University of Kentucky
College of Agriculture
Agricultural Communications Services
Unit Review
Introduction
The University of Kentucky, College of Agriculture identified the Agricultural
Communications Services Unit to be engaged in a nit review, conducted by two
external reviewers. The review team represented two land grant universities that
have similar organizational structures as the Agriculture Communications Services
Unit. Objectives of the review were to:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
Identify functions and types of activities which should be
added/expanded or reduced/eliminated. Must be based in part on what
the College of Agriculture administration views as priorities.
Identify the adequacy of the space, personnel and budgetary resources
available in light of services the Unit is expected to provide.
Identify strengths and weaknesses in the organizational structure and
management.
Evaluate the manner in which work is planned, produced and evaluated.
The review team members were Dr. Kris Boone, Head, Department of
Communications and Agricultural Education at Kansas State University, and Dr.
Ryan Schmiesing, Director, Communications and Technology for the College of Food,
Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University.
Process
Representatives from the University of Kentucky Agricultural Communications
Services Unit determined the review schedule and process. The review took place
on July 31 and August 1, 2012, on the agricultural campus. The following individual
meetings were held: Scott Smith, Dean; Nancy Cox, Associate Dean for Research;
Larry Grabau, Associate Dean for Academics; Jimmy Henning, Associate Dean for
Extension; and Laura Skillman, Director for Agricultural Communications Services.
Group meetings were held with: Agricultural Communications Services Section
Managers; College of Agriculture Department Chairs and Unit Directors; and Key
Clients. The review team also met with each section within Agricultural
Communications Services that included: News; Exhibits; Information Technology;
Integrated Media; and Publications.
At the conclusion of the second day of the review, the two review team members
met with all available staff of the Agricultural Communications Services Unit to
provide a broad overview of key themes identified as well as to thank them for their
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time, willingness to have open and honest dialogue, and to express the many
appreciative comments heard throughout the two day process.
Emerging Themes
The three themes that were shared at this meeting were: (1) a cohesive strategic
direction for the Unit is needed and should be grounded in the overall direction of
the College, as articulated by the strategic plan; (2) collaborative, empowered, and
highly communicative teams are needed to meet the expectations placed on the
team; and (3) clear articulation of what the unit is responsible for, how stakeholders
engage with the resources, and decision-making processes are needed. Each of
these themes will be articulated in the balance of the report.
Summary Themes from Groups
For the purpose of this section, individuals have been grouped into one
administrative category, to ensure confidentiality in their individual remarks.
College Administration (Dean & Associate Deans)

Cuts in budget will continue to affect this Unit; must decide what is
important and critical to the College.

Marketing and public relations is evolving and the College needs to
do more in this regard.

Security of network infrastructure and with end point users has
been mandated
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Decisions need to be made on what can be given up in the Unit.

Brand management may be limited due to resources; the
Agricultural Communications Services group will need to lead, not
always do all the work related to branding; they may serve as
consultants and leaders.

Primary clients should be the administrators to set priorities.

Staff and strategies need to continue to evolve and more quickly
engage with new media.

Unit must be careful to not portray the image that it is only serving
Extension; there are individuals that believe it only serves
Extension.

A lack of clarity exist regarding who does what, what support the
Unit should be contacted for, and when the task is outside its
expertise.

Coordination of web services across the College is difficult to
discern.

A significant number of IT resources in Departments/Units not
supervised or formally part of IT section.

Unsure how priorities are set in terms of stories written.
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More focus on the communication of the impacts of science,
research, and Extension.
Strong partnership on the view book for academic programs.
More strategic placement/production of video is needed
Fine-tuning recruitment message will be important in the future.
Stories about students and their accomplishments go a long way.
Support received in key areas has been of high quality.
Content management for materials is critically important.
Better strategies for digital archival of bulletins, etc., is needed.
More training and tools related to technology integration.
Limited focus and plan for eXtension implementation.
A process to set priorities and make decisions is important.
Stories being communicated are not intentionally connected to
priorities.
Media training is needed for principal investigators.
Content developed for one medium should be modified and used in
multiple media to leverage investment and effort.
Department Heads and Unit Leaders

Desire for stronger coordination of web development, but maintain
local ownership.

Some indication (limited respond) of not having adequate support,
but also articulated a desire for independence.

Significant users related to numbered publications (though it
presents unique challenges); video; photography; Microsoft Link;
and application development, specifically for the Dean’s office.

Guidance around the engagement of social media;
departments/units will own, but stressed uniformity and need for
policy.

Animal Sciences department views the Unit and solely supporting
Extension related functions.
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Radio needs to be sorted out – takes an extensive lead time to
schedule and must be conducted on campus.
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Trade show of all the services provided by Ag. Comm. is a good idea.
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There is disparate use of IT resources; some desired to use
resources, some not.
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Sometimes viewed as a gatekeeper of news.
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Extension publications (numbered) and the relationship to
promotion and tenure is problematic.

Not always sure who is responsible for what and the specific
offerings of the Unit.
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Key User Groups

Publication process seems slow, but product is good.

Instructional designer is key to success.
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Good uniformity of news releases; appreciate.
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Decentralized IT support presents unique challenges, potentially.
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Knowing what Ag. Comm. offers and its priorities is a challenge.
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Templates are good.
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Ag Store is good and needed.
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Extension Administration – good tech support.
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Excellent customer service from the Ag. Comm. Services Unit.
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Publications vs. Curriculum packages – need to distinguish.
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Distribution of publications is excellent.
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This Unit is “Critical to the College Mission”
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Photography is great.
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More investment in social media, web, mobile device support.
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Halftime of sporting events – good visibility of the College.
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Marketing – event driven or campaign driven?
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Equine Sciences group – good model; use Drupal as content
management.
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More integration of designers is needed.
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Publications for student services are good.
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Great deal of confidence in working with them to respond to crisis.
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New ways of delivering information – need more strategies.
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Social media is a growing need.
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What does Ag. Comm. do?
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Very significant support for Extension offices across the state.
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National media outlets – should we further explore?
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Why radio? Is there a better way to do this? Why can’t interviews be
conducted on the phone when need be? Why scheduled so far in
advance?
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More support for distance education.
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“People don’t care as much about the structure as they do the
impact.”
Agricultural Communications Services Section Managers

The structure of the Unit causes challenges, especially when thinking
about why some skill sets are placed where they are.
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What is the future of radio for the College?
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New technologies not being adopted more widely.
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Instructional designer position needs help because of demand.
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Content management is lacking and is always requested.
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Don’t know budgets or budgeting process.
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Don’t have authority to secure office supplies
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Communications and collaborative teams not highly functioning.
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Lack understanding of who has authority to make decisions in the
Unit.
Section leaders have personal responsibility but no authority and no
compensation for administrative assignment.
Lack opportunities to know about resources available within the
Unit but outside of one’s section.
News Section

Proud of relationship with others.
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Website is much more interactive.
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Social media is growing but focus is primarily traditional media.
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Writing beats covered by departments and Extension districts.
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Event photography takes significant time.
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A lot of releases about programs and events.
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Assessment of the impact of strategies is not evident.
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Priority of distribution of news is related to timeliness.
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Stories come into the section; don’t go looking for them.
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Relationship with central campus is good.
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Lack opportunities for cross-training
Exhibits
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A large number of exhibits are done each year with diminishing
number of human resources.
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Cloverville (4-H); National Farm Machinery Show; Kentucky State
Fair; Ag Round Up; Lexington Home and Garden; College Exhibit at
Fair.
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Approximately 1 million people view the exhibits each year.
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Recently completed an exhibit at the Kentucky Horse Park.
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Do a lot of manual labor for different exhibitor groups and pay for
transportation of exhibits.
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A tremendous amount of pride in the exhibits by stakeholders.

Large investment in this activity compared to similar units in the
nation.
Information Technology

Adequate funding, although no process or active responsibility
within the section.
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Do not have a process for enterprise or capital funding each year.
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Collaboration among sections is not very good.
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Where some resources are located in the Unit causes some working
challenges (i.e., web developers not in the IT section).
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General lack of understanding of where the entire Unit is going.
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Lack of knowledge of budget for IT creates issues when working
with groups outside of the Unit.
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Integrated Media
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Drupal content management being pursued.
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Streamlining hosting environment.
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Relationship with IT is improving.
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Collaboration among sections is a real struggle.
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Workload is increasing in section, e.g. the magazine design work.
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Training – serves Extension – some challenges working with IT.
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Programmers – highly skilled – located in this section.
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Better role and responsibility definition would be helpful.
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Communication strategies are not strategic.
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Within Unit as a whole, people question why information is needed,
rather than simply providing; seems like providing information may
be seen as giving away power.
Publications
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Strong skill set of staff.
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High demand.
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Library loan for equipment and video. Most communications units
no longer do this.
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Print Shop – business case needs to be developed.
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Mailing services are significant part of this section.
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Section is developing its own databases.
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Writing programs (databases) internally and not part of staff
member’s position description.
Emerging Themes
In light of the themes from the groups noted above and our own observations and
background, we considered the objectives set forth for our team and provide the
following feedback.
(1)
Identify functions and types of activities which should be
added/expanded or reduced/eliminated. Must be based in part on what
the College of Agriculture administration views as priorities.
a. Most important to this objective is that the Unit is not guided by a
strongly visible strategic plan by the College. While the College has a
strategic plan, most of the people we spoke to in the Unit had not seen
it and were not involved with its development. The Unit’s work must
be guided by it. When we know what the College is working to
accomplish, we can better align resources – budget, personnel,
mission, activities – to it. Without that, the Unit is staffing in the dark
without being able to visualize the tools it needs to hit the target.
Beyond staffing, it also is unable to strategically plan in all business
operations.
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(2)
b. There is tremendous talent in the Unit, but work load is unbalanced,
which is a management, communications, and planning issue.
c. The Unit produces very high quality work in numerous areas,
including some that are less used today than in the past. Some of the
work seems to be driven by the thought that because we have done it
in the past, we should be doing it now. In particular, the future
investment into exhibits, radio, and the print shop may need to be
reviewed. Other areas are growing in need, but lack resources,
including social media, content management, and web development
(guidance and production). While not discussed much during the
review, mobile applications for the College and Extension (whether
web-based or mobile) should be points of discussion.
d. Investment in visual resources (video and still) are very important in
today’s competitive information market. However, events may not be
the most important visual elements to capture. Also in this area
especially, but throughout the Unit as well, more cross-training needs
to be expected. Related to this area, but not confined to it, staff
expressed interest in continuing professional development. Often in
universities, we focus on continuing professional development for
faculty; however it is just as important for our staff members as well.
e. The instructional design position is highly valued by clients and inside
the Unit, but might better serve the College if placed under the
College’s academic programs office. Faculty might more easily find
this expertise there, and the position could more readily champion
distance education and consortia, such as Ag IDEA.
f. The integrated media section is highly productive, but it is confusing
to us and to others as well, including some in the section. It seems to
have emerged because collaboration among groups was not working
well.
Identify the adequacy of the space, personnel and budgetary resources
available in light of services the Unit is expected to provide.
a. The space allocated to the Unit seems adequate for the current
functions. It is difficult to determine if it is allocated appropriately
given the limited amount of time we had to spend there. The separate
locations present problems and seem to play into communications
challenges. If the locations are to remain the same, the need for
changes in the human systems and authority structure become even
greater. A small space with a very limited number of employees can
work well with one authority figure. With multiple locations and
numerous employees, distributed authority located more closely to
where the actual production is occurring provides a stronger model.
b. Staffing seems adequate based on current structure; however a
serious review of the sections should be undertaken in light of the
direction of a strategic plan We recommend combining web and
programmers into the IT section; clarifying relationship between
departmental/unit IT staff to IT leadership; placing the technology
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trainer in the IT section for better collaboration; and reviewing roles
of individuals that are creating databases/programs independently of
programming staff. The IT section has great resources to offer not
only to the College and Extension, but also to the Unit. The rest of the
Unit does not know what it could rely on IT for, nor does IT know
what the rest of the Unit needs are.
(3)
Identify strengths and weaknesses in the organizational structure and
management.
a. Numerous strengths and some weaknesses are listed above. Because
of our task, we have focused more on areas where we believe
improvement can be made. It is very important to note that the Ag
Communications Services Unit is known for its highly talented,
professional and committed people.
b. The section leaders in the Unit have some personnel responsibility
but no authority. Authority and responsibility should be coupled.
Further, these professionals do not know what the budgets are or
have responsibility or authority for funds, which limits their ability to
plan, to seek collaborative partnerships, to move when opportunities
arise, and to negotiate for the best interests of the system. They
should have some knowledge of the budget or, within reason,
authority and responsibility for some portion of it. They should also
create processes to discuss collaboration within the Unit regularly as
well as have the authority to collaborate across lines without
authorization from above. If they are vested with budget and
personal authority and responsibility, they should be compensated for
those administrative duties. Greater collaboration may also lead to
better leveraging of content across media and more strategic use of
resources.
(4)
Evaluate the manner in which work is planned, produced and evaluated.
a. The sections are disconnected. No procedure or structure is in place
to encourage or facilitate connection. It should be a high priority of
the leadership to be addressed.
b. Although the integrated media group seems very productive, Web
developers, application develops and technology trainer are not in IT
and that presents a variety of challenges related to planning,
collaboration and communications.
c. The College’s strategic plan should be used to direct a strategic
COMMUNICATIONS plan. The Unit should lead the development of
such a plan, and its work should work to fulfill the College’s strategic
goals.
d. We did not see evaluation tools for the work of the Unit. Perhaps this
is an oversight on our part, but perhaps evaluating the impact of the
work is not built into the process.
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e. The Unit does not have a strong focus on training those in the College
or Extension. We would encourage the Unit to make a concerted and
coordinated effort to develop trainings. Each of the faculty members
in the Kentucky system can be contributing to the mediated
communications efforts of the system. The quality of what they
produce may not be at the same level as what Ag Communications
would create, but it can add to the total product as well as be
authentic. Also training can do much to improve the quality and
enhance the reputation of expertise for Ag Communications.
f. It is our understanding that, as in many institutions, Extension
publications at UK are one of the key quantity and quality indicators
for promotion and tenure qualifications for Extension specialists. We
would encourage the system as a whole to rethink that and enlarge
their definition of “scholarly” products related to Extension
appointments. By the Boyer definition, the focus should be on peer
review, dissemination, and retrieval through archive. Other forms of
scholarship, beyond Extension publications, may better meet
audience needs and meet those same criteria. Unless promotion and
tenure guidelines are broadened, the demand from faculty for editors’
and designers’ time will continue to be expended almost exclusively
on Extension publications, which may bar UK Extension from
exploring other forms that might better meet audience needs.
We appreciate the opportunity to review this Unit and learn from it and this very
talented group of professionals. These recommendations are presented as thoughts
for exploration. Those in the UK College administration and within the Unit are in
the best position to determine what is appropriate for the needs. We encourage the
Unit to take leadership in determining its direction and providing administration
with service driven by expertise.
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