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Recommendations |
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Contents |
The findings of this study provide the basis for the following recommendations. 1. Oregon State University and its Extension Service should recommit to the overarching purpose that motivated the mid-1990s innovations: addressing the needs of the people of Oregon. This commitment should extend to those who need such assistance the most. 2. The University should reaffirm its commitment to a University-wide Extension function – that is, to an Extension/outreach function that is not constrained by the current academic-unit affiliations of the Extension faculty. This commitment should include active support for the development of Extension activities in well-chosen new content areas that hold the promise of positively shaping the state’s future. 3. University and Extension leaders should exert active leadership to develop well-chosen, well-focused, and well-supported new Extension efforts, consistent with the previous two recommendations. The unique features of OSUES, many of which date to the innovations addressed by this study, provide a platform for success with such new and broader efforts, but that potential will remain underutilized without active leadership. 4. OSU Extension Service should view the changes begun in the mid 1990s, which involved modifications of structures, policies, expectations, procedures, and reward systems, as part of a continuing self-renewal process. The innovations need to be sustained by ongoing strategic dialogue and reflective practice by all components and levels of the organization. The questions at the end of this study’s Discussion section provide a starting point for such strategic dialogue and reflective practice. 5. The University’s leaders should identify the Extension/outreach function as the essential distinctiveness of their land grant institution, its most meaningful point of visibility throughout the state, and one of its greatest reasons for continuing to deserve ongoing public support. OSU leadership should also see their particular Extension Service in Oregon as a national leader in its ongoing efforts to integrate the Extension function within the rest of the University and tap the University’s resources so as to better serve the people of the state. In conclusion, Oregon State University and its Extension Service have achieved significant, positive results from a set of institutional changes that are unique and innovative. Achieving the full benefit of those changes is an ongoing process that will require continuing reflection, dialogue, and bold leadership.
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