The Role of the Cooperative Extension Service as Perceived by North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service Administrators

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the attitudes and perceptions of North Carolina Cooperative Extension administrators about the role, function, and current issues of Cooperative Extension. This research was a descriptive study using a modified Delphi technique. The population for this study consisted of 23 administrators ’ positions in North Carolina’s Cooperative Extension that included all current North Carolina Extension administrators (state specialists and district directors). Each administrator was mailed and emailed a letter explaining the purpose and the process of the study as well as an invitation to participate. Shortly afterwards an email containing a hypertext link to a website where the instrument was located was sent to each individual. Only 11 administrators participated in the study. This study used a, HTML questionnaire. Dillman (2000) suggested that University faculty, government employees, and other professionals who use email regularly are good candidates for email surveys. The open-ended questions used in Round I were pilot tested by a panel of Cooperative Extension Administrators of the University of Missouri-Columbia. Findings of the study revealed that administrators in North Carolina believe in the Cooperative Extension mission; however, they believe that it should reflect more than it does. They believe that community development, leadership development, and environmental education are or should be a part of the overall extension mission. They predict that funding will be affected due to competition and poor political support. Also they believe that extension has to work hard to develop linkages within the community to help with marketing