by Cara Pesek
Lincoln, Neb. — The Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, together with the Multistate Research Fund Impacts Program (MRF Impacts), will host an online training on Nov. 8 to help faculty members develop effective and well-articulated annual impact reports.
The training, which will be held via Zoom from 10 a.m. to noon, is designed to help IANR faculty develop, frame and write effective impact reports. Increasingly, land-grant university faculty are called upon to articulate the impact of their research, teaching and Extension efforts. All IANR faculty will be required to submit at least one impact report each year as part of the annual performance review process. The reports will be used to guide storytelling across IANR, as well as to share the examples of work taking place across IANR with stakeholders, partners, policy makers, and the general public.
Faculty are asked to bring a rough draft impact report to the training.
Sara Delheimer, the MRF Impacts program coordinator will lead the training. Administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the Multistate Research Fund supports agricultural innovation and sustainability through a federal grant program that funds collaborative research projects at state agricultural experiment stations and land-grand universities. Delheimer writes impact statements about these projects and uses traditional and social media channels to share them with stakeholders.
During the training, Delheimer will share attributes and examples of effective impact statements, as well as examples of how universities, national associations, federal agencies, and others have successfully used impact statements to build public trust and support. Participants will also have time to work on their own impact statements. Delheimer and communications professionals from across IANR will be available to provide feedback and answer questions.
The training will also include a brief overview of the web platform that faculty will use to submit their impact reports and other annual reporting materials.
Online registration is required. To register, https://go.unl.edu/impactworkshop. To view examples of effective impact reports, visit the Impact Report Guidelines page on the IANR website. For more information on this training, contact Rich Bischoff at rbischoff2@unl.edu or Cara Pesek at cpesek@unl.edu.