| COOPERATIVE EXTENSION | |
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Works with federal, state and local partners to offer educatioal programs
that address teh lifelong learning needs of individuals, families and
communities |
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• Message • Broadcasting and Media Innovations • Business and Manufacturing Extension • Cooperative Extension • Outreach and E-Learning Extension • FY 2003 expenditures • FY 2003 contacts and enrollments • Partners |
Cooperative Extension works in partnership with county, state, federal and tribal governments; community organizations; businesses; and industry. Wisconsin residents get quick, convenient access to university research and knowledge through Cooperative Extension offices in every county and staff on University of Wisconsin campuses.
Milk Money, a team-based approach to managing milk quality, contributed to the continued profitability of Wisconsin’s dairy industry. With 180 participating farms, and herd sizes from 22 to 1,800, the program has a positive impact on the bottom line. In 75 farms studied, annual milk income increased by a total of $1.8 million. The Northern EDGE (Economic Development Growing the Economy) program, led by Community, Natural Resource and Economic Development faculty and staff, is helping to raise wages in northern Wisconsin through locally driven economic initiatives. The project, which focuses on 29 counties north of U.S. Highway 29, creates economic and workforce resources and stimulates business and industry activity in order to grow higher paying jobs. In addition to growing jobs and increasing profits, UW-Extension’s economic development efforts also focus on improving the quality of life for all workers, families and children. One example of this work is the Parenting the First Year newsletter, circulated to approximately 90,000 families last year, including over half of all new parents in Wisconsin. A new edition, Preparing to Parent, is in preparation. Realizing that one in 11 Wisconsin families does not have enough food, the Wisconsin Nutrition Education Program (WNEP) works in local communities to provide nutrition education to low-income families that receive or are eligible for food stamps. Through this work, more than 21 counties have created hunger prevention councils to help feed families, and almost 300,000 people have participated in nutrition education programs. Tackling these and other tough issues in the future will require a new generation of leaders. Through the 4-H Youth in Governance program, Wisconsin teens become active citizens, learning leadership and self-confidence by participating in public decision making. In many communities, teens serve on youth advisory boards to address community issues. Some serve as voting members of city council committees that oversee services like libraries and parks, while others work on county extension committees. The Wisconsin Rural Leadership Program (WRLP), which strengthens communities through preparing leaders to deal with today’s changing world, was recognized by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in 2003 as one of the nation’s “exemplary community leadership programs.”
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