Value

Educational programs, developed in partnership with communities, stakeholders, campus researchers, and Extension specialists, are well received and sought out by community participants. Programs are continually redefined and improved through ongoing input and evaluations of citizens in concert with field and campus Extension staff. ISU Extension programs pay special attention to serving those who are low income, minorities, disenfranchised, underrepresented, and underserved. Following are a few examples of the value of ISU Extension programming to its diverse clientele.

Prosper, Promoting School/Community/University Partnerships to Enhance Resiliency

PROSPER, Promoting School/Community/University Partnerships to Enhance Resiliency, is a research and extension program in Iowa and Pennsylvania. ISU Extension’s partners include Pennsylvania Extension, Pennsylvania State University Prevention Center, Iowa Department of Public Health, Iowa Department of Education, and participating school districts, community partners, youth, and parents in Pennsylvania and Iowa. Schools and communities have developed local teams that select and implement prevention programs for youth and their families. Nearly 10,000 middle-school-aged children and their families in 28 Iowa and Pennsylvania communities are involved. Benefits for schools, families, and communities include enhanced parenting skills, improved youth life skills, increased family wellbeing, fewer youth substance abuse problems, and fewer youth problem behaviors. Prevention programs like PROSPER have been shown to generate savings to society from the prevention of alcohol disorders. The benefit-cost ratio of prevention programs like PROSPER is estimated at a return of $9.60 for each $1 invested. Results from these projects will help build a foundation for a national network of partnerships designed to advance programs directed toward family and youth wellbeing. A key component within PROSPER is ISU Extension’s Strengthening Families Program for Parents and Youth 10-14 (SFP). For every dollar spent on SFP, $7.82 is saved by reducing substance abuse. SFP is offered in Spanish as well as English in Iowa. The Spanish version was created in partnership with the Pan American Health Organization.

In 2003, obesity and obesity-related conditions cost Iowans $783 million. Nearly half of these costs were paid through government-funded health programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, placing a significant economic strain on the state. Nationally, $75 billion was spent on healthcare related to obesity. To counter these costs, Iowa State University Extension, Iowa Department of Public Health, and the Iowa Games sponsor Lighten Up Iowa, a public awareness message to promote increased consumption of fruits and vegetables and physical activity of Iowans. Lighten Up Iowa teams represent all of Iowa’s 99 counties. Team members commit to walk 10,000 steps or more per day and eat more fruits and vegetables to improve their health. More than 20,000 Iowans have participated in the statewide program in its first two years, logging 4.8 million miles of activity and losing 65,000 pounds

A cost benefit analysis of the ISU Extension Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP), published in December 2000, shows that for every $1 spent to deliver nutrition education, $8.03 is saved in future health care costs. This report was one of eight cited in the USDA study on the review of Food and Nutrition programs completed in 2004 by the GAO. In FY05, 2,702 Iowa families and 16,724 youth were enrolled in EFNEP or FNP (Family Nutrition Program). Of 1,641 graduates, 87 percent improved one or more nutrition practices. The EFNEP program targets low income families. In Iowa, 34 percent of EFNEP’s clients are minorities.

Iowa Community Voices program enhances the civic understanding and leadership skills of minorities and newly arrived immigrants to Iowa. The program introduces the leadership of the established community to the new immigrant residents and opens a two-way dialogue. New minority residents gain the knowledge and confidence to actively participate in community, school, and government activities. Eight communities and 500 new residents have participated in Iowa Community Voices. Participants frequently become active in existing organizations or form new organizations and hold community-wide events to bring together all community members. See http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Connection/2002AR/voices.html.

The Iowa Beef Center at Iowa State University enhances the vitality, profitability, and growth of the Iowa beef industry through timely and relevant producer education, applied research, and improved access to information. A core group of campus and field extension specialists and applied researchers from five departments in two colleges work together to deliver statewide conferences, published materials, local meetings, one-on-one consultations, and a dynamic user-friendly website. The Beef Center also held producer meetings and a national satellite program, and worked with the media on BSE/Mad Cow Disease. Work on BRANDS (Beef Ration and Nutrition Decisions Software), built on the latest science-based recommendations, includes a user-friendly interface, a professional and producer version, as well as customized versions for colleagues in other states. Beef and dairy producers attending meetings (sponsored by the Iowa Beef Center) on feeding co-products from the ethanol industry expect the information to have a $7 per head economic impact in their operations.

ISU Extension to Business and Industry offers technical assistance to companies that takes a variety of forms and often leads to substantial economic development gains. For example, the Defense Logistics Agency reported that more than 500 jobs were created as a result of contracts awarded to companies that received government procurement assistance. An energy audit of a steel plant in Wilton identified savings of more than $1 million. Education on quality management systems led to a $7 million increase in sales for a company in Sioux City. Plant layout assistance for a furniture manufacturer in Council Bluffs generated 50 new jobs and led to $2 million in investments in plant operations and equipment. Extension to Business and Industry annually facilitates programs that deliver an impact to Iowa companies in excess of $50 million in company sales, $10 million in savings, and $15 million in investments. In addition, practicing engineers from every county in Iowa routinely access credit courses or noncredit workshops offered by Extension to Business and Industry.

ISU Extension established the Community Vitality Center (CVC) in collaboration with Positively Iowa and with funding from USDA-CSREES. The CVC initiates programs and activities to assist Iowa communities by facilitating networks among small and medium size rural communities, sponsoring policy analyses, engaging communities in dialogue, and fostering discussion among rural and urban interests. The CVC governance board represents partnerships with Iowa’s diverse community interests. A major strategy of the center is to foster community entrepreneurialism for local revitalization. The CVC funds community-initiated projects and provides research-based information and best practices to Iowa community leaders. For example, Carroll County Extension received a $10,000 CVC challenge grant to work with area leaders and entrepreneurs in organizing an entrepreneurs’ network. The initial meeting attracted 27 entrepreneurs who are starting new businesses or serving as mentors. They share ideas and support one another in their goal to become more successful in their entrepreneurial enterprises and develop the capacity of their rural communities.