Introduction—Defining impact: From website hits to change in practice
A. GEVENS (1). (1) University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, U.S.A.
This introductory presentation will launch a special symposium entitled “Counting Beans & Tooting Horns: Effective Metrics for Documenting the Impact of Research and Extension” coordinated by The American Phytopathological Society Extension Committee and supported by the Early Career Professionals and the Plant Pathogen and Disease Detection Committees. The symposium will highlight the value of effective metrics for documenting impact in plant pathology. Programs dependent upon financial support from scarce public resources and other aid donors need to justify the investment both in the short and long terms. Accountability for past funding enhances ability to attract new funding and builds awareness of the quality of the work done to ensure political support and sustainability of national priorities. While many short term impact assessments in agricultural research include “bean counts” or numbers of program attendees, website visits, or grower contact points, accessing the impact of the work through change in practice or status improvement over time and stakeholder groups is much more elusive. Determination of appropriate value metrics (economic, environmental, social) and approaches to valuing impact (ex-post surveys vs. ex-ante extrapolations) is specific to the nature of a program and can be aided by evaluation specialists. Examples of successful impact evaluations in research and extension programs will be shared and discussed in this session.
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