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FOR 123
Scholarship in Extension Program Development: The
Role of the State Specialist1
Martha C. Monroe and George Hochmuth2
1. This document is FOR 123, one of a series of the School of Forest Resources and Conservation, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food
and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. First published August 2007. Please visit the EDIS Web site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.
2. Martha Monroe, Associate Professor, School of Forest Resources and Conservation, and George Hochmuth, Professor, Horticultural Sciences and
Associate Dean for Research, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.
The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and
other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex,
sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service,
University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Larry
Arrington, Dean
Introduction
Many Land Grant Universities and their
faculties, in recent years, have re-evaluated their
definitions of scholarship. These efforts have been
largely in response to changing attitudes toward
universities and popular belief that most have lost
focus on the Land Grant Mission (i. e., have become
less “engaged”). During the 1990s, the Kellogg
Commission on the Future of State and Land-Grant
Universities wrote a series of papers about the Land
Grant University System. In one of the papers the
Commission called on publicly supported institutions
to direct a portion of their attention to solving
problems of immediate importance to stakeholders
(Kellogg Commission, 1999). These papers naturally
led to discussions about scholarship, especially as the
engaged university sought a balance of
developmental and applied research and educational
approaches for application endeavors.
Typically scholarship was synonymous with
research and publishing in peer-reviewed journals.
However, these university discussions have resulted
in the broadening of the definition of scholarship and
its application in teaching and extension. Ernest
Boyer (1990) started the discussion about a need for a
new definition of scholarship. He proposed four areas
of professorial scholarship: discovery, integration,
application, and teaching, the result of which would
value formal and informal teaching more highly in
faculty evaluations. Inherent in this emphasis on
teaching is that the enterprise includes more than
merely presenting to students. Rather, teaching
involves learner discovery and engagement, which
can be measured with a variety of meaningful
metrics.
The discussions about university engagement
and the evaluation of scholarship have particular
relevance for Extension Specialists. Most would
agree that Extension faculty and their programs are at
the heart of university engagement. The question
becomes how to define and evaluate scholarship in
the extension programs of the State Specialist.
Oregon State University faculty, for example, decided
that “scholarship creates something new that is
validated and communicated,” with the idea that
discovery, application, integration, and creative
artistry were fundamental forms of scholarship
(McGrath, 2006; Weiser, 1997). This fact sheet
describes the major components of a scholarly
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Scholarship in Extension Program Development: The Role of the State Specialist 2
program of a successful Extension at the
PlaceTypeplaceUniversity of PlaceNameFlorida.
Extension specialists have great latitude in how
they define their job responsibilities and the intended
audience (Woeste et al., 2005). Scholarship is one
element of the expectations for Extension specialists,
which include teaching, innovation, external funding,
program development, and documented program
outcomes. Many specialists have developed
educational products and materials for county agents
to use as they train youth, lawn-care providers,
farmers and ranchers, senior citizens, boaters,
hunters, and others to work or recreate more safely;
develop life skills; eat more nutritiously; or take
better care of financial or natural resources. Others
have developed systems for training and evaluation
that are used in leadership development and wildfire
risk assessment. Still others coordinate programs that
work directly with developers, ecotourism operators,
and state leaders. At the core of a state specialist's job
is program development and implementation. A
program is an overarching educational strategy
designed to achieve one or more objectives, such as
an increase in knowledge or skills; or more
significantly a change in behavior or practice that
results in economic, social, or environmental impact.
It usually includes a number of different events or
activities, such as publications, materials, exhibits,
campaigns, workshops, trainings, assessment, and
evaluation. Regardless of the amount of assigned
time a specialist has to allocate to extension and
regardless of the discipline, specialty, or commodity,
specialists develop educational programs. Extension
assignments represent a need in Florida. Having an
extension assignment means that it is the specialist's
responsibility to provide information in his or her
area of expertise.
A specialist's area of expertise is most
effectively conveyed through the effective
development and implementation of a program.
People with small assignments may wish to create
small, specialized programs or link their efforts with
others. Regardless of the assignment, however, each
specialist must have at least one program. Scholarship
in extension is a product of excellence in program
development, implementation, and evaluation,
coupled with the communication of lessons learned to
peers and the advancement of knowledge related to
extension programming.
Scholarship in extension closely parallels
scholarship in research. Indicators of scholarship can
vary from the degree of creativity and innovation to
the quality and number of peer-reviewed publications
and awards. Indicators of peer recognition, such as
state and national requests for participation in projects
and conferences, can also be a part of scholarship in
extension. While communicating the success of an
extension program is ideal, a possibility also is to take
a scholarly approach to reporting on extension
programs that were not as successful as intended.
Using the results of an evaluation to reflect on
challenges or unintended consequences and offering
new strategies for future extension program
implementation also constitute scholarship.
The majority of our extension programs are
designed to accomplish a desired outcome that meets
a need or solves a problem for a target audience.
Therefore, scholarship in an Extension program is a
function of the effort that goes into the components
of program development listed in Figure 1 (see
below).
The following basic description of the
components of an extension program highlights how
scholarship can be achieved in extension by
Extension specialists. Each step includes several
questions to help focus on scholarship in the context
of program development.
Step 1: Assessing the problem
In this step experts and stakeholders at the local
and state levels describe the problem or current
situation or lack of information and generate possible
strategies whereby education can be used to solve this
problem and move to a more desirable situation. A
review of the literature is carried out to ascertain
what experiences others have had relative to the
educational problem. There may be a number of
strategies and a number of audiences that could be
targeted for change. Consider what resources
extension has and what our niche is. Consider what
other agencies and organizations we could partner
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Scholarship in Extension Program Development: The Role of the State Specialist 3
Figure 1. Components of an Extension Program
with to design, deliver, and evaluate the program.
Identify which Goal(s) and Focus Area(s) are
involved and develop a team of specialists and agents
to continue the development of this unique program.
Consider federal strategic plans that may be relevant
(e.g., Renewable Resources Extension Act Strategic
Plan for Goal 2). Check with your focus area, goal,
unit/center, and program leaders to assure that all of
the appropriate individuals are on the team and that
efforts are not being duplicated. Decide upon a
measurable goal for the program that reflects the
needed change and what outcomes are expected.
A scholarly approach to program development
will carefully document the assessment process to
justify the development of this program and measure
its success. This documentation will be useful in
grant and report writing, and could be the basis for
communicating the scholarship to a wider audience in
the profession. Several questions that might help
address scholarship in assessing a problem are:
• How do you know this problem or situation
really is a problem?
• What activity have you conducted to determine
the extent of the problem?
Step 2: Analyzing the audience
Given all the possible directions the program
might take, identify an audience (let's call them the A
audience) to target. For some specialists, their
audience is always the county agents and their
activities prepare agents to design interventions or
provide current advice. If, however, you are involved
in the development of publications for citizens,
farmers, or youth leaders, these people are your A
audiences--the people who can change a behavior that
will help resolve the problem explored in Step 1.
There will likely be several good options for an A
audience; pick an audience that is a priority, one that
you have the ability to reach, or one that can magnify
your efforts. Reaching teachers, not children, for
example, is helpful in changing a community norm
over time. Reaching developers, not homeowners, is
helpful in redesigning communities.
In Step 2, the team understands how this
audience views the problem, what misconceptions
they might have, what concerns and values they hold,
what barriers they perceive, and what they need to
understand in order to adopt the new behavior. In
addition, it is valuable to explore how this audience
obtains information, whom they trust, and what
media systems and teaching approaches will
effectively reach them. As you begin to formulate
program ideas and communication strategies, make
sure there is a good match between your product and
the A audience. Few citizen organizers, ranchers, and
forest landowners read scientific journal publications,
for example.
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Scholarship in Extension Program Development: The Role of the State Specialist 4
Because county agents typically have more
contact with these A audiences than specialists,
effective extension programs ideally are a team effort
between specialists and agents. When new programs
are launched, however, even agents may not have the
experience or time to collect data on audience
perceptions. Grant funding can support this aspect of
program development. Develop realistic objectives
and goals for your program that your audience will be
able to meet and you can measure. Scholarship in
Step 2 includes using the literature to build
assumptions about this audience, using existing
knowledge to develop an innovative teaching
approach, and using your audience assessment to
contribute to the relevant literature. Teaming with a
social scientist may be useful in assessing public
knowledge, perceptions, and opinions. Questions of
scholarship in the step of audience analysis are:
• What does your audience know and believe
about this problem and your proposed solution,
and how do you know this?
• Should you subdivide your audience into
several target groups, and if so, what
distinguishes them and creates the need for
separate audiences?
• What are novel strategies to reach this
audience, and why do you think they will be
successful?
• How will you know if your program is
successful?
Step 3: Reaching the audience
You will probably need to work with an
intermediary audience (B) in order to reach your
ultimate audience (A) effectively. These
intermediaries could be county foresters, community
leaders, officers of associations, or landscape
architects, for example, but should definitely include
county extension agents. Extension agents play a key
role in expanding (multiplying) the efforts of
specialists and the Land Grant University. They are
the backbone of the extension system, but programs
must be designed to access and utilize them
effectively.
To reach farmers, landowners, students, or
homeowners (your A audience), your program may
need to provide packages of information and training
to your B audience. In this step you need to
understand more about how the Bs work and what
they need, what they are most comfortable providing,
and how they want the package delivered. What will
make them more effective at reaching the As? How
will you be able to measure their success? Because
county agents are partners in specialist's work, these
questions are easier to answer for agents than for
other B audiences (such as those in state agencies and
organizations). A scholarly specialist will establish a
partnership with organizations or agencies that serve
these B audiences (particularly county agents), add
them to the project team, and work with them to
assess their needs. In some cases, of course, it may be
most appropriate for the specialist to avoid any B
audience and work directly with the A audiences.
This may be true for programs that target elected
leaders or professional audiences.
At this point you should have a reviewable plan
for your program. It may be written in a proposal
format to obtain funding from industry or an agency.
It should be reviewed by the relevant Goal and Focus
Teams, program leader, and unit leaders for additional
insights and suggestions. You can use this plan to
write funding proposals. The scholarship angle could
be:
• What does your B audience know about this
problem and what will motivate them to carry
your message to the A audience?
• Are there different B audiences that require
different educational tools or training materials?
Can you compare the effectiveness of different
approaches?
Step 4: Delivering the program
Do we know enough to provide the information
needed to change the behavior to solve the problem?
We might need more research. If we have the basic
knowledge, we can design a program and develop
some extension products. In addition to EDIS fact
sheets, you may develop websites, reproducible
educational programs, trade journal articles, videos,
slide presentations, workshops, meetings, children's
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Scholarship in Extension Program Development: The Role of the State Specialist 5
stories, training sessions, quizzes, demonstrations,
interpretive signs, 4-H project books, brochures,
podcasts, door hangers, billboards, and radio shows.
Each of these products should be pilot tested before
final production to assure your message is
understandable by the A audience and that your B
audience will use and distribute the product.
How do you choose the products for your
program? The scholar will look to the literature and
the audience assessment, plus his or her team and
resources to make a choice. The scholar will use the
pilot-testing process to compare alternate products,
refining and testing both the content and the process
to best meet the audience's needs. Extension scholars
use the peer evaluation process to review their
extension products. Also consider new teaching and
communication strategies that may improve the
effectiveness of traditional products.
When your draft products are appropriate, move
into production and dissemination. Use the Extension
In-Service Training Program to deliver information
to agents; use other state conferences and Web sites
as needed. Scholarship in extension programming
requires that in addition to the program products, the
specialist write journal articles on some aspect of the
program development/execution process (e.g.,
audience assessment, pilot test results, educational
products developed, program success, lessons
learned) that will be reviewed by peers prior to
publication. While program implementation is the job
of every specialist, it can be lead to scholarly
publications with questions such as these:
• What is the key research that can be shared
with the A and B audiences? Why do you think
this will help solve the problem?
• What are the results of your pilot test? What did
you change to improve the product or the
delivery system?
• Which questions were most informative when
you conducted your pilot test? What is the best
strategy for testing these types of products for
this type of audience?
Step 5: Evaluating the program
Although program evaluation includes the
audience analysis and the pilot test of the products,
we also need some indication that the implemented
program worked (i.e., we are interested in the short
and long-term outcomes (such as change in
knowledge, attitude, and skill level)). Over time, you
should aim to document program impacts as well:
social, economic, or environmental change. Metrics
for measuring this success should be built into your
program so you can track how many coupons in your
newsletter were returned to the garden shop, how
many teachers used your curriculum, how many
farmers or ranchers adopted a new practice, or how
your program resulted in client retention. Consider
strategies to measure effectiveness of the B audience
in distributing information and the change in
awareness and knowledge in the A audience.
Ultimately, if you can measure changes in
behavior of the A audience and changes in the
problem itself, you have a very good program! If
measuring behavior change is not likely, use your
team to help identify indicators of program
success--the precursors of change. The adoption of
forestry BMPs, for example, is an indicator of future
improvement in environmental quality, thanks to the
research that helped design the BMPs. Often success
is not measured in overnight change, but rather in
small advances toward a target. Measuring the
success of your program each year will allow you to
see the advances being made over time.
Scholarship is involved when we employ
innovative approaches to measure the success of our
educational efforts. Awards (local, state, and federal)
are another avenue that allows peers to validate our
extension programs. In addition to assisting with
tenure and promotion decisions, successes that are
publicly shared help to make future projects more
successful, from obtaining funds and building a team,
to training volunteers and soliciting helpful partners.
The long-term nature of program evaluation suggests
that your commitment to this program will last several
years. If outside funding is needed to support the
product development and distribution, make sure that
it will cover evaluation as well. Scholarship is more
typically connected to program evaluation in
questions such as:
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Scholarship in Extension Program Development: The Role of the State Specialist 6
• How was success defined, how was success
measured, what enabled you to achieve success,
and what were the key factors in your success?
• If the program was not as successful as
intended, what accounts for the lack of success
and what should be done differently in the future?
• How effective were the B audiences and what
made them effective? If you had more than one,
how did they compare, and how did their
differences complement each other?
• What behavior changes have A audiences
adopted and what long-term impacts might this
new change make?
• What awards might be given to this program?
• What additional research or extension activities
are needed to build on your success?
• What can other specialists at the regional or
national levels learn from you about conducting
extension programs or working with this
audience?
Summary
Extension specialist's work is evaluated every
year against job expectations, based on the
responsibilities of a state specialist (Woeste et al.,
2005). Scholarship is the outcome of superior
performance in the development and implementation
of educational programs with the careful attention to
collecting meaningful data, making appropriate
decisions, evaluating impacts, and communicating
both the process and the success to others. While
many of those “others” will be peers, some are
reviewers of T&P packets and accomplishment
reports. The ability to communicate our work must
include developing a language to talk about program
outcomes and impacts that sounds scholarly–that we
have good reasons for making program decisions, that
we have collected data and made solid choices, and
that we have evidence of success.
Scholarship in extension requires
content-specific knowledge as well as skills in
teaching methods, social science, and evaluation. It is
quite common for teams of Extension specialists and
agents to work together in program development.
Goal and Focus Teams should facilitate the process of
identifying individuals for these program
development teams, and specialists should work
closely with Goal and Focus Team's priorities.
There are many avenues to scholarship in
extension. Your path should be designed with a
strategic appreciation for other demands on your time,
including teaching and research responsibilities,
location, and professional skills. The process of
program development is characterized by a careful
process of testing ideas, reflecting on results, and
changing select aspects of a program, activity, or
material. A scholarly approach to extension
programming is applied research that bridges a
university to the citizenry.
Acknowledgments:
The inspiration for this document came from the
2005 State Specialist's Symposium where a panel of
specialists and administrators applied our extension
evaluation review criteria to scholarship. We thank
Ramesh Reddy, Millie Ferrer, Larry Arrington, Nick
Place, Jeff Mullahey, Joan Dusky, Wayne Smith, Joe
Schaefer, Jerry Bennett, Tom Obreza, Lisa Guion,
and Laurie Trenholm for their contributions to the
panel and suggestions on this document.
Literature Cited
Boyer, E. L. 1990. Scholarship Reconsidered,
Priorities of the Professoriate. A Special Report. The
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of
Teaching. Princeton, NJ.
Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and
land-Grant Institutions. 1999. Returning to Our
Roots: The Engaged Institution. Wash. DC.
National Association of State Universities and
Land-Grant Colleges.
http://www.nasulgc.org/publications/Kellogg/
engage.pdf
McGrath, D. M. 2006. The scholarship of
application. Jour. Extension. 44(2):
http://www.joe.org/joe/2006april/a8.shtml 11pp.
Archival copy: for current recommendations see http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu or your local extension office.
Scholarship in Extension Program Development: The Role of the State Specialist 7
Weiser, C. J. 1997. Faculty scholarship and
productivity expectations-an administrator's
perspective. HortScience 32:37-39.
Woeste, J. T., C. T. Waddill, and L. R. Arrington.
2005. Extension specialists role and responsibility
statement. Florida Cooperative Extension Service
Circ. PE-63. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/SD055
Archival copy: for current recommendations see http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu or your local extension office.
