RD343 - Analysis of the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service (VCE) Structure, Funding Trends, and Research - November 2011


Executive Summary:
Pursuant to a budget amendment adopted by the General Assembly, the Secretary of Education was required to provide an analysis of the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service (VCE) structure and various financial operating and reporting mechanisms. What follows is the detailed analysis of various VCE activities, as well as, several recommendations intended to position VCE more effectively as a resource for its varied and unique stakeholder community.

While programming in the Agricultural and Natural Resources area is the most prominent, VCE also conducts significant activities in the following areas: 4-H Youth Development, Community Viability, and Family and Consumer Sciences. VCE personnel are housed on the campuses of Virginia Tech and Virginia State University, at the agency’s eleven (11) Agricultural Research & Extension Centers and in virtually every county (and some cities) in the Commonwealth. Total agency funding from all sources (General Fund, nongeneral fund – primarily federal, localities reimbursement of salaries and fringes paid by Virginia Tech and direct payments by locality) exceeded $80 million in 2010, a 12% reduction from 2008 levels. As was the case with every other state agency, Virginia Cooperative Extension funding was significantly impacted by the reduced allocation of General Fund appropriations.

A majority of VCE’s resources are allocated to off-campus Extension activities which directly serve constituents of Extension programming throughout the Commonwealth. Over the 10-year period of this report, the percentage of VCE resources expended for off-campus Extension activities has increased 3%. The attached appendix shows the direct relationship between on-campus research and specific programming conducted by Extension personnel in the field.

This study specifically examined allocations and expenditures of funding for Agency 229, the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service. This report showed that a number of important internal controls at Virginia Tech provide multiple opportunities to assure that allocated resources were appropriately utilized. In addition, as a normal course of business, the Virginia Department of Budget and Planning ensured that Agency 229 resources were allocated so as to be consistent with legislative intent.

It was acknowledged by both VCE and its stakeholders that financial reporting of Agency 229 activities was, at times, confusing for external stakeholders. To address this problem, it was recommended that the current 229 report be replaced by a simpler, more transparent document. Many participants in the process, both those within the existing Extension structure and those representing external stakeholder groups, believed a more transparent reporting process would directly address some of the issues which were raised in the budget language.

The analysis also revealed that VCE’s “revolving door” of leadership was affecting the ability of VCE to function at its highest level. With the hiring of a permanent Extension Director in the spring of 2011, the University now has new leadership in place which can more effectively address the many challenges facing the VCE in these challenging economic times. A new Memorandum of Understanding, for example, between VCE and Virginia localities will rebuild and re-establish that historically significant and positive relationship which has long existed.

Finally, this report examined the role that the Extension Leadership Council (ELC) plays in the administration of Extension programming. The ELC was originally created to assure that external stakeholders have a voice in the VCE decision-making process and are the direct link between VCE and the constituents it serves. It is recommended that the function of this group be revisited to assure that it has the proper composition of stakeholders amongst its membership and can be a more effective conduit for information both to and from the field. Improved communication is needed between university leadership (229 Council), localities, stakeholder (ELC) needs to develop future programming and research efforts.

Virginia is not alone as it seeks to build a Cooperative Extension Service “of the future” which meets the needs of those it serves during a time of fiscal austerity. Many states are also grappling with fiscal issues which have caused them to also examine the most appropriate way to conduct Extension programming that serves the most people and in the most effective way. This analysis suggests that Virginia is once again ahead of the curve in that respect.

Next year is the sesquicentennial anniversary of the passage of the Morrill Land Grant Act. The Association of Public and Land Grant Universities is making plans for state celebrations, commemoratory publications, and a national convocation. The sesquicentennial anniversary of the Morrill Act provides us with the opportunity to enhance our ability to serve pressing societal needs at home and abroad, including our missions of access and affordability, of public service and of innovative research and development as keys to national competitiveness. (*1)

Virginia Cooperative Extension will lead these conversations for Virginia. While discussions surrounding the implementation of VCE’s Long-term Strategic Plan were acrimonious at times, there appears to be a clear consensus that the people and processes now in place represent a strong step in the right direction. We believe that adoption of the recommendations which are highlighted at the conclusion of this report will add momentum to this positive change. The constituents of the Virginia Cooperative Extension programming deserve no less.
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(*1) Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, http://www.aplu.org/page.aspx?pid=2185.