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Wilmes -- Things look bad for Extension, 4-H Tuesday, September 2, 2003
State Rep. Al Juhnke of Willmar doesn't like what's happening to the Minnesota Extension Service and to its 4-H program. Extension's most recent reformation involves creation of 18 regional centers. Whether or not an Extension office will exist in all of the state's 80-plus counties has been left to county commissioners.
Juhnke, a UofM graduate with a daughter involved in 4-H, said Extension's second revamping in two years and the way the UofM kept lawmakers in the dark about its intentions raises serious questions about its commitment to agriculture.
The initial transformation of Extension was announced late in that session of the Legislature. Extension's current plan was announced May 14, a week before the Legislature adjourned, the budget was done and it was too late for lawmakers to respond.
Juhnke says lawmakers on both side of the aisle are concerned about the land-grant university's direction. The Willmar DFLer said that although Iowa has budget problems of its own, the state created a committee and Extension pretty much emerged unscathed from the budget cutting process. Other states -- North Dakota and South Dakota -- have maintained Extension offices in every county.
Juhnke says Extension's commitment to rural Minnesota is waning, a move first noted several years ago when the University of Minnesota-Waseca was closed. More recently, the university backed away again when it pulled the plug on a rural-based cooperative program with Southwest State University in Marshall.
The Extension service's latest revamping isn't sitting well with rural lawmakers, he says. He said parents throughout Minnesota are concerned about the 4-H program's future and fear that higher user fees will cause some children not to participate. The Willmar resident says rural and urban lawmakers -- and the DFL caucus -- will work next session to find the $800,000 that's needed to maintain 4-H programs through the current budget cycle.
Other UofM alumni are asking what's going on with the university, he says, and they fear that its role as a land-grant university is being compromised.
"The ship is tipped, but it isn't capsized,'' he said.
These are tumultuous times for Extension in Minnesota. Some Extension professionals have left the organization and its uncertainty to claim better paying jobs in the private sector.
Others have retired and still others are stressed-out about their job situation. Morale is bad, with some Extension workers afraid to speak out for fear of losing their jobs.
Juhnke said county commissioners have tough choices to make and deciding whether or not to maintain a county Extension office is just another one.
"Counties are facing their own financial difficulties because of state aid cuts,'' Juhnke said. "County commissioners are going to have to weigh support for 4-H against the costs of fixing roads and running the jail. I'm afraid 4-H is going to lose.''
Juhnke is optimistic that something to help 4-H will move through the Legislature next session. He's concerned that university officials have done a poor job communicating with lawmakers. He says he has listened to a lot of rural Minnesotans, and they aren't happy about the direction Extension and 4-H are heading. |
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