Impacts of Extension in Illinois
Delivering research-based programs to the diverse population of Illinois has always presented challenges to the U of I Extension system, but this has been especially true during the past decade as fiscal and staff resources have decreased and program demands have increased. Even with these stresses Extension has worked to deliver research-based programs that meet the needs of Illinois citizens. It has truly worked to help Illinois citizens put knowledge to work, compiling an impressive record of outstanding educational programs and accomplishments in the areas of agriculture and natural resources, youth and 4-H, families and consumers, and community and economic development.
Overall in 1996, U of I Extension staff made face-to-face contact with nearly 1.8 million Illinois residents, including more than 700,000 youths. More than 55,000 individuals volunteered in Extension programs, contributing their time to lead 4-H clubs, teach programs, and participate in program planning committees or councils.
The following programs represent a small sample of U of I Extension programs in the four core areas identified by the Commission.
• Agricultural and Natural Resources
StratSoy
The Strategic Soybean System (StratSoy) is an electronic information and communication system for the U.S. soybean industry. The goal of StratSoy is to promote better decisions by checkoff boards and other soybean-related organizations through increasing the coordination, efficiency, and profitability of the U.S. soybean industry worldwide. The project is being developed by Extension, the College of ACES Office of Research, and the Texas Agricultural Market Research Center at Texas A&M University. The StratSoy web site (http://stratsoy.ag.uiuc.edu/stratsoy.html) has links to information, organizations, and agencies which are relevant to the soybean industry. A research database is being developed to track checkoff-funded research. In addition, the StratSoy "Ask an Expert" section allows users to interact with experts in production, marketing, and human health.
Early Warning System Helps Producers Save Money An early warning and rescue treatment program conducted by the U of I Extension Integrated Pest Management Program has saved Illinois farmers more than $91 million in unnecessary insecticide costs and prevented black cutworm damage to nearly seven million acres since the program's creation in 1979.
Little Vermilion Project
Nitrate runoff from agricultural fields is an economic loss to farmers who rely on nitrogen applications to produce optimum corn yields. It's also a problem for communities downstream who rely on the Little Vermilion for drinking water. The purpose of the Little Vermilion River Project is to prove that integrated crop management practices can help improve water quality as well as maintain efficient and economical crop production. Preliminary data suggest that changing something as simple as the time of application could help keep nitrates from leaching into streams.
Pesticide Applicator Training
Pesticide Applicator Training is a statewide program of the University of Illinois conducted in cooperation with the Illinois Department of Agriculture. The role of U of I Extension is to provide pesticide safety training to farmers and commercial personnel in order to promote personal safety, public safety, and environmental protection from these potentially hazardous but important agrichemicals.
Last year 2,324 farmers and other private pesticide applicators were trained in pesticide safety throughout Illinois. A similar series of meetings trained 6,627 commercial applicators. Evaluations of these programs indicate that more than 90 percent of attendees improved pesticide safety practices as a result of participating in the safety clinics. Master Gardeners use the pesticide safety information provided to answer telephone calls and in making presentations.
Improving Safety on Farms
In the past nine years, 320 Illinoisans, including 26 children, have died of farm-related injuries. A pilot U of I Extension program links regional medical centers with leaders in seven Illinois communities to help farmers take ownership of their health and safety and to take effective measures to protect themselves and their families. The program includes distributing personal protective equipment to all farms in the county, establishing on-farm safety day camps for children, training emergency medical personnel to cope with farm accidents, and providing dust masks to producers in a nine-county area.
Master Gardeners Learn and Help Others
More than 800 volunteers who want to learn more about gardening and help others are currently enrolled in the U of I Extension Master Gardener Program. The program, under the direction of Floyd Giles, professor of horticulture and a U of I Extension specialist, provides 90 hours of horticulture training to these volunteers. Upon successful completion of the training program, the volunteers teach others and share information with gardeners who call local Extension offices with questions. Master Gardeners deal directly with tens of thousands of gardening enthusiasts each year.
• Youth and 4-H
4-H
For most of this century 4-H has been one of the more popular U of I Extension programs. It remains so today. In 1996, more than 200,000 Illinois children participated in the 4-H and U of I Extension youth programs. That's a new record. These programs create a healthy environment in which young people learn about accountability, responsibility, leadership, and community involvement.
In addition to the traditional 4-H clubs in rural and urban communities, 4-H has begun numerous programs to supplement curricula in school classrooms all over Illinois. 4-H has made a difference wherever it provides programming because it offers young people an opportunity to learn life skills by being involved in projects which emphasize interactive learning. 4-H works with high-risk youth such as the residents of the Juvenile Detention Center in Cook County and the residents of Youth Farm in Peoria County. 4-H mixes lessons in responsibility with the opportunity to learn life skills and build self-esteem through successful project work.
Kid's Conservation Day
Kid's Conservation Day in Hancock County was created to educate fifth-grade youth about natural resources and ecological management principles to enhance and conserve Illinois natural resources and environmental quality. All fifth-grade classes were invited to participate in the program. In 1995, 380 youth participated, and in 1996, 312 youth and 32 teachers and volunteers participated in nine interactive sessions. As a result of this in-depth programming effort youth not only are better educated and informed, but they are sharing what they have learned with their parents.
Rural Recreation Project
The Illinois Rural Recreation Development Project, under the direction of the U of I Office of Recreation and Tourism Development, is designed to assist rural communities of under 5,000 population develop their recreation potential. The mission of the project is to address the immediate unmet need for recreation in small rural communities for summer recreation programs leading to long-term development for recreation services.
Teaching Empathy
A new program of U of I Extension teaches young people and adults empathy for the growing population of Americans over age 65. The program was developed by an Extension educator and implemented by Youth Development and Family Life Extension Educators to demonstrate some of the difficulties that older people face in their daily lives. Participants wear scratched and colored glasses that simulate deteriorating vision, wear gloves while attempting to open pill bottles, and utilize cassette tapes to simulate hearing problems -- all in an effort to learn what it might be like to face the world as an older person. More than 6,300 4-H members and 190 adults throughout Illinois participated in this program in 1996.
• Families and Consumers
Illinois Child Care Resource and Referral System
Child care is increasingly difficult to find, and quality care is in high demand. For assistance, parents can turn to the Illinois Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) System. From the beginning in the late 1980s, U of I Extension has been a key player in the Illinois CCR&R System. From hosting community meetings to helping the system develop its child care data collection capacity and using its data in policy-related research, Extension has provided ongoing support. Furthermore, the College of ACES operates one of the CCR&R System's offices.
Parenting the First Year
Parenting the First Year is a monthly U of I Extension newsletter which follows the monthly progress of a child through its first year and teaches parenting skills. More than 7,300 new parents from 43 Illinois counties receive the newsletter. Parents considered at high risk of child abuse are the target audience for the newsletter, written at a fifth-grade reading level. An evaluative survey of newsletter recipients indicates that the newsletter was the most useful source of parenting information they received. Seventy-eight percent of the parents said they became angry less often when their babies were difficult.
Parent Readiness Education Program (PREP)
PREP is a U of I Extension educational initiative designed to assist parenting teens and single homemakers with their roles as parents, students, and employees. One major component of PREP is to provide support while participants are completing high school. Enrollment records show that more than 95 percent of all students who participate in PREP graduate from junior and senior high school.
High School Financial Planning Program
The High School Financial Planning Program, co-sponsored by U of I Extension and the National Endowment for Financial Education, teaches teens the fundamentals of sound money management. In 1994, Extension educators provided curriculum training for 645 high school teachers. An additional 352 teachers were trained in 1995. These teachers, in turn, taught more than 8,300 Illinois high school students in 153 Illinois schools about the basics of financial management.
Basic Food Safety
While consumers indicate that they are concerned with pesticides and food additives, research shows that the biggest foodborne danger is actually bacteria and their toxins. In fact, several outbreaks of foodborne illness occur in the United States each year. U of I Extension educators developed a basic food safety teaching plan to teach people how to apply the basics of food safety to their daily situation; to prevent foodborne illness in the home; and to be aware of emerging food safety issues.
• Community and Economic Development
Urban Leadership Center
Four years ago, as a part of school reform, local school councils were created to oversee Chicago's neighborhood schools. This opportunity for increased control produced major challenges to the new school council members. U of I Extension was there to assist, offering a program to aid new school council members on the city's far south side. To date, more than 2,000 school council members have benefited from the Urban Leadership Center, where they gain expert training in finances, negotiations, evaluations, and school improvement plans. The program is another excellent example of how the leadership education and training programs of Extension can benefit communities.
Rural Partners
In 1989 U of I Extension was instrumental in creating the statewide organization Rural Partners, the private/public partnership for rural community development. Rural Partners in turn, and again with the help of Extension, received a $750,000 four-year grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to support a program designed to help rural communities prepare for economic development. The program, which helped 12 rural counties over a four-year period, was supported with more than $250,000 of public and private funds in addition to the W.K. Kellogg award. The program has received international recognition for its innovative programming and has become a model for establishing a sustained rural county-wide effort in community and economic development. Rural Partners has grown into a 300-member organization which is recognized by the federal government as Illinois' State Rural Development Council.
Table Grove Rural Health Clinic
Table Grove, Illinois, has a population of 500. Many are elderly who found it necessary to consider leaving town because Table Grove lacked a health care facility. Other concerned residents of Table Grove wanted to help the town maintain its level of services, retain its population, and grow. U of I Extension, in cooperation with the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs, put a team of educators into the area to work with local residents in assessing the problem and seeking solutions. The result is a new rural health care clinic, one of only 75 in Illinois, that utilizes mid-level professionals, including physicians' assistants and nurse practitioners, to provide primary medical care. The planned clinic will serve about 5,000 people in 10 townships located in parts of McDonough and Fulton counties. The clinic, funded in part by community donations, will not only allow the elderly to remain in town but will make the community more attractive to potential residents.
Internet Access for Rural Communities Although sophisticated telecommunications infrastructure is developing across the country, many rural Illinois communities do not have access to the Internet. U of I Extension is partnering with nine local telephone companies to help citizens learn to access and utilize the Internet effectively. It has worked in 12 counties to train 200 local leaders, including farmers, agribusiness workers, government officials, medical providers, civic leaders, and others.
Small Business Development/Procurement Assistance Center
Opened in 1994, this new U of I Extension program housed adjacent to the Macon County Extension office has aided hundreds of small businesses throughout central Illinois. Since April 1995, the Procurement Assistance Center has helped clients gain more than $17 million in government contracts. The Center has assisted small businesses in applying for Small Business Association loans after the April 1996 flurry of tornadoes in Illinois. The Center also sponsored a Minority Business Forum to address issues affecting minority-owned businesses.