University of Wisconsin - Extension

The Impact Indicator Workshop in the Wisconsin Dells, March 13-14 drew 59 participants from the four divisions of UW-Extension representing many locations and institutions around the state.

Provost and Vice Chancellor Kevin Reilly opened the 1.5 day workshop with an introduction and overview of the UW-Extension Impact Indicator Initiative. He challenged participants to incorporate evaluation into their programming not only to demonstrate accountability but to communicate value and improve programming.

Throughout Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning, participants actively engaged in two of four workshops designed to build skills in collecting impact data: focus group interviewing, qualitative techniques, survey design and implementation, and using existing data to measure impact. The final evaluations and comments were very favorable.

In the words of one participant, "The conference truly shows how "large" and diverse we are. This get together was a great opportunity to learn about others and build evaluation capacity."