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Development of the program planning process is a collaborative activity including all Cooperative Extension faculty and staff.To this end, a series of listening sessions with campus specialists, and a survey of county faculty, were conducted to gain as much particpation as possible.
Administrative Committee Meeting
May 28, 1998 Chula Vista
As part of the ongoing effort to gain input into the revision of the program planning process, a brief presentation was given to the Cooperative Extension Administrative Committee (Deans, District Directors and Program Area Leaders). This was followed by a lively discussion illustrated by the comments listed below.
Presentation Speaking Points
- Organizational objectives of revised program planning process:
- Increase the level of collaboration when planning programs
- Increase coordination between counties and campuses
- Support cross-program area/multicounty programming
- Improve the validity of the planning process
- Make best use of external relationships
- Facilitate access to summarized planning activities
- Support accountability for planning
continued... download pdf file
Statewide Specialist Guidance
Chaired by David S. Liebl and facilitated by Rob Adsit, the sessions were held at the following locations:
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Date
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Location
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Attendees
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February 26
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River Falls
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10
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March 4
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Madison
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15
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March 5
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Madison
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18
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March 6
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Madison
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10
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March 9
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Madison
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11
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March 31
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Stevens Point
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10
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The most outstanding impression gained from these sessions is the high degree of commitment exhibited by the participating specialists to improving Cooperative Extension. While the discussion revealed significant issues related to organizational management, and illustrated the differences in approach and organizational culture of the campuses and program areas, at no time was the value of the Extension mission questioned.
Listed below are summary comments compiled by the facilitator and session chair followed by detailed comments as recorded during the sessions. In order to encourage as much participation as possible, a preliminary draft of these comments was circulated to session attendees and the other state-wide specialists, with subsequent comments being added to the original draft. These ideas will be used as a basis for devising the state-wide specialist component of the Cooperative Extension program planning process.
Summary of Comments on Issues that Illustrate the Institutional Context
- Campus faculty are looking to UWEX administration to participate more fully with them, and to provide more leadership and direction for the organization.
- Campus faculty have become isolated from each other, and from county faculty, and expressed a strong desire for more person to person dialogue.
- Campus faculty are moving forward with cross/discipline programming and feel that the current organization around program areas is a substantial barrier to this.
- Accountability by faculty for their programming activities, and accountability by administration for evaluation and support of those activities, is essential to a successful UWEX.
Summary of Comments on Past Program Planning Efforts
- Past multi-year program planning efforts were standardized, poorly communicated, were not relevant to individual planning needs and did a poor job of identifying extension accomplishments.
- Past planning lacked accountability for either writing or following a program plan, and therefore was perceived as lacking value.
- Program planning has had an unacceptably high transaction cost/benefit ratio and has been avoided when possible.
- Planning has been overbalanced in favor of county-based priorities.
- The planing horizon was unrealistically distant and therefore not relevant to actual programming activities.
- The planning process lacked interaction between county and campus-based faculty
Summary of Comments on Future Program Planning Efforts
- Planning should be customized to meet individual/team/county needs. One planning approach for everyone is not realistic.
- Use a 1-2 planning horizon (1 year plan; 2 year scope) for faculty. UWEX administration should be responsible for developing a 5-25 year organizational vision.
- The program planning process should actively encourage personal interactions among extension faculty.
- Program planning should both reflect Extension's programming capacity, and serve to inform organizational priority setting.
- UWEX must be adaptive to stay current as people/world change. Program planning can institutionalize the opportunity to take risks, be creative and stay on the leading edge. Don't lose innovation, creativity and success by rubber stamping with a rigid planning process.
continued... download pdf file
County Office Guidance
- A local based approach to program planning is essential. County offices need flexibility in the method and frequency of acquiring community priorities and needs.
- Keep the planning process simple, get the most from our effort but don't over-commit time and energy.
- A four year planning cycle is not useful - planning is done continuously. State wide planning efforts should coordinate with county planning.
- Non traditional clientele must be included in the process, as should the priorities of traditional partners.
- Traditional program area based planning activities must be represented by: office-wide, multi-county, and regional program planning.
- Counties need education on planning methods and support for the planning process. Statistics and secondary data on local conditions are needed for effective planning.
- Regular planning can help tell our story to our local partners and clients and build political support for our organization.
- Specialist need to be included in the program planning process and use the results of county planning to guide their work priorities.
- Resources need to be committed to new priorities that are identified during the planning process.
continued... download pdf file
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