Competency in the City• Western Center for Metropolitan Extension & Research

National Urban Extension Leaders (NUEL)• 21 July 2016 * WebinarJulie Fox, Ph.D., The Ohio State University, Assoc. Chair, Dept. of Extension

PriorityHow Extension attracts, develops, retains, and structures competent individuals and teams for urban communitiesCall to Action• Specific professional development activities must

be created to address the needs of Extension personnel in urban areas.

• Opportunities for regular and consistent communication among urban staff …

Strategic Analysis: Personnel• Similar core set of competencies as Extension

professionals in other geographic settings +• Intensified degree to which a variety of

personnel apply related competencies

PositioningProgramsPersonnelPartnerships

So… What’s Different for Extension Personnel Working in the City?

Today’s Focus• What’s Unique About the City?

• And the personnel connection

• Who’s Working/Influencing Work in the City?

• Competencies: • Individual• Identify

• So What?

Identify, Develop, Assess, RecognizeIndividual/Team/Organizational

What’s unique about cities? Demographics

Personnel Reflect Constituency

What’s unique about cities?Complexity

Retain Personnel in Competitive Environment

What’s unique about cities?Urban-Suburban-Rural Interdependencies

Connected Personnel

What’s unique about cities?

Percent of Personnel Per Capita

Number and Types of Human Resources

Personnel: Who’s Working/Influencing Work in the Cities?• Types of Positions: Urban Extension individuals and teams

• Administrators (county, regional, state)• Educators• Program Personnel (assistants, coordinators, directors)• Project Personnel (full-time, part-time, term, temp., virtual)

• Specialists, engaged scholars (faculty, students – work, intern, capstone/studio, service, …)• Support units (Admin, Professional Develop & Evaluation, Grants/Contracts, Advancement,

HR, business office, Communications)• Consultants/hot shots• Other

• Volunteers

Competency• To attract, develop, retain, and structure competent Extension individuals

and teams for urban communities… start with COMPETENCIES

• Competency: a set of observable performance dimensions, including: • Individual knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors (KSAO, Mirable, 1997)• Collective team processes & organizational capabilities (Athey & Orr, 1999)

• Competency Model: collective set of competencies that define the requirements for effective performance in a specific job, profession or organization (Campion, Fink, Ruggeberg, Carr, Phillips, & Odman, 2011)

• Urban Extension Competency Focus Areas

Competency: FoundationMcClelland 1973 (Individual)Prahalad & Hamel, 1990 (Organizational)

Competencies: Extension• Developing a Competency Model for a 21st Century Extension

Organization (Cochran, 2009)

Competencies: Extension• The Skills and Attributes of 21st Century Extension Professionals

(Hibberd, Blomeke, & Lillard, 2013)

https://learn.extension.org/events/1073

Competencies/Models: Faculty & CED• State Specific Application Examples: University of Florida

Competency Assessment and Professional Development Planhttp://pdec.ifas.ufl.edu/prof_dev.shtml (urban needs assessment)(Amy Harder, NAEPSDP Recording) www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2w7cdZ7zH0

Level / ImportanceAlignment

Competencies/Models: Extension

• Single Competencies• Cultural, http://ext.wsu.edu/diversity/training/index.html• Facilitation, http://www.joe.org/joe/2008august/rb2.php

Competencies/Models: Extension• Others: Program/Audience Specific

Competencies/Models: Extension• Position-Specific Competencies (beyond program-specific)

• Administrators (management, leadership)• Project Personnel (full-time, part-time, term, temp., virtual)

• Specialists, engaged scholars • Support units • Consultants/hot shots• Other

• Volunteers

Initial Competency ReviewGeneral Cochran (2009) 21st Century Extension Program-Specific Ritsos & Miller ‘85Personal Continuous learning

Flexibility and change Professionalismself-direction

Personal standard of excellence

Professionalism Professionalism

Organizational Skills

Interpersonal CommunicationDiversityInterpersonal relationships Teamwork and leadership

CommunicationDiversity

Teamwork

Communication Public Relations

The Business of Extension

Areas of Expertise

Customer serviceKnowledge of ExtensionResource management Technology Problem-solving

Extension program & teachingSubject expertiseTranslate research results

Program planning,development, evaluation

Program planning,execution, evaluation

Other Entrepreneurial Spirit Competency-specific

Competencies/Models: Urban Extension• Urban Extension Competency Focus Areas: Next Steps

1. Literature Review• Ritsos & Miller, 1985 +• NUEL Endnote File – literature gathered by Western Center Fellow (Reumenapp)

Nested Boolean Searches:• “Cooperative Extension” AND (“Urban OR “Metro)• “University Extension” AND (“Urban OR “Metro)

• Search Indexes:• ProQuest – particular attention to ERIC and dissertations.• OCLC/First Search – particular attention to ERIC and WorldCat• EBSCO Host – particular attention to AGRICOLA and Urban Abstracts• Web of Science – particular attention to CAB Abstracts and Social Science Citation Index• Google Scholar

PersonnelProfessional Development

CompetencyKnowledge, Skills, Abiitiles

Competencies/Models: Urban Extension• Urban Extension Competency Focus Areas: Next Steps

2. Practice - Position Description Review• Administrators (county, regional, state)• Educators• Program Personnel (assistants, coordinators, directors)• Project Personnel (full-time, part-time, term, temp., virtual)• Volunteers

Competencies/Models: Urban Extension• Urban Extension Competency Focus Areas: Next Steps

3. Survey Research• NUEL Professional Development Committee

(integrated with research efforts of other NUEL Action Teams)• Universities with existing urban Extension programs

• Recruiting, hiring, onboarding process – practices and barriers• Professional development programs – training, mentors, etc.• Personnel – positions and funding models

Competencies/Models: Urban Extension• Urban Extension Competency Focus Areas: Next Steps

4. Competency-based Framework Development (CFD) with eXtension/Eduworks (DACUM: Developing a Curriculum, job analysis)

• Taps into the knowledge of practitioners• Systematic process facilitated online. • Based on a combination of:

• skills identification methods• instructional systems design & curriculum design

(professional development)

Competencies/Models: Urban Extension• Urban Extension Competency Focus Areas: Next Steps

5. Key Informant InterviewsAdministrators (Structure) – leadership and investment strategy

HR Professionals (Model) – efficiency and speed in implementation

Professional Development Leaders (Framework and Focus Areas) -specific professional development activities to address the unique needs of Extension personnel working in or influencing work in urban areas

County Extension Director & Educator– Opportunities for regular and consistent communication among urban staff

Competencies: Urban Extension• Urban Extension Competency Focus Areas: Next Steps

6. Resources to integrate into existing practicesAdministrators

HR Professionals

Professional Development Leaders

County Extension Director & Educator

+ Academic Programs in Extension Education

Competency-based human resource applications represent an integrated framework for maximizing the human capital of an organization (Moutlon, 2003)

http://pde.osu.edu/competencyModel

Competency Model

Recruitment & Selection• Clarify Type of Human Resource

• Position Description

• Recruitment Strategies

• Competency Focus:• What want to hire for?• What willing to develop?

Assessment• Type of Position

• Assessment Purpose• Formative? End of project, year, …?

• Type of Feedback• Self• Others (internal/external)

• Tools (competency framework development)

Professional Development• Type of Position (level of investment)

Individual & Team

• Stage of Development (competency levels)

• Learning Method/s

• Tool for Professional Dev. Leaders• Content and Unique Context

Performance Management• Type of Position

• Purpose

Reward Compensation• Type of Position

• Recognition, Reward & Retention

Succession Planning• Complexity

• Connections

Urban Extension Competency Focus Areas within the Competency Model

Competency Model

Team Competencies

• Process & Flow• Opportunity ID and Evaluation

• Program/Project• Personnel (and other resources)• Partnerships• Positioning

Organizational Competencies / Capabilities

Cross-company core competencies that drive integrated business execution and management alignment

• Structure• Competency Model • Framework and Focus Areas

So What? Quick Review• What’s Unique About Extension Personnel the City?

• Demographics – Personnel Reflect the Constituency• Complexity – Retain Personnel in a competitive environment• Urban-Suburban-Rural Interdependencies – Connected Personnel• Percent of personnel per capita - Number and Toes of Human Resources

• Who’s Working/Influencing Work in the City?• Variety pf Professionals

• Competencies• Foundation, Extension-Specific, Program-Specific, Competency-Specific, Urban

• So What?• Integration into YOUR work

So What?Value to individuals AND state/national• Regardless of priorities, the effectiveness of the Extension programs

greatly depends on the delivery approach and competencies of the Extension agent (Rasmussen, 1989).

• The answer to whether CES will stay important, in major part, lies within the competency of each of the Extension professionals (Bull, Cote, Warner, & McKinnie, 2004).

• Improve how Extension attracts, develops, retains, and structures competent individuals and teams for urban communities (NUEL 2015).

Want to know more…?• NUEL Professional Development Committee: www.nuelaction.org

• Western Center: http://metroextension.wsu.edu

• OSU Extension in the City, http://cityextension.osu.edu/leadership

L A N D G R A N T U N I V E R S I T I E S · C O M M U N I T I E S · A C T I O N

Comments & Questions?

Contact & Resourcesfox.264@osu.eduhttp://cityextension.osu.edu