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 Specialists are/create…
- Educational experiences that are implemented in other locations or by other organizations. Educational products developed to be scalable from application in Nebraska to being utilized regionally, nationally, or internationally.
- Respected by peers, industry professionals, community leaders, and clientele as evidenced by faculty being sought out for leadership roles around critical educational needs/issues or teams.
- 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.
Maintain effective work habits that enable success, such as but not limited to, taking initiative, managing time effectively, demonstrating integrity, displaying a professional image, being resilient, being a problem solver and communicating effectively.
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 Specialists:
- Create relationships with key stakeholders with an emphasis on those individuals considered key decision influencers and multipliers of faculty educational messages.
- Connect with collaborators across a diverse set of disciplines, campuses, and organizations.
- Engage in leadership of state, regional and national organizations that serve as a resource to important decision within governmental agencies, NGOs, industry, and profession.
- 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 Specialists produce learning/ educational experiences that …
- Mentor and collaborate with field educators and assistants in creating meaningful teaching opportunities and learning experiences for educators.
- Target informational multipliers and decision influencers for expanding the reach and increasing the behavioral change of the end user.
- Address the overall system (business, family, community, farm/ranch) managed by our learners as evidenced by engaging peers of diverse disciplines to insure that our recommendations benefit the overall system.
- 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 Specialists will demonstrate or create...
- Unique partnerships with other institutions, organizations, public agencies that support a research and/or extension initiative.
- Translational research programs that connects traditional university research with field based research
- Resource entrepreneurship through grants, program fees and partnerships that leverage the university resource base to expand a program’s reach.
- Educational experiences that will engage diverse audiences.
Innovative and engaging educational products, teaching methods, or methods for reaching learners 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 Specialists will …
- Have the vision to look over the horizon and identify critical emerging issues and initiate next generation work.
- Target issues of high relevance to Nebraska based upon sustained engagement with learners, key stakeholders and other important decision influencers.
- Anticipate issues/needs and have content/programs/partnerships available addressing delivering just-in-time learning.
- Use stakeholder connections to constantly assess needs and adjust priorities.
Align individual educational and translational research contributions with Extension issue team and/or interest group 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 Faculty create and deliver:
- Curriculum, decision tools, and other innovative educational resources that produce meaningful decision-making experiences.
- 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.
- Learner-centered educational experiences accessible 24/7/365 and responsive to learners’ needs.
Applied research strategies which engage clientele in discovery or knowledge.
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 Specialist will/are …
- Contribute leadership or significant investments to measure statewide impact by collaborating with other extension professionals and collaborators to create evaluation tools and analyze and interpret results.
- Answer “So What?” This requires Implementation of evaluation procedures that capture actual behavioral change and changes in economic, environmental, or social changes resulting in part from our Extension programming.
- Skilled in Evaluation best practice – Practices such as establishing baseline data/needs assessment, use of appropriate evaluation tools and processes and cooperation with primary action team’s evaluation procedures are all practiced.
- Publish scholarly works on evaluation results in peer reviewed journals.
- 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 Specialists will …
- Create new knowledge by integrating fundamental and applied research.
- Test fundamental research ideas under real world conditions and determine its potential for succeeding in its application by learners.
- Create knowledge that leads to fundamental shifts in our standard practice.
- Create graduate student experiences that connect the research experience with the application of that research and serve to prepare student for opportunities as extension professionals.
- Collaborate in development and implementation of applied or translational research efforts as appropriate.