Thanks to everyone for taking time from your busy schedules to join us here today to think together about our collective futures. Our job today will be to take the next important steps in our strategic marketing efforts. This is a marketing approach to program planning. This is the plan for our future.

About 6 months ago someone asked me, ------"John, why don't you just tell us your plan ---- we all know you have one ---- just tell us."

Well, the plan was and has always been to provide you with the opportunity to define your own future. I have a few rules, of course - we need to base that plan on:

    -a clear understanding of our public mission

    -an honest accounting of our capacity,

    -and an accurate understanding of our situation, which is described here in our plan.

So the answer is - yes I do have a plan - and you helped create it. More than 100 of you provided the raw product that went into this plan. Yes, the raw product was processed by a small group and guided by Cynthia Barstow - but this is your plan - and its solid.

Today we will ask those not yet actively involved to join the 100 who have already contributed to make this plan live. I'm asking you to sign on to work on one or more of the proposed strategies listed on pages 50-59 in the document. But that's after lunch. Lets start at the beginning....

I will not go through the plan step by step - rather I'm asking you to take it home and read it carefully. As an aside, one of the reviewers told us that it made great bathroom reading.

In the next 30 minutes or so, I will share with you a brief overview of the document. I'll give you a glimpse at the many influences that we must understand thoroughly in order to make wise decisions for our strategic growth. And - that is the plan. Growth - first in quality and later in quantity. The marketing approach to program development is our best hope for a better future.

So, lets look at the document - we'll start with the situation assessment.

The situation assessment describes those many influences that we must understand in order tocreate an effective plan for the future. This section (beginning on page 5) is an examination of the past, present and current situation as it affects the organization.

Lets look at the history of Extension:

Did you know that our own Mass Aggie President Kenyon Butterfield was the primary champion for the Smith-Lever Act of 1914. The Smith Lever act was the beginning of the three way cooperative funding agreement among national, state and local governments. Had this agreement not changed so dramatically in Massachusetts during the last decade we would be in at a very different place in our planning today. But of course, it did.

Looking over the history section shows how we have continuously adjusted to the needs of a changing society. From victory gardens, clothing and furniture making programs, to environmentally sensitive farming, positive youth development, nutrition education, and trainings for local officials among others, we have always risen to the challenge of meeting changing needs.

Continuing the Environmental Scan, we look at our Financial History (page 7):

No Extension program other than Massachusetts in the 80 year history of the system has been faced with a complete disintegration of the three-way funding agreement. The impact of the transfer of responsibility for county extension budgets to the state, followed by the plummet in direct state appropriation to cooperative extension from $5.2 million in 1988 to zero in 1993 can not be overstated. These were not good times. And then it all changed.

The biggest day in my short time here in Massachusetts was in late June 1993 when Chancellor Scott, who had arrived on campus just a few weeks earlier met with Dean Helgesen and I and agreed to increase the college budget in an amount equal to the drop in direct state funding. Extension at that moment became part of UMass Amherst and our future became more clear. The former three-way partnership had become a two-way partnership with our public budget coming 40% from UMass Amherst and 50% from USDA.

A new direction and new marketing strategy began last May right here in this room, with the name change to UMass Extension and the subsequent roll out of the new logo last fall.

So lets look at those two partners - first the feds - we need to understand where they are at and where they are likely to be going.

We'll start with the USDA (page 7). As the source of over 50% of our public funding, the federal government is an important partner. But we have to remember, that they too have been going through tough times as congress attempts to eliminate the national deficit. The two most significant trends for us at the federal level are the reinventing government (that's code for a customer focus) and the merger of research and extension into the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service.

Perhaps the third major theme at USDA is chaos. They are in a period of rapid change. And while we don't know where it is going, one thing is clear - if our federal budgets are ever going to grow, it will be in special earmarked categories (like IPM, youth at risk, water quality and nutrition education) that address priorities set by Congress, not in the formula funding which doesn't require close accountability. Careful planning of priorities and reporting of accomplishments is key to our future if we want federal monies to continue.

We must begin preparing for a future less dependent on USDA funding. We need to be able to diversify our financial picture if we expect to build sustainability. This means more:

    -private dollars,

    -more fee for services,

    -more partnerships where the funding responsibility is shared,

    -and more cooperative programs, especially those with our closest neighbors through the      New England Extension Consortium.

We must begin planning for this future today, rather than waiting to react to changes in government funding. This marketing plan will prepare us better than any other state in the nation for a future filled with both risk and opportunity. Now, lets look at the state.

Our other major funding source is the University and obviously the University depends on the state legislature (page 8-9). Our relationship with legislators has changed dramatically. For years our focus was on those individual state legislators who voted on our direct funding, formerly known as the county budget line. During my first year in Massachusetts, I spent many hours on Beacon Hill - to little avail. While we had good friends - we didn't have enough friends. Today our lot lies with the university.

UMass Amherst looks to the state for two-thirds of its budget including those monies that go to Extension. Legislators are important, but our message to them is quite different than the past. Today we must advocate on the behalf of the campus rather than our own direct funding, because the campus leaders decide how to allocate funds.

Our marketing strategies reflect this different situation. In fact, we are in a unique position to demonstrate to the state legislature how UMass serves their needs right in their own back yards. This makes us very important to the campus administration and provides us with the much needed leverage we need to maintain and increase our own funding stream from the state. Of course that is only true if the state begins to support higher education in general.

The next part of the situation assessment focuses on the land grant university system (page 9-10). In this era of constant change - you are the leaders. The budget cuts of the late 80's and early 90's gave us the unique opportunity to begin facing the future in advance of other states which are only now beginning to adjust. Universities and Extension across the country are engaged in strategic planning. But I see few states that have been as willing to re-think their fundamental understanding of extension as we have.

The disappearance of the county-based programs and the emergence of a statewide focus, with four key program areas, will allow us to participate or perhaps lead the re-invention of the public university system. Outreach across all university disciplines has become the solution to today's expanded need for knowledge. And our outreach program, which includes both of the core university functions of research and education, -- our outreach program will be one that bridges the gap between the culture of the university and the culture of the community. At UMass, you are the leaders. So what about UMass?

The section of the plan (p.10-11) which describes UMass Amherst Academic Outreach and the College of Food and Natural Resources Academic Outreach requires attention.

Our campus strategic planning process in 1994 identified academic outreach as an "integral and fundamental element of the land-grant university mission." The recommendations of the task force on public service was led by our two deans Gehlbach and Helgesen. I am serving on a search committee for a new Vice Provost for University Outreach who will lead a new organization on campus, which may be named UMass Outreach.

Provost Crosson hopes this will help us to both support expanded outreach, as well as raise the visibility of the importance of outreach. As many of you know, the Chancellor has recommended that UMASS Extension be part of this new unit along with the Division of Continuing Education, international programs, the University without Walls, K-12 Outreach, and others.

This makes a lot of sense, since Continuing Ed focuses on formal, degree-granting programs, and we offer non-formal education. We compliment each other well. Of course this shift to the Provost's office refers only to the administrative office of UMASS Extension, since the programs will remain firmly embedded in the most appropriate academic departments.

How will this change affect us? Our strategic marketing has already positioned us as a leader within UMass Outreach. And this is good. But, our proactive planning will enable us to thrive no matter how the university is reorganized. In fact, unlike the recent past, we have been able to influence the thinking of the campus leaders to make sure our programs are recognized as important to the future of the university. We are no longer only responding to our environment, we are helping to create it.

And what about CFNR? The College was the first on campus to create an office of academic outreach. If Extension administration moves to the Provost's office I will leave the CFNR. But there is no question that College Outreach will remain a priority in CFNR, and a restructured college of life sciences will include two of our four Extension programs, Agroecology and the Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation Program.

Our Nutrition Education Program has already joined the School of Public Health and Health Sciences, and our 4-H Youth and Family Development Program will remain affiliated with the Center for the Family during the restructuring that is being planned.

But the structure of the colleges won't matter as much as in the past when only the former college of agriculture supported outreach, since all colleges in the university at all public universities will be expected to maintain and support outreach.

Today, outreach is not seen as a burden by most of the deans, but as a way of demonstrating how knowledge can serve the Commonwealth. David Scott and other university presidents are asking tough questions about the future of the university. David talks about the research/land grant university of the 21st century and we are among those leaders inventing the new university at UMass. This change means that today UMASS Extension and our colleagues in the other outreach programs are seen as assets. The university needs you.

All this and more is described in the plan. There is much more in the document, than I can tell about today. Please read it carefully.

We now move from an internal scan to an external scan. We ask what are the societal trends which will affect UMass Extension? I'm going to highlight this section briefly - please this read carefully (p. 12-17).

In the future we see a variety of challenges facing all institutions, public and private, including;

    -changing customers or constituents;

    -increasingly scarce resources and;

    -a weakening of traditional political support.

At universities there will be;

    -greater coordination among the teaching, research and extension functions;

    -more interdisciplinary clustering;

    -increased public accountability and;

    -more public/private relationships.

And what about societal trends? We see; (p.12-14);

    -an American population is aging and become much more ethnically diverse;

    -we see a variety of newly-emerging lifestyle and family patterns;

    -increased demands for information, at the same time as

    -new forms of electronic communication technology, and more.

With the changes in society, our product lines must change too. The programs we offer and how we get our programs to people must be able to meet these new realities. I wrote an article for an electronic newsletter called the Networker a few weeks ago in which I asked; "will cooperative extension be able to break away from the old patterns of a county agent stopping by the farm for coffee, to one that can make a cyber-visit?" I know in Massachusetts we will.

We will change both what we offer and how we offer it to new customers. The question of how to achieve this will be answered by you. Our marketing plan will guide us toward creative solutions to these new opportunities.

As we continue the external scan, we focus on the Commonwealth. The economy is improving and yet the state remains extremely dependent on federal monies (we are fourth highest in the country). Governor Weld continues to recommend low spending and governmental downsizing. The state's handful of budget busters such as Medicaid, make up nearly half of the total state budget, leaving little room for flexibility. As government programs such as welfare reform are implemented, it will be more important for citizens to take responsibility for their own lives and their own local communities.

We next move to a description of our target markets for this plan. Who do we want to impact? Way back in December of 1992, we began a group process to identify our target markets. Many of you may recall the snow card technique we used in the campus center to name all of our potential stakeholders. Many of those customers are the ones you need to address with your own program area marketing plans. With your help, we have defined our organizational target markets as:

-Campus Administrators

-Faculty and Staff

-Key Stakeholders

-General Public

And what are their perceptions and what do they need? Campus administrators for many years, knew little about the activities of Extension except for a vague notion that we did something in agriculture. With the severe budget cuts of the late 80's, we became an organization in need of saving rather than one in which to be proud. This has changed. We have become an organization to point to as a leader in strategic planning and outreach. With the roll out of the new name and logo last September, we became one of the most visible programs on this campus.

So what do campus administrators need? They need to be able to show how UMass makes a difference in the Commonwealth. They need us to show this to key legislators and others in off- campus environments. And we can do this job since we have activities everywhere in the state.

So who are the other key groups considered in this plan? Well, you are. Faculty and staff have faced increasing stress from recent changes. Two groups studied the needs of faculty and staff and reported the key issues were:

    -balancing personal, family and work stress;

    -trust and support;

    -clarity of roles and expectations;

    -workload;

    -job security;

    -recognition and value;

    -career growth, and more.

Each of these issues will be addressed by you, guided by the marketing plan.

The third target market for this plan is your key stakeholders such as community and industry leaders who are crucial to the success of Extension. We have listened and learned from key stakeholders (page 24-25) who generally believe however that we like most public organizations are suffering from ineffective business practices. They think we need to sharpen our pencils, focus on a few priorities and measure what we have achieved. They want us to focus our programs, much like businesses and other non-profits have done recently.

And what do they need:

    -more reliable (unbiased) information;

    -more chances to work collaboratively;

    -and better access to services.

Finally, the general public, not those specifically served by your programs but those more often defined as residents or voters. Most are familiar with 4-H, and some with our agriculture programs of the past. The overriding message from the data on the public suggest that more information is needed, with more convenience to solve more problems immediately. Of course, we need to make sure we are different than the public library. This brings us to competition;

Why is it necessary for a nonprofit organization like Extension to concern ourselves with the notion of competition? Because clearly there are others doing similar things and many who compete for funding on campus. The plan describes extensively the many, many other outreach programs in the Commonwealth with whom we might compete, or collaborate. We must understand who these others are so that we can be unique. This is described in the plan.

Finally I turn to the marketing mix - we need to look at how we currently market ourselves in terms of the four P's - product, price, place, and promotion. Many of you have heard us talk about this approach. Some of you have told me that these words are uncomfortable and unfamiliar. But this is the language of effective, professional marketers, both in the business world and the non-profit organizations. We can interpret those terms to fit our system, but we need to make sure we include each of these "p's" in our planning. We have chosen a professional approach to marketing. We are doing it right.

Strategic planning told us that "knowledge" is our basic product. We are in the knowledge business. We identified our mission as the development and exchange of new knowledge in service to the public good. Product also includes the items produced by you, like the:

    -publications and newsletters;

    -workshops;

    -home study programs and;

    -twilight meetings, among others.

Our programs are our products. There is much more in the plan about knowledge, our program structure and our field locations in the state.

Second, the way we price our products and how we are funded obviously plays a critical role in our marketing strategies. Currently, our pricing varies widely depending on the customer. The marketing plan will help us achieve more consistency while pursuing opportunities for improved income. How we are currently funded has been explained in the plan. We have a history of success in the area of grants and contracts, corporate grants, and inter-office service agreements with state agencies, but we need to do better Several strategies focus here.

How our customers reach us and how we deliver our products is the basis for Place. We have heard loud and clear about the difficult the issue of consumer calls. Gone are the days of the county agent, but habits die hard and the demand still exists. How we serve these customers efficiently without putting them off is a critical piece of marketing planning. Can we handle these calls in new and creative ways? Access must be inclusive and efficient. Our plan provides us with a means of beginning to answer some of these difficult issues.

Promotion is what many of us think of when we hear the word marketing. Hopefully after today, you will think of marketing in terms of quality program planning rather than just good PR, and yet there is no question that promotion is a vital part of the marketing plan.

Understanding the situation is key to our future. I have briefly described my own understanding, but I must ask you to read these sections carefully. Is this really necessary? Yes. Too many public and private institutions did not do the hard work that is really required for successful marketing. Many of these are gone.

Many of us probably look at marketing as something anyone can do - like parenting. Yet those of you who teach parenting, know that most of us parents are amateurs. We can not afford an amateurish approach to marketing. This is about our future. We will do it right.

In many ways the next section on problems definition or opportunities analysis is one of the most difficult. In this section we really faced our demons. We identified the long-term systemic problems that no one wants to talk about. We also were honest about those opportunities that would help us find our way to a better future.

Finally, the promotion core group took on one of the most difficult tasks - that is honestly defining our understanding of others perception of us.

We learned that our customers think (page 47) we are:

    -a large group

    -about rural ag and kids

    -we provide some technical assistance

    -we waste a lot of time

    -we don't know how to do business in the real world

    -we are the "old ag guys"

We need to take the best of what people think and change it to the following perceptions:

    -we are dedicated

    -we are experienced

    -we work in partnership

    -we get right to the point

    -we provide access

    -we are unique

    -we are both innovative and practical

    -we provide both knowledge and skills

    -we address Massachusetts' biggest problems

This is where we must be. The strategies we have described in the plan will take us there. But we can't get it done without your creativity, courage, and hard work. I'll ask you once again to read this marketing plan carefully. Then lets get started making it live.

Our future is in your hands.