Multistate & Integrated- How Do I Report Here??

As you keep working through this year's reporting, you may be wondering about these two lines on your My Reporting page in AIMS:

These two boxes are commonly overlooked when reporting on AIMS, but carry a lot of importance.

• Integrated time reflects work done that supports both Extension and Research work, such as assisting with research trials. Extension receives funding to carry out these integrated activities and must report back to NIFA at the end of the program year. 
• Multi-State time reflects work done that crosses statelines. One example would be the Four State Fair or National 4-H Congress. This time also must be reported back to NIFA at the year end. 

Things to remember when you have done any work that falls into these categories are:

• Report your Integrated or Multi-State time in BOTH the Program Planning & Delivery Time and the respective box (Integrated or Multi-State). For example, if you spent four hours in a committee meeting for a multistate program, report those four hours in Program Planning & Delivery box, as well as in the Multi-State Extension Activity box.
• Multi-State Activity time must also be tied to a named program (i.e. eXtension or Mid-South Entomologists), so please select the program from the pre-populated drop-down menu that will appear once you enter in your time. If your program is not listed, please select "Other" and name the program in the text box.
• If you forget to enter in your Integrated and/or Multi-state time, do not worry. You can add it in now to catch up. Just keep in mind, the Program Planning & Delivery Time must be GREATER or EQUAL TO the amount you place in Integrated and Multi-state. So if you are catching up and you forgot the enter two hours in Integrated, make sure you have two hours to report in that same objective area. Do not duplicate your hours you have already reported. 

If you have any questions about reporting to Integrated and Multi-State, feel free to contact Diane Mashburn by email (dmashburn@uaex.edu) or phone (501-671-2351).

Impact Reporting Doesn't Begin in September

Impact reporting doesn't begin in September, it starts when your programs are being planned.  It continues along every step of your program.  Since we are preparing for the final stages of this year's impact reporting... I wanted to share a few tips found on North Dakota State University Extension's site:

As you think about what was accomplished, ask yourself these questions:

Impact Still Relevant

While not everything from 2003 is still relevant...
When it comes to Impacts and Program Development, this Journal of Extension article still is: 

 

Just a little heads up - impact reports will be due on October 5th again this year.  I will do my best to have information to get your prepared here on the AIMS Help site.

 

"Because funding is no longer 'automatic,' proving value and relevance is more important than ever." (Diem, 2003)

 

Follow the AIMS Help blog to keep up with the latest in regards to the Arkansas Extension impact.

 

It Happened... Your Impacts...

It happened… Tony prepared to meet with several legislators and wanted copies of your Impact reports.  Guess what?  As Amy reviewed the county impact reports for printing, there were several that she deemed unacceptable for Tony’s use (I am paraphrasing!).  Just in case you didn’t know, you can go in and see what everyone sees.  Here is how:

Log on to AIMS – http://aims.uaex.edu

Scroll over results and select “FY2012 and above”

Scroll all the way down to Section V. Impact Reports and select “More…”

• 

(Hold down the Control key to manually override pop-up blockers.)

You should see what Tony (or anyone else for that matter!) when they run a report for your county.  Are you okay with what they will find? 

Are they how you would want your county represented to the world?

Your Volunteer Data Matters

Why is it so important to have your volunteer data in AIMS? 
Check out this site and how your reported data compares to other Extension Services around the nation:  http://excellencedata.tamu.edu/Volunteer/

*To clarify their "Other" category includes our Extension Homemaker volunteers as well as all audiences other than 4-H and Master Gardeners.

Case of Writer's Block?

So you have a case of writer's block and can't seem to figure how to write your impact report??? 

Writing Better Outcomes (NIFA)



This link contains some ideas on writing your Impact report.  This presentation was developed by our Federal stakeholder, NIFA (National Institute of Food and Agriculture).  While it is intended for the NIFA Plan of Work and Report of Accomplishments, it is also good to think about for your Impact Reports.

AIMS Closes October 5th @ 4:30 p.m.

8 full days left before AIMS closes for FY2011... Are you ready? 

AIMS will close on October 5th, 2011 at 4:30p.m. Central time. 
Be sure to have your data entered before the system shuts down. 

At that time, the following major categories of data should be in the system:

• Time (Planning/Delivery Hours, Integrated Hours, and Multi-state Hours)
• Contacts/Methods (Direct, Indirect, Volunteerism, Etc.)
• Baseline Indicators
• Outcome Indicators

*FY11 Impact Reporting requirements have changed for County Staff, please see AIMS Help for more information.*

NOTE:  If it has been a while since you have logged on to AIMS or SPOT, please log on at your earliest convenience- check your password and make sure that you can get into the system.  If you are unable to get in, please contact the IT Call Center at (501) 671-2255 or callcenter@uaex.edu.

Questions about AIMS or need more information?  Contact me, Nikki Davidson at kndavidson@uaex.edu or 501-671-2351.

FY11 Impact Reporting Changes

There are changes to the Impact reporting requirements for FY2011.

Dr. Windham presented his changes to the Impact reporting process for counties in this September 21, 2011 Centra session. If you missed it, view the session's recording by clicking on the link.
(Click the link and then "Run" and "Run" and the recording should appear on your screen.)

Program Area Impact Report templates (M.I.S.C. - 097) are posted under the Miscellaneous Templates at: http://intranet.uaex.edu/policy/Templates/template_misc.asp 
Click on each and save them for your county's use.

Note: Instructions will be posted soon for the templates...and no, they are not in a foreign language.  Lorem Ipsum is used a place holder for where you can fill in your own text.  :)

To summarize and answer some of your frequently asked questions:

• Each county will be responsible for posting one Program Area Impact Report per program area (4-H, ANR, CED, and FCS).
• For FY2011 (this year), agents will not be required to submit 3 impact statements in AIMS.  You may still submit Impacts through the AIMS system... to fulfill a request by a specialist or so that you will have them on file for future years.
• These documents will REPLACE the previous M.I.S.C - 097 template.  Use them accordingly for your County's Program Review.
• SNAP-Ed reporting requirements are not affected by this change, please consult the SNAP-Ed team with any questions regarding SNAP-Ed reporting.
• Deadline for AIMS reporting is October 5th, 2011 at 4:30p.m.  All time, contacts, baseline, and outcome data should be entered in the system by that time.
• Deadline for posting new Program Area Impact Reporting PDFs to AIMS will be October 17th.
• When AIMS opens for FY2012, there will be an area to post Program Area Impact Reports.  You will not be able to post them to the system until that time. 
• You may use the templates for your own stakeholder reporting as well.  You are encouraged to use the templates to supplement your performance narratives as well. 

Please continue to send your questions to me, Nikki Davidson, at kndavidson@uaex.edu or 501-671-2351. 

 

Moving Towards Public Value: What Are You Measuring?

Are you measuring the right outcomes? 

As we move towards capturing and sharing the public value of Extension work, we need to make sure what outcomes we are measuring.  This article by Nancy Franz, Iowa State University articulates the struggle of addressing this as a movement as opposed to simply responding to the economic environment.

Read the full article here.

Advancing the Public Value Movement: Sustaining Extension During Tough Times

Abstract
Extension must more fully and adeptly embrace the public value movement to be sustainable as a publicly funded organization, or our demise as an organization will continue. The public value steps outlined here and piloted with several Extension systems and national work groups can be informative for others interested in capturing and sharing the public value of Extension work. Overall, the Extension public value banner needs to be held high as we struggle to change the perception of our work by addressing this as a "movement" in our organizational development and not a "response" to the economic environment.

Keywords: public, value, movement, economic, accountability

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Nancy K. Franz
Associate Dean for Extension and Outreach for Families and 4-H Youth
Director Iowa State Extension to Families
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa
nfranz@iastate.edu

Check Out This JOE Article For Ideas On Showing Impact and Outcomes

Strategies for Ensuring High-Impact Outreach and Scholarship

Abstract
How do you become an effective Extension professional—produce scholarly work, provide strong educational programs for clientele, and show impact and outcomes? It requires proactive planning so that valuable impact can be measured and shared with appropriate stakeholders. Learn how the Department of 4-H Youth Development, Rutgers Cooperative Extension uses a programming model that makes scholarship a natural part of everyday work. Expand and enhance your Extension scholarship while highlighting and strengthening local program efforts.

Keywords: impact, scholarship, programming

---

Ginny Powell
Assistant Director, Rutgers Cooperative Extension
Chair, Department of 4-H Youth Development
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
New Brunswick, New Jersey
gpowell@njaes.rutgers.edu

 

View the entire article at:  http://www.joe.org/joe/2011february/tt2.php