Time sensitive request: Share your feedback with the ESCC before All-Extension Conference exhibits hour!

For support staff and campus staff

Greetings, Extension colleagues who are represented by the Extension Staff Consultative Committee (ESCC). We're seeking feedback from all civil service and union-represented staff, as well as county-hired support staff, to help the ESCC better serve and represent all of you. We're asking staff to take a few minutes to complete our committee outreach survey. We're constantly striving to meet the changing needs of our colleagues and find the most effective ways to communicate with staff on a wide range of topics, including professional and personal development opportunities.

Any represented staff who complete the survey and stop by to visit us during the All-Extension Conference reception and Extension exhibits hour on Tuesday, Sept. 22 will receive a small token of our appreciation. Your feedback is greatly appreciated and will be used to help direct future ESCC committee engagement. The survey will remain open until Oct. 30.

Submit your feedback.

Kayla Huhn

ESCC chair

Seeking teens for online study about social media

For everyone

Please share this opportunity with teens and their families. The UMN Teen Social Media Study wants to find out about how teens use and manage their social media, and how that may impact their mental health over time.

First, participants would take a 20-30 minute baseline survey. Starting from the next day, participants would complete one 5-minute survey per day for 14 days. During those same 14 days, participants would have an app installed on their phone that records phone activity. After those 14 days, they will complete another 20 minute survey. All study activities will occur online, and participants will receive all surveys by text message.

This process will repeat once every three months for two years, totaling to eight data collection sessions. There is also potential to participate in an online interview near the end of year one or year two of their participation, if they get randomly selected.

Participants can receive up to $565 in electronic gift cards for their participation. There is optional parent participation as well for those interested.

Learn more and see the informational video for the study.

Kate Walker
Extension specialist, youth work practice

Check out our impressive Youth Outcome Survey progress and help meet the Aug. 28 deadline

For educators

Thank you everyone who has been collecting and entering the Youth Outcomes Surveys! I know we are in the midst of data collection and August is a busy month for many of you. I appreciate everyone’s efforts to gather this important impact data about the 4-H experience.

As of Thursday, Aug. 6 we have 2,142 surveys collected and entered! We are well on our way compared to this time last year when we had 1,450 surveys entered. Keep up the great work!

Wondering how many responses have been collected and entered for the state, your region, or your county? You can find live updates here.

I just wanted to send a gentle reminder that our deadline for collection and data entry this year is Friday, Aug. 28. This is much earlier than last year because of this year’s impact reporting needs and tight turnaround timeline. This is a hard deadline, so unfortunately any data that comes in late will not be able to be included in impact reporting this year. If you are concerned about meeting the deadline, please reach out to your QPS specialist or program leader. 

As a reminder, you do not need to enter any surveys that you may have collected from youth that are in grades K-2. Just go ahead and recycle those since they don’t fall within our sample age range.

If you have any questions about the survey, please don’t hesitate reaching out to me or your QPS specialist.

Amy Grack Nelson

Evaluation specialist

Youth Outcome Survey: Now available!

For local educators and campus staff

I’m excited to announce that the 2026 Youth Outcome Survey is now available! 

The Youth Outcomes Survey is a key part of our department's evaluation strategy to understand and communicate the overall impact 4-H has on youth. The data plays a critical role in statewide and local impact reporting at the end of the program year, and we are planning to do even more with the data this year.

Gathering this data is a collaborative effort and your partnership in this work is greatly appreciated. Last year we had an impressive 4,985 responses across the state thanks to all of you! I hope you all have given yourselves a pat on the back for last year’s work. If not, please do so now! I’m continually impressed by your dedication to evaluation across Minnesota 4-H.

As you think about your plan for collecting Youth Outcomes Surveys in your county’s programs, here are some tools to help you:

• Visit the YD Intranet to download the paper version of the survey.
• Please read the 2026 Youth Outcomes Survey information sheet. Here you’ll find more information about the survey, including ideas from other educators of when and where to administer the survey.

There are a few changes this year to make note of:

• We're no longer using the coversheet process or creating unique survey links for individual program types. Instead, we just have unique survey links by county. If you need a survey link, connect with your QPS specialist to get your county’s link.
• There is only one version of the survey. The survey has options for youth to select "No" if a question doesn’t apply to them. This change is because the survey isn’t based on the program where the youth complete the survey, but their experience in 4-H the past year, and we know some youth participate in multiple types of 4-H programming.
• The survey’s questions have been updated slightly based on reviewing last year’s data and to dig more into some of our learn and lead goals as outlined in our logic model.

All surveys must be completed and entered into Qualtrics by Aug. 28

This is a hard deadline so that data can be turned around for earlier fall reporting goals this year. 

Please feel free to reach out to me (agnel@umn.edu) or your QPS specialist with questions or feedback about the survey or administration process. Thank you in advance for your help in making this year’s Youth Outcome Survey a success!

Amy Grack Nelson

Evaluation specialist

Provide input on volunteer training and engagement options

For everyone

Background

Training volunteers is an essential component of our volunteer system. Historically, the volunteer systems (VS) team has offered an annual volunteer training (AVT) package that included a slide deck, script, and resources. In recent years this package was delivered through a variety of methods: statewide webinar, in-person training, and hybrid options. In 2026, we are considering a shift to align VS priorities within the Beyond Ready initiative, and with the goal of expanding and growing our volunteer base.

Engaging and mobilizing volunteers

As a complement to a fall training event, our team is considering providing a facilitated guide and resources to host a short gathering to bring together volunteers, participants, partners, and community members to build connections, generate ideas about community needs (similar to some GOT VIVA focus groups in the past), and publicly introduce the Beyond Ready initiative. This experience could be hosted locally, regionally or statewide, or be brought to clubs and local programs. Participants that attend will:

• Network and connect with members of their community
• Gain an understanding of the purpose of the Beyond Ready Initiative
• Learn strategies to support Beyond Ready goals with young people
• Identify how volunteerism connects to the Beyond Ready Initiative
• Personally reflect and explore potential next steps

As a VS team, we'd like to gather your input on this proposal and learn about your needs and plans for training volunteers. Please complete this survey by Monday, April 20.

For more information, contact a member of the volunteer systems team.

Jeremy Freeman

4-H volunteer systems director

Help inform our 4-H Building Campaign county toolkit

For everyone

The communications and development teams have been working on a county toolkit to use locally as you tell the story of the 4-H Building Campaign and engage local stakeholders, both digitally and at county fairs. 

As we finalize this toolkit, we’d like to get your input to ensure we’re creating the tools you would use. We’d love to get your input with this brief survey, and will take it into consideration as we finalize and build out the tools. 

Anna Wagner Schliep, sr communications specialist, youth development

Rebecca Froehlich, communications specialist, donor relations

Lily Snow, 4-H Building campaign coordinator

Complete digital accessibility pulse-check survey

For everyone

As noted in the Dean's Feb. 5 column, we want to make sure that the work we produce is accessible to everyone, regardless of how they interact with technology. To help us figure out the best way to support you with the right tools and training, Extension Learning Technologies put together a short survey. All responses are anonymous.

Please complete this survey by Feb. 20: Extension Digital Accessibility Survey.

Whether you are highly informed or just learning about accessibility requirements, your honest feedback is essential. The results will help Extension determine what tools, training and support our team needs to create content that works for everyone. The survey should take approximately 10 minutes to complete. Thank you for your time and for helping us build a more inclusive digital environment!

Becky Harrington

Director of operations and systems

Complete the 2025 - 2026 Minnesota 4-H healthy living baseline survey

For educators and program assistants

Minnesota 4-H educators and program assistants are invited to complete the 2025 - 2026 Minnesota 4-H healthy living baseline survey, open through Feb. 5. This short (approximately 10 minutes) survey will help establish a statewide picture of how healthy living topics are being addressed across counties and regions. Minnesota 4-H healthy living focuses on nutrition, physical activity, mental well-being, and substance use prevention, as well as food-related education. Your responses will help us better understand what curricula are being used or planned, what equipment and tools are available, what trainings staff have completed or would like to receive, and where you see the greatest needs and challenges related to healthy living programming.

Even if you have not yet offered healthy living programming or do not plan to at this time, please still complete the survey. We want to understand the full landscape across Minnesota, and the survey includes options that reflect different levels of involvement.

Complete the survey.

In appreciation of your time, one person from each of the five regions will be selected by random drawing to receive $100 to use toward healthy living or any other topic area of programming in their county or region. Information collected will be used to inform statewide program planning, professional development opportunities, and future resource development. A brief summary of findings and next steps will be shared after the survey closes.

Questions? Contact me at balta026@umn.edu.

Aysha Baltaci

Healthy living statewide specialist

Complete the 2025 - 2026 Minnesota 4-H healthy living baseline survey

For educators and program assistants

Minnesota 4-H educators and program assistants are invited to complete the 2025 - 2026 Minnesota 4-H healthy living baseline survey, open through Feb. 5. This short (approximately 10 minutes) survey will help establish a statewide picture of how healthy living topics are being addressed across counties and regions. Minnesota 4-H healthy living focuses on nutrition, physical activity, mental well-being, and substance use prevention, as well as food-related education. Your responses will help us better understand what curricula are being used or planned, what equipment and tools are available, what trainings staff have completed or would like to receive, and where you see the greatest needs and challenges related to healthy living programming.

Even if you have not yet offered healthy living programming or do not plan to at this time, please still complete the survey. We want to understand the full landscape across Minnesota, and the survey includes options that reflect different levels of involvement.

Complete the survey.

In appreciation of your time, one person from each of the five regions will be selected by random drawing to receive $100 to use toward healthy living or any other topic area of programming in their county or region. Information collected will be used to inform statewide program planning, professional development opportunities, and future resource development. A brief summary of findings and next steps will be shared after the survey closes.

Questions? Contact me at balta026@umn.edu.

Aysha Baltaci

Healthy living statewide specialist

Don't forget to submit your 2025 YD teaching and publications!

For everyone

Have you submitted all of your YD teaching and YD publications for 2025 yet?

Please submit any new teaching or publication data by completing the 2025 YD teaching and YD publications surveys. These surveys are short and simple forms our department uses to track our publications and teaching, both collectively and individually. Complete the appropriate form for each unique teaching event or publication in 2025.

See the guidelines and categories of teaching and publications to be recorded.

Contact me at ashaffer@umn.edu with any questions.

Amy Gregoria

Program evaluation

Update to National 4-H Week survey

For everyone

Thanks to all who filled out the National 4-H Week survey! Your responses will really help us in the future. 

We’re working on determining which counties are participating in which tentpole moments, and missed including county info in the survey originally. If you have already filled out the survey, please edit your response to include your county. If you have not already filled it out, now is your chance to do so!

Again, we really appreciate your responses!

Anna Wagner Schliep

Senior communications specialist

Help us take stock: Complete the local awards program inventory

For local educators

On behalf of the civic engagement and learning team’s awards subgroup, Amy Collura and Jacquie Lonning are gathering information to better understand the current landscape of local youth awards programs across the state—and we need your insight!

A "local awards program" refers to an established system within a local program that is used to recognize youth growth, achievement, and contributions over the course of the year and/or a young person’s career in 4-H. A local awards program includes the awards offered, the events (or equivalent formats) to publicly recognize youth, and other traditions, methods, or incentives in how you carry this effort out locally.

Whether your local program has a well established awards program or you are just beginning to explore restarting an awards program, we invite you to complete this brief survey to share the current status of your program. This includes what awards you offer, how you recognize youth, and what’s working well (or what you could use support on).

Your input will help us identify shared strengths, make note of common challenges, and inform upcoming local awards program resources.

Take just 5-10 minutes to complete the local awards program inventory survey.

Survey deadline: Friday, Oct. 31.

Thank you for helping us better understand the landscape of youth recognition across our program. Questions? Reach out to Amy or Jacquie.

Amy Collura

Extension educator

Share your National 4-H Week participation

For everyone

We want to capture how each county participated in National 4-H Week this year, particularly in this first year of Beyond Ready tentpole moments. If you have anything you’d like to share about how it went and what you’d like to see next year, we’d welcome your feedback as well! 

Please fill out the National 4-H Week engagement survey this week. It’s very short and will help us in our planning and reporting.

Anna Wagner Schliep

Senior communications specialist

Help us take stock: Complete the local awards program inventory

For local educators

On behalf of the civic engagement and learning team’s awards subgroup, Amy Collura and Jacquie Lonning are gathering information to better understand the current landscape of local youth awards programs across the state—and we need your insight!

A "local awards program" refers to an established system within a local program that is used to recognize youth growth, achievement, and contributions over the course of the year and/or a young person’s career in 4-H. A local awards program includes the awards offered, the events (or equivalent formats) to publicly recognize youth, and other traditions, methods, or incentives in how you carry this effort out locally.

Whether your local program has a well established awards program or you are just beginning to explore restarting an awards program, we invite you to complete this brief survey to share the current status of your program. This includes what awards you offer, how you recognize youth, and what’s working well (or what you could use support on).

Your input will help us identify shared strengths, make note of common challenges, and inform upcoming local awards program resources.

Take just 5-10 minutes to complete the local awards program inventory survey.

Survey deadline: Friday, Oct. 31.

Thank you for helping us better understand the landscape of youth recognition across our program. Questions? Reach out to Amy or Jacquie.

Amy Collura

Extension educator

Help us take stock: Complete the local awards program inventory

For local educators

On behalf of the civic engagement and learning team’s awards subgroup, Amy Collura and Jacquie Lonning are gathering information to better understand the current landscape of local youth awards programs across the state—and we need your insight!

A "local awards program" refers to an established system within a local program that is used to recognize youth growth, achievement, and contributions over the course of the year and/or a young person’s career in 4-H. A local awards program includes the awards offered, the events (or equivalent formats) to publicly recognize youth, and other traditions, methods, or incentives in how you carry this effort out locally.

Whether your local program has a well established awards program or you are just beginning to explore restarting an awards program, we invite you to complete this brief survey to share the current status of your program. This includes what awards you offer, how you recognize youth, and what’s working well (or what you could use support on).

Your input will help us identify shared strengths, make note of common challenges, and inform upcoming local awards program resources.

Take just 5-10 minutes to complete the local awards program inventory survey.

Survey deadline: Friday, Oct. 31.

Thank you for helping us better understand the landscape of youth recognition across our program. Questions? Reach out to Amy or Jacquie.

Amy Collura

Extension educator

Use the new overnight camp survey

For educators

Based on local overnight camp feedback regarding the complexity and inefficiency of the current camper evaluation, it has been updated.

Our goals with this new survey include:

1. To collect statewide camp data that can help us understand and market Minnesota 4-H camp experiences.
2. To provide an easy to use survey at a 3rd grade reading level.
3. To provide impact data at the statewide, regionwide and camp level that staff can share with stakeholders easily.

Your camp lead will receive a camp survey prior to camp and a link to enter this data into Qualtrics following camp. Camps will be provided with a report and an Excel file with all the data. With every overnight camp's participation, we look forward to understanding and sharing camp impacts better with clear statewide data on this unique overnight experience.

Karen Beranek & Betsy Olson Minnaert

Extension educators

Gather feedback from new 4-H clubs

For local educators and county support staff

Do you have 4-H clubs that have started in the past year or two? Are you interested in learning about the experiences of members and volunteers within these clubs?

New 4-H clubs provide a special opportunity for members and volunteers to build and design their 4-H experience. While the freedom to create can be inspiring, there are challenges new families and volunteers face as they build an understanding of 4-H’s unique learn by doing approach. By coming alongside families and volunteers in new clubs, we can strengthen the support they receive which leads to higher retention.

If you are looking for a tool to share with club leaders to help their membership reflect on their year, consider using this survey. If you're interested in a Qualtrics form of this survey, reach out to me at jeremyf@umn.edu. Gaining feedback from members and volunteers is a valuable way to listen and collaborate with families to strengthen their experience.

If you need more support or want to troubleshoot other strategies, connect with a member of the volunteer systems team!

Jeremy Freeman
4-H volunteer systems director

Did you host a workshop or seminar at YOUth & U?

For everyone

If you were a presenter at last week's YOUth & U conference, enter your data into the 2025 YD teaching survey now! No need to wait until December to report this teaching—reduce your end-of-year stress (and the chance that you'll forget to report this valuable teaching) by getting your data in today.

Enter YOUth & U teaching.

Amy Gregoria

Program evaluation

Youth Outcome Survey: Available and updated!

For educators and campus staff

TL:DR - The Youth Outcome Survey is available! Find the coversheet (required!) and paper copies for download in the 4-H data collection section of the YD Intranet. You'll also find instructions to request a link for collecting surveys electronically.

For 2025, we're continuing to collect the Youth Outcome Survey (YOS) as a key part of our evaluation strategy. Originally founded in the Minnesota 4-H YD Logic Model, the measures have continued to evolve, but its use remains the same: To communicate the impact of Minnesota 4-H programming, and to provide insights and benchmarks for program development.

This year, we have continued to narrow down our core measures to develop an even more streamlined survey. We hope this encourages wider use at a variety of events and programs, and you can talk with evaluation staff or your quality program specialist about ways to integrate these measures into other evaluation efforts.

Distribution and collection of surveys will remain consistent with last year. We hope you take advantage of the tools that we believe will add value at the local level.

Whether you choose to stick to the county level collection or see what you can learn from individual programs, we encourage you to make a plan now for collecting Youth Outcome Surveys in a variety of your county’s programs. Data from these surveys plays a critical role in local impact reporting at the end of the program year.

Make a plan! Tips for successful survey distribution are below.

As always, feel free to reach out to me (John Murray, murr0328@umn.edu), your QPD educator, or program leader with questions about the survey, its use, or to brainstorm ways of using the YOS as part of your individual program development.

Successful strategies for YOS distribution:

• Distribute paper surveys at your county fair project drop-off or pickup.
• Bring surveys to 4-H programs or council/federation/PDC meetings where youth from your county will be gathering.
• Team up with club and project leaders to learn more about their club or group - create a survey packet (including surveys, writing utensils and a cover sheet) for club leaders/volunteers to distribute at meetings.
• Use the program data on the cover sheet to use the YOS as [part of] a specific program’s evaluation. You can then get a specific report for a program with at least 20 participants.

For 2025 - surveys distributed at programs like camps and after school that may not have included a volunteering component can elect to opt out of receiving that question.

Have a wonderful week!

John Murray

Evaluation specialist

Start submitting your 2025 YD teaching and YD publications now!

For everyone

The 2025 YD teaching and YD publications surveys are officially open! Thank you to those of you who have been ready and asking for them to record your 2025 teaching. These surveys are short and simple forms our department uses to track our publications and teaching, both collectively and individually. 

See the guidelines and categories of teaching and publications to be recorded.

Each year, the overwhelming majority of entries occur after Dec. 1 for the entire year. Our recommendation for best practice is to record these events throughout the year as they happen. This ensures the accuracy of the data and reduces the chance that we miss reporting your hard work!

You can help improve our reporting to funders and stakeholders, and reduce your end-of-year stress by keeping this link handy throughout the year. We suggest incorporating it into your routine preparation and follow-up. You'll also get a summary report of your 2025 teaching for your own reporting and record-keeping.

Contact me via email (ashaffer@umn.edu) or stop by my desk in Coffey 475 if you have any questions!

Amy Gregoria

Program evaluation