broaden the knowledge of 

 practicing foresters and to 

 keep them up to date on 

 current developments are 

 becoming increasingly 

 common and important. 

 They vary in length from 

 a single day to a few 

 weeks and occasionally 

 last for an entire year. 

 Although the shorter 

 programs are sometimes 

 known as ' 'refresher' ' 

 courses, their main 

 objective is not to refresh 

 a man's memory of what 

 he may once have known 

 but [has since] forgotten. 

 It is rather to acquaint 

 him with fields he may not 

 previously have studied, 

 to inform him of 

 significant new findings in 

 research and of important 

 advances in forest 

 practice, and to provide 

 opportunity for a free 

 exchange of views and 

 experiences. Programs of 

 sufficient length may carry 

 formal credit, but their 

 primary objective is to 

 increase the competence 

 of the participants, not to 

 enable them to qualify for 

 another degree. 



University-Level Programs 



Organization — At the university 

 level, most faculty receive their 

 salaries from resident instruction, 

 research, or a combination of the 



two. Continuing education has 

 been an extra obligation of the 

 academic unit and thus often has 

 to be self-supporting through 

 tuition and other charges. As a 

 result, faculty participation tends 

 to be optional — more so in the 

 non-land-grant than in the land- 

 grant institutions, which have 

 official development 

 responsibilities. 



The situation has been different for 

 extension faculty. Continuing 

 education of other professionals, 

 managers, technicians, or special 

 vocational groups has been an 

 important method for carrying out 

 their classical function as 

 "linkers*" between research and 

 user in the technology transfer 

 process. It has been an important 

 method for in-service training of 

 county extension staff — another 

 classical specialist function. It has 

 been an indirect means for 

 improving the welfare of 

 nonindustrial private forest owner 

 clientele by increasing the 

 effectiveness of public foresters, 

 consulting foresters, conservation 

 contract vendors, and others who 

 serve them. 



Thus organization of continuing 

 education has varied greatly from 

 institution to institution. At some, 

 such as Auburn, it has been left 

 primarily up to extension (E. 

 Thompson, personal 

 communication). At others, such 

 as Clemson, the academic unit 

 conducts certain programs and 



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