While Family & Consumer Sciences can trace its roots back to the 1800’s, the discipline is as contemporary and relevant now as it has ever been. The modern discipline of Family & Consumer Sciences covers many areas that have been part of the field since its inception, and others which reflect the growing recognition of the importance of social and economic issues to the well-being of individuals, families, and communities. The areas discussed in this report include: Food, Nutrition & Health Family & Human Development Family Resource Management The American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences defines Family & Consumer Sciences more broadly, to also include Consumer Issues, Housing & Interior Design, and Textiles & Apparel.2 However, it is not possible to support all of areas with the available funding, and therefore Family & Consumer Sciences Extension in the region, and across the country, has focused its resources into the three major areas outlined above. A majority of the activity in Family & Consumer Sciences Extension depends on public funds from federal, state, and local — governmental agencies for support. Given this reliance on public — funds, the leadership of Family & Consumer Sciences Extension programs across the North Central Region deemed it important to commission an independent evaluation of the discipline within the region, its relevance to contemporary challenges, and the impacts being achieved. With government needing to prioritize its distribution of scarce resources, it is particularly important that key policymakers and decision influencers have the information they need to make informed decisions. Battelle, the world’s largest independent non-profit research organization, was retained by Cooperative Extension at the land-grant universities in the North Central Region to conduct this assessment. These universities are University of Illinois, Purdue University, Iowa State University, Kansas State University, Michigan State University, University of Minnesota, University of Missouri, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, North Dakota State University, The Ohio State University, South Dakota State University, and University of Wisconsin System. Each state in the region has its own unique title for its Extension activities, and for its Family & Consumer Sciences unit. For simplicity, within this report each state’s Extension unit will be referred to as and each unit that delivers programming in this area will be referred to as Family & “Extension”, Consumer Sciences. Appendix A shows the titles used at each university. American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences, is FCS?”, www.aaFamily & Consumer Sciences.org/AboutUs/FCS.asp “What 2
While Family & Consumer Sciences can trace its roots back to the 1800’s, the discipline is as contemporary and relevant now as it has ever been. The modern discipline of Family & Consumer Sciences covers many areas that have been part of the field since its inception, and others which reflect the growing recognition of the importance of social and economic issues to the well-being of individuals, families, and communities. The areas discussed in this report include: Food, Nutrition & Health Family & Human Development Family Resource Management The American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences defines Family & Consumer Sciences more broadly, to also include Consumer Issues, Housing & Interior Design, and Textiles & Apparel.2 However, it is not possible to support all of areas with the available funding, and therefore Family & Consumer Sciences Extension in the region, and across the country, has focused its resources into the three major areas outlined above. A majority of the activity in Family & Consumer Sciences Extension depends on public funds — from federal, state, and local governmental agencies — for support. Given this reliance on public funds, the leadership of Family & Consumer Sciences Extension programs across the North Central Region deemed it important to commission an independent evaluation of the discipline within the region, its relevance to contemporary challenges, and the impacts being achieved. With government needing to prioritize its distribution of scarce resources, it is particularly important that key policymakers and decision influencers have the information they need to make informed decisions. Battelle, the world’s largest independent non-profit research organization, was retained by Cooperative Extension at the land-grant universities in the North Central Region to conduct this assessment. These universities are University of Illinois, Purdue University, Iowa State University, Kansas State University, Michigan State University, University of Minnesota, University of Missouri, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, North Dakota State University, The Ohio State University, South Dakota State University, and University of Wisconsin System. Each state in the region has its own unique title for its Extension activities, and for its Family & Consumer Sciences unit. For simplicity, within this report each state’s Extension unit will be referred to as “Extension”, and each unit that delivers programming in this area will be referred to as Family & Consumer Sciences. Appendix A shows the titles used at each university. 2 American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences, “What is FCS?”, www.aaFamily & Consumer Sciences.org/AboutUs/FCS.asp
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