Addressing High Turnover Rates in Cooperative Extension Through Engagement
Leadership and Administrative Skills
Madelyn Greathouse
Bushnell
Abstract
Nationwide, Cooperative Extension organizations experience high turnover rates and reduced faculty retention, requiring significant investments in recruitment and onboarding. While burnout and workload demands contribute to high turnover, a key driver is often a gap between expectations and reality. Many new faculty enter Extension positions with limited prior exposure to the profession and may not fully understand the breadth of responsibilities, community engagement requirements, and nontraditional work hours involved. When individuals discover that the role differs substantially from what they anticipated, early career dissatisfaction can occur, increasing the likelihood of departure. In order to decrease burnout and increase community connection, Extension must seek to lead through visibility and active engagement with the deliberate intention of employee development and retention. Increasing visibility of Extension through engagement is a task that should be shared by agents across experience levels. Early, mid, and advanced career agents all have valuable perspectives which should be shared. Creating opportunities for deliberate engagement across levels of experience can provide a framework of support to decrease accelerating turnover within Extension. One crucial point of connection is agents working to take part in outreach events to provide realistic insight into early-career experiences in Extension. Active engagement allows experiences and knowledge of veteran agents to support development of new agents in the mission of Extension. Leaders who focus their efforts on intentional onboarding and mentorship can bridge the gap between initial perceptions and actual responsibilities of the role, improving confidence and reducing early career dissatisfaction. The first months in an Extension position will shape a new agent's experience and can either cement negative feelings or seed long-term commitment to both the role and organization. Leaders who are committed to engagement will increase overall understanding of Cooperative Extension and positively impact new faculty members' trajectory in this career, increasing retention rates over time. Through realistic exposure to the role with supportive onboarding and mentorship, leaders will foster long term commitment, confidence, and job satisfaction. These strategies offer practical approaches to improving retention within Extension systems.
Authors: Madelyn Greathouse, Beth Burchell
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Madelyn Greathouse Commercial Horticulture & IPM Extension Agent, UF/IFAS Extension, Florida, 33513
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Beth Burchell County Extension Director & Livestock Agent, NC Cooperative Extension, North Carolina, 27839