Iowa State students know the university as one campus in Ames, but ISU is really a statewide organization with branches in every county.

As the state’s only land grant university, ISU coordinates the Iowa State University Extension Service, which benefits people from throughout Iowa.

Extension is one of three parts of a land grant institution — the other two are education and research, said W.E. Linstrom, associate vice provost for Extension.

“As such, we have an education function,” Linstrom said. “Our role is to take the knowledge from the land grant university and make it available to the public and the people that can use it.”

Extension was created as part of national legislation passed in 1914, with the primary goal to provide information about farming, Linstrom said. The program has developed from a focus on farm families to youth and community development.

“Here at Iowa State we have University Extension, which simply means that all facets of the university are involved,” Linstrom said.

“The Extension operates on the premise that people’s lives can be improved by education,” he added. “We provide useful information for people’s daily decision-making, for example, how to farm or how to provide better nutrition for families.”

The University Extension program works on a nearly $53 million budget for the state office, Linstrom said.

The money is applied toward state and county programming. Linstrom estimated about 20 percent of Extension funding comes from the federal government, 50 percent from the state government, 20 percent from local funds and 6 percent in grants, contracts and fees. There are about 950 full-time Extension employees across the state.

Extension services include five program areas: youth and 4-H, families, communities, agriculture and business and industry. The programs draw on respective ISU colleges for educational background.

Each county has an Extension office, with two in Pottawattamie County. The offices each include a county director, secretarial staff and possibly a program assistant.

Extension has seven administrative areas across Iowa. Story County is part of the Central Iowa area with the main office in Ankeny. The Story County office is located in Nevada.

County offices also develop their own programs with their own resources. “Programs continually are being developed and dropped on a regular basis,” Linstrom said.

Each office has access to the Internet and e-mail. Linstrom said each office also has down-link satellite capabilities.

“Iowa has been a leader in Extension, so things done in Iowa are picked up by other states,” Linstrom said. “Clearly, we would be very far out with our electronic technology.”

Mary Clancy, Extension education director for Calhoun County, said Extension programs work.

“I do believe it works, although there is a diverse audience in every county,” Clancy said. “I rely on Iowa State for the resources in order to design and fit in this county.”

Clancy said the her office’s association with ISU gives her access to area field specialists in: consumer resource development, family life, farm management, agriculture engineering and beef and swine.

Clancy said her contact with the ISU campus can vary, but includes in-service training.

Linstrom said the largest benefit of the Extension programs is the access to information and education. For example, all of the firemen in Iowa are trained through Extension programs.

Extension services also include over-the-phone assistance. Nearly 80,000 people contacted Extension offices throughout the state last year with the help of six hot-line numbers, Linstrom said.

Though University Extension is aimed at those who don’t have easy access to ISU’s Ames campus, Linstrom said the program also benefits the university as a whole.

“Because we are in every county, the people of Iowa have contact with the university,” Linstrom said. “The university also has the ability to identify the needs in the state, which may lead to research projects.”

Linstrom also said many students choose to come to ISU because of their exposure to the university through the Extension programs.