Leadership competencies and needs of county Extension directors as perceived by county and district Extension directors and county administrators in Florida.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Florida Cooperative Extension has been the outreach component of the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS). Cooperative Extension is located in all sixty-seven counties in Florida. At the county level, a county Extension director (CED) is responsible for the leadership and management of the local Extension office.
CEDs have sometimes begun their new careers without prior leadership training or experience or without a clear understanding of their responsibilities. The inadequate preparation of county Extension directors for effectively meeting the complex leadership challenges inherited within their positions needed addressing. A strong need to identify these leadership competencies has been ignored. To address these problems, the leadership competencies perceived by the CEDs and the DEDs must be identified.
The purpose of this study was to identify the leadership competencies of Florida county Extension directors. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were used to determine the leadership competencies as perceived by county and district Extension directors and county administrators in Florida. This study sought to determine the importance, knowledge, and competence of forty leadership competencies as perceived by county Extension directors. Additionally, this study examined the CED leadership competency needs based on the perceptions of CEDs and county administrators, using the Borich needs assessment model.
Findings of this study suggested that the leadership competencies needed by CEDs include both human skills and conceptual skills, and county administrators have similar views on the leadership competencies needed by CEDs. Furthermore, the study revealed that effective CEDs are knowledgeable and proficient in a defined set of 40 leadership competencies. The highest MWDS by CEDs ratings based on importance/knowledge included "conflict resolution," "saying no when warranted," "Extension marketing," "time management," and "creating a supportive work environment.".
Given the nature of the data collection, the implications and recommendations resulting from this research can be used to develop educational leadership training opportunities for CEDs.