APR Checklist

Owned by Gilbert, Samuel Z - (szgilbert)
Nov 21, 2023
3 min read

General

  • Did you take time to check your grammar and spelling? 
  • Did you clarify your role in programs and grants? 
  • Did you include percentages in team efforts? Teams should agree on percent effort for publications and amount claimed on grants for each so as not to over or under report. 
  • Are you mindful of the total number of characters allowed in your APR? (24,000) 

Program Identification and Planning

  • Did you remember to include the sources of your data and needs assessments justifying your program? 
  • While your needs assessment may be a few years old, can you still justify the need for your program with updated information? 
  • Can you make a cogent correlation between the data/needs cited with your program? In other words, in your narrative, do you describe with some specificity how your outreach and program activities relate to the needs described? 
  • Can you sum up your program identification and planning without overgeneralizing or overstating your case? 
  • Did you note your percent responsibility for program, not percentage of time spent on program? 

Objectives and Desired Program Outcomes

  • Do your short-term desired outcomes describe measurable changes or increases in knowledge, opinions, skills or abilities? 
  • Do your medium-term desired outcomes describe specific, measurable actions that will come about as a result of your program? 
  • Do your long-term desired impacts describe wider range societal, economic or environmental changes that you would like to see attributed to your efforts? 
  • Do you make note of any proposed evaluation criteria or tools that you used to measure your outcomes and impacts? 

Program Inputs

  • Did you acknowledge other individuals/support staff who contribute to your program if you supervise program staff? 
  • Did you note any particular curricula, technology or other resources that you may be using for your program?

Program Outputs

  • Did you know that outputs can be summarized in bullet fashion, so as to save space and improve readability? 

Program Outcomes and Impacts

  • Do your short-term outcomes describe measurable changes or increases in knowledge, opinions, skills or abilities of your clientele? 
  • Do your medium-term outcomes describe specific, measurable actions that have come about as a result of your program? 
  • If feasible, do your long-term impacts describe wider range societal, economic or environmental changes that may be attributed to your efforts? 
  • Do your overall outcomes and impacts track with your desired program objectives and outcomes? 
  • Are your listed outcomes truly outcomes and not outputs (program activity)? 
  • Do you cite or reference appropriate evaluation tools that were used to measure your outcomes? 

Grants and Contracts

  • Did you make sure to list only grants and contracts that are relative to the current APR year and not just carried over from previous APRs? 
  • Did you coordinate and list your percent responsibility for the grant as a percentage of your effort relative to other team members?

Cooperative and Collaborative Team Efforts

  • Throughout your APR, have you noted where you were part of a team effort and described your role as a participant or leader, as well as the acknowledging other team members/colleagues? 

Service

  • Have you identified your specific role in community organizations, local, state Extension committees, working groups, state or national professional associations, college/university committees, including leadership positions? 
  • If you are a member of a professional association, did you actively participate in any committees or association activities to help strengthen that organization? If not, then being strictly a dues paying member without any active participation should not be listed as service.

Creative and Scholarly Works

  • Did you know that you can organize your APR by the types of publications and works? E.g.
    • Professional Journal Publications 
    • Abstracts 
    • Pamphlets/Newsletters
    • Extension Reports
    • Curriculum
  • If applicable, does your publication meet the definition of ‘peer-reviewed?’ 
  • Did you remember to give the full bibliographic citation of your publications?
  • Under ‘Other Creative and Scholarly Works,’ did you remember to list:
    • Websites/Software?
    • Presentations?
      • Peer Related
      • Community Related
    • Poster Sessions?
  • Did you remember not to list any presentation that are considered part of your regular program delivery and should be listed under Program Outputs instead?

Professional Development

  • Did you remember to list your 'seat hours' for your professional development activities?  These should be listed as actual hours spend in workshops/training and not include general travel or conference time.