Hibberd

Chuck Hibberd, the new director of Purdue Extension, comes to Purdue from Nebraska, where he was director of the University of Nebraska’s Panhandle Research and Extension Center.

At Purdue, Hibberd directs nearly 500 Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service specialists and educators based on campus and in each of Indiana’s 92 counties. He answered the following questions from Connections.

I wanted the opportunity to work with an outstanding Extension organization with a tremendous track record. The fact that Purdue Extension fits that description is a testimony to Dave Petritz, Hank Wadsworth and prior Extension directors. I was not interested in working for an organization that needed “fixing.” With the strong base that we have, we can focus on moving Purdue Extension forward to respond to the challenging issues and opportunities of the future.

The role of Purdue Extension is to develop and deliver effective Extension educational programs that enhance the lives and livelihood of our clientele. That challenges us to really understand the issues, to bring together teams of experts and to deliver educational programming in ways best suited to the target audience.

Four things immediately come to mind:

Excellent Extension programs make a difference. More specifically, excellent Extension programs:

Extension and Engagement are similar in that both strategies intend to extend the research knowledge of Purdue University to our clientele. Extension is different in that it is a federally recognized educational program, coordinated by the USDA and partially supported with a line item in the federal budget.

Keeping Extension programs relevant is one of our biggest challenges. We cannot become complacent by delivering the same program we have delivered many times before. We need to challenge ourselves and our Extension boards to address the issues that are most important to our clientele. One of the major complicating factors is the fact that knowledge is now doubling every 30 months. So, staying current on a broad array of issues is an incredibly challenging prospect. Purdue Extension is working to develop new strategies to identify and address rapidly evolving and complex issues.

My first impression of Indiana citizens is that they are hard-working, reliable folk who care deeply about their families and their communities. They are willing to speak out on important issues. They are willing to take action to support their beliefs. It is obvious that one of the things they really believe in is Extension and especially our role in 4-H/Youth Development .

In the first two months, I have visited nine counties. I have really enjoyed the opportunity to get to know our Extension professionals, and I marvel at the great work they accomplish. I look forward to visiting the remaining 83 counties.

I care deeply about people and relationships. I am willing to work diligently to help our clientele and our staff succeed. We have a lot of important work to do, so let’s get to it.

Contact Hibberd at hibberd@purdue.edu