2018 NAEPSDP Conference

PRESENTATION DESCRIPTION
INTRODUCTION: As a result of round table discussions hosted by Purdue Extension in 2012, a statewide conference was created to address the needs of small-scale farmers in Indiana. Annually, an Extension planning team of specialists and educators, each with their own specialization in agriculture, help organize the conference activities and support a program evaluation. The Indiana Small Farm Conference now hosts annually over 400 attendees, 50 exhibitors, and several national speakers. After five years, the annual conference planning team reached a critical point regarding the direction of the program. Is the program a success? Is it achieving its goals? How can the program evolve to meet the emerging needs of small-scale farmers? Our evaluation group was tasked with answering these questions through a formal evaluation process, and development and refinement of several strategic planning documents. In the process, several issues emerged including the use of inconsistent and simultaneous evaluation approaches, tools, and reporting, a lack of clarity in program goals and direction for the conference, a disconnect with the larger agriculture discipline and logic model structure, some uncertainty about how conference attendees were experiencing the conference, and the sense of overwhelm from the efforts expended to plan, market, implement, facilitate, evaluate, and report on the conference.

PURPOSE: The evaluation group composed of an Extension evaluator and an American Evaluation Association Graduate Education Diversity Internship (GEDI) program intern, took on the challenge of evaluating the progress of the Indiana Small Farm conference annual program. Through a case study, this presentation will examine the process, explore the key activities and planning tools, and share findings from the program evaluation.

METHODS: The evaluation group reviewed conference records including five years of existing data, reporting, annual conference agendas, and website documentation. Based on the information gathered, and with input and direction from the conference planning and agriculture teams, the program logic model and outcomes were refined for clarity, feasibility, and alignment to the established program goals. Beyond existing data, a 2017 nine-month attendee follow-up survey was administered. Data collection was conducted over a seven-week period during which the participants received an email invitation with a web survey link followed by up to three email reminders. Results from the evaluation were cleaned and then analyzed using STATA 14.2 software. Overall, a total of 111 participants completed the survey for a 27.41% response rate. To enhance the survey data, in 2018 a set of 24 interviews were conducted with returning conference attendees to better understand their networking experiences at the Indiana Small Farm conference.