Small Town News

OSU meets with Fairland community

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August 25th Oklahoma State University (OSU) Extension Office representatives met with the community of Fairland and its Board of Trustees to discuss different programs OSU can offer Fairland free of charge.

Renée A. Daugherty, Ph.D. and Sue E. Williams, Ph.D. with the Department of Human Development & Family Science described how they help with weighing alternative approaches to solve challenging public problems.

They offer a way of reason-ling and talking together that weighs the views of others, considers consequences, costs and benefits, and challenges people to identify trade-offs. They get involved with public deliberations offering a means to find common ground for action and secure commitment for the community to work together.

They explained that they have helped with community projects such as; Initiative for the Future of Rural Oklahoma, building better communities through leadership and economic development, and working together with a community to manage Oklahoma's growing demand for water.

Dave Shideler, Ph.D. with the Department of Agricultural Economics was present to explain rural infrastructure, social interaction, and social networks. He offered assistance in the implementation of public meeting facilitation toward consensus on the community vision and goals. He is able to perform technical reports which provide detailed demographic and economic information about the community, as well as a community perception survey.

OSU also helps with en-trepreneurship to provide curriculum for technical assistance with individual business owners. They can help plan strategies to identify, promote and sustain entrepreneurship and connect the community to resources to support entrepreneurs.

Brian Whitacre, Ph.D. Associate Professor and Extension Economist Department of Agricultural Economics discussed the future of Fairland pertaining to community broadband. His focus is on the benefits to the people. Whitacre explained how schools are using broadband, how local businesses can use it, and senior citizens can learn what it can do. He suggested a community-wide project to update the community website, offer courses for senior citizens, and establishing a local business place with free public access.

The community of Fairland had many questions and the representatives from OSU gave several options for them to discuss and consider. The majority of those that attended were excited and ready to get started.



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