June 7, 2016
Extension Excellence
I know sometimes it is difficult to want to be critical of one's self, but most leaders will tell you, "if you aren't willing to be a tough judge of your own work, then how can you have a valued opinion of anyone else's work?"
At the heart of claiming excellence in Extension, peer review, critique, and feedback are needed. Standards for evaluating all scholarship / excellence has been offered by Glassick, Huber, and Maeroff (1997). Those standards have the following characteristics:
- Goals: Set clear, realistic goals and measurable objectives.
- Adequate preparation: Keep up with the issues and work towards having appropriate and adequate resources for the project.
- Appropriate methods: Choose appropriate methodology for your project's goals. Study the literature and the work of others in addressing the issue or problem of interest.
- Significant results: Excellence should be judged by its results. The project should be meeting its goals and contributing to the field or opening up other areas for further development.
- Effective presentation: Communicate the results of your project with your peers, stakeholders, and other practitioners.
- Evaluate: Engage in reflective critique. Think about your work and learn from the process. Ask what went wrong and right as a means of improving.
Some will say it takes too much time and resources to effectively evaluate if a program has had any impact. I'd suggest that if the program was important enough to invest time and resources, it should be important enough to know if it mattered in the end.
Have a great week!