German Cutz provides leadership in Extension Programming for Hispanic/Latino audiences throughout the state of Illinois.

Cutz has experience working with Extension and multicultural audiences. From 1981 to 1989, he worked for the National Bank for Agricultural Development in Guatemala. He carried out rural and urban extension services, which included educational, financial and technical assistance. He also coordinated two USAID-Guatemala projects. His research study, "Assessment of the Farm Credit Socioeconomic Impact on Small Farmers from the Guatemalan Highlands," evaluated these extension services. To re-enforce his multicultural experience, he participated in a seminar on "Diversity and the American Experience: A Case Study in Boston" (1994) and in a doctoral seminar on multiculturalism in adult education (1996) at Ball State University.

Cutz is an expert on program planning, participatory methodologies and competency-based instructional objectives. From 1989-1992, he worked as national training coordinator for a World Learning Inc.-USAID-Guatemala. His activities included program planning, coordination and production of training materials, and delivery of training modules. For three years he trained teachers, community leaders, volunteers, nurses, and small farmers in participatory methodologies. He has also teaching experience in subject areas such as rural development, cooperative organization's management, business, and languages. He has taught at Rafael Landivar University and San Carlos University of Guatemala, and at Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana.

Cutz has published in Education as Change in South Africa, Convergence in Canada,and Adult Education Quarterly in the United States. He is co-author of a book entitled, "Fundamentos y Práctica de la Educación Participativa [Foundations and Practice of Participatory Education] published in Spanish in Guatemala (1992) and author of the book, "Alfabetizando a Educadores de Adultos [Making Adult Educators Literate]" (under review). Cutz was the co-producer of the first video in Spanish (1998) of Robert's Rules of Order, which is being advertised on the Internet (www.parli.com). And more recently, he studied "The effects of group learning on the acquisition of Spanish as a foreign language" (2000). Cutz has served as a consultant to various national and international organizations such as the Agricultural Public Sector in Guatemala (1987), Educación Extra Escolar-German Technical Assistance- Guatemala (1992), World Learning Inc., Vermont (1998), and Church of Saint Francis of Assisi, Muncie, Indiana (1999).

Education: Ed.D. Adult and Community Education, M.A. Natural Resources and Environmental Management, M.A. in Adult and Community Education and Participatory Methodologies (Ball State University, Muncie-Indiana), M.A. University Teaching and B.S. Business Adminstration (San Carlos University of Guatemala); additional degrees in Cooperative Organization Management and Agronomy.

Program Offerings

German Cutz works to identify opportunities for Spanish-Language Extension education throughout Illinois. He focuses on establishing partnerships with community organizations serving a variety of Hispanic audiences – from urban families to rural farm workers. He conducts needs assessments on Hispanic concerns at community, county and state levels. He also teaches cultural sensitivity and identifies new program delivery methods for reaching the growing number of men, women and children whose primary language is Spanish.

For more information about Extension Spanish Language Programming, click here.

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