1. Conducting Needs Assessments for UF/IFAS Extension
Amy Harder, Professor & Director of PDEC

2. Agenda Welcome and opening comments Overview of the process
Questions for the review
Developing the final report
Interviewing and listening techniques
Final thoughts/questions

3. Purpose of the Reviews
To assist counties in their efforts to plan and deliver high quality extension programs for their clientele
To strengthen the overall quality of extension programming in Florida

4. Intended Short-term Outcomes
Increased awareness of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for each county undergoing review
Target audience: County and state staff
Secondary audience: County stakeholders
How you accomplish this: Develop a detailed report with an emphasis on opportunities for action – specific recommendations

5. Intended Medium- and Long-term Outcomes
Counties develop and implement strategic plan based on recommendations in final report
One-year accountability report and survey of county faculty
Improved social, economic and environmental conditions in the county, as appropriate for each program

6. Final Product
Comprehensive, external analysis of the county extension unit presented in a concise summary report
Results are summarized across all units and are presented to UF/IFAS Extension administration

7. The Review Booklet Review Schedule County Description Mission
County Profile
County Budget
Organizational Chart
Demographics
Economic Impacts
Faculty Bios
Advisory Committees
4-H Enrollment Data

8. Review Team Roles Chair Supporting Team Members
Time keeper/facilitator
Responsible for submitting final report to Dr. Tom Obreza (copy Amy Harder and Dean Place) within 14 days of review
Pay for county administrator’s lunch (will be reimbursed by IFAS)
Supporting Team Members
Take turns as “lead” for Q&A with faculty and stakeholders
Provide programmatic leadership for the development of the final report

9. Program Presentations and Faculty Dialogue
Suggested Format – divide up the questions
Recommended questions can be found on the CPR Web site:
Program expert is the “lead” for the discussion
Everyone will probably lead at least once
Responsible for any “technical” questions
Chair is responsible for making sure program presentations stay close to 15 minutes
Q&A is most important – protect time for this

10. Stakeholder Dialogue Suggested Format – divide up the questions
Recommended questions can be found on the CPR Web site:
County faculty are not allowed to stay for the stakeholder dialogue
CEDs are not allowed to attend lunch with county administrator
Stakeholder dialogue sessions should begin with a short introduction of the purpose of the review

11. Conducting a SWOT Analysis
What’s a SWOT analysis?
Organizational factors – county office only!
Strengths
Weaknesses...aka “challenges” in final report
Environmental factors
Opportunities
Threats
Useful for developing strategic plans

12. What’s the Difference? Challenge – Lack of technological expertise
County faculty and staff can be pro-active about seeking professional development in the use of technology
What is (or isn’t) happening in the county office?
Threat – Digital divide/lack of access to technology by clientele
Providing the appropriate infrastructure for clientele to access technology (e.g. high speed Internet) is not the role of Extension, but impacts what the county office is able to do
What’s happening in the big picture?

13. Developing the Final Report
Format requirements
Consistency facilitates comparison
Achieving consensus
List your individual observations during the review
Determine where consensus agreement lies first, and move those items to a final list
Spend quality time discussing observations that are not agreed upon; set them aside if they are holding up the process
Recognize the expertise of each group member
Review your final list

14. Preliminary Report
Should highlight the major components of final report; emphasize opportunities to build on strengths
Keep remarks broad, although more specific recommendations/observations may be made in final report
Leave time for questions and discussion
PowerPoint presentation optional
DEDs typically attend

15. Short-Term Outcomes from Reviews
Statement 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Increased awareness of opportunities
81.0
95.0
80.0
94.1
100
81.8
86.4
91.7
83.3
Recognized strength of programs
76.2
93.3
72.7
77.3
Increased awareness of challenges
78.6
94.7
88.2
88.9
Increased knowledge of threats
61.9
90.0
76.5
58.3
77.8
CPR process helped improve programming

16. Medium-Term Outcomes New and more representative advisory councils
Reaching previously underrepresented audiences by providing programming in new locations
New partnerships with other community organizations
Infrastructure improvements
New marketing strategies to improve visibility

17. Questions?