by Steve Lovejoy, associate direct of programming for MSU Extension
As MSU Extension faces a major budget crisis, an important criterion for our future is our ability to tell the story of all the great educational programs we conduct, and all the assistance we provide to individuals, families, businesses and communities. One important venue for creating and delivering knowledge has been our area of expertise Teams. Over the past three years, teams have been asked to increase the reporting of the impacts of their educational initiatives, including quantitative measures of behavioral changes. Teams submit calendar-year reports that are due the following spring (be sure to log in to the portal before clicking that link). Teams are also being asked to develop logic models for their program area in order to clearly state the stakeholder need, the outputs and the desired changes or impacts. One manifestation of this increase in reporting has been more complete annual reports from each team. We hope that teams use this process not only as a reporting tool but also as an effective planning tool for their programming. Congratulations to all the teams for a job well done!
We recently finished the evaluation of the annual reports for 2008 and I am pleased to announce the Teams that won awards for their 2008 annual reports.
Best Annual Report: Land Use Team
Best Reporting of Quantitative Measures: Animal Agriculture and the Environment Team
Best Effort at Promoting Diversity: Christmas Tree Team
Most Improved: Consumer Horticulture Team
Each of these awards, in addition to the prestige and bragging rights, carries a financial reward that is added to the team’s base budget. Please join me in congratulating these four teams for their extraordinary efforts.
