Trends Affecting Ohio State University Extension inthe 21st Century and the Implications for HumanCapital

摘要

Research with a diverse array of organizations in the public and private sectors has documented acommon set of trends affecting organizations and their human capital in the 21st century. Similar trendshave been identified as important for Extension organizations and the Cooperative Extension System. Itis important to determine if such trends identified over the past 20 years remain current, or if new trendshave emerged. Moreover, trends and their implications need to be described in sufficient detail to serveas a basis for action. The purpose of this study was to identify and describe current trends affecting OhioState University Extension and the implications of those trends for the work of Extension professionals.The study was designed as action research with a series of highly participatory approaches to engageemployees in defining, refining, and validating a list of trends and their implications. Mixed methodswere used with an emphasis on qualitative approaches. The findings from this study consist of five trendsand seven implications for Extension work, which are identified and described.