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Who We Are and What We Do |
| Orientation on the Web Session 1 - Welcome to the NDSU Extension Service Session 2 - Who We Are and What We Do Session 3 - Policies and Procedures Session 4 - Information Technology Session 6 - The Land-Grant University Session 7 - Program Development and Educational
Design Session 9 - 4-H Youth Development Session 10 - Personalizing Your Programs Session 11 - Professional Development Session 12 - Working with Differences Session 13 - Balancing Work and Personal Life Session 14 - Organizational Management Session 15 - Volunteer Management Contacts If there’s anything that can be done to make your first year with the NDSU
Extension Service better, please contact your supervisor (district director,
assistant director or department chair) or Deb Gebeke, Assistant Director, Staff Development. |
Organization
The NDSU Extension Service is part of the Cooperative Extension System, a nationwide partnership composed of three distinct but related and coordinated bodies:
North Dakota has six land-grant universities:
You’ll learn more about the land-grant university system in Session 6. North Dakota has 53 counties. Stark and Billings counties share an Extension office in Dickinson and Fort Berthold has a separate office in New Town, so there are a total of 53 county Extension offices in the state. In North Dakota, county commissioners, auditors, and Extension district directors cooperate to oversee county Extension personnel and budgets. Extension Programming The NDSU Extension Service educational programming consists of four Program Units.
The NDSU Extension Service workers need specific skills to carry out
their jobs. A work team with input from many staff created a framework
to identify and support the areas of expertise that the NDSU Extension
Service employees need to do their jobs. Each area of expertise is referred to as a competency.
General Knowledge Each competency is defined below.
The NDSU Extension Service is the outreach arm of NDSU and is housed under the Vice President for Agriculture and University Extension. See organizational structures below.
A strength of the NDSU Extension Service is the blend of county, area and state staff to support programming. Some county staff are employed part time, and some serve more than one county. County support staff are considered county employees rather than NDSU Extension employees. Area specialists are located throughout the state, many based at NDSU Research Extension Centers. These people have very focused areas of work/research. State specialists at NDSU support programming across the state. State Specialists are responsible for assessing the needs of North Dakotans and the emphasis coming from a national level. They also keep current with research in their field and complete their own research and publishing. All of this information is synthesized to help lead the program planning identified as critical by county staff. Meet the Extension State Staff
Extension Program Leaders
Multicounty Program Units - County and area staff cooperate through the 10 Multicounty Program Units. Each full-time Extension agent is expected to provide program leadership for at least one major program emphasis effort in the unit each year. Try to think of it as working without geographical boundaries. County staff are hired to serve their county and expected to develop an area of expertise. When all the "experts" of one subject area work together to address a need we call it a multi-county program or a "community of Interest." For example, a drought in neighboring counties could lead to a multi-county program developed by a team of county and state specialists, but delivered or taught by local county agriculture agents. Another example of a "community of interest" could develop to identify an emerging issue or specific program. Currently the NDSU Extension Service is addressing emerging issues related to Energy and Obesity / Health and Wellness. District Directors work with staff in the Multicounty Planning Units.
Organizational Communications A number of communication strategies exist to keep the flow of information healthy. Each of the following groups, committees and organizations meet regularly and provide information to its members which helps build a system of communication for the entire organization. State Board of Agricultural Research and Education (SBARE)- responsible for budgeting and policy-making associated with the supervision of the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station and the NDSU Extension Service. Ag Cabinet - A group comprised of the Vice President for Agriculture and University Extension; the Dean of the College of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Natural Resources who is also the Director of the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station; and the Director of the NDSU Extension Service. Their function is to work together in an integrated environment to enhance the broad spectrum of research, extension and academic programs in agriculture and university extension. Extension Leadership Team - A team who is responsible for establishment
and implementation of policies and procedures relating to extension
programs, personnel, budget and public relations. The team is comprised of
the Extension Director, assistant directors, district directors, the Ag
Communication Director, the Assistant to the Director, and the directors of
the Centers for 4-H Youth Development and Community Vitality. Specialists Meetings County Staff Meetings These strategies are not intended to be hierarchal - instead, they are intended to provide a continual flow of information at many levels. However, each year a major effort will go into the development of a Plan of Work which guides all employees. Initial discussion begins in the spring and summer with a final plan submitted in August. All employees are encouraged to join the professional association in their field as a basic method of building your network of co-workers and receiving current information and opportunities available for your Extension career. Professional Organizations of the NDSU Extension Service Extension Funding Extension can’t do its job without people, and 82 percent of the NDSU Extension Service’s budget goes toward staff salaries and wages. That means about 18% goes to overall operating & equipment expense so staff have the tools to do their jobs.
You’ll refer to the Extension Staff Directory often during your career. Go to the NDSU Extension Service home page on the web: http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/extension/ . Do some browsing to become familiar with the site. Click on the Directory, and print out this directory to have the entire NDSU Extension Service at your fingertips. You should have received a set of tabs so you can keep an organized hard copy handy. If not, contact Lori Lymburner at lori.lymburner@ndsu.edu. You’ll serve on a Program Planning Team based on your subject matter expertise. If you don’t know which team you’re on, visit with your supervisor. Government agencies are too well known for speaking in acronyms, and Extension is no exception. Print out this list of Extension acronyms, and keep it in your new staff notebook for future reference. NDSU Extension also has a number of
special grant-funded programs. You will become familiar
with these over time. One of the most significant is FNP
- Family Nutrition Program. The Federal Government offers grants to
support low-income families in becoming more knowledgeable about
nutrition and healthy eating choices. Federal money must be matched by
state in-kind funds to be eligible. In 2008 the program employed 18.46 FTE and
operated a $1.6 million program in North Dakota. Next Session Details, details. Following the correct policies and procedures can make your life much easier. |
