Page 141 - DMGT522_SERVICES MANAGEMENT

Services Management

Notes conservation, food safety, child and family development, consumer credit counseling,
and youth development. These subject areas are very broad, allowing UF/IFAS staff to
focus their efforts on more specific facets of these areas.
The IFAS/Cooperative Extension Service in Florida has evolved over time to become a
county-based program. A majority of the funding for Extension comes from the individual
county governments. County Extension offices are usually located closer to rural areas of
a county rather than clustered with other county offices. There are more than 67 Extension
offices now serving the state of Florida.
In general, each office will house two or more Extension agents, who may be fully
university funded, fully county funded, or funded by a combination of sources. The subject
areas of the agents in that county are based on the agriculture industries found in the area.
For instance, Okeechobee County’s economy is largely supported by the dairy industry,
so one of the agents working at the Okeechobee Extension Office is a Dairy/Water Quality
Agent. The nearby counties that are more economically supported by the citrus industry
have a multi-county commercial citrus agent to rely upon. Most counties in the state, but
certainly not all, have one or more horticulture agents in their Extension office. Some
counties have enough staff to be able to provide their communities with a Homeowner
Horticulture Agent, Commercial Horticulture Agent, and an Environmental Horticulture
Agent. Almost every county in the state supports a 4-H Agent, who may also have a
combined focus, such as 4-H/ Agriculture or 4-H/ Family and Consumer Sciences.

Across the state there are agents who focus on dairy cattle, beef cattle, natural resources,
energy and housing, marine sciences, water quality, and more. Extension agents’ programs
are often delivered by Program Assistants, who are usually supported by county funds, as
are the clerical support and office manager positions in the counties. Figure 1 shows an
organizational chart from a typical county Extension office, the St. Lucie County office. In
addition to the permanent staff, there are almost 300 4-H volunteers and 82 Master Gardener
volunteers working at the St. Lucie County Extension office.

Figure 1: Organizational Chart from St. Lucie County Extension FY2002-03

Contd...

136 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY