Reference to Part VII, Staff, of this survey will afford a basis of comparison of extension salaries with those of other divisions of the institutions.

Regularly employed members of general extension staffs, with the exception of administrative assistants in local centers, have been generally granted academic rank. Directors are all so recognized. No institution reports that requests of extension divisions for such rank have been denied its staff members.

Recognition has not been generally accorded general extension division staffs with respect to membership with power to vote in institutional bodies. While it is evident that extension divisions, which are concerned largely with administrative problems, are not primarily interested in resident departmental problems as such, they could perform a useful function as participants in the deliberations and decisions of institutional councils and of the general faculty as well. Certainly such association may very reasonably be supposed to promote better understanding and articulation between the resident and extension personnel. Inasmuch as practice in this respect is more frequently in favor of such membership than common report would indicate, Table 41 is inserted for the information of administrators who have the question to consider.

TABLE 41.—Eligibility of general extension staff to membership with power to vote in the following bodies

The problem of improvement of the general extension staff has not been given the special attention it deserves if the replies to the questionnaire are a reliable criterion. The methods suggested for further training with the number of institutions indicating their use are as follows: Staff discussions of important problems, 16; regular university courses, 12; required or suggested readings, 9; correspondence courses, 7; and class extension courses, 5.

The fields of study most favored for members of extension staffs with the number of approvals are: Psychology, 6; economics, 6; sociology, 6; education, 5; journalism, 5; and vocational teacher training, 1.

Since leaves of absence are frequently granted and more frequently used for the purposes of study the practice of the institutions in regard to leaves for members of extension staffs is of interest in this connection.

Of the 20 land-grant colleges reporting, 15 state that leaves of absence for study are granted to general extension staff members. Of these, 11 say that leaves are granted on the same basis as to members of the resident staff.

Chapter XII. Relationships of General Extension

One of the most important considerations in the life of an educational institution is the strength of its relationships with the public which it serves. This is very true of the land-grant institutions as they have from the beginning been agents of the people and as such have been responsible to the people. Nevertheless, the faculties of these institutions have not always recognized the full extent of their obligation to and dependence upon the public that never sets foot on the campus. They quite frequently when not associated with the Smith-Lever extension service confine their interest to those who enroll for resident study. This lack of appreciation of the importance of the relationships of the land-grant colleges to the people of the State in general and to many extra campus agencies and occupations has resulted in ignorance of the full value of the extension services offered. Extension work has been considered as something separate and apart from the institution through which it functions. Although as has been pointed out by preceding pages the relations of Smith-Lever extension to Federal agencies are varied and close, those of general extension are very limited. This is especially true of relations involving finances. Only in the limited field of teacher training under the administration of general extension is there any Federal support of this character. General extension does, however, make considerable use of certain types of Federal aid particularly of various bureau publications which are used as contributions to the package library services. Motion-picture films are also available from Federal bureaus for State distribution. There are many untapped sources of potential Federal aid that extension directors could investigate to the advantage of their services. Many bureaus and offices of the Federal Government might also profit to a much greater extent than is at present the case by the helpful cooperation that extension divisions could extend. A lack of knowledge and understanding of these mutually helpful resources accounts in large part for failure to utilize them.

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State relations of general extension are wide in scope and important in their influence. As a rule these relationships are not due to laws and regulations. There are few cases of relationships established by law. Of 18 States reporting such regulations, 2 say the laws are unsatisfactory. Control by State departments of education is a factor in 8, chiefly in the field of public-school relations. It is clear that general extension is chiefly concerned with more or less informal cooperation with the activities of numerous institutions, State departments, and voluntary organizations in the State. These relationships have been established most frequently with public schools, libraries, women's clubs, chambers of commerce, State departments of education, public utilities, and parent-teacher associations. Relations with labor groups, employer's associations, and municipal agencies have received less attention.

A neglected factor which is important from the standpoint of economy of operation of general extension service is the relationship between the higher educational institutions of the State, especially those that are publicly supported. It is naturally a matter of public concern to know whether funds raised from taxation are economically spent. An efficient State extension service requires that the educational institutions engaged in it shall work according to a program which recognizes the particular resources in trained men and women, in publications and other usable materials, available from each and which fully utilizes these resources. Such a plan eliminates harmful institutional rivalries and wasteful duplication of effort as well.

The land-grant institutions are beginning such cooperation with institutions of higher learning in their respective States. Nearly half of them, 18, report cooperative activities, such as making known their services to other institutions, participation of faculty in extension service of another institution, and division of subject-matter fields according to institutional emphasis. Only two schools report geographical zoning of the State for economy in administration. Reluctance to enter into an agreement for zoning of territory is natural and justifiable as the land-grant colleges and universities must serve the entire State. It would be unfortunate if they should be considered sectional institutions. Cooperation with other institutions through participation of faculty with others in general extension service will, however, effect economy in administration without loss of institutional recognition anywhere. The methods of cooperation with other institutions and the number of land-grant colleges employing each are given in Table 42.

TABLE 42.-Character of general extension cooperation between institutions of

Almost all of the land-grant colleges report cooperation from public libraries, especially in extension teaching. Data on this problem show, however, that possibilities of library cooperation are not fully realized. There is good cooperation in supplying reference books for extension students, although 2 institutions report no use of this service and but 3 institutions make no use of library cooperation in distributing extension announcements. Only 6 report that extension workers are asked to speak on library programs, while 10 report that they are not. Relations between general extension and public libraries could be strengthened by mutual cooperation.

Institutional libraries of the land-grant colleges and universities assist in general extension work by lending books both for class extension and correspondence study. That 10 institutions do not do so for class extension and that 8 do not for correspondence study indicates that they are not adequately prepared to undertake this service or that plans for such cooperation have not been worked out. Land-grant colleges have not fully recognized the need of cooperation with public schools, libraries, State departments and commissions, and with municipal agencies, especially with respect to avoiding unnecessary duplication of work as is shown in Table 43.