The Extension Mentoring in Evaluation (MINION) Project gives college students at any accredited college or university in West Virginia the opportunity to build essential skills in program evaluation, then pairs each student with a WVU Extension faculty or staff member to apply those newly acquired skills to real-life programs. This project equips students with valuable, transferable skills for their future, while also providing high-quality evaluation support for Extension agents that yields meaningful data to assess and improve their programs.
For example, Emily Arbogast is a junior agriculture and extension education student who was paired with Mollie Toppe, a 4-H Extension agent in Wetzel County, to create a needs assessment for the Wetzel County 4-H Trail.
“The trail at our 4-H campgrounds has been open to the public for two years now, and we wanted to evaluate how the public uses it, and what improvements we could make that people would actually be interested in,” Toppe said. “This is something we have wanted to do, but we’re a small Extension office without a lot of support or expertise in this area, so the MINION Project really gave us the resources to finally get it done and learn vital information for the future of our trail.”
When students are accepted into the MINION Project, they enroll in the Intro to Program Evaluation class that equips them with all the knowledge and skills they need to complete real evaluations during their placements the following semester. This class teaches students how to determine the best methods for data collection, create evaluation designs that match program goals and needs, and analyze the findings for program improvement and stakeholder reporting.
“This was a very beneficial experience for me and my future career goals, as I want to go into Extension after graduation,” Arbogast said. “My favorite part of this project was learning how evaluation works, seeing the various projects happening in different counties, and gaining hands-on experience with Extension work. This project helped me make meaningful connections and take important steps toward preparing for my future career.”
In addition to the evaluation of an outdoor recreation trail, there were also evaluations completed for a newly merged multi-county 4-H camp, the WVU Extension Fire Service and the WVU Center for Community Engagement’s Purpose to Action (P2A) program.
Matthew Helmondollar, an agricultural and extension education student, was paired with the P2A program, working with Whitney Glotfelty, director of community-based learning at the CCE. For a student-centered service initiative like P2A, they determined that ripple effect mapping was the best tool to evaluate the impact that participation had on students.
“This kind of program evaluation helps put power behind the things we see and do in the day-to-day. It’s easy to feel like our program is successful because of what we hear from students and community partners, but it’s another thing to back that up with a credible evaluation tool that proves the value behind this work,” Glotfelty said. “We’re always trying to ensure that our programs are meeting outcomes and benefiting all stakeholders, so this kind of evaluation is more important now than it ever has been.”
A key strength of the MINION Project is how it benefits all parties involved. Hosts get quality evaluations that give essential insights into the success and future of their programs. On the other hand, student participants gain valuable skills, real-world experience and make professional connections.
“I would absolutely recommend the MINION Project to other students. Even if you aren’t pursuing a career in Extension, it’s still a cool way to understand the value of evaluation and gain another tool in your toolbelt, and all the networking opportunities it provided were outstanding,” Helmondollar said. “Overall, I had a great time with this project. I enjoyed it so much that I applied to participate for another year.”
Students enrolled in their second year or higher at any accredited college or university in West Virginia are eligible for participation in the MINION Project. Contact Extension_Minions@mail.wvu.edu with any questions about the program.
The program is supported through a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture-National Institute of Food and Agriculture. WVU Davis College faculty, Haley Rosson, assistant professor of agricultural and extension education and project director, and Jessica Blythe, associate professor of agricultural and extension education and co-project director, along with Megan Kruger, WVU Extension evaluation and research specialist and co-project director, work collaboratively to provide this unique opportunity for undergraduate students and Extension faculty through this joint partnership.
To learn more about WVU Extension, visit extension.wvu.edu. To learn more about the Davis College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, visit davis.wvu.edu.
