Extension Foundation 2023 Professional Development Needs Assessment Report

The purpose of the study was to identify professional development needs for Extension professionals at 1862, 1890, and 1994 Land-grant universities in the US and US territories. The Extension Foundation issued a request for applications for a Fellowship to complete this needs assessment. Dr. Karen Vines, Assistant Professor, Continuing Professional Education Specialist, Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education at Virginia Tech was selected as the Fellow and researcher for this project.

A committee composed of the researcher and selected members of the Extension Foundation leadership team served as a panel of experts carrying out a two-stage approach including key informant interviews followed by a national survey of Extension professionals. The survey provided insight into the top challenges Extension professionals feel can be alleviated by professional development training or other resources, training needs across Extension, and training that Extension professionals find to be impactful, or that adds value to their personal or professional lives. Respondents selected from pre-identified categories followed by subcategories to provide further insight into their original selections. In addition, respondents were encouraged to select “other” throughout the survey to provide open-ended comments.

This work was supported through funding from USDA-NIFA, New Technologies for Ag Extension, grant number 2020-41595-30123 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.