Organizational Health Inventory: A Comprehensive Exam for Assessing Extension's Organizational Health

Authors

• Tearney R Woodruff, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension ServiceFollow
• Meggan Franks, LSU AgCenterFollow
• Hannah G. Edwards, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension ServiceFollow
• Lauren D. Hargrave, Grace Education Consulting, LLCFollow
• Brandi Berven, University of Tennessee ExtensionFollow
• Cynthia Canfield, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension ServiceFollow

Volume

64

Issue

3

Abstract

As Extension faces a retention crisis, it is crucial to focus on the health of our organizations. A collaborative working group, comprised of evaluation and staff development specialists across multiple states, identified the need for a free, accessible organizational health evaluation tool for Extension. Many higher education institutions cannot afford consultants to assess organizational well-being and effectiveness yet need the data the evaluation would provide. This article highlights a validated survey instrument, the Organizational Health Inventory–Extension (OHI-EXT), designed to help Extension organizations identify issues and implement targeted interventions that foster a stable and engaged workforce.

Authors’ Contribution Statement

TW, MF, HE, LH, BB, and CC conceived and designed the study, drafted the OHI inventory, conducted a pilot study, and revised the OHI inventory. TW, MF, HE, LH, BB, and CC participated in data collection with MF and LH leading analysis for instrument validation. TW, MF, HE, LH, and BB finalized instrument based on validation process. TW, MF, HE, LH, BB, and CC wrote the original draft of the article. TW, MF, HE, LH, and BB completed the revision and editing of the article.

Data Availability

The data are not publicly available due to privacy/ethical restrictions, as they contain information that could compromise the privacy of research participants.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Woodruff, T., Franks, M., Edwards, H., Hargrave, L., Berven, B., & Canfield, C. (2026). Organizational Health Inventory: A Comprehensive Exam for Assessing Extension's Organizational Health. Journal of Extension, 64(3), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.66752/1077-5315.5753