November 26, 2019
Civil Rights: Responsibilities of the Extension Board and PDC
Submitted by Jennifer R Wilson
Extension boards and program development committees are important partners in providing Extension educational programs. As partners, they share in our civil rights compliance responsibility. They should be trained annually on basic civil rights compliance. A new educational module that contains a video and discussion guide can be found on the KSRE Civil Rights website. Make plans to share this video with board members early in 2020. The video can be viewed at a board or PDC meeting, or the link can be sent to members prior to a meeting with time on the agenda for follow-up discussion.
Additionally, boards share the responsibility for fair and equitable hiring of Extension agents. When an agent vacancy occurs, a local unit board must review the KSRE Board Hiring Module before the position will be advertised. A new policy pertaining to the hiring process went into effect September 1, 2019, and can be found on the KSRE Policy website.
Having boards and PDCs that reflect the demographics of the local community is another important aspect of civil rights compliance. When boards and PDCs are representative of the community, we are more likely to design Extension programs that are inclusive of all community members. Extension staff and boards should use the Recruiting Board and PDC Member module to identify potential members. If PDCs are not representative of the community, they can be expanded beyond the traditionally elected or appointed members. Guidelines for expanding PDCs can be found on the KSRE Civil Rights website.