ABSTRACT
The concept of extension has roots not only in American history--notably, in the Chautauqua movement and in the early belief that the university had responsibilities beyond the campus--but also in European institutions and practices. The American universities’ early extension movement, in fact, shares many similarities with established government-sponsored outreach services by modern development universities. The techniques of extension have been consultation, demonstration, short courses, and correspondence or distance education. The Open University and Everyman’s University are examples of innovative institutions that in large part are assuming and expanding many traditional extension functions. An outstanding example of a university attempting to develop in modern form a mission parallel to those just briefly considered is the University of Campinas. The Cooperative Extension Service of the Department of Agriculture, in fact, has been described as the largest single organized adult education program in the world.
