Outreach and Cooperative Extension Center Opens in Lewistown

Mifflin County extension director Dave Filson coordinates Penn State's first Outreach and Cooperative Extension Center, which provides one-stop Penn State shopping for the Juniata Valley.

Penn State's first Outreach and Cooperative Extension Center opened its doors in Lewistown on April 19. Coordinated by Mifflin County extension director Dave Filson, the center serves residents of Mifflin, Juniata, and surrounding counties. "We'll coordinate all of Penn State's outreach efforts through the center, including cooperative extension, continuing and distance education, technology transfer, and new kinds of programs," says Filson. "It's a kind of one-stop shopping."

"This new center will allow Penn State to dramatically increase delivery of educational programs serving the needs of citizens in the Juniata Valley," says Ted Alter, associate vice president for outreach and director of cooperative extension. "It's truly a community partnership, involving business, government, and community leaders."

Last year, community leaders approached Penn State about increasing its presence in the Juniata Valley, explains Harold Ott, regional director for the south central region. "They'd taken a map of the state, drawn a 30-mile circle around each institution of higher learning, and found no overlap in the Juniata Valley -- making the case that they're the largest underserved area in higher education."

"People were traveling an hour to get to the nearest university or college," adds Filson. "The time was right for an increased Penn State presence."

Penn State already was active in the Juniata Valley, with cooperative extension offering programs, continuing education holding classes in schools and motels, student teachers from the College of Education participating in area classrooms, and major manufacturers working with engineering and earth and mineral sciences faculty.

"Now that we have a single site, the community will recognize that anything that happens through Penn State -- whether it be extension, continuing or distance education, or technology transfer, such as Y2K issues -- will happen at the center," says Filson.

A total outreach center also opens doors for new kinds of courses. One example, "Starting New Businesses," a joint effort of cooperative extension, continuing education, the Small Business Administration, and the Mifflin County Planning Commission, began in February. "We're developing an on-site MBA program and a master's program in education," Filson adds. "We'd also like to extend our satellite training for health-care providers using the expertise of the College of Health and Human Development and The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center."

According to Ott, extension and continuing education can work together to meet the huge demand for computer training. "Farm operators need training in electronic record keeping, but extension doesn't have the resources to teach basic computer literacy," he says. "If Dave can market a continuing education course on basic computing skills to his extension audience, extension can follow up with a course on specific software."

Penn State also hopes to broaden the delivery of 4-H youth development materials through the teacher certification program. "In the past, 4-H youth development agents met with teachers one-on-one," says Ott. "Now, as a class assignment, we could ask teachers to develop a 4-H curriculum. Not only could we reach a lot more teachers, but the teachers could work with us to fine-tune their lesson plans. With this type of ownership, teachers are more likely to use the curriculum."

-- Kim Dionis