Annual/Termination Reports:

[01/31/2000] [01/31/2001]

Report Information

Participants

Katie Smith, Auburn University;
Linda Benedict, Louisiana State University;
Frankie Gould, Louisiana State University;
Tom Knecht, Mississippi State University;
Bonnie Coblentz, Mississippi State University;
Robyn Hearn, Mississippi State University;
Debbie Nettles, Mississippi State University;
Rebekah Ray, Mississippi State University;
Chuck Woods, University of Florida;
Randy Weckman, University of Kentucky;
Lynette James, Texas A&M University;
Penny Banks, Texas A&M University;
Audrey Trotman, Tuskegee University;
Angela Corbett, South Carolina State University;
Lamar James, University of Arkansas;
Fred Miller, University of Arkansas;
Bob Reynolds, University of Arkansas;
R. Larry Rogers, Louisiana State University, and Co-Chair SERA TF-10;
Tom Helms, Mississippi State University, and Executive Director, SAESD;
David Foster, University of Arkansas, and Co-Chair SERA TF-10;
Terry Meisenbach, USDA-CSREES, coordinator of the National Impact Initiative;

Brief Summary of Minutes

(See Minutes)

Accomplishments

(See Minutes)

Publications

Impact Statements

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Report Information

Participants

Dr. David Foster, Administrative Advisor (Extension Service), Oklahoma State University;
Dr. Tom Knecht, Administrative Advisor (Experiment Station), Mississippi State University;
Ms. Linda Benedict, Co-chair, Louisiana State University;
Ms. Catherine Smith, Co-chair, Auburn University;
Ms. Patricia Clark, University of Tennessee;
Ms. Bonnie Coblentz, Mississippi State University;
Ms. Angela Corbett, South Carolina State University;
Mr. Lamar James, University of Arkansas;
Ms. Lynette James, Texas A&M University;
Mr. Howell Medders, University of Arkansas;
Mr. Fred Miller, University of Arkansas;
Mr. Bob Reynolds, University of Arkansas;
Dr. Randy Weckman, University of Kentucky;

Brief Summary of Minutes

The 2001 annual meeting of SERA-IEG-28 was hosted by the University of Arkansas at the offices of the Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service in Little Rock on January 23-24. Arrangements for the meeting were made by Mr. Bob Reynolds, Director of Communications and Marketing, and his staff. A pre-meeting dinner was held at the Arkansas 4-H Center on the evening of January 22. Participants were welcomed by Mr. Reynolds.



The annual business meeting was convened on the morning of January 23 by Dr. David Foster, Administrative Advisor. Dr. Foster welcomed attendees and informed them of two upcoming changes. Dr. Larry Rogers will be retiring February 28, 2001, and thus will no longer be able to serve as administrative advisor to the group. Dr. Tom Knecht, Head of the Office of Agricultural Communications at Mississippi State University, has been appointed to succeed him. In addition, a Southern Region Extension Service executive director, a position parallel to that of Dr. Tom Helms, executive director the Southern Region Association of Agricultural Experiment Station Directors, has been established and is expected to be filled by July 1, 2001.



It was noted that SERA-IEG-28 was initiated approximately four years ago and held its initial meeting at Louisiana State University in 1998. Subsequent annual meetings and impact writing workshops have been held at Auburn University (1999), Mississippi State University (2000), and University of Arkansas (2001). Since SERA=s are authorized for a five-year period, it will be necessary during the coming year to request renewal of the group=s authorization if the effort is to continue. This provides a good opportunity to review the effectiveness of activities conducted to date as a basis for recommending whether the group should be reauthorized for another five years and, if so, whether changes should be made to enhance its effectiveness.



The number of participants in this year=s meeting and workshop was seven fewer than in 2000. At the time of the meeting, three states in the Southern Region had not yet submitted impact statements to the national database, and it was not known whether they plan to submit items this year. Five of the states in the region (Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Virginia) that had previously participated in the meetings did not send representatives this year. (Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have not participated in the past.) Although conflicts with other events and responsibilities may have prevented some from participating, concern was expressed that the regional effort may not be as well supported as in the past.



Much of the ensuing discussion focused on the purpose of the regional impact process and the activities that have been carried out at the annual workshops. The initial purpose of regional impact committees was to screen and strengthen impact statements submitted by individual states to ensure their validity and usefulness to the national impact writing team. The Southern Region group, at its initial meeting, also decided to compile regional impact fact sheets entitled ASouthern Successes@ at each year=s regional workshop.



Providing information in a concise form to the national writing team has not only facilitated the work of that group but has also resulted in Southern Region institutions being very well represented in the national impact reporting process. However, it was recognized that public support for land-grant research, extension, and teaching programs depends on state and federal legislative bodies and that there is no relevant decision-making body to address at the regional level. Hence there is no clearly defined audience for regional impact sheets other than the national writing team. The regional impact sheets have had limited utility in working with public decision makers in individual states.



Under the leadership of chair Catherine (Katie) Smith, the group therefore agreed to alter the process and focus the current year=s workshop efforts on three activities: (1) sorting the impact statements by subject area, (2) identifying the best impact statements in each topic area (that is, selecting statements on topics of strong current interest that depict bona fide impacts), and (3) revising those impact statements as necessary to enhance clarity and conciseness. These revised statements will be submitted to the national impact writing team.



A discussion about continuation of SERA-IEG-28 beyond the initial five-year authorization centered on the value of the group=s past activities and on ways to best meet the needs of system administrators for impact information to support legislative relations and marketing activities. The possibility of developing a broader range of options for the packaging and use of impact data C for example, publicizing the national database to media representatives and developing articles for specialized national magazines C was explored. Another suggestion was to conduct training on impact statement writing for scientists and Extension personnel at professional society meetings and other venues. Also discussed was the possibility of giving increased emphasis to the capture and reporting of impacts of multistate and regional activities, which are not well represented in current state-by-state impact reporting efforts. Such reports are expected to be of value to administrators in defending budget requests for formula funding and in demonstrating compliance with requirements for devoting a percentage of federal resources to multistate, multiinstitutional, and multidisciplinary programs. It was recommended that the regional Experiment Station and Extension Service executive directors be asked to identify regional activities that would be suitable subjects for future impact reports about regional projects.



All participants were asked to send their suggestions for future directions and activities of the group to Katie Smith by February 15, 2001. She will summarize the suggestions and draft recommendations to be discussed in April or May 2001 with Dr. Tom Helms and with the executive director for the Southern Region Association of Extension Service Directors, a position to which a person will likely be named by mid-April 2001. After obtaining feedback from these executive directors, the recommendations will be refined and an opportunity sought to present them to the Experiment Station and Extension Service directors when they meet jointly in Oklahoma City in July 2001.



Future chairmanship of SERA-IEG-28 was discussed. In light of the excellent leadership that has been given thus far and because the coming year will be pivotal in determining the future of the group, it was the consensus of those present to ask Ms. Katie Smith (Auburn University) to continue to serve as chair and Ms. Linda Benedict and Ms. Frankie Gould (both of Louisiana State University) to serve as co-chairs for an additional year.



The SERA-IEG-28 business meeting adjourned at approximately 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, January 23, and the group focused on sorting, enhancing, and compiling impact statements on Tuesday afternoon, completing its work on Wednesday, January 24, 2001.

Accomplishments

(See Minutes)

Publications

Impact Statements

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