DossierEvaluation of a Pilot |
Evaluation of a Pilot or Actual Presentation
Participant response to WIRE programs offered to date has been extremely positive. An overall course rating by participants averaged 3.52 of 4 (statistics weighted by number of participants). In addition, participants gave the course an average score of 4.07 of a possible 5 points, indicating the value of the program in terms of the time spent. A total of 96% of course participants stated that they would recommend the course to a neighbor, while 77% indicated they had started identifying strategic goals.
The Managing Change in Agriculture mini-grant program funded development and broadcast of a satellite program on the WIRE integrated management approach to North America. While site registration was not required, over 65 sites across the U.S. and Canada registered to receive the program (see map). This indicates a strong interest in this type of programming outside the western region, as does the broad ‘usership’ of the WIRE WWW pages (http://www.uwyo.edu/ag/agecon/wirepage.htm).
A common overall program evaluation has been used for all WIRE programs offered to date. A copy of portions of this evaluation has been included in this section, along with accompanying statistics. These statistics are reported for: all programs offered to date, for programs offered prior to the development of a regional effort, for each year of the regional effort, and for all programs offered specifically under the regional effort.
Two newspaper articles have also been included in this section. These, coupled with the participant comments provided below, provide the reader with an understanding of how the course has been received.
"I believe you have certainly accomplished your goal of establishing the importance of setting goals and how to go about reaching them, how important record keeping is on any ranch enterprise. By using different instructors with specialties, each area of teaching was better understood—therefore better taught. Very helpful! Thanks." Gillette/Newcastle, Wyoming participant
"Overall course was very good. Time was the only limiting factor preventing going into some things in more depth, good material to take home for future long term plan setting and reference." Swift Current, Saskatchewan participant
"Being new to range and livestock enterprises, those areas demanded more attention & work - having a business background made those areas fun and enlightening in their application to all enterprises. Our first attempt at a ranch strategic plan we looked at resources and enterprises and dollars and developed our own tools - so the forms will be very useful." Douglas, Wyoming participant
"It was worthwhile for me as a manager. New ideas, new tools, a new process. I really enjoyed every person involved. The Team concept was effective to me. Sometimes a change is like a rest, although I didn’t get much rest." Idaho Falls, Idaho participant
"Workshop excellent. Would have enjoyed it anytime, would recommend it to young farm couples on a family ranch or anywhere. You gain valuable ideas in all areas and excellent tools for monitoring and assessing. My biggest goal as a result of this workshop is to use more time to utilize these materials for the growth of ranch. Based solely on getting started and continuing a ‘written’ monitoring program that we can pass down to sons. Especially enlightened on financial calculator vs. tables we used in college to gain valuable information for financial decisions." Lewiston, Montana participant
"Excellent program which has provoked much thought on how I am doing things throughout the year. Thanks - great course!" Dillon, Montana participant
WESTERN INTEGRATED RESOURCE EDUCATION --- Overall Workshop Evaluation --- |
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(Circle one number on the scale from 1-5 for each question below.) 1. Please indicate how you would rate this program in the following areas.
2. What is your overall rating of this program? (Circle one.) 3. Assuming the same tuition fee, would you recommend the WIRE Program to your
neighbor? (Circle one.) 4. Is the amount of time and/or tuition fee a deterrent for future attendants?
(Circle one.) 5. Do you think the length of the workshop should be (circle one.) 6. Do you think that there should be more field exercises? 7. Do you think there should be more problem solving exercises? 8. How has this workshop already started to affect your ranch/farm management? (Check all that apply.)_____ a. I have started to identify strategic goals. _____ b. I better understand the factors affecting my ranch profits. _____ c. I am starting to evaluate my ranch enterprises and their resource requirements. _____ d. I have identified some possible management changes and the profitability of each. _____ e. I am thinking in terms of individual enterprise analysis rather than all enterprises together. _____ f. I have identified ways to improve personnel management.
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Low High Poor/Fair/Good/Excellent No/Yes Amount of Time : No/YesTuition Fee: No/Yes Lengthened/Shortened/ No/Yes No/Yes
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A recent survey of all 139 graduates of programs offered by the Wyoming team revealed that they continue to value the information provided by the course, even years later. This group of graduates rated the WIRE course a 3.49 of a possible 4 points. In addition, 96% of respondents had begun identifying strategic goals and other steps of integrated management, while 84% still felt the program was valuable in terms of the time spent. The following are some of the comments received with the survey:
"The WIRE program has really helped me to be more conscious of comparing enterprises, profitability of enterprises, relationship with employees and family, and also encouragement to be resourceful in exploring new ideas. We have placed a lot more emphasis on debt reduction in order to be able to endure low prices. We do use the information and training. Sometimes we get so bogged down in running the every day operations that we don’t stand back and evaluate or improve management. I have really appreciated the WIRE training."
"The WIRE course has been very helpful in my ranch operations. With the hard times in livestock production and marketing for the greatest profit, it helps to be able to fall back on the reference material and look for help. In my operation I work full-time off the ranch and still have a full-time job when I come home. I need to cut all the corners that I can and WIRE has been a great help."
"I attended both the Utah and Wyoming WIRE programs, along with 3 HRM [Holistic Resource Management] seminars. I honestly feel that the only hope for the smaller ranches in this country lies in their owner’s utilizing the material and techniques covered in these types of courses."
"It was helpful to think in terms of making small changes in varied areas for a cumulative effect in cutting costs. It’s much easier to take small steps instead of going through a complete overhaul. I’m still not sure if when ‘starting from scratch’ we’ll ever see a profit but the WIRE course helped in giving ideas to steer us in that direction. I liked the way it starts with the big picture - examining why you’re doing what you’re doing and then giving tools to work towards the big picture."
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