Recruiting and Training Program Area Committees, Task Forces, Coalitions and 4-H Youth Committees

Darrell A. Dromgoole, Associate Professor and Extension Specialist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service

Dana Tarter, Regional Program Leader for Family and Community Health/4-H and Youth Development, Central Region, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service

Scott Cummings, Associate Department Head and Program Leader; Professor and Extension Specialist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

Extension expects program area committees, task forces, coalitions and 4-H youth committees to provide a “road-map” to outline educational programs. More importantly, these programs should result in measurable clientele change such as behavior change, adoption of best practices or adoption of new technology.

This pressure on committees to assist in eliciting change is challenging. Therefore, it’s important to recruit and train advisory groups members that are visionaries. If these members are to be successful in developing innovative educational programs Extension educators must focus on the following:

1. Have the right people on the committee. Committees should be diverse in terms of demographics and thinking. Mr. Lin Wilson, District Extension Director Emeritus stated, “that if all you have on your committees are your pallbearers, you’ll never have anyone disagree with you regarding programming, but you’ll also never have a very innovative program.”
2. Ensure they can make a change. Committees should be equipped to effectively identify issues and develop innovative educational interventions to address these issues. In order to equip these advisory committees, task force, coalition and 4-H youth board members the Extension educator should strategically develop training to prepare them effectively.

Recruiting

The right people must be recruited to serve on these groups if the program is to be effective (Ripley, Cummings, Lockett, Pope, Wright, Payne, Kieth and Murphrey, 2011). So how can you recruit the right members to fulfill committee duties? Since effective members tend to attract other effective members, Extension educators should (Ripley et al., 2011)…

• Listen to the opinions and suggestions of the current advisory boards.
• Ask other community leaders to recommend future board members.
• Ask county commissioners to suggest people to represent their precincts on a committee.

Additionally, planning groups members are usually a professional in the subject that the group is addressing, have a slightly broader view of the subject, and be willing to serve for a longer period (Ripley et al., 2011).

Training

Program development in Extension is based upon a philosophy of social change (Boyle, 1981). In order to realize change Extension must mobilize and develop human resources in a manner that enables programs to be implemented most effectively (Boyle, 1981). When Extension educators are successful in mobilizing committee members, there should be purposeful orientation and training designed to ensure members are equipped to effectively serve on committees.

The primary functions of a planning group are reflected in the phases of program development (Ripley et al., 2011). The responsibilities of a committee, task force, or coalition are to assist the Extension educator in all phases of planning, delivering, evaluating, and interpreting an educational program (Ripley et al., 2011).

When training members of a committee, it is imperative that educators ensure the following (Ripley et al., 2011)…

• All planning group members clearly understand Extension and its mission.
• Educators provide a job description and a comprehensive orientation for members who are new or are not adequately trained.
• Training should be provided in the following areas to ensure that they have an understanding of all aspects of Extension:
  • History, purpose, and mandates
  • Funding sources
  • Relationship to the county and to The Texas A&M University System
  • Current programs and their development
  • The basics of the program development model. Educators should make this simple and straightforward clearly communicating that the Extension model is designed to identify issues and develop educational interventions to address those issues.
  • Role of the committee in identifying issues and planning programs to address them
  • Role of the committee members as advocates for telling Extension’s story

Remember, training should not be a single time event. To be effective, a planning group should receive training and updates throughout the year. Keep them up-to-date regarding, subject matter updates, industry trends, new or emerging technologies in the field, and leadership advancement (Ripley et al., 2011).

To help you provide continuous training, here are some ideas on topics to update committee members.

• Enlist experts to help address these topics (Ripley et al., 2011). An Extension specialist in that subject could speak at the meeting, either in person or via technology such as  Zoom, Microsoft Team, or another web based conferencing platform (Ripley et al., 2011). These opportunities enable the specialist to communicate effectively with committee members and be engaged in the county program (Ripley et al., 2011). It should be to a goal of an Extension educator to equip these committee members to effectively “read the Extension educational landscape” and provide the impetus for measurable change.
• Ask other training partners. Such as local lenders, industry leaders, or industry representatives such as a salesperson from a company in that field (Ripley et al., 2011). Extension educators should ensure that these types of presentations focus on the subject matter and does not turn into a commercial (Ripley et al., 2011). Most industry professionals welcome the opportunity to provide training in exchange for an audience with the county’s opinion leaders (Ripley et al., 2011).
• Providing specialized tours. Tours can be specifically designed to equip planning group members with information related to cutting-edge science. Examples of such tours might include:
  • Texas A&M AgriLife Extension and Research Center where researchers and Extension Specialist provides a briefing on contemporary research.
  • A commercial research facility where planning group members are provided a heads up regarding new technologies.
  • Health tours to facilities where dietitians provide planning group members with present science-based dietary recommendations.
  • A nearby College or University where relevant research is being conducted associated with human sciences, youth development or agriculture production.

The investment of time and energy into recruitment and training of planning group members will return substantial benefits to Extension programs (Ripley et al., 2011). These groups will be more engaged in all aspects of program development and will assist Extension educators in ensuring program success (Ripley et al., 2011). TO know if your committees are engaged, they will have ownership in programs, involvement in the groups’ activities, and willingness to advocate without being requested to do so (Ripley et al., 2011).

In our next installment of Next Step to Success blog, we will provide information related to recruiting and training for Leadership Advisory Boards members.

References

Boyle, P. (1981). Planning better programs. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Ripley, J., Cummings, S, Lockett, L., Pope, P., Wright, M., Payne, M., Kieth, L., & Murphrey, T. (2011). Creating Excellent Programs.  Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Publication. E-345.  Retrieved from http://agrilifecdn.tamu.edu/od/files/2010/03/E345.pdf