Extension aiming for long future in Virginia

By JANE W. GRAHAM
AFP Correspondent

BLACKSBURG, Va. — The Virginia Cooperative Extension Service is not dead, contrary to rumors going about the state. This is the word from Dr. Alan Grant, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech and head of VCE.
“I don’t believe it is going away,” Grant said in an exclusive interview with The Delmarva Farmer on July 23. “It’s going to continue to meet high priority needs.”
This prediction came in the face of CALS losing 28 faculty members on campus and at the agricultural research and education centers (ARECs) and over 32 retirements from Extension.
He said some of these lost positions are beginning to be filled.
Grant outlined a two-pronged approach to making Extension better able to meet the needs of all the Virginians who are stakeholders in Extension and agriculture.
The first prong, one that has been in progress for over a year, is development of the Strategic Plan.
The second prong is a restructuring of Extension to see how it can better deliver what it has to offer.
Currently various faculty and staff members are working on the plan, he reported.
“We are close to having a draft we will be sharing with Extension shareholders,” he stated.
He expects this to happen fairly soon, maybe by late August or early September.
He promised that there will be at least two public meetings, one in Richmond and one in Blacksburg, for the stakeholders to have their say about what is proposed.
Worries about VCE and its future have escalated across the state since the Virginia General Assembly met in January and February and made drastic budget cuts to deal with a reduced state budget.
Earlier this year it was reported that the Virginia General Assembly had made permanent cuts totaling $6.5 million in the biennial budget for Virginia Cooperative Extension and Research Station, however cut the agency’s officials some slack in how they can deal with the loss of funds.
At that time the proposed budget that still needed to be signed by Gov. Bob McDonnell.
It included a total permanent cut to VCE of $1.1 million in the 2011 fiscal year and a $5.5 million cut in fiscal year 2012.
McDonnell had suggested a $4.5 million cut the second year of the budget.
Grant reviewed the purpose of the Strategic Plan. He said the process is to identify programs that are a high priority and require continuing support.
The new dean believes that forming partnerships with those involved with Extension at all levels is important in this plan.
“We are making sure that we develop partnerships that allow us to meet the needs of local governments, other agencies, and various industry groups,” Grant said. “In order to meet the needs effectively we need partnerships. No one can do it alone.”
When questioned about support from local governments, Grant confirmed that Extension continues to have good support from them.
He noted that local budgets are tight too and local governments are concerned about money.
He said there are counties thatactually totally fund some Extension agent positions.
Parallel to the Strategic Plan, we are working on a restructuring plan,” Grant continued. “A group of faculty and staff is working and looking at how to restructure Extension to do a better job at delivery.”
Grant wants to see this improvement of Extension services at both the campus and field levels.
“I think times have changed, “Grant, who joined Tech in October, said. “Extension has changed. The industry has changed.”
For these reasons he wants to find better ways of doing things, of finding out what is effective, finding ways to reduce administrative costs and still maintain local clientele access to Extension.
He wants to make Extension feel like it is still local, Grant said.
He foresees that doing this may mean sharing more agents on a regional basis.
This could mean that an agent who has his office in one county provides help in his field of expertise with people in several counties.
This regional approach is already being used in some areas, he said.
Grant said that needs differ across the state, offering the example that the needs in Northern Virginia are different from those in Southside. This means the same programs are not needed in both places.
He wants to find a way to evaluate programs to see if some are needed while it may be time to move on from others.
He said it may be possible to pick up some programs and build capacity.
He wants to see Extension develop new programs rather than having agents do more.
He predicted that the Strategic Plan and the restructuring will converge when the university seeks input from Extension stakeholders outside the Virginia Tech community.
“Extension is going to continue,” he said. “The key is if we are able to meet community needs, family needs and producer needs there will be a place for Extension.”
Grant also reported on what is happening as a result of the lost positions and retirements.
He said the university is beginning to refill positions.
“We are working with department heads, AREC supervisors, and Extension district directors in identifying the critical voids that have been created by retirements,” Grant said. “Some retirees are continuing to help us. They have years of knowledge and experiences that is so important.”
The retirements resulted in budget reductions, Grant said.
He said the savings they brought about are now being re-invested back into hiring new faculty.
“It allows us to hire faculty and Extension agents with new ideas and new approaches,” he continued. He agreed that it costs less to hire younger people than those with years of service.