March 14, 2023
PEARS: Q&A
As we near the end of this quarter (January 1 - March 31), I thought it might be helpful to review a couple of the reporting guidelines.
Q. How do I count contacts in a workshop series?
New guidance from NIFA indicates that a workshop series (such as Master Gardener Volunteer basic training) is considered a distinct activity and should only be counted once regardless of the number of sessions. In this example, volunteers are required to attend each session because all the sessions build upon the other. If those same individuals participate in a different MG session outside of the basic training, it would be considered as another distinct event.
For workshop series such as K-State Garden Hour, participants can be counted each time because the sessions are stand-alone and participants can opt out of any session based on their interests.
Q. How do I count contacts in a virtual setting?
When presenting a program in a virtual setting such as Zoom, all the participants would be considered direct education contacts because of the linking together of the extension professional and the client/receiver. Information about race, ethnicity and gender can be collected in a variety of ways: through registration before the event, electronically during the program by completing an anonymous poll or after the meeting as part of the evaluation survey.
If you upload a video of your webinar to YouTube or Facebook, the number of views for the recording would be posted as an indirect contact.
For more information, check out the “KSRE Client Contact Reporting Guidelines."