Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

The biggest decision made was to pause survey data collection for the 2019/2020 program year. This reason was twofold. Firstly, we have already collected five years of data and there are few differences year to year and state to state. If a new state joins the study, they can individually collect data to compare against the group data. Likewise, any state can use the survey-we just ask they cite our study appropriately. In addition, the group wanted to spend the majority of their time using more intense qualitative measure to look at first-year member retention. The decision was made to focus data collection on exit interviews. The implementation team will work on larger projects of dissemination regarding importance of communication and belonging to staff and volunteers.

Based on conversations at our annual meeting, the group chose to focus time on Organization of data across the four years provide a cumulative data set by theme versus by year. This will allow the team to interpret the findings across the duration of the study to make inferences about program practices that will enhance both our recruitment and retention efforts. The findings have already given insight into the for training of both county agents/educators and volunteers is needed in organization and communication.  The qualitative team also provided insight based on the results of this effort to the team preparing for exit interviews and the development of the interview guide.

We used a lot of our time to do work as a team. The implementation team started on the communication/belonging video and a fact sheet for staff. In addition, the exit interview team began the paperwork for IRB, which was just approved.

Currently our team consists of 8 states; California, Idaho, New Jersey, Washington, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, and Wyoming. We’ve concluded collecting data via survey after five years and are finishing the analysis. Our next project is to start having in depth interviews with families who have left 4-H after their first year.   

Short-term Outcomes: We have transitioned our leadership to include co-chairs from three states. Fact sheets, webinars, and volunteer trainings have also been venues for dissemination. Our group continues to have accepted presentations at national conferences.

Adult Perceptions of First-Year Experiences in 4-H. Poster presented at the Joint Council of Extension Professionals Extension Leadership Conference, San Antonio, Texas. Hensley, S., Rea-Keywood, J., Miller, J., Cummins, M. & Hill, R. (2020, February). 

Enhancing Your Program’s Peak Performance by Engaging Stakeholders in Data Interpretation. Research Presentation at Epsilon Sigma Phi Conference, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Hill, R., Rea-Keywood, J., Hensley, S. and Fox, J. (2019, October).

Adult Perceptions of First-Year Experience in 4-H. Poster Session at Epsilon Sigma Phi Conference, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Rea-Keywood, J., Hensley, S., Miller, J., Kok, C. Cummins, M. Pracht, D. (2019, October).

Understanding Program Recruitment and Retention: Lessons Learned from 4-H Youth Development. Seminar at Epsilon Sigma Phi Conference, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Fox, J., Cummins, M. Rea-Keywood, J., and Miller, J. (2019, October).

Perceptions of First-Year Experience in 4-H (Adult). Poster Session at Epsilon Sigma Phi Conference, Colorado Springs, Colorado.  Rea-Keywood, J., Fox, J., Hill, R., & Hensley, S. (2019, October).

In addition, our team was selected fort two awards:

National Susan Barkman Research and Evaluation Award. (J. Miller, J. Rea-Keywood, S. Hensley, K. Lewis & Youth Retention Study Team), NAE4-HYDP, (2020).

National Outstanding Poster Presentation Award - Adult Perceptions of First-Year Experience in 4-H. (J. Rea-Keywood, J.C. Miller, S. Hensley, J. Fox, R. Hill, & K. Lewis), Epsilon Sigma Phi, (2019).

Outputs: Since our last report, the group has created a centralized pubic website to disseminate our project and share findings (https://ucanr.edu/sites/4-H_YouthRetentionStudy/). In addition, our team created a two-minute video for leaders that give tips on how to welcome new members. This topic was selected based on our research findings which show belonging and communication are consistently topics new families mention when talking about their experiences as first-year members. The video has been shared over 27 times and has over 1.3 thousand views. 

Activities: Based on the conversations at our 2020 annual meeting the group decided to stop collecting data via the current survey. There was so much qualitative data from the survey, we’re still analyzing some of it. In addition, there wasn’t much change year to year or state to state. The group feels we have an excellent baseline on which to move forward. The next big project is to transition to exit interviews for families who have participated in 4-H for one year and have chosen no to re-enroll. IRB exemption has been cleared in three states and interviews will begin in 2021.

Two publications are currently being reviewed by journals, while multiple others are being written and will be ready for submission soon.