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Internal outreach partnerships enhance Penn State’s mission statewide
Outreach staff members share information about partnerships and success stories during a Capital Region Outreach Council meeting. From left are Winifred McGee, county extension director, Cooperative Extension Lebanon County; Warren Weaver, senior technical specialist, Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program; Karen Karnes, assistant director and graduate credit program coordinator, Continuing and Distance Education, Penn State Harrisburg; and David Holden, Continuing Education director, Penn State Schuylkill. Outreach and Cooperative Extension staff members from throughout Penn State meet at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel for the 2002 Outreach and Cooperative Extension Leaders Retreat. From left are Dr. Kevin P. Reilly, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Extension; T. David Filson, regional director for the South Central Region of Cooperative Extension and Outreach, Penn State; and Neal Vines, director of Information and Communication Technologies, Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences. Photos by Michael J. Martin—Outreach and Cooperative Extension Robert E. Leiby (standing, at left), county extension director, Lehigh County, talks about outreach programming opportunities with several Cooperative Extension directors and agents and continuing education staff members during a Southeast Region Outreach Council meeting. Dr. Susan Speece (standing), dean of Penn State Berks-Lehigh Valley College and campus executive officer of Berks campus, welcomes participants to a Southeast Region Outreach Council meeting. “I have learned so much about myself by teaching others [at 4-H Day Camps]. I have learned patience, because not everyone learns at the same pace. I have learned tolerance, because not everyone thinks the same way I do or even acts or reacts the way I do. ... I’ve learned to listen, because sometimes, that’s all someone needs, or all I can do. I hope that now and in the future, I will pass some of these valuable lessons on to others.” —17-year-old 4-H Teen Leader “The Pennsylvania Game Commission is always working to improve the conservation and preservation of our state’s wildlife diversity. We are fortunate to count Penn State as one of our most trusted and important partners in conducting and analyzing much-needed field research projects.” —Vern Ross Executive Director Pennsylvania Game Commission “We saw the NOVA broadcast [Search for a Safe Cigarette] as an opportunity to increase community awareness and innovative local programming about the dangers of tobacco. A partnership between community public television and local health organizations [through Penn State Public Broadcasting’s Safe Cigarette Community Engagement Initiative] can open a rich dialogue and inform people about tobacco as a health problem right where they live.” —Joe Marx Senior Communications Officer Robert Wood Johnson Foundation “For the Graduate Program in Acoustics and Penn State as a whole, the World Campus opens new opportunities to educate an audience we wouldn’t normally be able to reach. These are people who need education but are already working. The World Campus is helping to meet their education needs without interfering with their work. We also have an opportunity to use computers and animations in our teaching. This is very exciting and very new.” —Dr. Courtney Burroughs Research Associate, Applied Research Laboratory Assistant Professor of Acoustics “The high tunnel [designed by Penn State Cooperative Extension] brought my tomatoes in approximately three weeks earlier than the ones in the field, and we picked tomatoes up until the week before Christmas. We saved hundreds of dollars in fungicides and insecticides. In the first year, we gained $1,500 above the cost of the tunnel.” —Dennis Peters Tomato Grower York County, Pa. “WPSX is truly on the cutting edge of fulfilling the educational mission and mandate of public broadcasting. WPSX is always trying to make educational materials more accessible to teachers. I am constantly getting feedback from teachers that they are showing What’s in the News and other WPSX programs and educational materials in their classrooms.” —Dr. Francis Grandinetti Superintendent Ridgway Area School District “On a scale of one to 10, I’d give Penn State a ‘10.’ Our employees really took an interest in the [manufacturing and food safety] instruction, because they were provided with sound reasons for our workplace policies. They became confident in asking questions about safety. They take pride in their work and in helping each other along.” —Thomas R. Nardone Co-owner Nardone Bros. Baking Co., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. “I’m responsible for 300 students, and I’m facing many challenges. I want to make changes for the better. That’s why I came to [the 22nd annual Cooperative Education Conference at Penn State]. I want to learn the fundamentals of starting a cooperative education program to present to my school.” —Sylvia Montgomery Director of Career Services Mercy Vocational High School, Philadelphia, Pa. “The extensive community-based linkages Penn State has are very important in adding a practical dimension to this work ... in rural women’s health issues. It will be interesting to see how well Penn State will do in tapping the important resources of women in rural communities in order to identify community needs and improve rural health. Penn State has a great land-grant tradition of working with communities.” —Roberto Anson Coordinator, State Offices of Rural Health Program Federal Office of Rural Health Policy “We’re excited to be part of this unique training opportunity [through the Long-Term Care Consortium at Penn State DuBois]. Continuing education is very important in the health-care field, where there is constant change and new technology is being developed and introduced every day. It’s very important that our staff has access to this kind of up-to-date information locally. It will be reflected in a higher quality of care provided to our residents.” —Greg Bauer Administrator Pinecrest Manor, St. Marys, Pa. “We see outreach as fundamental to our responsibility as professional scholars. The best illustration of outreach in the Department of Geography is our role in the University’s World Campus program. We have a multicourse certificate program in Geographic Information Systems that has graduated several classes of students, including many from the U.S. military and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. The program, built from existing resident instruction courses, drew faculty and staff together to develop new courses and led to a state-of-the-art approach to delivering asynchronous learning programs worldwide. The program has allowed us to build ties to major software companies that in turn will allow us to place graduates of our resident instruction program into these companies. This outreach activity blends together all of the components of the mission: research, learning and service.” —Dr. Roger M. Downs Professor and Department Head Department of Geography “Faculty in the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Recreation Management (HRRM) have long been committed to engaging in scholarship which provides excellence in teaching, discovery, integration and application and which is responsive to the needs of society, the public and key external audiences in the hospitality, recreation, tourism and leisure disciplines and professions. HRRM faculty view the outreach dimension of the scholarship of integration, defined by Ernest Boyer as ‘giving meaning to isolated facts by connecting across disciplines,’ as a means of helping to address complex problems faced by scholars and practitioners alike. These partnerships with business, industry and professional organizations have reaped exciting new benefits for faculty and students. To prepare our students for their future roles as leaders, faculty must be continuously aware of the need for everyone to be the ‘best’ in their respective disciplines. This is a challenge that can only be addressed by recognizing the interdependent relationship between faculty and their internal and external clients.” —Dr. Sara Parks Director, School of Hotel, Restaurant and Recreation Management Professor of Dietetics	The University’s renewed commitment to outreach began in 1996, when President Graham Spanier outlined the Plan for Strengthening Outreach and Cooperative Extension. The plan recommended organizing Cooperative Extension and Outreach services to more effectively serve Pennsylvania. As part of the implementation process, Outreach and Cooperative Extension divided the state into eight strategic regions to address local community needs by engaging the resources of the entire University in a broadened outreach effort. Eight Outreach Councils bring together all Penn State units in each region to coordinate efforts to identify and respond to the education, economic development and community needs of citizens.   According to the Plan for Strengthening Outreach and Cooperative Extension, the strategic goal of Regional Outreach Councils is “to increase communication, cooperation and collaboration among the key Penn State units involved in Outreach and Cooperative Extension to the Commonwealth.” The councils are headed by the regional director for Cooperative Extension and Outreach in each region. Members include state program leaders, the regional director of the Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program (PENNTAP), regional representatives of campus Continuing Education offices, representatives of central Outreach and Cooperative Extension and representatives of Technology Transfer offices.   At quarterly meetings, Outreach Council members conduct joint planning and monitoring of Outreach and Cooperative Extension activities in their region, collect feedback from outreach program participants, keep up-to-date with developments within outreach units and share best practices and outreach approaches. Units have the opportunity to share resources, administer joint needs assessments and work together on program development, marketing and delivery.   Implementation of the Outreach Council model has been a success, according to Dr. James H. Ryan, vice president for Outreach and Cooperative Extension.   “Our goal is to fully engage Penn State with communities throughout Pennsylvania in developing and delivering meaningful outreach programs and activities that meet community education needs,” Ryan said. “Outreach Councils have fostered increased communication and partnership building among Penn State units throughout the Commonwealth—all with the aim of improving the quality of life for Pennsylvanians of all ages through educational programs. They have become a valuable public resource in developing innovative solutions to local needs.”   Once issues are raised, the regions draw on the rich resources of the academic colleges and campuses to identify faculty who can collaborate to develop a timely and appropriate response.   The outreach programs developed by faculty and staff members in the eight regions focus on areas related to quality-of-life issues, including, but not limited to, food safety and nutrition; teacher education; agricultural and environmental outreach; children, youth and families; and community, economic and workforce development. Food safety and nutrition   One of the most successful statewide outreach partnerships has been the ServSafe® Food Safety Certification program. Cooperative Extension and Continuing Education offices in all eight regions of the state offer this nationally recognized 16-hour certification program for restaurant employees and food handlers. Cooperative Extension educators conduct the training programs, which are mandated by Pennsylvania law, and Continuing Education staff members administer the programs. (ServSafe is a registered trademark of the Education Foundation of the National Restaurant Association.)   Many local and regional businesses have found the program a valuable educational resource. Employees of Weis Markets, for example, have attended ServSafe offerings throughout the state.   “We have sent over 300 employees through the Penn State/Servsafe program,” said Bob Schmeider, director of quality control for Weis Markets. “I think one of our managers summed up our feelings best when he said, ‘The course is excellent. Every department manager should take it.’ Our highest priority is providing our customers with a safe food supply. The Penn State program is helping us do that.”   Dr. Michelle S. Rodgers, regional director for the Capital Region of Cooperative Extension and Outreach, played a leading role in getting the ServSafe program ready for statewide delivery. The Capital Region piloted the initial offering of the program, and last year, launched a Chinese-language version of the program in response to regional needs and created Spanish translations of all course materials. In addition, a training session in Italian is being developed for spring 2003. These multilingual programs are being used as a model for other regions across the state.   “We are very proud of the quality of education we are able to jointly provide,” Rodgers said. “More than 98 percent of the participants pass the certification exam.”   Shirley Bixby, regional director for the Susquehanna Region of Cooperative Extension and Outreach, calls the ServSafe program “our Outreach Council’s biggest success, because the program is being offered across the region in all counties. Four agents work with the O&CE staff to provide certification to food service employees within the guidelines of the statewide initiative. Plans are under way to offer the first course in the state for Italian-speaking clients. An interpreter will work closely with the agent to translate technical terms for the participants throughout the course.”   In addition to offering ServSafe training, G. Michael McDavid, regional director for the Northeast Region of Cooperative Extension and Outreach, said the Northeast Region develops custom food safety training to meet specific industry needs. Last year, Penn State Wilkes-Barre Continuing Education, Penn State Cooperative Extension and PENNTAP developed an innovative training and technical assistance program in partnership with Nardone Bros. Baking Co. to train employees in food safety, hazardous chemicals handling and forklift safety.   Frederick W. Davis, regional director for the Southeast Region of Cooperative Extension and Outreach, said the Southeast Region also is moving beyond the ServSafe program to assess other food training needs in the region with the assistance of PENNTAP’s food processing technical specialist, Alan McConnell. In the Northwest Region, PENNTAP and other outreach partners have traveled to several area food manufacturing facilities to assess quality control and food safety issues and assist the companies in meeting safety requirements. David T. Rynd, regional director for the Northwest Region of Cooperative Extension and Outreach; Jay Schenck, Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program technical specialist and member of the Northwest Region Outreach Council; McConnell; and the Northwest Planning Commission, an economic development group, participated in the visits.   The Capital Region is also moving into new food safety programming areas, Rodgers said. Cooperative Extension and Continuing Education staff members are working with McConnell and faculty members in the Department of Food Science to explore the feasibility of developing on-site training for assembly-line employees at food processing plants in the region. This is an opportunity to reach an audience with basic food safety information that Cooperative Extension field staff have not worked with previously, she added. Teacher education   The recently enacted Pennsylvania Act 48 requires ongoing teacher education in specialty fields and expands the education curriculum for elementary and secondary school children. The result is that teachers now need more and more advanced training to fulfill their continuing education needs.   “Our Outreach Councils can play an important role in helping teachers satisfy Act 48 provisions,” T. David Filson, regional director for the South Central Region of Cooperative Extension and Outreach, said.   Already some Cooperative Extension and Continuing Education units are offering education programs in response to the provisions of this legislation. The Northeast Region, for example, launched an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) for Teachers program, conducted during the summer by Penn State Worthington Scranton and Cooperative Extension educators in Monroe County. The two-day graduate credit program is modeled after the IPM program offered at University Park campus, with an added emphasis on K-12 curricular resources.   In the Northeast Region, McDavid also invites school superintendents from the area’s 21 school districts to a fall Superintendents Meeting where he and others present information about Penn State resources. McDavid sees the meeting as an ideal vehicle for sharing information and gaining a better understanding of teacher training needs in the region. One outcome of the meetings has been a new workshop on Computer Methods for Teachers, McDavid said. Launched this fall, the program is designed to help teachers incorporate computers in the classroom and to increase their knowledge about the technology resources available to them. A strong community-University collaboration involving the Northern Tier Industrial Education Center, Penn State Worthington Scranton Continuing Education and Susquehanna County Cooperative Extension has worked to develop the program.   As in the Northeast Region, ongoing communication with local schools districts has been a priority in Outreach Councils statewide. Several Regional Outreach Councils make presentations about 4-H school enrichment and Outreach-sponsored after-school programs during continuing education teacher in-service programs or meetings with superintendents. Outreach partners within Regional Outreach Councils are also discussing the feasibility of using a statewide approach to address teacher education needs and expanding opportunities for youth to establish or build future relationships with teachers and supplement their instruction. This effort would be a collaborative effort with several of the academic colleges and their faculty members. Agricultural and environmental outreach   Traditionally, Cooperative Extension has played an important role in providing programs and services targeted to farmers and agribusinesses. With offices in all 67 Pennsylvania counties and a long-term commitment to visiting local farms and industries, extension agents maintain a strong grassroots connection with communities. In many cases, the county extension agent is the first person farmers contact for help in answering a question or identifying resources and support. Through the Outreach Councils, Cooperative Extension representatives are able to link farmers to a much greater array of Penn State’s educational resources and programs, including Continuing Education courses and certificate programs offered at the campuses and the technology transfer assistance of PENNTAP.   This year, Cooperative Extension offices in the Northeast Region partnered with PENNTAP and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture to offer the Meat Goat Production program in response to a need identified through marketing research conducted by Jacklyn Rosenfeld, director of Outreach Marketing Consulting Services. PENNTAP and the Department of Agriculture assisted in marketing efforts and provided instruction about marketing goat products, as well as policy and procedures for goat production.   In the Northwest Region, Rynd is leading efforts to deliver several Outreach Council collaborative initiatives. Every summer, the region holds the Forest Resources Institute for Teachers, a partnership between Cooperative Extension specialists and Continuing Education educators and coordinators at the campuses. The South Central Region has a similar partnership in its pro-gardener training programs, Filson noted. Cooperative Extension agents teach the courses, and Continuing Education staff members coordinate, market and administer the programs.   In the Susquehanna Region, Cooperative Extension, Continuing Education and the Pennsylvania College of Technology partner with the School of Forest Resources to offer teacher credits and ongoing conferences to woodlands owners and managers. Dr. Robert Hansen, extension agent, Bradford County, has provided leadership for the forestry collaborations.   Brenda Bernatowicz, regional director for the Southwest Region of Cooperative Extension and Outreach, also noted two new outreach partnership programs in development through the Southwest Region Outreach Council. Penn State Beaver Continuing Education staff and Beaver County Cooperative Extension staff are collaborating to develop water quality training programs, and Penn State McKeesport Continuing Education staff and Allegheny County Cooperative Extension staff are working on programs to train landscape nursery personnel.   A major benefit of the Outreach Council initiatives is the pooling of University resources across units. The Southeast Region’s annual Interiorscape Program, for instance, had outgrown its previous facilities. Through the Outreach Council, Davis was able to work with Elaina McReynolds, continuing education representative at Penn State Great Valley School of Graduate Professional Studies, to gain access to the graduate center. The program, which is now hosted by the center, has grown to attract 350 people from three to five states each year. Children, youth and families   With the launch of the Penn State Children, Youth and Families Consortium, Penn State has made a commitment to become the leader in University teaching, research and service in these areas. Programming for children, youth and families is a critically important area for Penn State Outreach units, and Outreach Councils have opened new opportunities for cross-unit programming.   The Northeast Region conducts a number of programs for youth, including a series of summer youth camps held annually at Penn State Hazleton and Penn State Wilkes-Barre, McDavid said. Cooperative Extension educators from Luzerne, Wyoming and Carbon counties provide instructional support at the camps, which are conducted by Continuing Education offices at each campus. These Continuing Education-Cooperative Extension partnerships are a common programming model throughout several regions, including the Southeast, Capital, Southwest, Northeast, Susquehanna and North Central regions.   The North Central Region, for example, developed financial management camps for youth. Samuel M. Crossley III, Cooperative Extension director for Potter County Cooperative Extension, said Cooperative Extension and Penn State DuBois Continuing Education are partnering to offer these camps. Robin Kuleck, extension agent in McKean County, is in charge of family living programs in both McKean and Potter counties and coordinates the financial management camps.   In many cases, local partners also have enhanced the camps and their potential to support youth development in communities.   With funding from the Outreach Partnership Fund, Susquehanna Region Outreach Council members from Cooperative Extension, Continuing Education and Penn College are partnering to offer career awareness day camps to children in the region, including this summer’s new program titled From Woolly Mammoths to Early Settlers. “These special-interest camps are a new venture for Cooperative Extension,” Bixby said, “because Cooperative Extension typically conducts resident summer camps or day camp activities featuring 4-H activities in conjunction with community human service agencies.”   One of the most successful camps in the Northeast Region is Migrant Students: The Road to Success, a youth camp for children in grades K-6 from migrant families. Sally McGuire, director of Continuing Education, Penn State Hazleton; Georgia Farrow, 4-H program assistant, Carbon County Cooperative Extension; Sue Stettler, migrant education and ESL services, Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit; and Sandra Medina-Lopez, student support specialist, Northeast Migrant Education Program, Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit, coordinated the program, which won a Penn State Continuing Education Exemplary Program Award. (See story.)   In addition, the Northeast Region presents a variety of health and wellness programs to children and adults in the region. The new Lunch and Learn Program is offered by Continuing Education and Cooperative Extension. Continuing Education staff members make the contacts with area businesses, and Cooperative Extension educators present the free wellness and nutrition programs to employees during lunch-time in company cafeterias. The program provides a way for Penn State to let a company know about its continuing education and Cooperative Extension outreach programs. Penn State Wilkes-Barre Continuing Education and Luzerne County Cooperative Extension offered the first Road to Wellness program to Sallie Mae employees.   Similar work-site programs are an important component of outreach programming in the Susquehanna Region as well, Bixby said. Family living agents in the region revitalized work-site programming through a partnership with Continuing Education. Twenty-one lunchtime programs were offered on parenting, stress management, caregiving and age-appropriate discipline. These programs served as marketing incentives for larger corporate management training, while opening the doors to Cooperative Extension’s resources to employees, she noted.   In the Northeast Region, collaborations with the Hazleton School District are enabling Penn State Hazleton Continuing Education and Carbon and Luzerne County Cooperative Extension educators to expand nutrition and fitness programming into the schools. A new program for parents and youth is beginning this fall. Community, economic and workforce development   Some of the most extensive Outreach Council partnerships have involved industry and business partnerships designed to offer targeted educational programs that support economic development and prepare citizens for work opportunities. All eight Cooperative Extension and Outreach regions offer several education and training programs in the topics and issues of concern to local businesses.   Technology ranks among the greatest educational needs in many regions, and Outreach Councils are developing innovative ways to deliver technology training throughout communities. The Northeast Region’s Access Pennsylvania Main Street offers e-business training for small businesses. PENNTAP, e-Tap and Susquehanna Cooperative Extension have been working together to market and deliver the 12-hour courses. The entire program curriculum is also available to business owners online at http://www.ebusiness.extension.psu.edu/curriculum/index.html. The Northeast Region also developed Your e-Business Future, a half-day workshop to help businesses establish or upgrade their customer Web site. All Cooperative Extension, Continuing Education, PENNTAP and e-TAP units in the Northeast Region sponsored the program in partnership with the University of Scranton Royal Technology Group. Penn State Worthington Scranton hosted the program. (See story.)   A new outreach initiative is under way in rural Sullivan County to increase residents’ access to technology. Ellwood “Woody” Kerkeslager, president and chief operating officer of Information Futures and a consultant to Outreach and Cooperative Extension, is heading the Community Network Project to improve residents’ access to computers and the Internet. He said the goal of the project is to help people learn how to use information technology tools for education and jobs. The project also will benefit economic development in the county. A similar project also has started in Columbia County.   “A new area Susquehanna Region Outreach Council members are exploring is developing proposals for career awareness and technology programming for youth to motivate our young people to stay in the area,” Bixby said. “We’re collaborating on grants from Link-to-Learn, Digital Divide and other state programs to create programming in keeping with Pennsylvania’s Stay Invent the Future focus. With each partner bringing their strengths to a common table, we will have a stronger end result for the customer. We see that happening with the Central Pennsylvania Workforce Development Council and the activities and research that has stemmed from collaborative efforts and expertise.”   Rodgers noted, “E-commerce is a new initiative for the Capital Region Outreach Council. Cooperative Extension and Continuing Education are working together to line up clients and provide e-commerce training. Then they are referring clients to Don Krysakowski, PENNTAP technical specialist, for follow-up activities specific to each company’s needs. We have seven different joint efforts scheduled for the next six months.”   The South Central Region also is focusing on e-government and e-business program opportunities. Cooperative Extension and PENNTAP are working on the promotion and facilitation of e-government and e-business in the region. Cooperative Extension is contributing its skills in education, while PENNTAP is contributing its knowledge about technology.   Several other programs focus on regional and local issues, including challenges of economic growth in rural communities. The Capital Region also has a Rural Income Opportunities Program. Supported by the Outreach Partnership Fund, this program is helping farmers and others explore alternative economic enterprises for rural areas. Outreach partners are Cooperative Extension, Continuing Education, the Ben Franklin Partnership and Small Business Development Center. The first program attracted 50 participants. Plans are being made to provide a similar program in Cumberland County in response to the request by a county commissioner.   According to Rynd, estate planning is another critical issue for small businesses. “Very few people understand estate planning. Farmers and small business owners and lawyers and accountants need a better understanding of estate planning to avoid the taxes associated with transferring estates to the next generation,” he said.   In the Northwest Region, Cooperative Extension and Continuing Education partnered to offer an Estate Planning Conference for representatives of agricultural enterprises and small businesses, lawyers, accountants and others.   “The impact of the conference to participants was significant. There is a huge potential to educate more people about estate planning. We will develop another conference on this topic,” Rynd added. Contributions of the Outreach Councils   “The Outreach Councils have taken different forms and address different issues, but all are making significant and substantive contributions to moving Penn State Outreach’s initiatives forward,” Dr. Theodore R. Alter, associate vice president for outreach, director of Cooperative Extension and associate dean in the College of Agricultural Sciences, said.   “The Outreach Councils are ‘integrating mechanisms.’ They bring together Penn State Outreach partners and put the outreach partners together with customers. The councils are also forums for communication and coordination of administrative activities and programmatic initiatives. They are learning communities, as well, enabling outreach partners and customers to develop programmatic initiatives that address important local and regional needs,” Alter said.   The programmatic and organizational development contributions the councils make to Penn State’s outreach mission are critically important, he added. The councils enable outreach units in each region to collaborate and share resources, which results in more efficient and effective program development and delivery. The councils also facilitate joint needs assessments that can lead to the development of immediate and strategic outreach programming.   “The Outreach Councils are vehicles for creativity and innovation in outreach programming, and they play an important role in achieving the philosophy and principles of the University’s outreach mission at the operational level, where it really matters—serving customers,” Alter said. “As articulated in this article, the Outreach Councils have made major programmatic contributions to the citizens of Pennsylvania and to strengthening the University’s outreach partnerships and initiatives. The councils exemplify outreach partnerships at Penn State.”
© 2002 Outreach Communications,   Outreach & Cooperative Extension,   The Pennsylvania State University phone: (814) 865-8108,   fax: (814) 863-2765,   e-mail: outreachnews@outreach.psu.edu