Introduction and Background Information

In 1999 all counties in Texas actively engaged in the inaugural Texas Community Futures Forum (TCFF). This process allowed individuals from diverse backgrounds to congregate at an Open Forum and identify the most pressing issues facing the county using a Nominal Group Technique. The results from this technique established a list of significant issues facing the county. The Focus Forum followed the Open Forum to provide a structured planning procedure to implement programming established through the issues previously identified in the Open Forum. The Focus Forum was designed to bring together experts from government agencies, community organizations and Open Forum participants to design structured planning procedures from the issues that surfaced at the Open Forum. The stakeholders from the county and other agency representatives were advised to work in collaboration with existing county Extension professionals to develop ways to address these issues.

Over the last two years, County Extension Agents developed, facilitated, and coordinated educational programs for their communities based on these issues. Also, County Extension Agents collaborated with other educational agencies to implement programming efforts for issues outside the technical expertise and capacity of the agency.

The initial long range planning schedule is being slightly modified to allow for continuation of Extension programming. This will allow sufficient time to strengthen the programming efforts that surfaced as a result of the 1999 TCFF process. This also allows time for each county to reflect and validate their programming efforts to help reemphasize the importance of developing programs that stakeholders identify as a priority in their specific communities. Moreover, County Extension Agents will validate these programming efforts and use this time to reestablish issues and refocus programming efforts if needed. This might include the establishment of new, high priority issues that have surfaced after since 1999.

Texas Community Futures Forum Progress Reports

In March of 2002, each County Extension Office was asked to provide a Texas Community Futures Forum Progress Report on the current status of their individual county. This included a section describing the identified issue, goal, response, and outcome of the implemented program. The objective of the progress report was to help determine the status of the issue based programming identified during the 1999 TCFF process. Also, it provided each county with the ability to reevaluate the 1999 issues and determine the next step to continue the county’s programming efforts. Equally as important, it provided a unique opportunity to acknowledge the work community individuals performed through the Open and Focus Forums and update these participants on educational response pertaining to the issues.

The following pages outline the steps each county should use to offer feedback and updates on the current programming efforts that have been implemented.

I - The Validation Process

The purpose of the validation process is to provide our stakeholders (Extension Program Councils, county committees, county task forces, Open and Focus Forum participants, etc.) with an update on the local county programming efforts. The validation process has been designed to show progress on identified TCFF issues from 1999, set future goals with these issues, identify any new issues, and receive feedback on the 1999 TCFF process so that proper adjustments can be made before the 2004 Texas Community Futures Forum.

Using (1.)Texas Community Futures Forum issues identified in 1999 and (2.) the 2002 Progress Report, all County Extension Agents, District Extension Directors, County Extension Directors, and the county’s Extension Program Council should look over these data as a validation process to review the issue based programming performed since 1999. These reports can be downloaded in PDF or HTML format.

In order to begin the validation process, each county should go to the website and follow the instructions below.

http://extensioneducation.tamu.edu/tcff/

Step 1 - Log-on and Provide County Information

Once at the website, the user will type in the county name and password. The password is the county identification number. The first time the county logs in, the user will be asked to provide:

- County faculty names;

- County office mailing address; and

- County office phone number;

These data will be included in the final summary report that will be generated at the end of the process.

Step 2 - Review Data and Edit Progress Reports

Once this information is entered, the user will then move to the next page that has two options. These two options are:

(1) View 1999 Data - This link provides background information for the County Extension Agent on the data that were generated in 1999. Specifically, it allows them to return to the 1999 data to see all the issues that were identified and prioritized during the open and focus forums.

(2) Edit/Print Progress Report - This link provides an opportunity for the County Extension Agent to update and edit the progress reports pertaining to the issues identified in 1999. Almost every county has already placed this information into the system. This simply allows each county to make any necessary corrections before moving on to step 3.

Step 3 - Meet with Extension Program Councils (and other County Committees) & Validate Issues

Each identified TCFF issue should be evaluated individually to determine the future plans for programming efforts. This should be done with the county EPC’s, committees, task forces, etc. to determine the next programming steps. Once the status is determined, the user will return to the website and click on the “Validate Status of 1999 Issues” link to provide a response to each issue. The “Validate Status of 1999 Issues” link asks for an update on the current status of issues. The choices are: (1) Not Started, (2) In Progress, (3) Completed, (4) Response was Handled by Another Agency.

Step 4 - Followup with the Open/Focus Forum Participants & Other Noted Stakeholders

Once the county faculty is comfortable with the results from steps 1-3, they will develop a communication strategy to update the Open and Focus Forum participants and other stakeholders on the issue based programming that has been implemented since the 1999 TCFF process.

Various methods may be considered for effectively communicating the progress made in appraising TCFF issues. Please discuss these methods in office conference and select the one method that best fits the county. Some methods include, but are not limited to:

(1) General Meeting - This communication strategy involves bringing together of the Open and Focus Forum participants and other stakeholders to celebrate the programming success from 1999. This can certainly be completed within an Extension Program Council Meeting or any other Extension meeting the county is planning.

(2) Hard Copy Mailing - This communication strategy involves mailing of information to the Open and Focus Forum participants and other stakeholders.

(3) Electronic Communication - This communication strategy includes both email and/or web pages to update 1999 Open & Focus Forum participants and other identified stakeholders.

(4) Other - There could certainly be other strategies to communicate as well.

After selecting the communication strategy, contact the District Extension Director/County Extension Director and let them know what has been selected.

Step 5 - Gain Feedback

After the county has decided on the communication strategy, it is time to ask the 1999 Open & Focus Forum participants and other identified stakeholders to provide feedback on the following three items.

(1) Reveal Progress - This is the opportunity to use the data entered in the TCFF Progress Reports to reveal the programming efforts planned, implemented, and/or evaluated. Again, most counties have already completed this information during the spring of 2002 when they entered information for the progress reports.

(2) New Issues - This is also the time to ask these participants if they have any new issues that have surfaced since 1999. There are certainly some “high priority issues” that need immediate attention, and these are the individuals that can identify them for the county.

The results from the Followup with the Open/Focus Forum Participants and identified stakeholders (in many cases) might reveal new issues that must be addressed immediately. If this happens, then the county will need to return to the website (http://extensioneducation.tamu.edu/tcff/) and add these issues under the link “Add New Issues”

(3) Recommendations for 2004 TCFF - Please ask them how they think Texas Cooperative Extension can be better served by improvements to the TCFF process.

If the Open/Focus Forum Participants and identified stakeholders provide recommendations for the 2004 TCFF process, simply add this information to the database by clicking on the “recommendation” link.

Attachment 1 is a communication strategy worksheet.

Step 6 - Working with the New Issues

County Extension Agents will incorporate any necessary new issues into their existing annual programming. It is important to note that there could be newly identified issues that fall outside the scope of Texas Cooperative Extension. Using the same directions from 1999, these identified issues can be handed to other agencies.

New issue teams (or individual subject matter specialists) will be identified for assistance to County Extension Agents pertaining to these high priority issues. These will generally be small groups that are more subject matter and/or regionally focused. After a short data interpretation time, County Extension Agents will be provided with immediate contact information so they can effectively partner with these issue teams (or individuals) to develop and/or implement educational programs on a specific issue. Issue teams, individual subject matter specialists, and/or District and County Extension Directors will support agents in addressing these new priorities.

Step 7 - Marketing & Accountability Throughout the County

After the follow-up and incorporation of prioritized issues, it is essential that counties communicate their past issues, responses, and any new issues that have become relevant. This communication strategy should be comprised of both internal and external plans. Internally, county committees, boards, commissioners, legislators, and other identified stakeholders need to know the educational response and noted progress in addressing TCFF issues in addition to any new identified issues that are going to be tackled.

Equally as important is the external communication between the County Extension Office and the community as a whole. Some examples of this communication strategy include developing a narrative for the newspaper, radio announcements, a county website containing an executive summary, a public meeting, in addition to any other public outlets that reveal how Extension has responded to the educational needs of the community and future plans.

Marketing & Accountability Throughout the County - It is imperative to provide the community with an update on the programming efforts the county has implemented. The website provides the opportunity to download a report that shows:

(1) Program Progress from 1999 Issues

(2) Current Status of 1999 Issues

(3) Any Newly Identified Issues from Validation Process

(4) Contact Information for the County Office

Checklist

This checklist provides a brief description of the steps county staffs will want to consider when validating programming efforts and identifying new issues. Please place a check next to each step once it is completed.

THE DEADLINE FOR COMPLETING THE STEPS IS: DECEMBER 13, 2002

____ Thoroughly review this document and schedule a conference to review with coworkers and develop a strategy.

____ Visit the TCFF Validation Website at: http://extensioneducation.tamu.edu/tcff/

____ After clicking on the website, review the 1999 data and edit/print the current progress reports.

____ Evaluate each identified TCFF issue individually to determine the future plans for programming efforts. Once the decision is made, click back on the website and enter the status of each issue by clicking on “Validate Status of 1999 Issues”

____ Determine a communication strategy to update the Open & Focus Forum Participants and other stakeholders on the progress of issues they helped to identify in 1999.

____ After the county has decided on the communication strategy, it is time to ask the 1999 Open & Focus Forum participants and other stakeholders to provide feedback on “Revealing Progress” made concerning each issue, identify any new, high priority issues, and provide any recommendations for the 2004 TCFF issues (Attachment 1 provides a sample outline).

____ Return to (http://extensioneducation.tamu.edu/tcff/) and add any new issues that surfaced from the 1999 TCFF Open & Focus Forum participants and other stakeholders. Click on “Add New Issues” to complete this task.

____ Return to (http://extensioneducation.tamu.edu/tcff/) and list the documented recomendations from the Open & Focus Forum participants and other stakeholders. Click on “Recommendations” to complete this task.

____ Communicate the progress your county has made. The website provides the opportunity to download a final report that shows Program Progress from 1999 Issues, Current Status of 1999 Issues, Any Newly Identified Issues from Validation Process, and Contact Information for the County Office.

____ Let your supervisor know when the county has completed these steps.

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If you have any questions, please contact:

Chris Boleman, Extension Program Specialist, Extension Education Unit, Department of Agricultural Education, email: ct-boleman@tamu.edu, 979/845-7280
Dr. Scott Cummings, Assistant Professor, Extension Evaluation Specialist, Extension Education Unit, Department of Agricultural Education, email: s-cummings@tamu.edu, 979/847-9388