PREPARING THE EXTENSION PROGRAM SECTION

OF THE APPLICATION FOR PERMANENT STATUS

AND/OR PROMOTION

WILLIAM R. SUMMERHILL

PROFESSOR EMERITUS

IFAS PERSONNEL AFFAIRS

JUNE 1998

PREPARING THE EXTENSION PROGRAM SECTION OF THE

APPLICATION FOR PERMANENT STATUS AND/OR PROMOTION

INTRODUCTION

The Extension Program Section is a major and very important component of the application for permanent status and/or promotion. In this section, Extension faculty present their programmatic work and accomplishments for the time period for which permanent status and/or promotion is being considered.

This paper discusses the relationship between the faculty member's description of job duties and the organization and content of the Extension Program Section, the essential components of the program section and suggested content of each, and the significance of each section to the total presentation of the applicant's programmatic efforts and accomplishments.

                                                    DESCRIPTION OF JOB DUTIES

The foundation and guiding framework for organizing the Extension Program Section is the faculty member's description of his/her job duties or assignments during the time period under consideration. The description of job duties should delineate the major areas of assignment. The applicant may wish to provide a percentage breakdown for each. A succinct example of a description of job duties is as follows:

"The County Extension Director provides leadership and coordination for the total county extension educational effort in agriculture, family, youth and community sciences, 4-H youth and community resource development. The County Extension Director is directly responsible for the development, delivery, and evaluation of educational programs in livestock and forages, energy and water, and 4-H agriculture. He also manages the administrative affairs of the County Extension office.

Specific duties by percentage of FTE are:

Livestock and Forage....................................35%

Energy and Water..........................................25%

4-H Agriculture.............................................15%

Overall Program Leadership.........................15%

Administration/Management........................10%

One would expect to find each of these job assignment specifically addressed in the Extension Program segment of the application packet, logically in the order listed. They may be addressed as such or serve as a broad heading under which more specific programs within that job assignment would be identified and addressed (livestock and forage being further subdivided into beef and dairy, for example). Plans of work and annual accomplishment reports developed during the time period involved should be useful in determining and effective organizational scheme, as well as serve as a key source of information for the content of each section.

Organizing the Extension Program Section to directly track with the job duties as they are listed facilitates the reader's conceptualization and understanding of the content of the report in relation to the assigned duties. A different format may cause the reader to have to sort through the material to try to ascertain what was done in a particular assignment. Job duties that are not addressed at all raise questions about what happened and leave the report incomplete.

Descriptions of job duties prepared by county Extension faculty for permanent status/promotion packets are provided in sample packets. Each is written somewhat differently, but they all illustrate the basis concept discussed above.

                                                EXTENSION PROGRAM

Again, it is emphasized that the description of job duties provides a useful basis for organizing the Extension Program Section. To help the reader, some writers briefly reiterate the job duties in an introductory paragraph to the program section. For example:

"During the period covered by this application, this faculty member's primary assignment
were in livestock and forage, energy and water, 4-H agriculture, overall program leadership, and administration."

In continuity with this statement of job duties, the first segment of the Extension Program section would address the livestock and forage program. The writeups on livestock and forage and subsequent assignment areas (energy and water, etc.), or if livestock and forage was further subdivided into beef and dairy, should each contain five components: program title, situation (including target audiences(s)), program objectives, (expressed in terms of change to occur in clientele or their situation), educational efforts (activities), and program accomplishment/impacts. These components are the same as found in the plan of work format for major programs, and in the format for annual accomplishment reports.

Program Title: The program title sets forth the specific focus of the program being reported. It should clearly and succinctly convey the nature of the program, in essence serving as an abbreviated description. For example: "Improving the Quality of Beef Cattle and Forage", "Reduction of Farm/Ranch Energy Use", "Improving Water Quality", "Improving Nutrition of Senior Citizens", etc. Catchy logos and/or titles used in promotional efforts, or straight subject matter listing (Beef/Forage, Foods and Nutrition, etc.) do not clearly describe the essence of the program.

Situation: The situation statement should be a very focused, localized, and succinct overview of the program rationale. In other words, why is this program important and who is/are the intended audience(s)? Inclusion of this component assures that the scope and impact of the program effort is seen within a meaningful situational context. The situation statement enables the reader to obtain a feel for the extensiveness and significance of the problem addressed by the educational program. Again, this should be brief and focused.

Program Objectives: The program objectives should be clear concise statements of the major intended outcomes of the program, i.e., the major changes that were expected to be made by the participants (target audiences). These may be expressed in terms of change in economic or social status, changes in practices, knowledge, attitudes, skills, etc. The objectives are derived directly from the situation statement, therefore the tie with the situation statement should be obvious.

Educational Effort or Activities: In this section, the nature and extent of the educational efforts are delineated, i.e., a succinct but comprehensive and sequential synopsis of the actual teaching/learning activities (number and type of meeting held, newsletters developed, mass media work done, demonstrations held, etc.) carried out during the time period, including cooperative endeavors with other groups and agencies. Again there should be a clear tie between the educational efforts and the objectives.

Accomplishments: In this section, the results of the educational efforts are reported. These should directly speak to and be reported in the same order as the objectives previously stated. Here is where the reader is informed of the extent to which the stated objectives were reached, or the progress to date in reaching them. Relevant information on other impacts of the program should also be included. The results should be quantifiable and provide clear evidence of progress made. Included should be numbers of clientele involved (reached) through the programs, and changes that occurred within them or their situation. This could include changes in their knowledge, attitudes skills, changes in the way they do things (practices), and/or the consequences of their using the information and adopting the practices taught in the educational program (end results).

OTHER PROGRAMMATIC EFFORTS

There may be other significant program activities and accomplishments that should be reported but do not directly relate to one of the major program responsibilities listed in the description of job duties. In other words, there may be certain significant efforts that tend to stand alone, such as work with an overall advisory committee, a community development effort, etc. These should not be left out, and may be reported under a heading of Other Programmatic Efforts, with a brief summary paragraphs devoted to each.

                                                                SUMMARY

The presentation of each of the major program responsibilities as delineated by the description of job duties, or subsections thereof, should contain five components: a title, a brief situational statement, a concise statement of objectives, a summary of educational efforts, and a statement of accomplishments or progress to date. There should be a clear and obvious relationship or common thread among the components, i.e., the situational statement should clearly relate to the title, the objectives should clearly relate to the situational statement, the activities should clearly relate to the objectives, and the accomplishments should provide evidence of reaching or making progress toward the objectives. A well written Extension Program Section does not guarantee the receipt of permanent status or promotion. However, a well written program section can greatly facilitate "putting one's best foot forward" as the faculty member's accomplishments are being considered.