John Lawrence’s message from Feb. 17, 2020
In ISU Extension and Outreach, it’s everybody’s job to create and share the value and impact of our work. This job will get easier and more accurate as we roll out MyData. This centralized system soon will become the way we collect and report information about our programs, educational contacts, partnerships, client relationships and outcomes. Did you know?
- In September 2017 a steering committee began developing one reporting system for our organization. After considering many options, the committee decided the best approach was to create our own system with Salesforce.
- In April 2019 MyData was ready for pilot testing. Folks in Carroll, Franklin, Monroe, Muscatine and Polk counties and on campus have been not only “kicking the tires” of MyData, but also trying to crash it. They are helping us build a stronger system, so if you have the opportunity, thank them for their efforts. The pilot ends in June.
- From October 2020 through September 2021, we’ll do online and face-to-face training and rollout to our organization. Program directors will set the timelines for their staff and faculty to participate, and Andrea Nelson, assistant vice president for county services, will set the timelines for counties. (Timelines will be staggered to accommodate various annual schedules for professional development.) Please continue using your current reporting system until you are added to the rollout.
- Then in October 2021 all staff and faculty with programmatic evaluation and reporting responsibility will use MyData for reporting inputs, outputs, outcomes and impacts.
- MyData will be our official reporting system for internal and external reports. Beginning with annual performance reviews in spring 2022, if it isn’t in MyData, it didn’t happen.
Stay informed about MyData so you will be ready for training and rollout to your program area, county or unit. (You can review my comments about MyData from the Feb. 10 Second Monday Live archive.) We collect, handle and report data to tell our story, so our data must be accurate to tell our story well. We must be accountable – to the university, the statehouse, our federal partners and our clients and stakeholders in every county.
In other news, county offices have until March 18 to enter a contest to be the first county to transition to the new Drupal 8 county website platform. The winner will be announced at Annual Conference, April 1. With this upgrade, our websites will help us better serve our clients. Did you know?
- The new county websites will be accessible from the ground up. They will be tested prior to going live to ensure they meet all accessibility standards.
- A new search feature allows for both county site only and extension-wide searches. (You can try out this feature on the Extension IT site.)
- Due to the implementation of MyData, there will not be a new extension calendar at this time. However, a new staff directory will feed staff profiles into websites, meaning each staff member will have only one profile to maintain.
We’ll have more updates on the county website transition in the coming weeks.
More notes
- Goodbye … and welcome, January 2020: Please review this list of individuals who left ISU Extension and Outreach in the past month, as well as those who have joined our organization.
- The Feb 10 Second Monday Live archive is available. The session covered the Master Conservationist program and MyData.
- IECA and 4-H Legislative Day is Feb. 19 in Des Moines. Extension council members and senior 4-H members will meet with legislators and hear from the governor, tour the World Food Prize building, network and participate in educational activities.
- Join Cyndi Wiley, Iowa State’s digital accessibility coordinator, for The Art of Creating Effective Alt Text, Feb. 25 at 10 a.m. Connect online. The recording from the January webinar is available on MyExtension.
— John D. Lawrence
Iowa State University Vice President for Extension and Outreach