North Carolina State University has incorporated many aspects of volunteer program administration and reporting into an on-line solution that integrates impact reporting into daily program management. The Extension Master Gardener Intranet automates many of the administrative tasks associated with volunteer management, increasing efficiency, and…

With education failing nationwide and economic restraints affecting both rural and urban educational institutions, Extension should be taking a more aggressive stance instead of operating in what has now become the way of Extension and "collecting numbers." Why isn't Extension more visible in the urban populations that reside in our own backyards?…

Little research has been conducted to examine factors leading to adoption and implementation of nutrition education curricula. Data from two Web-based surveys (n = 313) and 27 interviews were used to explore how Diffusion of Innovations' perceived attributes contributed to adoption and implementation of Cooking with Kids (CWK) food and nutrition…

The study reported here explored educational delivery preference of limited income older Oklahomans. Sixty participants 60 years or older enrolled in Community Nutrition Education Programs observed three educational delivery strategies and participated in a group discussion. Two researchers independently coded focus group transcripts and frequency…

Attempts to measure the impact of Extension programs have been implemented to varying effects for many years. Using data from several economics of personal finance workshops designed to teach high school teachers about a state's new personal finance performance standards, this article reports the results from of one type of evaluation, a…

"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…

The study reported here examined professional preparation systems (PPS) for parenting educators via an online survey of 324 Extension Specialists and members of the National Parenting Education Network (NPEN) and Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) listservs. Eighty-one PPS of six general types were identified. Curriculum-specific training and…

Purpose: The objective of this article is to analyze the introduction of participatory extension approaches (PEA) in the predominantly supply-driven, hierarchical Vietnamese extension system. Drawing on the case of the so-called Farmer Livestock School (FLS) concept, the authors investigate the potential and challenges of scaling up and out the…

Baseline findings from the Healthy Home Child Care Project include data from Family Child Care Providers (FCCPs) in Oregon (n=53) who completed assessments of nutrition and physical activity policies and practices and BMI data for children in the care of FCCPs (n=205). Results show that a significant percentage of FCCPs failed to meet child care…

Extension continuously seeks novel and effective approaches to outreach and education. The recent retirement of a longtime content specialist catalyzed members of University of Minnesota Extension's Forestry team to reflect on our instructional capacity (internal and external) and educational design in the realm of maple syrup production. We…

Utah State University Cooperative Extension programming, provided through the historic land-grant system, is one method used to meet the needs of residents located in rural communities. Residents in a Central Utah county need Cooperative Extension programs to address the health and wellness of their rural community. According to the Utah…

As clientele needs diversify, Extension educators are examining new technologies, including online tools, to deliver educational programming and resources. Using agritourism as the educational topic, the study reported here sought to evaluate participants' acceptance of online educational programming (webinars) and the effectiveness of the…

Participant perceptions of program effectiveness and impact are undoubtedly a popular focus of Extension program evaluations. However, the effects of participants' characteristics and contextual variables on program perceptions and how the resulting data can be used for program improvement are less explored in evaluation studies. Using data from…

This paper is organized into two main sections. The first section examines extension as an engine for innovation and reviews the numerous priorities confronting extension systems. Section two highlights the current knowledge imperative and the critical connection of extension to post-secondary higher education and training, organizational…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the medium term effect of service-learning program or "Grassroots on Work" extension program to civic responsibility of AB Political Science students. Methodology: This study employed an impact evaluation research design and both qualitative and quantitative. The data on goals and…