In an effort to provide students with genuine community-based experience, while learning about a topic of interest, eight Cornell University undergraduates enrolled in a two-semester course sequence, in which they learned numerous skills and knowledge required to plan, design, and create a living sculpture project with youth-adult teams at three New York State sites. Here we highlight what we learned about factors that lead to a successful approach in engaging students in extension field work.

Cornell Cooperative Extension is a vibrant organization. As the outreach system of Cornell University, it “enables people to improve their lives and communities through partnerships that put experience and research knowledge to work.” As a system we are continually faced with the challenge of recruiting innovative, energetic staff to spearhead and maintain our diverse programs. Students at Cornell, and other NYS universities and colleges, offer a unique and largely untapped source of staff, and yet the logistics of reaching and training students is difficult. In addition, it can be problematic for local educators to host short-term students when they are more interested in fostering lasting relationships with community members. Educators may be concerned about the time required; they may question whether students will represent CCE well. In some communities with much student involvement, there may even be active resistance to student projects. Yet, students can benefit greatly from “real world” work, educators involved in a quality experience could appreciate the important roles students can play, and local staff and volunteers may expand their horizons as to the range of backgrounds relevant to future position needs, that is, outside those associated with a more traditional approach to extension.

In an effort to provide students with genuine community-based experience, while learning about a topic of interest, eight Cornell University undergraduates enrolled in a two-semester course sequence, in which they learned numerous skills and knowledge required to plan, design, and create a living sculpture project with youth-adult teams at three New York State sites. Students divided into groups and selected a site to work with over two semesters. Sites included a school for visually impaired children and youth, a Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) Center, and an urban community center. Students learned about factors that lead to effective youth-adult partnerships, facilitation skills, how to work as a team and to lead meetings, and how to move groups from a collaborative planning and design process to implementation. Simultaneously, they learned about approaches to living sculpture, and the horticultural techniques needed to create them. Depending on participants with whom they were working, they may have undertaken additional training for audience sensitivity. They traveled to sites over several months, beginning with simple introductory exercises before executing larger scale works.
To gather data, we employed a three-tiered study to evaluate project effectiveness, document the process, and assess immediate outcomes. The study utilized qualitative and quantitative methods.

Overall, the project was viewed as positively affecting student perspectives of community development efforts, working with youth and adult community members, living sculpture in general, and gains from a youth-adult partnership. A variety of valuable knowledge and skills were perceived as having been gained through participation. One educator said:
"I learned the importance of youth-adult partnerships and how they give youth the opportunity to take ownership of a project. The Cornell students interacted with and engaged our students in all phases of the planning, design and building process. Through being included throughout the whole process, our students were eager to take ownership of the living sculpture project. It is something they take pride in and still speak about today."
Although the project served several objectives, an important finding from the perspective of extension "xperience was the identification of a number of factors noted by students and site coordinators, that they believed were essential to a project’s achievement. Some of these factors were based on our project’s successes; others were identified due to elements of the project found to be lacking, insufficient, or needing considerable improvement. A complete report of these factors, in the form of recommendations, has been accepted for p"blication in a 2008 Journal of Extension “Tools of the Trade” article, and can also be requested from our program.