PROGRAM REPORTS

As a publicly funded organization, Extension is accountable to the taxpayers for the use of its resources. Extension reporting is required in order to document impact for funding sources, clientele, program supporters, and potential future funders. Federal and state mandates also require us to submit certain reports, and your input is compiled in these as well. In addition, documenting program efforts on a regular basis will be crucial for performance appraisal and promotion.

The three major reports all county faculty need to know about:

Faculty Activity Report

Impact Statements

GaCounts

Faculty Activity Report

A Faculty Activity Report (Word document) is submitted annually to the District Extension Director. The faculty activity report is the cornerstone for future dossier preparation for CEAs. The report is designed to assist in facilitating improved faculty counsel, professional management, and appropriate assignment of merit raise pools. This document may have other practical uses in judging individual faculty workload assignments and performance levels clarifying faculty administrative expectations or serving as a framework for conducting annual faculty reviews.

Impact Statements

Every faculty member is required and expected to submit at least one impact statement, which is a brief, clear summary of the social, environmental or economic impact of the faculty member’s efforts during the past year. It should state his/her accomplishments in a specific project or program and the payoff to society during the previous year. The impact statement should report measured impact on the College’s clientele in economic value or efficiency, environmental quality, social well-being or health and well-being. Impact statements must be submitted on the Web by November 1 of each year in order to be included in the College’s searchable database. A faculty member’s information could become part of the College’s response to USDA requests for impact and accountability, the College annual report for the President, reports to Congress and the state legislature, media information and other outlets.

Check out these websites to learn more about impact statements:

Impact Statements Database (a great place to get programming ideas!)
http://apps.caes.uga.edu/impact/

To submit or edit an impact statement click "LOGIN" then follow the instructions.

GaCounts

GA Counts (Georgia Counts) is a web based database for the purpose of logging your daily educational efforts. All extension faculty and staff have an account in the GA Counts database. Most people log their efforts on a daily or weekly basis, but data can be entered at any time. We encourage everyone to set aside fifteen to thirty minutes per week to log data into GA Counts. You must, however, enter data by the 10th of the month for the previous month!

What are we collecting?

GA Counts collects educational contacts and certain demographic information related to those contacts. You will report educational program, presentations, exhibits, media releases, and one-one-one client consultations in the field and office.

You will report these activities into activity records. More than one activity can sometimes be combined into a single record. For example, you may combine all of your farm visits or 4-H club meetings into one monthly summary record. Other activities such as a farmer production meeting or a nutrition program for seniors may be reported on individual records.

How is this data used?

GA Counts data is used to create many state and federal reports required for our funding. It is also useful at the county level to document the efforts of a county office. Some agents use the database to research existing efforts in which they can collaborate with other agents. GA Counts is also a great place to store data you will later need to do your Faculty Activity Report.

How is the data organized?

All activity records are categorized many ways. This is very helpful in retrieving data in a useful format. Some of the ways we catalogue the data include:

Program area (4-H, FACS, ANR)
Delivery method (presentation, exhibit, media, etc)
Topic
Keywords
Date
State issues

How do I get started in GA Counts?

To access the GA Counts website click here. BOOKMARK IT.
http://apps.caes.uga.edu/gacounts2

Click on your county in the map, click on your name and enter your password. If you do not know your password or have trouble logging onto the system, click the “Help Logging In” link on the main page.

After you have logged into the system, check out the help menu. You should find lots of support here. However, if you still have questions you may send a request for help to gacounts@uga.edu or contact your district office.

Plans of Work

Every faculty member must submit a plan of work that describes activities they plan to conduct in response to a specific issue that has been identified in their county. An agent then conducts activities that are either issue activities as part of their plan of work or base program activities that are a part of every agent’s daily routine.

When you report in GA Counts, you are asked if the activity you are reporting is in response to something in your plan of work. Do not worry about your plan of work right now. See the GA Counts Help section for more detailed instructions.