Director's View
by Charlotte Eberlein
University of Idaho Extension Director

Since 1910 UI Extension has provided Idaho’s citizens with access to their land-grant university through research-based educational programs and publications. UI Extension offices are located in 42 of 44 counties—vital links between local needs and university resources and expertise.

Initially, extension’s focus was agriculture because much of Idaho’s population produced food. But, as demographics have changed, we have expanded our efforts to better meet our citizens’ needs. Rapid growth in the state’s population has shifted us from a rural state in 1990 to one with a majority of its people in urban areas today. Along with rapid growth has come increasing diversity; for instance, Hispanics now make up about 10 percent of our population. UI Extension’s challenge is to respond to these shifting realities while maintaining support for our traditional audiences—all in a time of decreasing financial support.

Our creative and dedicated faculty and staff are responding. In urban counties, faculty have obtained grant funding to expand their programming in select areas such as urban horticulture, small acreage management, diabetes and obesity education, financial security across the life span, and 4-H after school programs. We are also developing related websites. Marilyn Bischoff and Beverly Healy are part of a national extension team that just received a major grant to develop an interactive, web-based program on financial security.

We are addressing diversity in a number of ways. Programs on topics from pesticide safety to dairy practices to gardening, nutrition, and managing finances are now taught in Spanish as well as English. We also offer a new, multicultural 4-H project for all youth, called ¡Qué Rico! Two UI Extension offices—on the Coeur d’Alene and Shoshone-Bannock Indian reservations—are funded by federal grants. They emphasize agriculture and natural resources education and 4-H youth development.

In July and October our Civil Society Team, lead by Harriet Shaklee, hosted an innovative traveling workshop, Idaho’s Journey for Diversity and Human Rights, which took community leaders to scenes from Idaho’s history related to Native Americans, miners, Chinese, Basques, and women eager to vote.
We look forward to continuing our efforts to strengthen Idaho agriculture and to help Idaho families and communities thrive.

Contact Eberlein at extdir@uidaho.edu.