Today's Extension professionals are encouraged to work in the broad university community and to conduct applied research.Collaboration with university colleagues in departments outside "the Extension family" presents that opportunity.Major philosophical issues and professional expectations, however, must be negotiated when two separate university units, motivated by different, sometimes conflicting agendas, collaborate.A recent joint effort between the Minnesota Extension Service and University of Minnesota School of Medicine produced an important community-based research and educational program on stress, depression, and suicide prevention.The Teens in Distress program, which has involved nearly 10,000 people, represents a successful collaborative effort.It also illustrates the problems that can arise when Extension professionals work with academic researchers.
Joyce Walker (Thu,) studied this question.