The District of Columbia Cooperative Extension Service (CES) is the only totally urban and district-wide informal education system within the Community Outreach and Extension Service (COES) Division of the University of the District of Columbia (UDC). The DC CES takes researched-based education out into the community. We are linked in a unique partnership with the nationwide Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES), of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the District of Columbia Government.
The CES educational programs are one means through which UDC fulfills its land grant mission. As an outreach program of the University, the CES educational system works directly with District residents. CES uses the land-grant system's research and experience to help solve individual and community problems for the residents of the District of Columbia.
Although many people think of agriculture and farming when they hear the name of Cooperative Extension Service and know of its original mandate, we are carrying on with the mandate through the mission and vision for our society as it is today. In 1862 our country was an agrarian society and today we are considered the informational society, but the mandate is the same, "to provide non-formal education for the development of individuals, families and communities in a democratic society."
The CES in the District of Columbia was established in 1968 at the Washington Technical Institute and the Federal City College. In 1977 the University of the District of Columbia was officially opened, through the combination of three (3) former DC institutions of higher education, DC Teachers College, Federal City College, and the Washington Technical Institute. At that time the two (2) Extension Services also joined together as one and continued its mission of providing education, resources and mentoring opportunities to the residents of the District of Columbia.
|
