Interdisciplinary Professional Development Needs of Cooperative Extension Field Educators

The study discussed in this article sought to identify cross-program professional development needs of county-based Extension professionals (field educators). The study instrument was completed by 105 county-based Extension professionals. Interdisciplinary topics, such as program evaluation and volunteer management, were identified as subjects of needed professional development for the Extension professionals whose sole program area was Economic and Community Development. Extension professionals in both the Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Health and Human Sciences program areas tended not to identify topics from each other\u27s program areas as subjects of needed professional development