Funding Increase Will Benefit County Extension Offices

Trisha Gedon
Ag Communication
Oklahoma State University
(405) 744-3625
June 18, 2004


TULSA – With enactment of Senate Bill 923 (Cooperative Extension Initiative), the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service (OCES) has gained an additional $3.3 million in funding, which will have a direct impact on the quality of life for Oklahoma residents. “Citizens across Oklahoma have counted on Oklahoma State University and OCES for many years,” said D. C. Coston, interim associate director of OCES and associate director of the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station. “This funding will assure that there are staff throughout the state, providing the highly responsive service for which OCES is recognized.”

OCES programs focus on increasing opportunities for agricultural enterprises; natural resources and environmental management; food, nutrition, health and safety education; and youth, family and community development.

Cooperative Extension educators are housed in each of Oklahoma’s 77 counties, where they work side-by-side with residents to address local issues and concerns. County personnel can call upon OCES state, district and area specialists for research-based information to help Oklahomans solve problems, promote leadership and manage resources wisely.

Sam Curl, dean and director of the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at OSU, said the funds are earmarked for the restoration of Cooperative Extension field staff.

“We owe the state Legislature, Governor Henry, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, OSU President David Schmidly and our OSU Regents and administration a real debt of gratitude for supporting this initiative to restore the number of Cooperative Extension field staff to its 2002 level,” Curl said. “Generating the necessary support to achieve this has been our No. 1 priority. Based on feedback from many Oklahomans, we determined that our most pressing need in the state, and the one for which we had the greatest probability of generating sufficient legislative support, was the restoration of our Cooperative Extension field staff to FY02 levels.” The $3.3 million allocation will allow OCES to restore base staffing in county offices to two professional educators, which is an increase from 1.5 professionals.

In addition, part of the funding will be used to restore the number of area specialists in production agriculture from 15 specialists to 21.

The remainder of the $3.3 million allocation will provide funding needed to reduce the costs that would have been required of county government for professional educators above the base level. OCES, along with the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, has garnered many successes during FY04, and the increased funding from the legislature will allow these efforts to continue.

“I’d like to thank the county, district and area staff, county government officials and the thousands of citizens across the state who contributed to this unified effort,” Curl said. “Without their strong support, this funding would not have been possible.”
 

For information about this page, send e-mail to Trisha Gedon. 

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