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University of Maine Extension Strategic Planning

Summary

Cooperative Extension is a public service of land-grant colleges and universities across the country that increases access to practical education. For more than a century, University of Maine Extension (UMaine Extension) has connected people with practical tools, resources, and programs based on university research and focused on addressing needs identified by Maine’s communities.

NCHEMS is supporting UMaine Extension’s Strategic Planning Working Group by bringing an outside perspective and added capacity. NCHEMS’ role includes gathering input from faculty and staff and analyzing data. It also involves studying how peer Cooperative Extension systems are adapting to similar opportunities and challenges. This work will help the Working Group identify a clear set of priorities, along with short-term and long-term goals to guide progress in the years ahead.

Topics Approach

Topics

  • Data Analysis – Examining UMaine Extension’s staffing levels, overhead costs, funding streams, and program participation over time to reveal patterns and trends.
  • Stakeholder Engagement — Gathering input directly from UMaine Extension’s faculty and staff as well as volunteers, adding context that data alone cannot provide.
  • Peer Research — Studying how peer Cooperative Extension systems across the country are responding to similar opportunities and challenges.
  • Strategic Priority Development — Using the data, stakeholder input, and peer research to identify a set of strategic priorities, along with short-term and long-term goals.

Approach

NCHEMS is supporting UMaine Extension’s Strategic Planning Working Group through data analysis, stakeholder engagement, and peer research.

The data analysis includes staffing levels, overhead costs, funding streams, and program participation over time. Tracking these trends across several years can reveal patterns that matter for planning. Alongside this data work, NCHEMS is gathering input directly from UMaine Extension’s faculty and staff. Their day-to-day experience is important context when considering strategic priorities. NCHEMS is also studying how peer Cooperative Extension systems across the country are responding to similar opportunities and challenges. Comparing UMaine Extension’s path to its peers can point to options that have worked well elsewhere and could be a good fit for Maine.

Together, the data analysis, stakeholder input, and peer research will provide the Working Group with a strong, evidence-based foundation for identifying strategic priorities, along with short- and long-term goals to guide progress over the next several years.