Extension Statewide Community Needs Assessment

Summary Reports
August 7, 2024

After a comprehensive needs assessment process that included data gathering, analysis and feedback, our partners at the PIE Center created three reports to capture key findings and recommendations for Extension. As you read the reports, you will notice that we have already begun to enact changes based on this data collection.

University of Maine Cooperative Extension Needs Assessment Programming NeedsEducational programming needs seen as the most achievable and come directly from the data collected are to:

  • Focus on audience-segmented communication and programming,
  • Develop future research to understand the needs of underrepresented groups and
  • Regularly evaluate the perceptions and needs of stakeholders.
    • Additionally, it is recommended that regular program evaluation and processes be established that are unified across the system.
    • A case study approach for implementing this process is recommended to evaluate the ease, impact, and future processes.

University of Maine Cooperative Extension Needs Assessment Organizational NeedsOrganizational needs identified in the data are great and should be reviewed every 8-10 years for progress and new identification of issues. Highlights for addressing in the immediate future are:

  • Priorities should be set based on community, staff, and general Mainer feedback in this data collection process and other internal feedback.
  • A culture of reflection should be encouraged for regular immediate and short-term feedback loops to address continued organizational needs.
  • New processes implemented in organizational management should be monitored and evaluated for effectiveness in the immediate, short, and long-term.

University of Maine Cooperative Extension Needs Assessment Marketing Profiles ExplainedMarketing of UMaine Extension was something discussed as a need across all audience groups. Data-driven highlights and examples of how the data can be used to increase marketing are:

  • Marketing programs through value-based targeted marketing.
  • Building audience relationships across programming areas.
  • Increased measurement of the return on investment of marketing efforts to determine the best use of marketing efforts.

Why are we doing this?

What are the goals?

  • Understand public awareness of UMaine Extension as a brand and a trusted source of information.
  • Provide UMaine Extension programming and resources that are based on community needs, including but not limited to, historically and currently underserved people.
  • Respond to critical issues facing Maine’s population.
  • Support rural, suburban, and urban communities.
  • Build upon UMaine Extension’s successes and decide areas of focus for the future.
  • Remain grounded in the organization’s principles and values, central to the land-grant mission.

Partner: PIE Center at UF/IFAS

After a comprehensive vetting process, a research team from the University of Florida (UF) Center for Public Issues Education was chosen to perform the statewide needs assessment. Associate Dean Bolton performed extensive interviews with administrators, faculty, researchers, and consultants from across the country to determine the most appropriate process for a statewide needs assessment. Although many universities utilize internal resources to perform their assessments, there was a clear preference among them to use an external group to help eliminate bias. Over the course of several months, the PIE Center collected data to understand the needs of Maine’s people and organizations.

Needs Assessment Process

Multiple modes of participation in the data collection process were made available to make sure employees, Extension users and partners, and non-users of Extension programs were included in the process. Options included in-person meetings, focus groups, virtual interviews, and an online survey.

Step 1: Focus groups, visits, and meetings with collaborators and partners across the state

Step 2a: Collected data online from a wide variety of interested parties

Step 2b: One-on-one Zoom interviews with interested people/groups

Step 3: Surveyed Extension, non-Extension and future Extension users

Step 4: Surveyed UMaine learners using Q-Sort, Zoom live and Q-Sort online software

Step 5: Data analysis and summary of findings

Step 6: Announce and release the Final Report on UMaine Extension website

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For additional questions or information, please contact:

Jason Bolton, Ph.D.
Associate Dean of UMaine Cooperative Extension
jason.bolton@maine.edu

University of Maine Land Acknowledgement

The University of Maine recognizes that it is located on Marsh Island in the homeland of the Penobscot Nation, where issues of water and territorial rights, and encroachment upon sacred sites, are ongoing. Penobscot homeland is connected to the other Wabanaki Tribal Nations — the Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, and Mi’kmaq — through kinship, alliances and diplomacy. The university also recognizes that the Penobscot Nation and the other Wabanaki Tribal Nations are distinct, sovereign, legal and political entities with their own powers of self-governance and self-determination.

In complying with the letter and spirit of applicable laws and pursuing its own goals of diversity, the University of Maine System does not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, transgender status, gender, gender identity or expression, ethnicity, national origin, citizenship status, familial status, ancestry, age, disability physical or mental, genetic information, or veterans or military status in employment, education, and all other programs and activities. The University provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities upon request. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies: Director of Equal Opportunity, 5713 Chadbourne Hall, Room 412, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469-5713, 207.581.1226, TTY 711 (Maine Relay System).