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Responsiveness to Participants vs. General PublicOne notable finding within this cluster of responses is the significant difference in ratings between the following two items 5b. My program area makes good use of the guidance it receives from program
participants to shape its programs.
5c. My program area makes good use of the guidance it receives from the general public to shape its programs. The NOW mean for 5b (Good use of participant's guidance) is higher by .67. This significant difference (p<.01) is consistent with concerns that have often been voiced about Extension in many states: Extension is useful to its clientele and valued by them, but is a "well-kept secret" and perhaps does too little to reach out to other audiences and broaden the scope of its programs if necessary to serve broader audiences. Two other questionnaire items add additional perspective about this issue. One (item 6b) has to do with the existence of loyal supporters, most of whom presumably are current or past program participants. The other (item 6c) has to do with the general public’s relationship to Extension 6b. OSU Extension has a group of supporters who are
willing and capable at speaking out in behalf of Extension and its funding
needs.
6c. The Oregon public understands what Extension does. Those two items have the highest and lowest NOW means, respectively, of the 29 questionnaire items. Graphing them together with the items about use of participants’ guidance (5b) and the public’s guidance (5c) underscores the gap between supporters and program participants on the one hand and the broader public on the other. What OSU Extension should do about this gap may be an important question in shaping the organization’s future. The following interactive graphic shows OSUES-wide average responses to these questions. (Click the question boxes in the column to the right to reveal and hide the response arrows.) Averages for the mid-2001 timeframe are indicated by the horizontal orange arrows. Average changes between 1995 and 2001 are indicated by the vertical arrows, which are all non-significant for these questions. (Data table)
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