Fatma Nasoz, Robert E. Lang, and William E. Brown (Lincy Institute) are the authors of a new policy brief from The Lincy Institute titled, "Comparing the Administration of University Cooperative Extensions in the United States: A Case Analysis." For more than a century, cooperative extensions and the land-grant universities have translated and extended research-based knowledge and provided non-formal higher education to their communities. Today, more than 80 percent of the nation’s population are living in urban areas (The World Bank, 2015). Challenges facing diverse populations require cooperative extensions to collaborate and form partnerships to leverage resources and expertise. This brief explores the nation’s Cooperative Extension System, in particular the university cooperative extensions run by 1862 Land-Grant Universities. Researchers developed an intrinsic case study design to examine cooperative extensions in 15 states and interviewed leaders of the cooperative extensions to identify 1) how cooperative extensions collaborate with other institutions in and out of state; 2) whether cooperative extensions use local extension offices for student recruitment or fundraising; 3) funding sources of the cooperative extensions; and 4) whether cooperative extensions meet their goals. Common themes emerging from the study demonstrate a high level of collaboration with other universities and faculty, and minimal use of local county offices for student recruitment and fundraising activities.
