Professionalism
Extension professionals are respected (people know and trust you), knowledgeable (data/research driven), and creators of products of exceptional quality. They uphold the standards of conduct, behavior and attitude expected by the professional’s peers as well as Extension clientele.
Extension Assistants…
- Develop and employ good communication skills with faculty, staff and learners.
- Maintain professional conduct and appearance during work and community activities
- Represent Nebraska Extension at work and in the community.
- Share enthusiasm for their work with the people they meet.
- Utilize social media in a professional manner which benefits program delivery objectives for Extension
- Creators of learning experiences that surpass our customer’s expectations relative to producing significant client reach and/or documented value to helping learners make informed decisions and changes in behavior.
Actively engaged with learners as demonstrated by involvement in stakeholder groups or advisory boards
Engagement
Many organizations provide outreach, Extension embraces engagement. Engagement involves the development of sustained, long-term working relationships with a target audience, collaborator or partner. Extension professionals practice engagement by working with learners to assess their needs, developing and evaluating educational experiences and remaining connected with learners as transformational changes are considered or made by the learner.
Extension Assistants will…
- Find the intersections of local issues and university resources.
- Serve as a conduit for bringing things together (resources, faculty, and audiences) to meet local needs.
- Actively contribute to extension teams.
- Lead and contribute meaningful value to high performing extension teams.
Engage all people in Nebraska Extension regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, or disability.
Exceptional Teaching & Learning
Extension professionals create and deliver educational experiences that are based on sound science and research, provide multiple opportunities for reaching a targeted audience with content that is available 24/7/365, provide in-depth learning opportunities, and reach the full range of learners from the novice to the most sophisticated by utilizing effective teaching strategies.
Extension Assistants produce learning/educational experiences that …
- Mentor and collaborate with specialists and educators to assist with understanding learners and their educational needs.
- Develop broad program awareness among learners of Extension opportunities.
- Deliver learning experiences based on sound science and research.
- Implement a sound professional development plan to develop their subject matter and teaching methods expertise and skills.
- Translate research to knowledge and facilitate informed learners’ decisions through the educational and media related experiences delivered to local learners.
- Facilitate informed learner decisions. Innovative decision tools and curriculum should enhance our learners’ ability to make informed decision.
Result in knowledge gain and behavioral change.
Innovation
Extension professionals will initiate creative and innovative work that includes risk taking. They may utilize unique approaches to assemble and leverage resources, creative methods packaging research into educational products for reaching targeted audiences, and innovative methods for creating impactful learning experiences.
Extension Assistants will develop/demonstrate…
- A vast network of community partners to assist in the delivery of the educational programs.
- Educational experiences that will engage diverse audiences.
Innovative and engaging educational products, teaching methods, or methods for reaching clientele that have significant reach and impact.
Relevance
Extension professionals invest in identifying critical issues and developing/adapting educational programs to respond to those issues. Engagement in advanced professional development to enhance content expertise as well as strengthen skills in innovative program development, delivery, and assessment is part of the on-going continuous improvement expectation for Extension. This results in Extension professionals being change agents for issues of high relevance and value for Nebraskans.
Extension Assistants will…
- Understand the importance of and contribute to the identification of new issues and trends..
- Use the appropriate teaching method for the intended audience and outcome.
- Maintains a significant local customer base as documented by number of people accessing educational programs.
- Use stakeholder connections to constantly assess needs and adjust priorities.
Align individual educational and translational research contributions with extension action/signature outcome team priorities.
Meaningful
Extension professionals create just-in-time learning to empower people to make informed decisions at their time of greatest need. Extension professionals also recognize that the learning interests of clientele on any one issue lie on a continuum ranging from improved awareness on one end to in-depth learning expectations and behavior change on the other.
Extension Assistants…
- Deliver educational experiences responsive to local learner needs.
Deliver a series of educational experiences and interventions that engage clientele in the process of learning ranging from awareness development to in-depth study resulting in behavior change.
Impactful
Extension Professionals make a difference economically, socially, environmentally in the lives of Nebraskans and contribute to the measurement of indicators of that impact for those Signature Outcomes identified as critical to Nebraskans. Those measures of impact contribute to continuous improvement of the educational initiative and to the public’s recognition of the value created by Nebraska Extension.
Extension Assistants are/will….
- Knowledgeable of extension teams’ evaluation plans and tools.
- Contribute to the implementation of evaluation plans through gathering of impact data and other key tasks.
- Communicate the impacts of Extension education programs to university administration, relevant funding agencies, and important stakeholders.
Communicate the Public Value of Extension education programs to learners, stakeholders, and those involved in public policy.
Research & Discovery
Extension professionals use research as the foundation for educational experiences. Extension professionals recognize that our clientele make many decisions based upon some degree of balance between science, economics, and values. Extension professionals strive to deliver education that contributes to the science and economics aspects of those decisions and rely on individuals to weigh their individual values into their final decisions. Extension professional develop and deliver outstanding research that contributes to the economic, environmental, and/or social understanding of learner’s decisions.
Extension Assistants will…
- Use research as the foundation of educational experiences delivered.
- Identify issues that need further study and relay information to educators and specialists.
- Help facilitate translational research at the local level.
- Collaborate in development and implementation of applied or translational research efforts as appropriate.