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 Support Staff…
- Serve in a friendly and welcoming manner and represent a positive reflection to others.
Display confidence and knowledge and are competent and proficient in performing work tasks.
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 Support Staff will…
- Be actively involved and committed to programming that supports Nebraska Extension.
- Employ great listening skills to absorb and learn to better assist others and grow as individuals.
- Continually seek positive ways to support and work with office team members, volunteers, and clientele.
- Engage all people in Nebraska Extension regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, or disability.
Contribute meaningful value to high performing local extension teams.
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 Support Staff produce educational experiences that…
- Mentor, collaborate with and assist other office staff to share strategies, tools and processes that support Extension.
- Provide Extension’s up-to-date research-based information and resources to learners.
- Gain and apply new knowledge to advance one’s areas of expertise
- Support Extension’s educational focus and opportunities
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 Support Staff…
- Provide creative ideas and options to develop positive outcomes.
Promote efficiency and excellence by implementing new methods where needed.
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 Support Staff…
- Respond to needs of colleagues and our customer base with pertinent and timely information.
- Are knowledgeable of whom to contact to answer questions
Embrace and adapt to change.
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 Support Staff…
- Know and communicate Extension’s mission and value of our research-based information to the public with whom they interact.
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 Support Staff…
- Make a difference by being knowledgeable and supportive of Extension’s local and regional program impact.
Engage positively with learners.
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 Support Staff will…
- Effectively present issues from learners to Extension Professionals for further research/discovery.
- Support the work of Extension Professionals in their research and extension mission.