discussions leading to the development of a framework for courses and curriculum that can be tailored to multiple audiences. This will facilitate the sharing of resources, providing not only strengthened professional development training across all Land-grants at the national level but also supporting the development of an Extension certificate program that may be attractive to current and prospective Extension professionals. Recommendations for further study related to survey findings and the use of this instrument for future needs assessment are also provided.
Extension Foundation Response
In response to the needs identified in the 2023 Extension Foundation Professional Development Needs Assessment, the Extension Foundation has tailored its 2024 professional development offerings for its members at 69 Land-grant universities to help meet these needs. Professional development events aligned with these needs are connected to the major needs categories and include:
- Extension Skills (Monthly): Telling Your Extension Story, Community Engagement, Finding and Securing Funding Opportunities
- Dynamic Discussions (Monthly): Effective Communication and Outreach, Discussing Equity Needs in Cooperative Extension, Workforce Development
Additionally, several Leadership and Team Development offerings will be provided throughout 2024 including a personal leadership boot camp, trust-building initiatives, coaching for overcoming challenges, distributed leadership training, Crucial Conversations for mastering dialogue, and Crucial Influence for effective personal, social, and structural influence.
Members can visit www.extension.org to learn more about each of these offerings and register for 2024 professional and leadership development events.
The Full Report for this 2023 Professional Development Needs Assessment is available at this link.
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