Cooperative Extension

In the beginning, extension services were established more than 100 years ago to facilitate a link for farmers to new knowledge and technology in order to increase agricultural production. Extension services were first introduced in the United States through the city libraries, and by the Farmer Institute’s experimental station staff in Massachusetts (Seevers, Graham, & Conklin, 2007). Extension work gradually expanded to the rural populations in other parts of the United States, which contributed to a national system, because 50% of the U.S. population lived in rural areas nearly a century ago (United States Department of Agriculture, 2010). The Smith-Lever Act was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1914, and the Cooperative Extension Service (CES) was established (Seevers et al., 2007). The term cooperative referred to its three funding sources: federal, state, and local governments (Graham, 1994). After its creation, CES became tremendously embedded in American society. It serves as an educational outreach network of the land-grant colleges and the USDA, which is “a vast network of interdependent yet relatively independent institutions throughout all the states and territories” (Boone, 1988, p. 11). It is dedicated to developing the agricultural system, and that requires continuous adaptation due to changing technology and demographics. Programs vary within states and local regions as CES responds to local needs and issues (Graham, 1994). The program areas of CES are agriculture and natural resources, family and consumer sciences, 4-H and youth development, and community development (Seevers et al., 2007).

The mission of CES was to distribute useful and practical information in agriculture, home economics, and related subjects t...

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...needs of the people. Their ability to perform Extension tasks is a function of their job competencies. According to Swanson (1996), high value should be placed on core competencies in business and industry, primarily referring to their knowledge and expertise in these fields.

In 2002, ECOP challenged Extension leadership to prepare its administrators, faculty, and staff to value diversity and accept that change is necessary for the viability of the organization. The committee suggested that the Extension system must allocate resources to ensure that all employees spend at least 10% of their time in training and professional development that enhance competencies relative to engagement and critical issues. Because of the need for staff training and development as identified by ECOP, many states have set up their own competency standards, including North Carolina.