Though more than 1 million people are directly affected by the extension and outreach programs offered by Iowa State each year, some may not recognize the impact, as not everyone is aware of the source.

Iowa State University’s Extension and Outreach Strategic Plan, activated in 2017 to carry out through 2022, relies heavily on the values of the Morrill Land Grant Acts of 1862.

“I think many students don’t realize that Iowa State University is a land grant university and what that means,” said Deb Sellers, the associate dean of Human Sciences Extension and Outreach. “The point is to make education accessible to everyone.”

Iowa was the first state to accept the provisions of the Morrill Act, which donated public land to the states and to establish colleges that specialized in “agriculture and the mechanical arts” according to the act.

Today, Iowa State is the only land grant university in Iowa. There is at least one in every state around the country and 72 in total.

According to the extension professionals, the mission of extension and outreach is to build a “strong Iowa by engaging all Iowans in research, education, and extension experiences to address current and emerging real-life challenges.”

This requires granting access to research-based information and interacting with the public, not only to educate Iowa State students, but all Iowans so they can make educated decisions in areas.

“I was visiting with our stakeholders and staff and council members in 20 locations to ask, ‘what do you see as challenge?’, ‘what impacts your community’s ability to thrive?’, ‘what role might extension play in helping to address that?’” said John Lawrence, Vice President of Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.

Consistent with its land grant roots, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach operates to serve Iowans in four main areas: agriculture and natural resources, human sciences, community and economic development, and 4-H youth development.

“Our vision is empowering people and growing lives,” Sellers said. “Think about the history of the land grant. We’re still providing education access for all, we have wonderful research, information, and education to share.”

Extension and outreach impact farmers across the state by helping to further agricultural education. They host Crop Advantage meetings to help farmers be more efficient, increase profit margins in the dairy industry by researching transition cow management, and train pork producers to implement biosecurity protocols to ensure a safe pork supply.

“A farmer who received an alumni award invited me to his reception and said that I had had an impact on his operation, but economically and environmentally, so that was very rewarding,” Lawrence said.

Additionally, programs for health and finances help to improve the quality of life for individuals and communities by granting them access to information about healthy eating, relationships and financial well-being through workshops and online training.

“We deal with people, needs, opportunities and challenges and there’s always more we can do,” Sellers said. “We have to know where we can have the most impact.”

Iowa State makes direct contact with a staff of 900 locally elected council members and over 16,000 volunteers who make direct contacts with Iowans so they can be educated to help themselves and their communities through phone calls, emails, and face to face consultations.

This is done through a network of county offices. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach has an office in every county in Iowa, and two in Pottawattamie County, which allows direct contact across the state. Each office has resources to cater to the particular needs of that specific county.

Lawrence said funds are tight, yet unemployment is low, so there is no way to solve every problem without spreading funding too thin, despite the partnerships and grants that deliver programming.

There is also the issue of taking care of those working to serve the public through education.

“You can’t be all things for all people,” Sellers said. “We have to be thoughtful about our staff and ensure their well-being.”

“It’s a challenge to attract and hire great people who are looking for a career in service, such as university extension,” Lawrence said.

To combat that, extension and outreach has introduced the “Rising Star” internship program, which sends students from different colleges to collaborate in these county extension offices to solve real community problems. This trains them to serve the public as educators and potentially find future careers in university extension.

“We’ve actually been able to hire some of these students after they’ve graduated,” Lawrence said.

The resources offered by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach are not exclusively for Rising Star Interns or Iowans in crisis. It is for anyone wanting to use the free educational resources the university offers, students included.

“To students in particular: it’s important to know that you are at a land grant and there are resources available,“ Sellers said. “Be aware that even when you graduate, you don’t have to lose your connection, because you can take advantage of the opportunities through the Iowa State extension offices, and you can access extension offices in any state and be life-long learners and make your journey a little bit easier.”