ANNUAL REVIEW

Performance Appraisal Philosophy
The purposes of performance appraisal are to:

• Assess progress toward personal and organizational goals
• Assess program direction and priority
• Foster professional growth and development
• Recognize successes and learn from mistakes
• Encourage calculated risk taking
• Assist in the promotion and tenure process

The cycle of goal setting and program planning, delivery, and evaluation is a continuous process. An important part of the performance appraisal system is identifying program goals and performance levels prior to the time of the appraisal. Sources of information for performance appraisal may include self-evaluations, program analysis, reports, and information from others who can provide assessment of a person's work.

Professional Behaviors
The Professional Behaviors are a series of guidelines, developed by a faculty committee, for the six elements considered important in the conduct of an effective extension educational program. The guidelines consist of a statement of behavior that is expected of all faculty. This statement is expanded upward two levels with increasing expectation and downward two steps with examples of behaviors which fall short of expectations. At the goal setting session, each faculty member is asked to identify one or two goals on which to focus for improvement. At the following year's annual performance appraisal, the accomplishments on those goals will be reviewed as well as an overall assessment in each of the six elements. Each faculty member is to consider how they have grown and developed during the course of the year and be ready to describe achievements in personal and professional development. Use the Professional Behaviors matrix for assistance in planning and reviewing professional and personal development.

Performance Appraisal Procedure
Performance appraisal for all employees occurs annually. The appraisal period for faculty and administrative/professionals is the calendar year. Department chairs conduct annual reviews of Specialists, with input from program directors and, if relevant, center directors or branch campus deans. County directors conduct appraisals of county and area faculty, and district directors conduct appraisals of county chairs. District directors participate in the annual reviews of faculty being considered for tenure, promotion, or third-year review.

Faculty members meet with chairs to 1) assess accomplishments, 2) identify future program plans and 3) identify personal and professional goals. Performance appraisal and program planning discussion usually occur in the same meeting. Information regarding planning can be found on the Extension Policies and Procedures Web site.

The timeline for annual reviews is as close as possible to the period under review, which is the calendar year. Annual reports, including briefing reports, are to be submitted online through the Accountability, Information and Communication System (AICS) by the date specified each year (currently mid-January) so that the information can be used in federal and other reports. This is an expectation of the job.

Reports can, however, be updated in the AICS online throughout the year, and this is encouraged. The AICS is self-explanatory with help screens for each entry category. It is important to start this process early since some people may have to share a networked computer, and may have questions that require help from the Computer Resource Unit.

Sections that are required of all Extension faculty are Extension Projects/Programs, Scholarly Activity, Grants, Partnerships, Goals, Stakeholder Input and Workplace. Other entries are helpful and will be used in annual review discussions.

County faculty and A/Ps will receive a timeline for annual review each year by e-mail. Department specialists and A/Ps will get a timeline and instructions for annual review from their department chair.

All faculty are asked to prepare an updated vita, briefing reports (these can be prepared directly from the material you submit to AICS) and Plans of Action for the calendar year, prior to the review meeting. A/Ps should bring a one-to-two page vita, a current job description and 5 or 6 major goals for the coming year, to their annual review. During the performance appraisal meeting the reviewer and faculty or A/P should review the position description for consistency with current assignments and program directions. If they identify changes, a revised description may be drafted for approval by the chair and district director.

For county-based faculty and A/Ps, county directors or department chairs schedule reviews during a short concentrated block of time and write up the reviews. Following that, district directors will do reviews of chairs. Again, these reviews will be scheduled during a concentrated block of time. County chairs must submit a copy of the 1 page evaluation statement and proposed merit rating for each faculty member and A/P they supervise at the time of their own annual review with the district director. District directors write 1 page (maximum) evaluation for each county chair and others they directly supervise and assign merit ratings. The administrative team discusses the accomplishments and merit ratings to ensure equity across the state.

Instructions for Briefing Reports
Each faculty member or team is to prepare a project briefing report for each project for which a plan was written and for any other major accomplishments. For most projects these reports should be no longer than one page. They should be suitable for briefing a decision maker or funder about the result of programs being conducted.

These briefing reports are to be submitted electronically only through the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences AICS on the Web. The relevant category would be "Extension" then "Project/Program." If this is a team report, the team leader should enter the report, listing the names of team members. When submitted, this report will then appear on the AICS screens of all other listed team members. They can then edit or add to their own report. Anyone who feels they should have been included on the team and was not, should contact the team leader rather than reentering another report of the same project.

It is strongly recommended that you use a word processing program to compose the body of the report and then cut and paste it into the windows provided. This part of the report can be printed out to bring to the annual review.

• Head the page with the state project title from the state Plan of Action. AICS provides you with a pull-down pick list.
• Identify the location of benefit from the pick list.
• If you want, you can add your own title to the program.
• Under "Description" you write your briefing report.

  Situation/Need: State the issue or need addressed by the program. Include evidence that provides a context and establishes why the program is a priority commitment for your time. Types of evidence include needs assessment data, local statistics and/or advisory system recommendations. Identify sources of data. This will be similar to the situation statement in your POA. As an example, if you did a training program for out of school time providers, you might cite statistics from the local school district on numbers of children in after-school programs and input from your advisory council re: the shortage of curricula and training opportunities for local providers.

  Inputs/Outputs: List the resources invested in developing and implementing the program. Include staff time, materials, funding, equipment, facilities, partnerships and volunteer time. Following the example above, the list might include funding from a federal Department of Education grant, a local school district partner, 4-H volunteers who helped with training and 4-H publications on specified topics.

  List the activities that you carried out, any products developed, and the participation you had (types of audiences and numbers). This is the section that explains what you did. In the example above, this is where you would describe the design of the training sessions for providers (number of weeks, materials to be used), related volunteer recruitment, on-site technical assistance to providers, and who and how many you reached.

  Outcomes/Impacts: List the results of the educational effort. These should have been measured using the evaluation methods you planned in your POA. Outcomes answer the question…So what? What difference has the program made in people's lives? Whose lives? Outcomes may relate to changes in knowledge, awareness, skills, attitudes, opinions, behavior, practices, decision-making, policies, social action, or local conditions. They may be stated at various levels: for individuals, for families, for targeted groups, or for communities. Outcomes may be intended or unintended: positive and negative. Outcomes are measured along a time frame continuum: from immediate (short-term, knowledge or attitude change) to intermediate (behavior or practice change) to long-term (changes in larger conditions, often called impacts). Returning to the previous example, the outcomes might include providers demonstrating more knowledge of positive youth development principles and incorporating more experiential learning activities into after-school programs.

• In the window provided, identify your role in the program, e.g. leader, co-leader, team member, resource person.
• List collaborators in the space provided.
• Identify funding source and level of funding if relevant.

When sharing these briefing reports with others, including your supervisor, be sure to give your name, title, phone number, fax and e-mail or that of the team contact person.