Chester Allen (1887 - 1960) served as Director of Field Services of the University
Extension Division from 1926 to 1954. He developed prison education programs, outreach
programs such as High School Days, and advocated for regulation of correspondence study
programs as a member of the Governor's Educational Advisory Committee. In 1956 he published
a history of University Extension entitled "University Extension in Wisconsin," which
focused on the administrations of Louis E. Reber, Chester D. Snell, and Frank O. Holt.
As Director of Field Services, Allen oversaw Field Representatives who developed
relationships with schools, state institutions, businesses, and communities across the
state. Field Representatives oversaw outreach activities, taught select courses and
workshops, and managed correspondence study courses and on-the-job training programs. By
1951 their responsibilities included counseling prospective students and registering them
for correspondence study, organizing institutes and workshops, organizing and supervising
extension programs at public and private institutions, and inspecting commercial
correspondence schools.
Around 1915, the University Extension Division began to organize courses for students
incarcerated at Wisconsin State Prison. Under the leadership of Chester Allen, these efforts
developed into a correspondence study program where Field Representatives provided
individualized support to incarcerated students across the state. In 1932 the State Board of
Control agreed to fund two University Extension Division positions at Wisconsin State Prison
and Wisconsin State Reformatory and to expand the program to offer college-level
correspondence study courses.
The Field Organization developed numerous programs to support the military and defense
industry during World War I and World War II. In 1917, the US Department of Agriculture
funded new Extension programs focused on supporting the war effort. Veterans received
federal subsidies for courses in subjects like engineering or business. During the Second
World War, Field Service Agents organized courses under the federal Engineering, Science,
and Management War Training program, on topics like aeronautics and engineering. Enrollments
skyrocketed after the June 22, 1944 G.I. Bill or Public Law 346 funded education and
training programs for veterans. Enrollments in correspondence courses increased from 639 in
1942 to 101,535 in 1952.
On November 16, 1944 the Governor's Educational Advisory Committee was formed to regulate
educational institutions that received federal funding for enrolling Veterans under the G.I.
Bill. Beginning on May 4, 1948 Field Representatives investigated commercial correspondence
schools that sought approval for federal funding. Chester Allen led these investigations and
published "Commercial correspondence study schools: private enterprises for profit and some
implications for public education of youth in Wisconsin" in 1949. Allen advocated expanding
the regulation of commercial correspondence schools to protect non-veterans, and his ideas
came to fruition in 1957 when the legislature authorized the Governor's Educational Advisory
Committee to establish standards for occupational education and training courses.
