Texas Agricultural Extension Service
Supplements System Policy 02.04 and System Regulation 02.04.10
The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) is the education, outreach and research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that partners with the states. It serves as the national office for the entire Cooperative Extension System, of which the Texas Agricultural Extension Service is a part. It also functions as the national office for agricultural research conducted by the land-grant university system. CSREES thus serves as the federal partner of the nationwide system of agricultural research and cooperative extension, which includes 74 state and territorial land-grant colleges, including the District of Columbia, and staffs in nearly all of the counties and parishes in the United States.
CSREES has the responsibility for administering the Smith-Lever Act, which established the Cooperative Extension Service, all subsequent amendments to that Act, and the laws passed by Congress which affect the Extension Service, including the appropriate provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It also administers all legislation related to research, education and extension programs of the land-grant university system across the United States and its territories.
The office is responsible for distributing funds appropriated by Congress for extension, research and education to the states and territories and for assuring that these funds are utilized for the purposes intended by Congress. It also administers the Federal Civil Service Retirement Program and other employee benefit programs for the cooperative employees of the system.
In addition, CSREES provides national leadership in various efforts related to education, extension and research in two-way communication and coordination of programs between and among the USDA, other agencies of government and private organizations, and in staff training and development.
CSREES is headed by an Administrator who reports to the Secretary of Agriculture through the Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics. Units comprising CSREES are:
CSREES unit leaders maintain close working relationships with their state counterparts and with national representatives of other agencies and organizations, both public and private.
OFFICE OF RESPONSIBILITY: