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{{short description|Educational outreach organization in Alabama}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox government agency
|agency_name     =  Alabama Cooperative Extension System
|logo            =  Alabama-Extension-Logo3.JPG
|logo_width      = 200px
|logo_caption    =  Official Alabama Cooperative Extension System logo (2012)
|seal            =
|seal_width      =
|seal_caption    =
|formed          = 1914
|jurisdiction    = [[Alabama]]
|headquarters    = [[Auburn, Alabama]] and [[Normal, Alabama]]
|employees       =  800
|chief1_name     = Dr. Mike Phillips
|chief1_position = Director
|chief2_name = Dr. Virginia Caples
|chief2_position = Extension Administrator
|chief3_name     = Dr. Paul Brown
|chief3_position = Associate Director for Traditional Programs
  |chief4_name     = Dr. Celvia Stovall
|chief4_position = Associate Director for Urban and New Nontraditional Programs
|parent_agency   = [[Alabama A&M University]] and [[Auburn University]]
|website         = http://www.aces.edu/
|footnotes       =
}}
{{multiple issues|{{COI|date=March 2025}}
{{peacock|date=March 2025}}
{{Unreliable sources|date=March 2025}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2025}}}}

The '''Alabama Cooperative Extension System''' (ACES) is a primary outreach and engagement organization that provides educational outreach to the citizens of [[Alabama]] on behalf of the state's two [[land grant university|land grant]] universities: [[Alabama A&M University]] (the state's 1890 land-grant institution) and [[Auburn University]] (a 1872 land-grant institution).<ref name="2004 Highlights">[http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/E/EX-0036-G/EX-0036-G.pdf "2004 Highlights," Alabama Cooperative Extension System.]{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

ACES employs more than 800 faculty, professional educators, and staff members operating in offices in each of Alabama's 67 counties and in nine urban centers covering the major regions of the state.<ref name="2003 Annual Report">{{Cite web |url=http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/E/EX-0036-F/EX-0036-F.pdf |title="2003 Annual Report," Alabama Cooperative Extension System |access-date=June 1, 2007 |archive-date=October 13, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013154035/http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/E/EX-0036-F/EX-0036-F.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Urban Centers">[http://www.aces.edu/urban/metronews/vol1no1/Centers.html Henderson, Chinella "Urban Centers," Metro News, Alabama Cooperative Extension System.]</ref> In conjunction with the Alabama [[Agricultural Experiment Station]], the system also staffs six extension and research centers located in the state's principal geographic regions.<ref name="2003 Annual Report"/>

Since 2004, "Alabama Extension" has functioned primarily as a regionally based system in which the bulk of educational programming is delivered by agents operating across a multi-county area and specializing in specific fields. County extension coordinators and county agents work with regional agents and other extension personnel to deliver services within their areas.<ref name="2003 Annual Report"/>

== Administrative structure==

In 1995, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System became the nation's first unified Extension program, combining the resources of the 1862 and 1890 land-grant institutions.  The catalyst was a landmark federal court ruling, known as Knight vs. Alabama, handed down by Judge Harold Murphy.<ref name="Judge ends state desegregation case">{{Cite web |url=http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/061214/case.shtml |title="Judge ends desegregation case," Decatur Daily, Dec. 14, 2006. |access-date=June 2, 2007 |archive-date=May 22, 2007 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070522092531/http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/061214/case.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref>  Under its terms, the Extension programs and other land-grant university functions of Alabama A&M, Auburn, and Tuskegee universities were combined and served as cooperative partners within this unified system.
[[Image:Dawson-bldg.jpg|right|thumb|220px|The James I. Dawson Cooperative Extension Building, named in honor of the former associate dean for Extension and administrator of the Alabama A&M University Cooperative Extension Program. The Dawson Building serves as the Alabama A&M University headquarters of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System.]]This combined effort is headed by a director appointed by the presidents of Alabama A&M and Auburn universities.  The Extension director serves as the organization's [[chief executive officer]] and maintains offices at both campuses.

Judge Murphy called for an expanded and updated Cooperative Extension mission that continued to address traditional programming needs and was better equipped to respond to the needs of a population that had become more urbanized and racially and ethnically diverse. In addition to providing for an associate director for Rural and Traditional Programs, who would be housed at Auburn University, Judge Murphy also mandated that an associate director of Urban and New Nontraditional Programs be employed and housed at Alabama A&M University. Judge Murphy also mandated that an associate director of Urban and New Nontraditional Programs be employed and housed at Alabama A&M University.  This new associate director, Murphy stated, would be "expected to open new areas of Extension work and expand the outreach of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System to more fully serve all the people of Alabama."<ref name="The Unification of the Alabama Land-Grant System">"The Unification of the Alabama Land-Grant System: Unification of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and the Creation of an Associate Director of Urban Affairs and New Nontraditional Programs", Hon. Harold L. Murphy, US District Court, Northern District of Georgia.</ref>

=== Directors of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System ===

* J. F. Duggar,  1914-1920
* [[Luther Duncan|Luther N. Duncan]], 1920-1937
* [[P. O. Davis]], 1937-1959
* [[E. T. York]], 1959-1961
* [[Fred R. Robertson]], 1961-1971
* [[Ralph R. Jones]], 1971-1974
* [[W. H. Taylor (educator)|W. H. Taylor]] (Acting), 1974-1975
* J. Michael Sprott, 1975-1983
* Ray Cavender (Acting), 1983-1984
* Ann E. Thompson, 1984-1994
* W. Gaines Smith (Interim), 1994-1997
* Stephen B. Jones, 1997-2001
* W. Gaines Smith, 2001-2011
* Gary Lemme, 2011–2021
* Mike Phillips, 2021–present

=== 2004 reorganization ===
In 2004, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System completed a restructuring effort.<ref name="2004 Highlights"/>

<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Farm-equipment-demonstration.jpg|right|thumb|300px|While rural programs remain an integral part of Extension programming, Alabama’s transformation from a predominantly rural to urban state within the last fifty years was a major factor behind Alabama Extension’s decision to transform itself into a regional-delivery system.]] -->
For decades, the bulk of Alabama Cooperative Extension programs were carried out by county agents&nbsp;– generalists who kept abreast of many different subjects and delivered a wide variety of programs.  By the onset of the 21st century, [[urbanization]] was a key trend that resulted in fewer farms and altered public expectations. The advent of the [[World Wide Web]] changed information delivery methods from printed materials to online. These changes prompted the switch from using the generalist agents who had administered Extension programming throughout the previous century to regional agents<ref name="Alabama Extension being reorganized">{{Cite web |url=http://southeastfarmpress.com/mag/farming_alabama_extension_reorganized |title="Alabama Extension being reorganized," Southeast Farm Press, Aug. 4, 2004. |access-date=2007-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061124142940/http://southeastfarmpress.com/mag/farming_alabama_extension_reorganized/ |archive-date=2006-11-24 |url-status=dead }}</ref> specializing in one of 14 program priority areas.<ref name="2004 Highlights" /><!-- Unsourced image removed: [[Image:Pod-blasting8.jpg|left|thumb|220px|An Alabama Extension regional peanut agronomist, regional agronomy agent and crop consultant based in three different locations of the state demonstrate the merits of peanut pod blasting to east Alabama farmers in September, 2006. To an increasing degree, Extension personnel work across county and regional lines to deliver programming.]] -->

Regional Extension agents work with other agents across regional and disciplinary lines, with area and state subject-matter specialists, and with sister agencies, such as the [[Alabama Farmers Federation]], the [[Alabama Forestry Commission]] and the [[Natural Resources Conservation Service]], to deliver programs over a regional and statewide basis.<ref name="2004 Highlights"/><!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Master-gardener-volunteer.jpg|right|thumb|220px|A Master Gardener volunteer at the Lee County Extension office in East Alabama assists a caller with a horticulture-related question.]] -->

Despite the growing emphasis on regional agents, Alabama Extension continues to operate offices in all 67 counties. These are headed by coordinators, who work with regional agents and other Extension staff to deliver programs within their counties.<ref name="2004 Highlights"/>

===Funding===
Alabama Extension receives financial support from the government and has begun looking for ways to supplement with private support, typically in the form of grants and fees.<ref name="Taking the University to the People">{{Cite web |url=http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/E/EX-0036-C/EX-0036-C.pdf |title="Taking the University to the People: 2000 Annual Report," Alabama Cooperative Extension System |access-date=2007-06-01 |archive-date=2015-10-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031085210/http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/E/EX-0036-C/EX-0036-C.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==History==
{{main|History of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System}}
{{Merge from|History of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System| date = April 2025|discuss=Talk:History of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System#Merging into Alabama Cooperative Extension System|section=TRUE}}
The Alabama Cooperative Extension System was created following the passage of the [[Smith-Lever Act of 1914]], which provided federal funds to land-grant universities to support Extension work. The roots of the organization extend as far back as the late 18th century, following the American Revolution, when affluent farmers first began organizing groups to sponsor educational meetings to disseminate useful farming information. In some cases, these lectures even were delivered by university professors&nbsp;– a practice that foreshadowed Cooperative Extension work more than a century later.<ref name="Taking the University to the People: Seventy-five Years of Cooperative Extension">Rasmussen, Wayne D., ''Taking the University to the People: Seventy-five Years of Cooperative Extension'', Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press, 1989, p. 18.</ref>

These efforts became more formalized over time. By the 1850s, for example, many schools and colleges began holding farmer institutes&nbsp;– public meetings where lecturers discussed new farming insights.<ref>''Rasmussen,'' p. 28.</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Cooperative Extension Service]]
*[[Luther Duncan]]
*[[P.O. Davis]]
*[[List of land-grant universities]]
*[[National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges]]
*[[State university system]]
*[[Agricultural extension]]
*[[Historical Panorama of Alabama Agriculture]]
{{clear}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.aces.edu/ Alabama Cooperative Extension System]
*[http://www.aamu.edu/ Alabama A&M University]
*[http://www.auburn.edu/ Auburn University]
*[http://www.tuskegee.edu/ Tuskegee University]
*[http://diglib.auburn.edu/collections/aces/ Alabama Cooperative Extension System Historical Photographs]
*[https://www.usda.gov/ U.S. Department of Agriculture]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070614012652/http://www.csrees.usda.gov/ Cooperative State, Research, Education and Extension Service]

{{Alabama Cooperative Extension System}}
{{Auburn University}}
{{Alabama}}
{{Tuskegee University}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Alabama Cooperative Extension System| ]]
[[Category:Public education in Alabama]]
[[Category:History of Alabama]]
[[Category:Auburn University]]
[[Category:Tuskegee University]]
[[Category:Government agencies established in 1914]]
[[Category:State agencies of Alabama]]
[[Category:1914 establishments in Alabama]]
[[Category:Alabama A&M University]]
[[Category:Agricultural research institutes in the United States]]