The more things stay the same, the more they change, says Billy Dictson, associate dean and director of NMSU's Cooperative Extension Service. No, that isn't a misstatement of the old saying.

Dictson says accomplishing the Extension mission in agriculture, 4-H, home economics and community development during this century requires a change in approach that takes into account changes in funding for public institutions, clients' needs and the way we live our lives.

To thrive in a changed and changing world, we must be competitive, adaptable, responsive and effective, Dictson says.

Twentieth-century thinking held that Extension funding should come strictly from annual appropriations from the government. Competing for grants is a new idea that has taken hold in a big way.

Since 1990, NMSU Extension grant and contract expenditures increased 25-fold, from less than $300,000 to more than $7 million annually in fiscal year 2000. Today, Extension holds 44 grant awards worth more than $11 million, with no let up in sight for grant growth.

It isn't growth at any cost, though, Dictson says. We have decided that grants must be mission-oriented. The grant programs must pay their own way. And they must contribute to building our base programs.

It pays to be adaptable, too. Private grantors are increasingly becoming sources for funding, with 24 offering awards to Extension during the past two years.

Volunteer power: Extension master gardeners get together for their first statewide conference in Los Alamos last fall.

Extension doesn't insist that funding come from familiar agricultural agencies and companies. Grants have come from the U.S. Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency, the state Human Services and Labor departments and many other agencies not commonly associated with Extension.

NMSU's Extension Service was the first in the nation to implement welfare-to-work programs in 1999. Through a contract with state agencies, Extension was responsible for programs covering nine counties and soon won kudos for the best performance among contractors in the state. The contract continues into 2002.

In recent years, Extension won major grants to conduct after-school programs for youngsters, train young people for employment, and develop nutrition and food safety programs. Grants also are supporting efforts to save the chile pepper industry, register chemicals for the minor crops of New Mexico and, most recently, hire 4-H agents.

Even more impressive than Extension's exponential rise in grant dollars is the way the organization leverages dollars through partnerships with others most notably volunteers. During the past year, fair market value of volunteer time donated to Extension programs was worth more than $17 million, outstripping appropriated government funds of $13 million. If grants, appropriated government dollars and the value of volunteer time are considered part of one budget, the volunteer time accounts for more than 45 percent of the total.

Volunteer time, mostly through 4-H, comprises almost half of Extension's resources in New Mexico.

The majority of volunteer time is devoted to 4-H, but farm demonstrators, master volunteers and advisory council members also contribute a fortune in time to Extension.

More than ever, Extension leverages resources by working with other groups to achieve its missions. Some 100 government and private agencies are partners with Extension in programs ranging from diabetes education to water conservation.

Impatience is another sign of the times that puts a premium on responsiveness. Extension has answered with a task force approach to addressing New Mexico's problems. The first such effort was the Range Improvement Task Force, which began 20 years ago. The combined Extension and Agricultural Experiment Station faculty group, which still features an advisory committee made up of agency and private interests, remains devoted to applying scientific information to public lands issues and policies.

The Chile Pepper Task Force was established in 1998 to focus energies on problems that could cripple or even kill the industry in New Mexico. It has been successful in attracting private and public support to tackle problems related to mechanical harvesting, drip irrigation and implementing best management practices.

Extension's latest task force has been formed to tackle the mother of all problems in the state: water. The Water Task Force is following the same model as its predecessors. Coordinator Craig Runyan convened a public stakeholders' meeting in Santa Fe to develop an approach to the issue that attracted more than 100 participants.

The meeting was a perfect example that the more things stay the same, the more they change. Extension is still all about people helping people.