From the Director

As I reflect on 2001, I must comment on the effect of its life-changing events. The happenings of September 11 forced us all to think differently about many things we have taken for granted as Americans. These events made us reorder our priorities to address new challenges, work harder to build personal bridges with members of our communities, show compassion in our teamwork, and constantly act on the best of our humanity. Family, community and friendships have been more highly valued by many of us in these last months...months when we witnessed changes in the world we could not imagine a year ago. Our job as educators and facilitators of community dialogue will continue to be an important one in the months and years ahead as we help citizens build peaceful, civil communities. We will be considering our role in homeland security and biosecurity--ideas and challenges that were not even on our mind 12 months ago.

A sampling of Extension programs around the theme of "Building Communities," reminds me of the importance of our responsibility as the primary outreach entity of your land-grant university. Our engagement with communities throughout the state is critical for the fulfillment of our mission. In many ways, 2001 was a year of successful accomplishments for Extension. We focused program efforts on ten areas of special importance to Colorado. For example, Extension was proactive in initiating educational sessions on Foot and Mouth Disease in cooperation with the State Veterinarian's office at the Colorado Department of Agriculture, the Colorado State University Diagnostic Lab, and local officials. We received funds from the 2001 Colorado Legislature to add eight Extension agent positions to our staff to respond to program demands driven by growth and change. With our partners--the Agricultural Experiment Station and the College of Agricultural Sciences--we developed a long-range "Plan for Agriculture for Colorado State University" using input from citizens, decision makers, faculty and staff. We planned for and look forward to the 100th-year celebration of 4-H and the 50th anniversary of Colorado's 4-H Youth Fund, Inc. (our state 4-H foundation) in 2002. Recently, I received a letter that said, in part, "I consider 4-H to be the biggest single influencing factor in my life." Messages from those who have benefited from our programs are always rewarding to receive.

Coloradans constantly look to us for "information they can trust," the essential element of Extension education. As we continually work to develop ways to provide the one-on-one contact and local involvement that is a hallmark of Extension, we also consider the efficiencies that technology can provide to help deliver our educational information to Colorado citizens. I encourage you to visit our web site: www.ext.colostate.edu.

Throughout our history, Extension has strived to meet the needs of a changing society, as we have been challenged to examine and re-examine our mission, role, focus, function, purpose and priorities. Recently, a former state Extension Advisory Council member commented: ..."I have been on many boards but this one has been among the most dynamic...Extension is a fluid organization, never standing still, always fluctuating with changing personalities and intelligent individuals, and always striving to meet the needs of our changing society." By valuing our roots, capitalizing on our present strengths and successes, and defining a vision, we can boldly march ahead to shape our future. As we fulfill our mission of working with and "building communities" through partnerships, we represent the land-grant university in its finest tradition. I look forward to the opportunity to discuss with you the programs and focus of Extension as we continue our powerful partnerships with the citizens of Colorado.

For more information, contact your local Colorado State University Extension office.

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Uploaded Wednesday, July 09, 2008