New Mexico State University

Fall 2019 Summary of Progress and Next Steps

Goal 3 Team met several times during the Fall 2019 semester.  Team discussions recognized several key points.  These key points included the following:

• Extension and outreach activities integrate with the University goals and objectives identified in NMSU LEADS 2025.
• NMSU can better leverage the Extension network in the ACES College (presence in all 33 counties through county extension offices) with NMSU Colleges and units, where it makes sense.
• All Colleges and units are doing outstanding outreach and community engagement. However, we need a mechanism to document university-wide activities and their impacts that will lead to better leveraging of resources and will facilitate future collaborations among faculty across the University system.  This will allow us to better amplify Extension and Outreach impacts and capitalize on efficiencies through new university-wide collaborations among faculty.
• Continuance of our Carnegie Classification Community Engagement also is largely dependent on ability to document system-wide Extension and Outreach Impacts, and to document if the NMSU System is reaching the Leading Indicators for Goal 3. We must have infrastructure in place to capture this data from all Colleges and units.
• Although the Key Performance Indicator of total expenditures for Goal 3 is certainly important, the impacts of this investment are equally important.
• We established subcommittees to work on four priorities identified from across the University system.

Priorities, current accomplishments, next steps

A. Reporting System: Develop an iterative process to plan, implement, assess, and modify a reporting system that will document Extension and Outreach impacts across the NMSU system. (Adjust Watermark + Digital Measures and provide training resources)

• Subcommittee is identifying University-wide metrics for Extension and Outreach. Current metrics include # hours, # people reached, $ grants & contracts, # youth reached, # outreach publications and media releases, total expenditures, and brief impact narratives.
• The metrics are currently being reviewed by the Deans
• We will develop departmental training on developing outreach impact narratives and documents and entering data into Watermark + Digital Measures

B. Current Efforts: Understand and disseminate information on current outreach efforts; establish mechanisms to better align existing efforts and more readily enable new opportunities. (Develop system-wide inventory of all outreach programs)

• Subcommittee is addressing the following questions:
  • What information on outreach do we “disseminate” today?
  • What channels do we utilize for that dissemination? (Internal and External)
  • Who and what are our targets?
  • What opportunities do we have to better align our current outreach efforts?
  • How can we assist faculty and staff across the system to realize (identify, create, act on) new opportunities?

C. Leverage Extension: Connect the Extension network with NMSU Colleges and units to leverage current and future outreach. (University-wide Outreach conference)

• • Subcommittee is planning a University-wide Outreach Conference with the goal of promoting collaboration and working relationships between the Cooperative Extension Service and faculty from NMSU Colleges and units.
  • The conference will be in late March or early April 2020 and include Deans, Department Heads, faculty and staff.
  • Conference will include a discussion on Cooperative Extension Service structure and programs, invited talks by each College and unit on their outreach programs, breakout sessions around subject areas (health, economic development, youth education, STEM, technology and engineering, humanities), and a poster session.

D. Corporate Engagement: Develop and implement a framework for system-wide, holistic, corporate engagement to support growth in corporate relationships, industry sponsored research, and philanthropy. (Identify framework for engagement levels and responsibilities)

• Subcommittee has reviewed baseline expenditures for Extension and Outreach across the University system. Significant discussions about the need to better understand how the fiscal information is organized, criteria used for determining how the fiscal information is classified, and setting a framework to track results (Overlaps with Goal Team 4).
  • Action: The activity of understanding the baseline and establishing the institutional tracking method is foundational and is part of subcommittee A’s charge; that work is important for subcommittee D
• Subcommittee recommends a relationship-focused holistic, single portal approach to Corporate Engagement
  • Action: Single points of contact will be dependent on processes being clear and simple (Goal Team 4).
  • Action: Electronic exchange to be set up with Subcommittee D in order to continue progress.
  • Action: Recommend AVP workshop whereby candidates will be expected to respond on how they would implement the Holistic Approach.
  • Action: Determine if a visit by Carnegie Melon facilitator is warranted. Review with Goal 3 team.

Starting in 2020, the co-chairs for Goal Team 3 plan to meet with Colleges Administrative Teams (Dean and Department Heads in each College) to provide a Goal Team 3 update and receive input and recommendations.