2008 PSD Plans
From Extension Collaborative Wiki
4. What plans and new directions do you intend to pursue in 2009?
Editing tip: You can "sign" your work by typing three consecutive tildes ~~~ to the sections that you add. If you enter a "nickname" on your My Preferences -> User Profile page, your nickname will display in place of the tildes. Without a nickname, your eXtension ID will display.
Arkansas- - Use of Articulate Studio elearning tool in developing interactive templates and courses on eXtension/Moodle sites
- - Development of revised core curriculum inservice courses in Horticulture and Aquaculture.
- - Collaborating with key faculty in developing online courses in financial planning for newlyweds, water policies, and basics of strategic planning.
- - Transition UACES from existing online platform to pdc.extension.org (Moodle platform) which will require rebuilding at least 20 courses.
- - Investigate use of technologies for mobile and location-based learning.
- - Support of Arkansas Information Management System (AIMS) Help site, with task-based video clips.
- - Participation in “Connectivism and Connective Knowledge”, a 12-week online mega course (1500+ participants around the world), September – November 2008. Led by Connectivism leaders George Siemens and Stephen Downes, this course explores connectivism, networked learning, instructional design for connected learning, and transformative impact of technology in teaching and learning.
- - Extension Support Staff In-Service Training - Management and personal development skills training for classified support staff.
- - New Employee Orientation In-Service Classes. Conducted again in October 2008 and May 2009. A New Employee website is currently under construction.
- - "Filling Your Extension Toolbox" Extension Educator Process Skills In-Service Training Course
- - "Using Needs Assessments to Identify Clientele and Program Priorities” In-Service Training Class
- - Supervisor In-Service Training for Extension middle managers.
- - Revision of the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture annual report of accomplishment process to match the revisions made to the program plan of work process in 2008.
- Replace this text with your response for 2009 plans and new directions
- Replace this text with your response for 2009 plans and new directions
- We are awaiting information on the budget - cuts are needed, but the severity is to be determined. Depending on available funding, an advanced phase of Extension Academy for Professional Excellence is being planned for 2009 - 2010. Graduates of the program will be invited to apply for acceptance into the ExTEND program (Transitioning Extension to New Dimensions). Between 15 - 20 participants will be accepted. The program will include six training sessions scheduled between April, 2009 and March, 2010. The first session will be held during the Southern Region Middle Managers Conference held in Athens in April. The last session will be held in Atlanta and include meetings with members of the General Assembly and state agency heads. The topics for the other four sessions will be determined and scheduled by the group. The program will also include individualized special projects focusing on interests of each participant as well as an international experience for the group in May, 2010. The group will also contribute to the planning and implementation of a third Extension Academy in 2010.
- Performance Appraisal System for Agents -
With the "Re-envisioning" of the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service and reducing the number of District Directors by ½ from 14 to seven, we have been searching for a way to reduce administrative time invested in the Performance Appraisal process and still make it acceptable to agents. This year brings a revamping of the performance appraisal system for agents. The system uses 6 major Areas of Responsibility that are the same for all agents: Leadership Development, Extension Councils and Advisory Groups, Educational Programming, Accountability and Public Relations, Facilitation/Collaboration/Teamwork, and Customer Service. Under each of the 6 areas are the Essential Functions. Agents will have three pages to best represent their efforts and will be instructed to relate these back to their planned efforts in their Plan of Work. Accomplishments will be reported in 5 impact statements per agent with the focus there being on true accomplishment – practice change or higher level impact by clientele.
- We will emphasize professional development of all Extension faculty in the coming year. Our plans are to work toward revising the current mentoring program and expanding it for applicability beyond 4-H field agents. Based on a request by regional directors, we plan to specifically address the lack of training for mentors. We would like to work toward having all employees prepare annual professional development goals based on their own perceived needs and the needs identified by supervisors. We will continue to emphasize the importance of an effective advisory leadership system to sound programming. With the addition of Melissa to our staff, our plans are to strengthen evaluations in the 4-H area. We will also begin looking at how to expand Extension outreach to the growing Hispanic population in the state.
- Replace this text with your response for 2009 plans and new directions
- We currently are resource void. We hope that administration will replace one of our positions this coming year and we will be able to expand our leadership and strategic planning programs through a train-the-trainer approach. We also hope to implement a more consistent and comprehensive Support Staff Orientation system.
- Future plans are to develop and administer a program to recognize and reward significant contributions and acheivements by OCES professionals and staff. Another goal is to work closely with specialists and others to develop a proposal for cultural awareness/diversity training that will assist educators to target minority populations, including programming for Hispanics.
- During fiscal year 2009, we will be working on the consolidation of the planned programs that will be reported in the new Federal Plan of Work, particularly those of the Agriculture, Marketing and Natural Resources and Family and Consumer Sciences areas. We will also work in reviewing the outcome indicators for our planned programs in order to improve the metrics and data collection methods.
- Clemson will be using a new content management system beginning 2009. All Extension web sites will be updated.
- The Customer Satisfaction Survey will be conducted in January to determine the quality of Extension programs in South Carolina.
- Joseph Donaldson serves as administrator for the Program Evaluation Network (PEN) software. It is a revised and expanded version of Tennessee's highly-successful Life Skills Evaluation System. It is expected that PEN will be copyrighted and a licensure agreement developed during the coming year. Donadlson has been invloved in six meetings to develop the intellectual property protection and marketing plans. As soon as the software is appoved for marketing by UT Research Foundation, states will be able to purchase or subscribe to the service. PEN creates valid and reliable questionnaires based on the outcomes of Extension programs. The questionnaires are automatically formatted for the user with University logo, title, directions, answer categories, etc. To view the TN 4-H Life Skills Evaluation demonstration site: [1]
- Tennessee is exploring the use of SABA as a learning management system and portal to serve internal and external clientele. Integration with SAP, the university's Blackboard System, Centra, and Tennessee Extension's SUPER (System for University Planning, Evaluation and Reporting) system is desired.
- We will continue to work in the areas of program and employee development to support our network of agents and specialists across the state. Key to this mission is work to begin the implementation phase of our new on-boarding efforts and leadership development programs. We will begin a much stronger emphasis on the development of online modules and improving our web presence in the state.
- -New Specialist Orientation-
A committee of specialists and administration are planning a new Extension specialist orientation to help specialists better understand the Extension programming model and expectations for Extension work. Specialist workshops will continue to be offered by the unit six times per year on program development and evaluation topics.
-PLN Research-
Five focus groups will be conducted during the 2009 PLN meeting to determine the value of the PLN and ways to improve it.
-Institutional Evaluation Capacity Research-
This Hatch project will track evaluation capacity building.
