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We
placed a proposal before WSU's Faculty Senate this fall to change
our organization's name from Washington State University Cooperative
Extension to Washington State University Extension.
'Cooperative' has long signified the federal, state and county partnership
that historically has provided the foundation of our funding. While
we continue to rely on these three partners for funding, over time
we have expanded our partnership definition to include other educational
institutions. At the University of Washington, for example, we share
a commitment to fund an extension position in the College of Forest
Resources. We also share funding for one and soon two extension
faculty in the Washington Sea Grant Program, which is based at the
UW.
The
Washington Sea Grant Program serves communities, industries and
the people of the state and nation through research, education and
outreach about the marine environment.
WSU's 10 learning centers, which have helped increase access to
higher education for place-bound adults, are a joint venture linking
Cooperative Extension with several of the state's community colleges.
We also partner with four community colleges in the Partnership
for Rural Improvement.
PRI
is a consortium of educational institutions, government agencies
and citizens based at Washington State University that act as a
catalyst for community development.
I mention all this because the 'Cooperative' part of our name no
longer reflects the true nature of the partnerships that have
evolved
to fund programs that serve the needs of the state. Our current
name is confusing to some because they don't see their roles
recognized.
We are in many facets of WSU's strategic plan. We can be found enhancing
undergraduate education through internships and service learning.
There is an article on community service learning in this issue
of CE Focus.
We
also enhance undergraduate education through our recruitment
efforts
at our learning centers and through distance degree delivery programs.
And, it's worth noting that we are recruiting students not only
for the College of Agriculture and Home Economics, but also for
the entire university, and our degree delivery programs serve
other
colleges as well as our own.
In the communities in which they are located, our county extension
offices, regional research and extension centers and learning centers
are the front door to WSU for many prospective students. Dropping
'Cooperative' will signal that we are a point of entry for all WSU
programs and that WSU is an engaged institution throughout the state. |
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Linda Kirk Fox
Associate Dean and Associate Director,
Cooperative Extension. |
This leads me to a brief discussion of our budget. Because of
reduced state funding, the university has been forced to make
some budget reductions. What we have tried to do as far as extension
is concerned is protect our delivery platform while trying to
strengthen our statewide platform for education and outreach.
We have not eliminated any major program areas. In my opinion,
we do not have any expendable programs.
We will not walk away from county or city funding or other organizations
we want to work with and that are willing to share the cost.
We
have looked at ways to develop short-term flexible assignments
and retain enough flexibility in our budget to hire people on
that basis. We have two faculty on short-term assignments to work
on two priority issues, West Nile virus and homeland security.
All this aside, we have had to make some difficult decisions.
We have decided to close the plant and insect diagnostic lab in
Prosser. We will increasingly rely on digital diagnosis. There
is some grant funding available for us to pursue that.
We also have decided not to fill some vacancies and will be reducing
our operating budget support for the CAHE alumni and development
office, a westside part-time student recruiter and operating support
for the learning centers. We have moved some state-funded positions
to either self-sustaining income accounts or special federal funds.
We did not make these decisions easily, but we had to make them.
While most of the budget news this year was bad, there is some
good news. We did receive funding from the state legislature for
two positions to support the viticulture and enology program and
we are quickly moving forward to fill them.
In
closing, extension has been accepted as an affiliate of the Washington
State Association of Counties. This means we will be at the table
with WSAC talking about the budget and legislative issues that
affect all of us in extension and county government. This affiliation
may also open doors for other opportunities that may benefit the
entire university.
Linda
Kirk Fox
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