Kansas State University

Growing Commitment in Kansas Communities!

Submitted by Wade M. Weber

At its core, Extension work involves human development for the sake of community vitality.

• We invite people to learn, no matter what the discipline or content area.
• We demonstrate and showcase in front of people where they live what that learning looks like in real time.
• We fundamentally believe that by applying what is learned, it will enhance the quality of the learner’s personal and community life.
• We work with the willing. Because we know that the learning has to be owned by the learner. We cannot impose adoption, if we really seek behavior and community change that will last. So day by day, we purpose to work with the willing to apply that learning in the local context of life.
• We seek to grow relational trust and scientific reliability within the context of mutual commitment and responsibility.

When we do this well, we build social and community capital that enhances the well-being of our local communities and provides a unique benefit to the University.

In this way, Kansas State University through KSRE has demonstrated its commitment to grow with Kansas communities for over 100 years.

Commitment is a rare commodity in today’s market. Yet for communities to be adaptive in facing ongoing challenges, commitment is required. Complex problems do not simply go away over time. Intentional, committed and engaged people are necessary for solutions to emerge and come to fruition.
But how do we grow people of commitment? We definitely need more of them and soon.

This past week at Emerald Circle in Manhattan, I was honored to recognize 30 Kansas 4-H youth for their project excellence and leadership. Listening to these young leaders talk about their 4-H experience, I saw commitment develop and grow. They described how an invitation sparked an interest that grew into an inquiry that involved individual initiative. With each invitation there was a choice each youth had to make and with each choice made to engage more, these 4-H youth strengthened their commitment to learning and to serving. Strengthened in such a way to benefit their club, their community, their country and their world. We are growing tomorrow’s leaders today!

Commitment is not just something people have or don’t have. Commitment is something that can be grown and developed. We see within 4-H, and broadly in all extension programming, the context for commitment to grow and develop. It starts with invitation and leads to engagement followed up with an invitation to learn more. With each “yes I would like to know more,” the roots of commitment expand. Little by little, choice by choice, commitment can and does grow. Seeing these Kansas 4-H youth describe how they are now inviting others to learn with them gives me confidence that the next generation is learning commitment. We demonstrate the solution every day in all 105 Kansas counties!

Growing commitment in people is a hard work, but it is critical work in order to facilitate positive community change.

So if you find yourself being discouraged at the lack of commitment around you, let’s remind ourselves that in Extension we know how to grow things…including commitment and if we can grow it, we've all got a chance to make a brighter tomorrow!