By Caroline Roper
The UF/IFAS Center for Public Issues Education is ahead of the curve when it comes to satisfying stakeholders, according to this year’s evaluation and needs assessment.
The survey, distributed through the PIE Center’s online mailing list, asked respondents about the effectiveness of current PIE Center research, training and communications programs as well as how the PIE Center could improve its current services.
“A needs assessment is a useful process to help an organization identify what its stakeholders need and want,” said PIE Center Director Tracy Irani. “Since the PIE Center has been growing so rapidly, it was a good time to conduct a needs assessment to make sure we are meeting the needs of those we are interacting with.”
More than 140 respondents participated in the 57-question evaluation and largely gave positive responses about the PIE Center’s research results, communication materials and online tools and webinars.
Ninety-four percent of respondents who hired the PIE Center for research said they were satisfied or very satisfied with the quality provided. Those who collaborated with the PIE Center on grants said they valued the center’s research expertise, communication skills and work ethic.
“It is good to see the results and get the sense that we are doing the right things, and it will continue to be important to maintain our focus on the areas where we can provide our best expertise,” Irani said. “For example, providing research services to stakeholders is something we have done from the beginning of the PIE Center as part of our statewide mission. I feel we will always need to offer this service to those who need us.”
When asked about the PIE Center’s communication efforts, respondents were most satisfied with the quality of the PIE Center’s website, quarterly newsletters and weekly Trends & Topics emails but wished to see more communication via social media.
“I was really pleased to hear that the main communication channels of the PIE Center were responded to favorably,” Media Specialist Laura Bernheim said. “Hopefully our stakeholders notice constant improvement into the future. We can always refine the quality, relevance and reach of our media across multiple platforms.”
The evaluation showed a need for the PIE Center to increase stakeholders’ awareness of the professional development services the center offers in the form of training toolkits and webinars. Fewer than half of the respondents reported using a toolkit and 54 percent said they have attended a webinar. Irani said she was most surprised at respondents’ lack of awareness of these services.
“Those who responded don’t know about our professional development tools as much as we thought that they did,” she said. “They are interested in the topics our tools cover, so we need to do a better job of promoting them to our stakeholders.”
Those who have used the training tools or participated in webinars, however, said they were of high quality. Seventy-two percent of respondents said the toolkits were of very good or excellent quality, compared to 68 percent who felt the same about webinars.
PIE Center Research Analyst Erica Odera and Sebastian Galindo, research assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Education and Communication created and analyzed the survey in the fall.
