WebNEERS Use By States and Counties

WebNEERS Use by States and Counties

To assist in identifying how partners use WebNEERS data, they were queried through the EFNEP listserv. A 55% response rate (42 institutions) was received in just two days.

1. Alabama A&M University

We use the data to report to our county partners, internal and external. We also use the data for programming improvement planning.

2. Alcorn State University

• We are currently using the data in a variety of ways: We share it with administrations, county staff and we use it for programming at the state and county level. Administration uses the data for reporting purposes at the state and national level as well as marketing for the university.

• To evaluate the program, curriculum, and educators not only on graduate numbers but also behavior change. In addition, we use the system significantly for paraprofessional performance appraisal management. We also share this information with our state FCS Specialist for Program improvement efforts.

3. College of Micronesia

We use the data at all levels. It is entered at the country level, and supervisors use this to review the effectiveness of paraprofessionals, monitor numbers of participants, to evaluate the program, curriculum, and educators not only on graduate numbers but also behavior change, we use the data in a variety ways: We share it with administrations, county staff and we use it for programming at the state and county level.

4. Cornell University

We use the data in a variety of ways. It is available for county programs/county staff to use in monitoring performance, creating reports for their local association and for marketing. We use data for programming at the state and county level. We share it with Extension Administration reporting purposes as well as marketing for the university. The data is also used at all levels to create impact reports.

5. Delaware State University

Our EFNEP data is used at the county level only. It’s used to inform our County Commissioners the impact (numbers reached) of nutrition education within Kent County, Delaware.

6. Iowa State University

WebNEERS is a valuable tool for us as we assess the performance of our staff and our curricula. It allows us to look at individual staff or at entire units to identify strengths and challenges. It is simple for us to develop impact sheets and share our behavior change results using the data we glean from WebNEERS.

7. Langston University

The WebNEERS Data is utilized in the following ways: reporting results to stakeholders, administrators, facility, staff and others to incorporate necessary changes for positive results, to measure outcomes and results, for the numerous reasons reported by others.

8. Louisiana State University

Data collected from WebNEERS provides documentation on the effectiveness of EFNEP within the organization as well as to external community partners, stakeholders, and governmental entities. WebNEERS data has been utilized to provide impacts and outreach data to local school districts, local governmental officials, advisory councils, community coalitions, extension office profiles, local health departments, state governmental officials and agencies, grassroots organizations, communities of faith, and other organizations. The information is utilized for extension program support to local governmental agencies and officials, program impacts to local school districts, establishing community partnerships, reporting outcomes to partnering organizations, reporting impacts to local and state extension administrators and university administration, and reporting impacts to state and federal partners. WebNEERS data is also utilized for setting programmatic expectations for and evaluation of EFNEP personnel and staffing justification.

9. Michigan State University

• To evaluate the program and curriculum on behavior change outcomes. 

• EFNEP supervisors use WEBNEERS as a management tool with their county staff to track graduation rates, program participation of youth groups and adults and progress toward caseload requirements.

• Prepare reports, impact statements and infographics annually and as needed using aggregated and group data from WEBNEERS.

10. Mississippi State University

EFNEP data and reports generated from WebNEERS are used for program planning, management, and assessment. The data is used to plan program changes like expanding reach and determining curriculum needs. As a management tool, data is used to assess employee performance, attainment of benchmarks, productivity, adherence to protocols, and also to determine staffing needs. EFNEP data is used in formative and summative assessment. We prepare an annual impact report that is shared with stakeholders, state agencies, state legislature, and United States Congressional members. Representatives are especially interested in data at the county and congressional district level. Curriculum and teaching effectiveness, measured by knowledge gained, behavioral change and program outcomes, are evaluated based on youth and adult summary reports generated by WebNEERS at both the state and county levels. Attainment of program goals are evaluated using data which is included in the annual report. Data is also shared for state and university reporting systems.

11. North Carolina State University

• The data is used at the state level for Congressional reporting. The data is used at the state level for reporting program accomplishments to university and organizational administrators. The data is used at the county level 'Accomplishment Reports', to inform the County Extension Coordinators of caseload status/attainment, and County Commissioner Reports.

• To evaluate the program, curriculum, and educators not only on graduate numbers but also behavior change. In addition, we use the system significantly for paraprofessional performance appraisal management.

• It is used to recruit new partners for the program.

• It is used to support requests for county and grant funding to extend the reach of the program. It is currently being used to support requests for state funding to extend the program reach to additional counties.

• It is used in accordance with EFNEP policy and university IRB standards to help answer research questions that contribute to program outreach and impact.

• EFNEP Supervising Agents use CRS5 as a management tool with their county staff. It is accessed on a regular basis to examine number of participants reached, percent of participants who complete educational objectives, number of youth and youth groups enrolled, and program assistant workload and impacts. EFNEP Supervising Agents review the data to assure that county staff are meeting their target outreach and impacts.

• State data entry staff insure that data submitted is complete and error-free before entering. They communicate with State Coordinator and Supervisors any errors or indications of problems with data collection.

• County staff review data to monitor their own progress in meeting outreach and impact goals. County staff also provide the one day summary of the food recall to program participants and use this as a way to help participants set personal goals to improve their dietary intake.

• The EFNEP evaluation and reporting system has been extremely valuable, both internally for program evaluation and externally for reporting the impressive impact of our program to stakeholders. We strongly support continued efforts to collect dietary intake and food behavior data and hope that the web-based system will look very similar to the recent NEERS system, which was developed with a great deal of input from states in all regions of the country.

• I use the data in my strategic planning as I plan for program changes or expansions. I also use the data to evaluate the effectiveness of our curriculum and changes needed. In addition, I use it to indicate training that staff may need to be more effective.

• EFNEP data is also used as departmental assessment indicator. It appears in departmental reports to the Deans and Chancellor and is used when there is a departmental review.

12. The Ohio State University

• The data is used in the Extension Annual report, incorporated into the overall report. The area leaders use data we provide also as part of their counties Extension reports for County Commissioners and in the webpage.

• The online WebNEERS has multiple capacities, and we use it also to report to several stakeholders and agencies we partner with and are interested in knowing their clients behavior changes outcomes.

• We also use the Diagnostic Report that the system generates to provide the participants with a visual tool of where they start, this report often gives them motivation to make dietary changes.

• At the end of the fiscal year we also use the data to make some statistical tests and see how significant our changes were. Some of the data is utilized in poster presentations in our conferences, too.

• Basically, I think the most important ways we use the data is already said in the document.

13. Pennsylvania State University

• The Pennsylvania EFNEP program shares data externally and internally. EFNEP data is used to create “Impact Reports” at the state, county and regional levels which are shared in communications and outreach presentations to stakeholders, such as county commissioners, agency partners, and collaborators. The behavior change data is used to create graphics and text showing program impacts in the five categories of diet quality, food safety, food security, food resource management and physical activity. Individual entry and exit diet recall reports are provided to EFNEP participants. The data was recently included in a recruiting video, highlighting our 2018 EFNEP program outcomes.

• Internally, caseload, program reach, and behavior change data is shared with supervisors and paraprofessional staff throughout the year to monitor performance and used as part of the annual performance review. Program data is also shared with Extension and Land-Grant University administrators.

14. Purdue University

In Indiana, we use the data on a county level to pull reports for paraprofessional employee performance and to track graduation rates. We use the data at a state level to report EFNEP impacts statewide annually that is shared with stakeholders and partners. We also use the data for program management and planning.

15. South Carolina State University

• Here at SC State University 1890 Research & Extension, we use the EFNEP data in WebNEERS to verify the accuracy of the gathering of participant demographics, locate behavior changes or needs of the participants and to prepare state and regional reports as needed. As well as to assist with our State Legislative Budget request.

• We also use the data to compile the information we need to complete our USDA required 1890 Research & Extension Plan of Work.

16. Tennessee State University

At Tennessee State University, we use the EFNEP WebNEERS data to compile reports to county stakeholders, our university, state legislature, and state Extension reports. We also use the data to drive needs assessment across the state and then to inform our professional development training with staff regarding emergent needs and trends.

17. Texas A&M University

WebNEERS is used to generate reports for both the local and state level. These reports are used to summarize overall adult and youth outreach, demographics and program delivery. WebNEERS provides behavior change summary data for both adult and youth. This summary information is used for County and State level reports for program partners, County Commissioners, Extension Administrators, State Legislators and other interested partners. As a State we provide feedback reports to these partners on a yearly basis. We also use the summarized information to document our impacts on our program website as a way to promote the program. Outside of the summary reports WebNEERS is used to evaluate impact of educator’s outreach, graduation rates, and behavioral impacts to be used for performance evaluations.

18. University of Arizona

• We use the data in a variety of ways: We share it with college, departmental and county administrators, county staff and we use it for programming at the state and county level. Administrators use the data for reporting purposes at the state and national level as well as marketing for the university.

• We use it to evaluate the program, curriculum, and educators not only on graduate numbers but also behavior change. In addition, we use the system significantly for professional and paraprofessional performance appraisal management.

19. University of Arkansas

Arkansas uses EFNEP data from WebNEERS to evaluate the state program overall as well as individual counties and educators. We provide a monthly report to county supervisors and district directors to communicate educator progress towards participant graduation goals, which provides valuable information for educator performance reviews. We use WebNEERS information to provide county and state impact reports to stakeholders. EFNEP data from WebNEERS is used for departmental and organization reports as well as in curriculum planning and development.

20. University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff

• The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff uses the WebNEERS and the data as follows:

• We use the EFNEP WebNEERS to input data, examine client reach, enrollment numbers, print food recall results for our EFNEP clients and troubleshoot any report discrepancies. The data is used for our EFNEP paraprofessional performance evaluation along with developing an impact statement for our administrators, faculty and community stakeholders.

21. University of California

EFNEP data is used to create narratives which boost program visibility and communicates program reach, impact, and public value. At the county level, data is used to inform stakeholders and community leaders such as Boards of Supervisors, principals, heads of non-profits, SNAP-Ed partners, Health and Human Service Agencies, inner-office colleagues such as county directors and other prospective and current partners of EFNEP. At the state office level, data is used to generate trends which measures reach, evaluation outcomes, and progress towards 5-year plan goals as well as informs talking points in advocating for EFNEP and the land grant mission. Data also assists in program monitoring, trainings, and performance evaluation.

22. University of Connecticut

• WebNEERS data is used in many ways here in Connecticut. The primary way that it is used is to evaluate the program itself: the educators, curricula and behavior change for participants. When staff are evaluated for their annual performance evaluation, this information is taken into account, and reach and behavior change are included in goal setting.

• The Coordinator uses this data for his own evaluation as well, reporting this in program reports to the Nutritional Sciences Department Head. Additionally, the university is focusing on increasing diversity in the programs offered in the state of Connecticut; and demographic data in WebNEERS displays EFNEP’s reach to underserved minority populations.

• This data is shared with UConn Extension, the Department of Nutritional Sciences, collaborators and stakeholders as a way to display the benefits of the program. As a faculty member in Nutritional Sciences, the Coordinator shares this information in the Community Nutrition course, to discuss EFNEP as a crucial national program in the field, as well as at presentations across campus and the state, as a guest speaker.

• The data is reported in the UConn Digital Measures system, HuskyDM, to convey the reach and impact of the program to the Provost Office at UConn.

• I use the information regularly at state meetings (3x/year) to discuss our progress and areas where we need improvement, and make plans to adjust programming accordingly. This data is also an exceptional motivational tool for staff to remind them of the importance of their work.

23. University of Florida

We use WebNEERS data in many ways and below are just a few.

• We create multi-page overview documents and one page infographics for our counties and the state each year. This is shared with legislators, partners, administrators, is uploaded to our webpage, and more.

• We create annual reports with these numbers for each county supervisor’s performance appraisal, conducted by their District Extension Director. These reports are also shared with the County Extension Directors, Deans, and more.

• We monitor program progress throughout the year with WebNEERS.

• We evaluate the program, curricula, and program assistants not only on enrollment and graduate numbers but also behavior change numbers.

• Program assistants’ performance appraisals include WebNEERS data.

• Undergraduate research interns analyze WebNEERS data for projects.

• WebNEERS data is analyzed for multi-state research projects.

• County agents provide community partners reports using specific data in WebNEERS.

• Continuing programming in a particular county has been partially determined with WebNEERS data.

• Faculty use WebNEERS data in report of accomplishments, plans of work each year which are used for promotion, permanent status, and tenure.

• WebNEERS data provides faculty with grant writing opportunities.

24. University of Guam

Guam EFNEP uses WebNEERS to evaluate curricula, program reach and impact, and staff productivity. It is also used to generate reports on the local (administrators and community stakeholders) and national level. With the help of the National office, WebNEERS data is used to examine regional impact and identify areas of improvement.

25. University of Georgia

• Participant data that is entered and summarized through WebNEERS is essential for university administration, county staff, and local partners.

• Program enrollment, graduation numbers, and behavior change information are reported back to every partnering agency where we work. Each partnering agency receives a personalized impact report that reflects the changes made by its participants.

• Supervisors and other administrators use WebNEERS data to monitor caseloads in real time. County-level reports from WebNEERS are used extensively for program evaluation and performance evaluation of supervisors and nutrition educators.

• The state-level data is used to report to Extension administration, county commissioners, and other university stakeholders to show the impact EFNEP is making across our state. WebNEERS data is part of the county program review process as well. EFNEP recruiting materials also use the behavior change data to help county staff when they are trying to secure new partnerships at the local level.

26. University of Hawaii

• EFNEP data is used in various ways. The data assist in identifying areas that need improvement and maintain program strengths. EFNEP coordinator utilize WebNEERS to monitor total number of participant outreached, graduation rates, areas serviced, types of community agencies serviced, and participant's change in behavior. Data is presented to paraprofessionals and director of program’s progress. Quarterly reports are developed and reviewed among all paraprofessionals individually to maintain or improve areas. Data is primarily used to evaluate paraprofessional’s performance.

• Data is also used to evaluate program effectiveness. Community agencies may request a report to monitor program participant’s behavior change with program implementation. It is currently used to evaluate our revised curriculum effectiveness by looking at the specific measurements and outcomes. Lastly, EFNEP data is used to complete reports e.g. EFNEP Annual Updates, Extension annual reports, and community nutrition program impact reports.

27. University of Illinois

In Illinois we use the data for program planning, staff performance monitoring, feedback to clients. We also use it for our annual report to stakeholders and elected officials.

28. University of Kentucky

• Program Assistants use WebNEERS assessment data to identify personal education needs of participants, to develop goals with participants and measure improvement in lifestyles, safe food handling practices, food resource management and nutritious food consumption.

• WebNEERS data is used for program and curricula evaluation, planning, updates and revisions.

• It is used for research, peer reviewed publications, and to enhance the evidence base of our programs.

• EFNEP program assistant merit evaluations and promotion opportunities are based on WebNEERS data.

• We use the data to compile county data profiles which can be shared with decision makers and county officials, district boards and Extension councils.

• We develop annual reports to facilitate decision and policy making by various levels of university and state officials.

• The data is used for writing needs assessments for grant proposals and plans.

29. University of Maine

• State reporting into the Maine Logic Model Planning and Reporting System

• Annual report to the University of Maine Provost

• Creation of a Maine EFNEP infographic and rack card (attached)

• Federal, state and county level civil rights reporting

• County commissioner reports

• Raw (de-identified) WebNEERS data is used in master's student thesis research

• Individual CEA (paraprofessional) caseloads for adults and youth are part of annual performance assessments, along with data quality

• Annual outcomes from the 4 core EFNEP areas are used to identify areas where staff may need additional training

30. University of Maryland

Maryland (UMCP) EFNEP utilizes WebNEERS data extensively in a variety of ways both at the county/unit and state levels.

• Program Participants: The data is used to identify strengths as well as challenges in diet and physical activity behaviors and to determine individual learning needs of program participants. The data are also used to demonstrate the changes participants realize as a result of receiving EFNEP education. EFNEP paraprofessionals share individual reports with participants (24-hour dietary recall and questionnaire data) at entry, as an opportunity to establish individual goals with program participants, and then again after exit, to encourage participants to set goals for the future.

• County level:

  • WebNEERS data is used to assess staff performance and determine goals for professional development (goal setting), documentation for disciplinary actions, assurance of program accountability, assess staff training needs, evaluate past training effectiveness and inform future training and programming needs.

  • The data are used at the county level to inform the Area Extension Directors, County Commissioners and Representatives about EFNEP outreach and impacts.

• State Level:

  • Data is reviewed to ensure quality of data entry for EFNEP federal reporting and program development.

  • State level data are compared with the national data, tier data, our region data (NIFA regions) and states with similar geographic or demographic profile to evaluate how the state performs in comparison to other programs and thereby determine progress in meeting state goals.

  • The data are used to strengthen the knowledge base through publication of evaluation results about EFNEP in peer reviewed conference presentations.

  • Subgroups and filters created within WebNEERS allow us to create reports for partners that are applicable to specific demographic or collaborator e.g. Families referred by school based health centers or a particular after school program (such as a cooking gardening program for youth). Subgroups and filters are also used to monitor/assess graduation rate and impacts by partner.

  • We also find WebNEERS to be a useful tool in tracking different kinds of volunteers (student interns, community volunteers, after school program coordinators etc. In the future we hope to assess the value of volunteer time to our programming efforts.

  • We are also working with various technology initiatives across EFNEP to track and evaluate the impacts of technology use as part of blended learning approaches in nutrition education.

  • The data at the state level is also extracted to report EFNEP’s outreach to UMD and inform various extension reports to federal partners.

  • We aggregate data, to prepare impact statements, both for the individual counties and for the state for the purpose of marketing EFNEP to our internal and external stakeholders.

  • The data is used at the state level for Congressional reporting. Reports are shared with stakeholders and partners at the state and county levels as well as marketing for the university, Maryland Extension, the Department of Nutrition and Food Science and EFNEP.

  • Data are used at the county and at state levels to ensure civil rights compliance and to generate civil rights data for required reports.

31. University of Massachusetts

In Massachusetts the major ways we use WebNEERS data is to:

• assure that we are reaching the EFNEP audience (income, pregnant/breastfeeding/children in home status, adult and youth participant ethnic and racial diversity)

• document and report impacts of the program to collaborators, Extension stakeholders, legislators, and on our website

• assess progress in reaching our Statewide Plan of Work goals

• assess individual educators’ progress in reaching Statewide Plan of Work goals, caseload goals, goals for participant improvement, graduation goals

32. University of Missouri

We use WebNEERS data within our state to monitor overall program progress. We also use these data to produce communications pieces to describe EFNEP and its statewide impact to legislators and other program stakeholders – it has been really helpful to have these data for this purpose. At the local level, our regional staff use WebNEERS data to monitor caseloads, employee performance, and progress toward program goals.

33. University of Nebraska

In Nebraska – WebNEERS data is used at county level, state level, and system level:

• At the county level, supervisors use the data to review the effectiveness of team members, monitor reach, assess caseloads, review results with staff and provide youth data to feed into the 4H system.

• At the state level, we use the data for assessing impact, reporting, assess effectiveness of new curriculum and partnerships, target training for professional development planning, assess annual update revisions and inputs, state level data to share with legislators, stakeholders, college deans and directors.

• If an appropriate proposal and IRB are in place, we will use the data for further analysis and data sets.

• We use WebNEERS data to communicate with Extension Administration, show progress on annual reports, communicate to state and federal stakeholders, to secure complementary partners, and we have been using it more and more to show paraprofessionals their progress, accomplishments, and to set goals for staff motivation.

34. University of Nevada

We use the EFNEP WebNEERS data for our annual evaluations, presentations to campus and community stakeholders, and for our annual updates. The WebNEERS data is also used by our county level staff, they print out the 24-hour recall reports and give them to participants at the beginning and end of all of our courses. I have also used some of the data to prepare posters to present at national conferences as well.

35. University of New Hampshire

We use the data in a variety of ways. Staff at the local level use the data and reports in their reports to local county advisory councils. They also use their data in their performance evaluation as a way to measure annual goals. Some staff share data with specific teachers or schools to show the impact of the nutrition education with youth. At the state level, many aspects of the EFNEP data are included in the individual coordinator report, impact reports expected by Cooperative Extension, and annual reporting to NIFA. The data is also used to create marketing pieces to show effectiveness with stakeholders.

36. University of Puerto Rico

We uses the WebNEERS data in several ways: monitor paraprofessionals in the recruitment and retention of participants; monitor clericals work regarding data entry; follow up the professional supervisors; evaluate the changes in behavior of the participants; identify opportunities to expand the program; for the annual reports; to evaluate the performance of paraprofessional, professional and clerical; share the achievements with the community, stakeholders, state agencies, administrators and leaders of Extension and the institution.

37. University of Rhode Island

We use the data from WebNEERS in a variety of ways. The data has been extremely valuable both internally for evaluating the program, curriculum, and educators and externally for reporting the impact of our EFNEP program to stakeholders and program partners. The data is used to form our Cooperative Extension implementation plan and to feed into evaluation required by our Extension administration. In addition, data is used in part, to help coordinate nutrition education programming efforts with other key partners in our state and identify areas of need.

38. University of Wyoming

• In Wyoming, we use the WebNEERS data to evaluate program effectiveness and behavior change. We report these outcomes to Extension as impacts and share the information with stakeholders and legislators. We also use the data to evaluate employee performance and productivity. The data is also used to show participant behavior change for evidenced based programming.

• We use WebNEERS for SNAP-Ed reporting to evaluate that coincides with the SNAP-Ed Evaluation Framework.

39. Utah State University

• The data is used in a variety of ways: share it with administrations, Extension county staff and we use it for programming at the state level. Administration uses the data for reporting purposes at the state and national level as well as marketing for the university.

• The data is used at the state level for Congressional reporting.  The data is used at the county level 'Accomplishment Reports', to inform the County Extension faculty of caseload status/attainment, and County Commissioner Reports.

• The data is used to evaluate the program, curriculum, and educators not only on client graduate numbers but also behavior change. In addition, we use the system significantly for paraprofessional performance appraisal management.

• The EFNEP evaluation and reporting system has been extremely valuable, both internally for program evaluation and externally for reporting the impressive impact of our program to stakeholders. 

• A summary of the data is used for narrative reports.

• Data is sometimes used as part of research projects.

• EFNEP data is used for annual evaluations which is then used in the development for impact reports.  The impact reports are used to inform stakeholders (national and state legislators, county commissioners, county managers, mayors, etc. as well as with our agency partners). 

• Data is also used for strategic planning; planning for program changes or expansions.  

• Data is reviewed to ensure quality entry.  The data is used with the individual program participants, both to determine individual learning needs and to demonstrate the changes participants report to have made as a result of education. 

40. Virginia State University

We use the data in our trainings with paraprofessionals, to share with community partners, and to determine if program goals are being met.

41. Virginia Tech

At Virginia Tech we use WebNEERS to do quarterly performance check-ins on all of our peer educators/para-professionals. We also use the behavior data to guide professional development and training topics.

42. Washington State University

• Data is entered at the county level by paraprofessional educators. County supervisors may use the data to develop county Impact Statements for partner agency outreach, and to communicate our outcomes to key stakeholders.

• Data is used to develop our annual EFNEP Impact Statement, a colorful one-pager that summarizes our statewide program outcomes. It has been used in a variety of ways such as for agency outreach and recruitment and during Hill Visits with our local representatives and other stakeholders.

• Data is used to evaluate our county and statewide enrollment and evaluation outcomes and track progress in Five Year Plan program priorities. It has also been a useful tool for individual paraprofessional performance appraisal management.

• The database has been used as a training tool for demonstrating the importance of quality data, specifically related to the 24-hr food recall and diet quality outcomes.

Responses from EFNEP Partners – 12 June 2019 Page 11