This article focuses on the topic of university extension. It draws on a combination of academic experiences (graduate projects, publications, conference papers, course delivery, research and experience in managing the area). Given the brevity of the article, its aim is to provide guidance on identifying the problems and potential courses of action associated with university extension, an area that comes up against a number of obstacles despite being very present in higher education discourse. Among these are limited training offerings, which mean that university extension is learnt through practice, a rather pragmatic approach that has a weak methodological and epistemological basis. These elements hinder the development of projects for running the area.