The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
(Vol. 18 No. 41)
IN THIS ISSUE...
WORD FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH
Lots of good stuff following down through this Tuesday
Letter. I really like the story that
Gordon Dowell shares on the outcome of his participating in an local Extension
leasing meeting in Republic County a few years back, as he brought forth the
dimension of estate planning. The eventual
result was a landowner found a way to fulfill a personal desire to create a
lasting gift that would help others. I’d
venture to guess that this landowner was greatly appreciative of the estate
planning presentation at the Extension leasing meeting, and now Kansas State
University and local young people are all benefiting from the connection that
was made four years earlier through a local Extension meeting. Who’d have thought?
Program evaluation and showing impact. Always important to be planning and looking
for how your programs and your work make a difference. An evaluation plan and process will offer the
greatest opportunity for success. All
forms of evaluation discussed below are designed to add value to our Extension
work. With our funding coming mostly
through tax appropriations, it remains critical that each of us look at our
work from the perspective of how it is bringing value to the public that is
funding us. Program evaluation will help
to make our programs remarkable!
Kansas 4-H is on Pinterest! How many months ago would it be that the word and the concept of Pinterest was created? Pretty cool to see all the links and resources
brought together. Congrats to Heather
Pray for leaving her mark with Kansas 4-H through our internship program!
As we move into the second half of August, county fairs have
wound down and we’re gearing up now for fall field days, FCS update, Risk and
Profit Conference, State Extension Advisory Council meeting, students moving
back to Manhattan, K-State Football, and Kansas State Fair to just name a few
things. If there is any way you can volunteer to work the KSRE or COA booths at the state fair, even for just a couple hours, please sign up per the instructions below.
Hopefully the hot dry summer
will change to weather patterns much more favorable to the pastures, fall wheat
planting, and help to lift everyone’s spirits!
Take pride in your work, give your best, continue your personal growth, thanks for all you do, and have a great
week! --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu
4-H UPDATE WEBINAR, AUGUST 15
A 4-H Update webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, August 15, 11 - 11:30 a.m. There will be a progress report on the 4-H Focus on the Future
priorities, an update on 4-H management topics and upcoming 4-H events. There will be a 15
minute update and 15 minutes for Q&A. No need to register; just show up!
The audio will be archived if you are unable to attend.
Call in information: 1-866-620-7326Conference code: 479-963-8009
Web Connect
information: http://connect.ksre.ksu.edu/ks4h/
(Sign in as a guest)--Barbara Stone bjstone@ksu.edu
HELP WANTED IN OUR STATE FAIR BOOTHS AND AT FAIR ENTRANCE GATES
K-State
Research and Extension and the College of Agriculture will once again
have booths in the Pride of Kansas Building at the Kansas State Fair in
Hutchinson from Friday, September 7, through Sunday, September 16, 2012.
In
addition, K-State is planning the first annual "K-State Day at the
Kansas State Fair" on Sunday, September 9. For this event, each of the 9
colleges as well as other K-State units and groups, including 4-H Youth
Development, will have booths all together on the south side of the 4-H
Centennial Building.
As part of "K-State Day at the Kansas State
Fair," the Fair would like to have volunteers (agents, specialists,
students, and alumni) work one or two hour shifts at the various
entrances to the Fairgrounds. These volunteers will pass out maps of
where the various K-State booths and events are on the Fairgrounds.
Everyone should wear purple K-State shirts, khaki pants or shorts, and comfortable shoes.
If
you are coming to the fair anyway, we invite you to sign up to work a
couple of hours in a booth before or after your activities or hand out
maps at an entrance gate. Any volunteers who work in a booth or at an
entrance gate will be provided with free tickets into the fair for the
entire day.
Days and times that the KSRE/COA fair booths are open are:
Friday, September 7 - 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Sunday, September 9 - 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Sunday, September 9 - 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. (Fair Gate hours for us to work)
Monday, September 10 - 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Wednesday, September 12 - 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Thursday, September 13 - 2 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Friday, September 14 - 5 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Saturday, September 15 - 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Sunday, September 16 - 9 a.m. - 7 p.m.
If you would like to work in the K-State Research and Extension booth or at an entrance gate, please contact Maria Sweet, marswe@ksu.edu, by August 24.
If you would like to work in the College of Agriculture booth or at an entrance gate, please contact Sandy Klein, sandy@ksu.edu, by August 24.
We
will be in touch in late August/early September to finalize days,
times, entrance tickets, etc. --Sandy Klein and Steven Graham sgraham@k-state.edu
AL DAVIS TO JOIN KARL STAFF
The Board of Directors of Kansas Agriculture and Rural Leadership is pleased to announce that Al Davis has been selected as Vice President and Assistant Director of the KARL Program.
Al Davis, Spring Hill, is a Class V graduate of the Kansas Agriculture and Rural Leadership Program. His work experience includes the Extension Service in Pennsylvania and Kansas Extension as a Youth Development Agent for Johnson County. Most recently, Davis has been Education Director for the American Royal.
As Assistant Director, Davis will assist in planning, coordination and implementation of the educational programs and fund development in Kansas to enrich the skills of emerging leaders with agricultural/rural backgrounds and interests.
“It is great to be back. I have had the opportunity to be part of a lot of different leadership programs. The KARL Program gave me a great opportunity as part of class V to really explore my leadership style while learning more about the assets and challenges of Kansas. I am looking forward to helping others develop and improve their personal leadership skills and direct them toward their passion in their own communities.”
Responsibilities for Davis will include Fund Raising, Programming, Public Relations, Participant Recruiting and Trainer/Speaker Relationship Development for the 12 leadership seminars and support network.
"Al Davis has strong experience in event coordination, relationship cultivation and organizational skills," according to KARL, Inc board chair Carolyn Harms. "He has a strong commitment to expanding and fostering rural development and a positive future for the agricultural industry through the KARL Program."
Capitalizing on his work experience and degree work in Communications, Davis will quickly engage in public relations and partnership cultivation for the KARL Program. Work experience in and knowledge of the agricultural industry in the State of Kansas enhances his relationship building skills.
Following a 1 to 2 year training cycle, the Assistant Director/Vice President, with KARL Board and University agreement, may advance to the position of Director of the KARL Program and President-CEO of KARL, Inc. according the board's succession plan. The formal transition will allow Jack W. Lindquist, program director and President of KARL, Inc to become director of the newly created KARL Graduate Program. Lindquist has been director of the 2 year KARL Program since its inception in 1990.
KARL, Inc is a 501c3 not for profit educational organization based at Kansas State University acting as an in-kind donor of office space. All funding for programming and staff comes from contributions by individuals, businesses, organizations, foundations and corporations. --Jack W. Lindquist karl@ksu.edu http://www.karlprogram.com
MARIE'S PICKS . . .
This week my picks are outcomes of the 2011 Serving Food
Safely - Home Food Preservation - Nutrition, Food
Safety, and Health PFT and a success story, a letter from a local business shared by Rachael Boyle, Phillips-Rooks District, from her
Native Grassland Losses Due to Invasive Plant Species
Action Plan:
**In 2011, 511 adults and 19 youths benefited from these educational
efforts. Participants reported an increase in skills, knowledge, and
confidence in preserving food at home. This also helps assure consumers
that their food is preserved properly and is safe to eat.
**On behalf
of Foley Equipment Company, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to
have participated in this event. Our staff who attended felt that it was
a very educational day and it was good to be out in the "field" with
various farmers/ranchers that are in need of invasive tree control.
Please keep us informed of all other events such as this, as we would most
likely desire to participate. Again, great job and our thanks!
Walt Bettis
Customer Relations & Event Coordinator
Foley Industries
--Marie Blythe mblythe@ksu.edu
KANSAS 4-H ON PINTEREST
As part of my summer internship here at the Kansas 4-H state office, I started a Pinterest page for the Kansas 4-H. The purpose behind this Pinterest page was to have a place where 4-Her's, extension agents, and the general public could go to check out what Kansas 4-H is all about and get some new ideas. The site showcases each project (where new ideas, helpful hints, etc. can be found), club management,
volunteering, community service ideas, programs, events, social media tips and
much more. In total there are 48 boards with 1,000 pins!
Feel free to follow us and spread the word! Here is the link: http://pinterest.com/kansas4h/. --Heather Pray hpray@ksu.edu
ASK THE OEIE EVALUATOR: WHEN SHOULD YOU CONDUCT A PROGRAM EVALUATION?
Program evaluation
is a process, not a singular event. In fact, it can take place at many points
throughout the programming cycle (and, if you have the resources, it should).
In this installment, we discuss when and why program evaluation may be most
valuable to you.
Q:
When should you conduct a program evaluation?
Before you can conduct a
program evaluation you must first determine what kind of information you are
looking for. For example, if you are interested in identifying the most common
and urgent needs of your constituents, you may want to conduct a needs assessment. A formative program evaluation may be conducted if you are interested
in understanding the process of the program and how that process may be
enhanced or managed more effectively and efficiently. Finally, a summative evaluation approach may be
used in assessments of a program’s merit or worth after the program has been
completed.
In order to gain
additional insight into what and how to evaluate your program, try returning to
the logic model. If you are interested in conducting a formative evaluation,
for example, you may want to focus the evaluation on the inputs and outputs of the
model and seek to answer questions such as “What do participants gain from the
program?” and “To what extent have we reached the initiative goals?” But if you
are interested in conducting a summative evaluation, including outcome and
impact evaluation, you may look to the outcomes
of the logic model to develop questions regarding the program’s impact on the
participants’ knowledge and/or behavior.
Additionally, before
conducting a program evaluation you will also need to take the program’s
duration into consideration. For programs consisting of four or more sessions and
that take place over an extended period of time, a pre-/post-program evaluation
may be an especially valuable approach. While the pre-program evaluation takes
time from the beginning of the program, it provides information to compare to
the information you gather at the end, showing the impact the program had on
the participants.
However, for situations
in which a program takes place over only one or a few sessions (or within only
a couple of days or weeks), we suggest the use of a quick hand-raising activity
to gather pre-program information or that you conduct only a post-program
evaluation. These are great options for one-time and drop-in type programs, and
can be used whenever you have concerns about time, energy (yours or
participants’), or resources to do both a pre- and post-program evaluation. For
such programs, you may also consider the use of a post-then-pre retrospective
survey. Because the questions in this type of survey ask program participants
to reflect back and compare their knowledge after the program to before, you do
not need to do any pre-program survey.
Following up with your
participants three-to-six months after the program is especially valuable for
gathering information about changes in participant behaviors. We strongly recommend
you plan follow-up evaluation activities for programs that you expect will have
a strong impact on participants, such as those that are more in-depth or take
place over longer periods of time. We recommend different approaches for
collecting this data depending on your audience. For example, an after program
feedback form may be developed and given to a teacher or staff member to gain
information about the behaviors of children after a program. For teen and adult
audiences, you may administer a phone interview, brief paper or online survey. Your
audience and the type of contact information you have for participants will
influence the approach you take. To make a follow-up evaluation more practical,
often you may sample a portion of your total participants.
Questions about
evaluation? Visit the Extension
Evaluation Resources website or contact Amy Hilgendorf (aehilgen@k-state.edu, 785-532-5538) or Mandi Peters (mpeters8@ksu.edu, 785-532-1651) at OEIE. --Amy Hilgendorf
PART 5 FINNEY COUNTY HEALTH/WELL-BEING ASSESSMENT AND SOCIAL CAPITAL STUDY
Now we get to analyses that go beyond demographics reports. Initially, analyses examined Anglo (Anyone of European, Scandinavian, or Russian descent) compared to non-Anglo (people of color) outcomes. Later data were examined with other factors such as age, income, job type, education, gender, etc. In terms of a protective factor, we saw that around 15% of respondents said they used tobacco. Tobacco use was not high enough to merit further analysis with other factors. The City of Garden City implemented a smoking ban about 6 years ago, so it would have been better to have a baseline of tobacco use before the ban. So, let’s look at needs first.
“Do you need assistance with any of the following to help you/your family to live a better life?”
Non-Anglo respondents were 4 times more likely to say that “more education” and “access to medical care” would help them live better lives. Non-Anglo respondents also showed a greater need for transportation, improved health, affordable child care, public services (phone, lights, sewage, etc.), public assistance (Snap, WIC, etc.), and children’s services than Anglo respondents. Non-Anglo respondents said that “improved English skills” would help them to live better lives (38% vs. 0%). The non-significant outcomes are important to look at, too. For example, Anglo and non-Anglo respondents showed equal need for elder care and senior services.
When education was tested with “needs,” we found that 52% of respondents with Less than High School, and 29% of respondents with a high school diploma said that more education would help them live better lives. Those two groups also reported higher need for medical care, transportation, improved health, and affordable child care. Education did not have an effect on the need for mental health counseling, affordable child care, and senior services. However, 42% of those with less than high school (<HS) and 15% with a high school diploma said that improved English skills would help them live better lives.
When income was factored with needs, respondents who earned fewer than $12 thousand to 50 thousand per year showed greater need for “more education and access to medical care." Those earning fewer than $12 thousand to $25 thousand needed transportation and improved health. The needs from mental health counseling, affordable child care, elder care, children’s services and senior services appeared to be similar need across economics, however those earning between $25 thousand to > $100 thousand said they needed more recreation and parks access to live better lives.
When primary language was factored with needs, those who spoke Spanish or “other” language than English in the home were nearly twice as likely to say that “more education, medical care, transportation, improved health, public assistance and child services would help them improve their lives than those who speak English as a primary language. Primary language did not have an effect on the need for elder, public and senior services. More next week… --Debra Bolton dbolton@ksu.edu
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