Public Value messages

Visit the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension website to see an example of an organization communicating to stakeholders with the public value approach. Easily spotted by anyone visiting the organization’s public home page in February, was a public value message for a private drinking water and wastewater Extension program. Below the message was a link to a document containing messages for programs across all disciplines. Today, links to program impact summary reports occupy that left-column space on the home page. Prominent on the front of each colorful, two-page report is a message about the program’s public value.

Keep checking in with the UN-L Extension web page to see other ways they highlight their programs’ public value.

How has your organization used public value messages on the web?

Around the country Extension organizations are using the public value approach to make a case for public funding for Extension programs and, in some cases, for the organization as a whole. But, can the public value approach help make a case for public higher education funding, generally? This was–understandably–a topic of conversation yesterday when I taught a short workshop for the Public Higher Education Advocacy Professionals, who held their annual conference here at the University of Minnesota.

One answer is that the public value of a state university is the sum of the public value from everything the university does: teaching and granting degrees, outreach education, research, athletics, art performances, continuing education, public engagement, community service, etc. The “public value message” for the university is the [rather thick] catalog of messages for all of the programs in each of these categories.

A more satisfactory answer–and the one I think university advocates are seeking–would convey the public value of the institution in a single, compelling, all-purpose statement. To me, this sounds like a mission statement for the university, with the stipulation that it focus on public value: how the university benefits those who do not have direct contact with the university. The institution’s public value statement answers the question, as if posed by a state resident with no access to university resources, “What are you doing for me?”

A short web search reveals that some public university mission statements already include the answer. Below I excerpted from mission statements the pieces that sounded the most like public value messages:

Michigan State University:

“[The university’s teaching prepares students] to contribute fully to society as globally engaged citizen leaders…[The university’s research] make[s] make a positive difference, both locally and globally…[The university’s outreach and public engagement] lead to a better quality of life for individuals and communities, at home and around the world.”

Oregon State University:

“Oregon State University promotes economic, social, cultural and environmental progress for the people of Oregon, the nation and the world.”

Kansas State University:

“The mission of Kansas State University is to foster excellent teaching, research, and service that develop a highly skilled and educated citizenry necessary to advancing the well-being of Kansas, the nation, and the international community.”

Many public universities see their missions as generally making the state–indeed, the world–a better place. As long as that “betterment” extends to people without direct contact with the university, the institution has accomplished its public value mission, as well.

A couple of weeks ago I gave a talk on “Building Public Value with Extension and Research” at the National Extension and Research Administrative Officers Conference in Madison, WI. I heard a question that echoed one that I once asked of an Extension legislative affairs officer: “When making the case for Extension funding to an elected official, is it more effective to tell personal stories about positive experiences with Extension, or to share statistics about the impact of Extension programs?”

The answer I got from the official who visits regularly with state legislators was, “We need a lot of both!” He said that the evidence on program impact is crucial for showing legislators that Extension is improving conditions in their districts. However, we make a stronger case when we can also “put a face” on those statistics with personal stories about Extension and, importantly, personal stories about how the improved community conditions have positively affected a constituent. So, it seems to me, our best case has three components: (1) evidence of program impact, (2) testimony from individuals whose lives were improved by their own participation in Extension programs, and (3) testimony from individuals who benefit from the improved conditions–environmental, social, economic, etc.–that Extension programs helped generate.

University of Missouri Extension’s Stay Strong, Stay Healthy program (SSSH) is a strength training program that leads older adults to feel more active, flexible, and energetic. The SSSH team has created a public value message that they use to generate awareness and support for the program. Here is the message, complete with an estimate of health-related cost savings, excerpted from the program website:

“When you support MU Extension’s Stay Strong, Stay Healthy program, participants will increase their physical activity and may improve strength, balance and flexibility, resulting in reduced risk for falls, better overall health and greater independence. These health benefits decrease the likelihood of a participant entering a nursing home, which costs on average $24,455 per year in Missouri. The money saved benefits the community by keeping more discretionary income in circulation locally. It also keeps people actively, independently contributing to society longer.”

Do you have a similar program in your state? How do you explain your program’s public value?

Many Extension programs receive sponsorships from third parties: individuals, businesses, or organizations that wish to ensure that a program takes place. The program’s sustainability sometimes hinges on the sponsor’s financial support, and sponsors have an interest in the program’s outcomes. University of Minnesota Extension’s Farm Transfer and Estate Planning program is an example. According to Agricultural Business Management Extension Educator Gary Hachfeld, sponsors for the program include attorneys, accountants, and bankers who support the program so that their clients (and others) may attend.

When assembling a public value message, we consider the private benefits to the program participants and the public value that accrues to the greater community. But, is it legitimate for a program to also create benefits for the third-party sponsors? In my view, when the sponsor’s financial support is crucial to the program, and the program persists in creating substantial public value, creating benefits for the sponsor is warranted.

Consider the schematic below, based on the diagram we typically use to illustrate the elements of a public value message:

Note that the program’s outcomes may result in private benefits, public value, and sponsor benefits. Moreover, the sponsor’s interests may overlap with those of the program participant (private benefits) and the greater community (public value). In the case of the farm transfer program, a sponsoring attorney may value improved business outcomes for her clients, as well as an increase in demand for her own estate planning services. Being a member of the same community as her clients, she may also value the economic vitality and social capital improvements that arise from the program.

So, generally, where the interests of a third-party sponsor coincide with–or at least do not compete with–a program’s public value, a sponsorship can create a win-win-win-win for Extension, program participants, the sponsor, and the community.

Regarding the evaluation methodology for the venison program, Jonathan reports: “For years, we only asked questions like ‘did you pick up some butchering tips,’ or ‘did you learn something about food safety,’ etc. Last year, however, we decided that since we have many return attendees, we would begin asking them if they 1) hunted or fished more as a result of attending our program (we also do fish programs), and 2) do they keep or bring home more fish and game as a result of our programs.”

With affirmative responses to those evaluation questions, Jonathan and his colleagues argue that the hunter/fisherman programs create public value by generating hunting and fishing license fees for the state (provided that the program participants hunt and fish in concordance with state regulations). Moreover, wild game and fish are low in saturated fats and sodium, and are generally part of a healthy diet. Sportsmen and women who bring home more wild game and fish and incorporate it into their diets may see improvements in health. When these health improvements lead to lower public health costs, we can see that the Extension programs have generated public value.

Additionally, if the venison team can produce evidence that program participants identify and report animals that show signs of chronic wasting disease, they may be able to make a “natural resource protection” argument, as well.

Do you have hunting and fishing programs in your state? Have you tried to make a case for public funding for such programs? How do you explain the programs’ public value?

I drafted an example of a public value message for a hypothetical rangeland outreach program. In my example, the target stakeholder is a state resident who is not directly involved in the outreach program–or rangeland management–and who may have little awareness of the business and recreation uses of rangeland. Nevertheless, the resident is concerned about threats to the state’s water resources.

Do you have some experience and/or expertise with outreach programs targeted at rangeland managers? Have you done public value work for such programs? Feel free to critique my example or share your own in the comments.

(Photo credit: Beef Cows and Calves at the Matador Cattle Co’s Beaverhead Ranch by Edwin Remsberg USDA/CSREES)

What should an Extension program team have on hand to draft a public value message that secures a skeptical stakeholder’s support? Here’s my prescription:

What’s yours? 

Substantiating the claims that we make about Extension programs’ public value is crucial to Extension’s credibility. However, we don’t always have enough time in a “Building Extension’s Public Value” workshop to assemble the documentation (journal articles, program evaluation reports, etc.) to support the claims embedded in a newly drafted public value message. The purpose of the “Research Agenda” workshop module is to list those claims and create a plan for assembling the supporting documents, or even for conducting new program evaluations or research.

Cynthia Crawford, Family Financial Education Specialist and County Program Director for University of Missouri Extension in Saline County, MO, has a suggestion for helping workshop groups stay creative while not veering too far off into “aspirational” territory. Cynthia suggests telling teams drafting public value statements that they don’t have to have the documentation to substantiate their claims today (during the workshop), but they do have to believe the statements are true today. Cynthia reports that this bit of direction has lead to remarkably strong–and credible–draft public value messages in short amounts of work time.

I will definitely adopt Cynthia’s “you have to believe it today” guidance the next time I teach a BEPV workshop. Do you have any other suggestions for helping teams “think big” while staying grounded?

One of the tenets of Jack Mezirow’s theory of transformative learning (1) is a change in perspective triggered by a disorienting dilemma–an event or observation that causes the learner to question her prior assumptions. Being introduced to someone else’s perspective can be part of that dilemma. Consider, for example, a rancher and a wildlife conservationist working together in a community group to develop a consensus plan for managing a local population of wolves. Challenged to critically reflect on their own assumptions and to understand others’ perspectives, their own perspectives may “transform.”

I can imagine that in some cases an Extension program succeeds in encouraging a participant to make a different choice than she otherwise would have by helping her see the perspective of the community-member her actions affect. Letting a homeowner see how her poorly managed septic system turns her neighbors’ drinking water toxic could be enough to induce her make a fix. Simply learning the impact of her actions on others–whether beneficial or costly–could be enough for her to make different choices.

In other cases, the perspective change might be a change in the way the participant sees how her actions affect herself, her family, or her business. She may make an alternative choice, not because she is concerned about her impact on the community (her public benefits or costs), but because she wants to improve her own or her family’s well-being. As long as these changes also benefit the greater community, she is–however unintentionally–creating public value.

As a final thought on perspective change, I note that Extension educators who participate in a “Building Extension’s Public Value” workshop are asked to assume the perspective of a stakeholder–someone whose support for the Extension program is valued, but who is not a program participant. For example, a stakeholder for an out-of-school-time program might be a school board member, who does not have children of his own in the program. BEPV workshop participants are asked to imagine what matters the most to the stakeholder: to put themselves in his shoes. For the school board member, a primary concern might be Kindergarten readiness or student performance on standardized tests. The public value message directed to that stakeholder, then, takes into consideration his perspective and addresses concerns. In so doing, the public value message should be successful in securing his support for the program. It’s a case of transformative learning (through perspective change) on the part of the Extension professionals, themselves.

(1) Mezirow, J. (Ed.). (2000). Learning as transformation: Critical perspectives on a theory in progress. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.