Who We Are

Extension - The third arm of the land grant system was provided by the Smith-Lever Act in 1914. This Act established the Cooperative Extension Service and specified that the service would be associated with a land grant college. The University of Florida and Florida A&M are Florida's land-grant universities. The transfer of knowledge from UF to people throughout the state is facilitated by "Extension" faculty located in each of Florida's 67 counties. This partnership between counties and the university is the heart of the "Cooperative" Extension Service mission and enables the university to extend its knowledge base to each community. 

Orange County entered into this educational partnership earlier than most counties by acquiring it's first County Agent on February 23, 1914. The mission of extending and implementing research-based information to the people of Orange County has not changed, however the information and delivery methods have enormously improved. The driving force for these information delivery methods are the needs of citizens in the county. County extension faculty develop educational programs based on issues such as sustainable agriculture, competitiveness in world market competitiveness, natural resource and energy conservation, food safety, child and family development, financial management, and youth development. These priority issues form the basis for major educational programs that are conducted throughout Orange County.