The roles of Tennessee extension 4-H specialists as perceived by agents, specialists, and adminstrators : a delphi study

The purpose of the study was to identify a prioritized list of roles that Tennessee Extension 4-H specialists should perform. Furthermore, the study sought to describe any perceived differences in the mean and standard deviation scores between the three subgroups of panel members. A modified Delphi Technique was used on a 38-member panel, which consisted of three subgroups of members: (1) county 4-H agents, (2) specialists, and (3) administrators. Data were obtained by administering a series of three rounds of questionnaires to respondents. Arithmetic means were calculated to measure the importance of each role, and standard deviations were calculated to measure the degree of consensus reached.

The roles generated were divided into 13 groups according to subject and the groups were ranked by average mean score. While individual roles within each group should ideally be studied for good understanding, it is generally true that the most important roles were those related to Program Planning. Roles related to Personal and Professional Development, Materials/Curriculum, Volunteer Development, Evaluation/Recognition, Publicity, Agent Training and Development, Program Sponsorship, Program Support, Cooperative Efforts, Judging, and Leadership/Management were generally rated as being moderately important. One small group of roles related to Specific Programs was generally rated as being unimportant. It was recommended that Tennessee Extension 4-H specialists carefully evaluate the results of the study, compare them to their current roles, and work cooperatively to select and perform roles relative to the current situation.