NCHEMS and Ascendium Partner to Strengthen Rural Development Through Cooperative Extension

Across the country, Cooperative Extension plays a vital role in supporting rural communities — providing resources on agriculture, small business development, education, and more. As the largest provider of noncredit education in the nation, Cooperative Extension may very well be higher education’s best-kept secret. To help increase awareness, the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) is focusing on ways to increase the impact for the Cooperative Extension Services — especially when it comes to its role in community, economic, and workforce development.

NCHEMS was awarded a multi-year grant from the Ascendium Education Group to support this work. With this support — and the good thinking of a talented advisory group — we developed a conceptual framework to assess and enhance the role of Extension in community, economic, and workforce development. To continue building on this work, NCHEMS is awarding four grants to organizations actively working on projects that align with one of the three framework elements: Connected Convener, Teaching and Learning, and Applied Analysis. These partnerships will support innovative, community-based solutions to connect more residents in rural areas with the resources they need to thrive.

NCHEMS is excited to announce the five organizations and projects we will be supporting this year: the Colorado State University Office of Engagement and Extension, the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, the University of Missouri Extension, the Southern Rural Development Center, and the University of Tennessee Center for Industrial Services.

• The Colorado State University Office of Engagement and Extension was selected for its Economic Achievement for Rural Native Students (EARNS) project. This project will focus on exploring new partnerships between rural community colleges and Colorado State University Extension by conducting an external assessment examining prospective employers’ preferences regarding continued education options.\
• The University of Maine will receive support for the University of Maine Extension Micro-Badge Opportunities for Workforce Development project. This project develops affordable, stackable micro-badges under the Business in a Flash brand to provide essential business training for small business owners and workforce development in the state.
• The University of Missouri was selected for its project, State of Missouri Workforce Summits. This project will allow MU Extension to host workforce training summits in six locations around the state, with the summits identifying opportunities for next steps in meeting unmet workforce training needs.
• The Southern Regional Development Center, housed at Mississippi State University, was selected for its project, National Extension Community Development Foundations of Practice. This project will equip Extension Community Development practitioners with core competency training to enhance their capacity to lead and engage community stakeholders in community and economic development efforts nationwide.
• The University of Tennessee Center for Industrial Services (UT CIS) was selected for its project, Tennessee Workforce Collaboration. This project will collaborate UT CIS with University of Tennessee Extension and others to grow a Tennessee Workforce Development Academy that will meet the professional development needs of workforce developers in rural communities.

The five organizations selected for these partnerships are tackling critical challenges in their communities — from expanding workforce training to strengthening education pipelines — and we’re proud to support their efforts. We are pleased to learn from these projects, test our framework, and work toward our projects’ overarching goals. As these projects move forward, we look forward to sharing their progress and continuing to champion new opportunities that help rural communities and Extension thrive.

Follow NCHEMS on LinkedIn or Bluesky to keep up-to-date on these projects and NCHEMS’ continued work for rural communities. Learn more about these projects here.