October 3, 2003

Vice President Reg Gomes appointed a Committee to explore opportunities to augment funding for University of California Cooperative Extension (CE) programs. The Committee was charged to review pertinent policies and legal restrictions, to identify CE activities that may be appropriate for a fee-for-service approach to financing, and to assess the potential revenues from and impacts of alternative fee-for-service policies. In evaluating alternatives, the Committee opted to interpret "fees for service" more broadly as "cost recovery" with a view to encompassing other revenue-enhancement mechanisms. The Committee submitted its report and recommendations to the Vice President who requested and considered responses to the survey previously linked to this site.

The reaction to "Potential Cost-Recovery Programs to Augment Funding for Cooperative Extension" was generally positive. The committee that Gomes appointed to explore augmentation of CE funding was chaired by San Diego County Director Terry Salmon. Gomes will ask staff to examine the legal issues before developing processes and he will assign budget officers, academic personnel and stakeholders to work on specific details of policies and procedures.

"While these ideas will likely have little impact on our funding situation this year, the suggestions for cost-recovery offer ideas that could enhance our efforts in the future," Gomes said

Feedback about this report and its recommendations were solicited through a web based survey.

Cost Recovery Survey Responses Summary - October 3, 2003