The Extension System faces a challenge as we move into the last decade of the 20th century.In my opinion, this challenge will continue to confront our system, as a publicly supported educational organization, for many years to come.That challenge involves crossing lines.Lines within Extension provide for division of responsibilities, structure, and orderliness.However, these same lines can become barriers in a world of change.Critical issues, such as improving water quality, revitalizing rural America, sustaining the competitiveness and profitability of American agriculture, improving nutrition, and protecting youth at risk, will require Extension workers in traditional program areas, disciplines, and administration to cross lines and function as teams.Geographic lines will have to be crossed.Lines between Extension and significant other organizations may need to be crossed to create networks and temporary coalitions, a practice that should be encouraged!We must become more involved in interacting and crossing lines both within Extension and within the larger land-grant university community.In this way, we can bring to bear our total resources, regardless of discipline or program area, in achieving maximum impact on targeted public issues.Elected officials who manage public funds expect public, tax-supported organizations -including Extension -to find ways to eliminate duplication of programs by cooperating and collaborating.In many instances, people must function as teams in planning and implementing jointly conceived, cost-effective programs that will achieve maximum impact in resolving major public issues.identified collaboratively by both our Extensionists and their publics, and representatives of significant other agencies, systems, and groups.How to make the best use of both human and technological resources in implementing a program (using volunteers, professionals, all forms of instruction, including traditional as well as advanced instructional technology).How to market a program.How to develop human resources and involve them as fully as possible in all aspects of program implementation.How to master the continual monitoring of program activities and, based on that monitoring, give help when needed.How to obtain and use feedback collected through scientific, systematic, and guided inquiry that can and should be used to modify or change program directions, when needed.How to assess the relative effectiveness of learning resources and activities in relation to outcomes achieved.How to assess the cost effectiveness of resources used in producing targeted, intended outcomes.How to interpret and report results for yourself, your publics, Extension, and county, state, and national governmental bodies.How to become a self-directed learner, always seeking as your professional goal all there is to know about your job, your publics, Extension, the land-grant institution, and the environment in which you and the Extension System function. Realizing Extension's MissionExtension's missionary zeal and commitment to developing and empowering human systems through education is unparalleled throughout the globe.My plea is that we continue to expend every effort to understand our changing environment; develop our staff resources to their maximum; cross lines; function as teams, as needed; and keep uppermost in our philosophy and minds that our work is concerned with developing human beings and human systems to their maximum capacity.
Edgar J. Boone (Mon,) studied this question.