Building Extension's Public Value

Congratulations to the 2010 grantees of the North Central Risk Management Education Center! The summer training workshop for the 2010 project directors will be in Indianapolis, IN, August 10-11. As part of the workshop, I will present a customized version of the "Building Extension's Public Value" workshop, tentatively titled, "Creating Public Value with Your Educational Project."

If you are a NCRMEC grantee and will attend the August workshop, what would most like to see at the public value session? What questions do you have about BEPV and how other programs have used it? Share your ideas in the comments section here, or email me. I look forward to seeing you in Indy!

Posted by Laura Kalambokidis at 1:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Across the country, Cooperative Extension organizations are adopting a variety of strategies for training their staff in the public value approach. University of Missouri appointed an "MU Extension Public Value Education Team," who subsequently offered "Building Extension's Public Value" training to all of MU Extension. Some states introduced the training to a particular program area (Family and Consumer Sciences in North Carolina, and Community Resource Development in New York and Pennsylvania). Nevada, in contrast, introduced it in selected regions.

University of Georgia Extension has chosen to introduce public value training as part of a professional development program for the organization's leaders--and future leaders. Last week I taught the BEPV workshop for Georgia's "ExTEND" group: participants in an advanced program of the Extension Academy for Professional Excellence. I look forward to seeing how the ExTEND group chooses to use the training--how they plan to extend their organization's public value.

What approach do you think will work best to build support for public funding for Extension programs? BEPV training for everyone? For Extension leadership? Rolling out the concepts by program area or region? Or another approach?

Posted by Laura Kalambokidis at 8:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

University of Missouri Extension's Stay Strong, Stay Healthy program (SSSH) is a strength training program that leads older adults to feel more active, flexible, and energetic. The SSSH team has created a public value message that they use to generate awareness and support for the program. Here is the message, complete with an estimate of health-related cost savings, excerpted from the program website:

"When you support MU Extension's Stay Strong, Stay Healthy program, participants will increase their physical activity and may improve strength, balance and flexibility, resulting in reduced risk for falls, better overall health and greater independence. These health benefits decrease the likelihood of a participant entering a nursing home, which costs on average $24,455 per year in Missouri. The money saved benefits the community by keeping more discretionary income in circulation locally. It also keeps people actively, independently contributing to society longer."

Do you have a similar program in your state? How do you explain your program's public value?

Posted by Laura Kalambokidis at 4:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)