Family finances in tough times: OSU Extension offers a hand
The economic downturn has families across Ohio focusing on finances with a keener eye than ever. Often, they turn to Ohio State University Extension.
"We're educators, first and foremost," said Nancy Hudson, family finance specialist with OSU Extension. "When we work with people, even those facing bankruptcy, they tell us they appreciate our straightforward, nonjudgmental approach."
Among the programs that OSU Extension offers is New Start for Financial Success, a debtor education class for people facing bankruptcy. Often, attendees say if they had taken the class earlier, they might have avoided bankruptcy, Hudson said. For more information, see http://newstart.osu.edu.
Extension is focused on helping young people, too. Besides the "Real Money, Real World" program (see story on page 2), OSU Extension is a national partner in sponsoring the High School Financial Planning Program. Since 2007, OSU Extension has helped train more than 600 teachers in this free curriculum, which meets the standards of a new state law that requires personal financial education programs for students entering high school in 2010.
OSU Extension also offers a wide variety of free and low-cost materials to help families with financial management, online at http://ohioline.osu.edu and http://estore. osu-extension.org. And even more guidance is available through Extension's national resource, eXtension (pronounced e-Extension). On the "Financial Crisis" pages (http://www.extension.org/financial_crisis), dozens of materials are available including "Deciding Which Bills to Pay First," "Stretching Your Food Dollar," and "Debt Management in Tough Times." The web site also offers the opportunity for users to submit questions to Extension experts from across the nation for guidance on specific financial challenges. See more on eXtension on page 3. -- Martha Filipic
Signature, Please: OSU Extension's Signature Programs target key statewide, national issues
As part of its Strategic Planning process for 2008–2014, Ohio State University Extension identified six "Signature Programs" focused on targeted issues that affect Ohioans. • Every county in Ohio will offer at least one of these programs, three of which are described on these pages. Look for details on the other three programs, "Dining with Diabetes," "New Start," and "Why Trees Matter: Next STEP" in our last issue of Continuum, available online on the college's alumni web site at http://cfaes.osu.edu. To learn more about Extension's Signature Programs, go to http://extension.osu.edu and click on the Strategic Plan Information icon on the right. Then click on Step 7, which includes descriptions of the Signature Programs.
· Economic initiative sustaining Ohio communities
In Auglaize County, a business expansion reinvested $2 million in the county and added 22 jobs; in Clinton County, the closing of a plant was reversed, saving 100 jobs; and in Fayette County, over $80 million in investments resulted in a 31 percent increase in manufacturing employment.
From the small neighborhood of Linden in the northeastern part of Columbus, to the town of Van Wert, to an eight-county region in eastern Ohio, an Ohio State University Extension business program is helping communities realize the importance of building the link between residents and businesses for economic growth and sustainability.
The OSU Extension Business Retention and Expansion Initiative, one of OSU Extension's Signature Programs, was created to strengthen the capacity of local officials and community volunteers to better understand and manage their local economy. The program originated from Ohio State's Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics.
"You need to understand your economy if you are to have any influence over it," said Greg Davis, leader of the OSU Extension Business Retention and Expansion Initiative and associate professor in community development. "The program engages communities in a formal survey process to identify strategies that will help local businesses remain profitable and expand."
The ultimate anticipated outcomes, said Davis, are a more engaged community, a database of local information, and a more robust local economy.
Since 1986, the Ohio Business and Retention Expansion Initiative has worked with more than 140 communities, empowering them to act on economic development issues by gathering information critical to understanding local and regional economic development needs.
For more information on the OSU Extension Business Retention and Expansion Initiative, see its web site at http://localecon.osu.edu/brne. -- Candace Pollock
· Students get an eye-opener with "Real Money. Real World."
Alarming levels of debt, bankruptcies, and foreclosures throughout Ohio add up to a clear conclusion: The state has a vital need for financial education. And starting early is key: A 2008 national survey revealed high-school seniors could correctly answer just 48 percent of questions on financial basics such as credit, savings, insurance, and retirement.
That's where "Real Money, Real World" comes in. In 2005, a group of OSU Extension professionals developed the six-lesson curriculum to help young people become aware of the money-management skills they'll need for the rest of their lives. Designed to be a partnership of local Extension educators, schools, and community volunteers, the program focuses on basic finance principles, including how education and occupation affect income; how expenses and paycheck deductions add up; and how to be smart in using checking accounts, savings, and credit.
And it works.
"In 15 years of teaching, I can say without a doubt that it is one of the best tools I've ever had in the classroom," said Beth Melegari, seventhgrade teacher at Northwestern Middle School in Wayne County.
In "Real Money, Real World," students assume the role of a 25-yearold adult. They choose (or are assigned) one of 108 occupations with a corresponding salary, and find out how many children they're raising.
After initial lessons, the program culminates in a real-life hour-long simulation: The students visit various booths staffed by community volunteers to pay for their housing, utilities, child care, transportation costs, insurance, phone and Internet access, groceries, and other items typical in a family budget.
"The program really has an impact," said Beth Bridgeman, OSU Extension educator in Greene County and one of the program's original creators. "After the simulation, they say they realize they'll have to stay in school longer and delay having kids--it's a valuable tool."
The "Real Money, Real World" curriculum is available on CD from OSU Extension at http://estore.osu-extension.org. For more information, see http://realmoneyrealworld.osu.edu. -- Martha Filipic
· Increasing yields and profits -- With people and the environment in mind
Today more than ever, Ohio's agricultural industry is facing enormous challenges and opportunities to not only produce enough food for a world that needs more of it--but also to meet increasing demands for renewable energy, fuels, and industrial products.
Ohio is strategically positioned to be at the forefront of the emerging bioeconomy, and Ohio State University Extension is leading efforts in this area with a new fiveyear Signature Program.
"Increasing Profitable Crop Yields Above Trendline-- 2014" is a multidisciplinary effort aimed at assisting agribusinesses and farmers boost crop yields in a socially and environmentally responsible way, adding more raw commodities for Ohio's business growth and export markets.
"Crop production trendlines are not keeping up with current population growth," said OSU Extension Assistant Director Don Breece. "One solution is to take our limited farm acres and produce more food, fuel, and fiber crops from that land. Every acre of ground must produce as much as it's environmentally, genetically, and technologically possible to do."
OSU Extension educators with the Agronomic Crops, Forage, and Fruit and Vegetable teams are engaged in a number of research, outreach, and education activities designed to support the needs of crop and livestock producers while finding new crops for alternative energy and new ways to manage the land.
Successful efforts include technology adoption to increase yields and profits; education through field days and publications; and development of techniques to grow high-value crops on small tracts of land. -- Mauricio Espinoza and Candace Pollock
Online 'eXtension' puts resources at nation's fingertips
The nation's 95-year-old Cooperative Extension System reaches millions of people every year through the efforts of more than 100 land-grant colleges and universities and thousands of Extension offices dotting the U.S. landscape.
But the reach of Extension has the ability to multiply exponentially with a national online presence, http://www.extension.org.
The effort, called eXtension (pronounced "e-Extension") launched in February 2008 and is designed to give users "the best of the best," said Keith Smith, director of Ohio State University Extension and associate vice president for agricultural administration.
"People want information quickly--they want it now, and they want assurance that it's reliable," Smith said. "This use of technology is bringing us into the modern age." When Congress created the Extension system in 1914 to assist land-grant universities "extend" research-based information and educational programs throughout their home states, more than half the U.S. population lived in rural areas and nearly a third were engaged in farming. Over the years, Extension has branched out from agricultural and rural issues to reflect the changing needs of farmers, businessowners, families, and communities.
The seed of eXtension was planted in 2004, when Smith was chair of the national Extension Committee on Policy. Although most statewide Extension programs operate web sites for consumers, Extension had no national presence that brought together know-how from across the country. When such an idea came before Extension leaders, Smith and his counterparts pledged a small portion of their federal funding to pay for the effort.
Today, eXtension offers information and materials on topics ranging from traditional agricultural production to personal finance; entrepreneurship; gardens and lawns; parenting; organic agriculture; and science, engineering, and technology for youth. To compile the information, teams identified the most user-friendly Extension materials available from across the country, vetted them to ensure the information was reliable and credible, and created new materials when they identified gaps.
The site has thousands of frequently asked questions, searchable by keyword and browsable by category, and users also can Ask the Experts if they can't find the answer to their specific question. In addition, users who register with eXtension are guided to their local Extension offices and their state's land-grant institution for additional information and local guidance.
For more information and materials you can use, log on to eXtension at http://www.extension.org. -- Martha Filipic
