TENNESSEE MASTER GARDENER SEARCH FOR EXCELLENCE GUIDELINES

Application Deadline is October 31, 2009

(Adapted from the International Search for Excellence Guidelines)

Search for Excellence is the recognition program for Master Gardener volunteer work throughout the state of Tennessee. SFE has seven categories in which Master Gardeners can demonstrate their outstanding contributions to their communities. All SFE applications must demonstrate that significant learning took place, whether by the Master Gardeners or the general public with which they were involved.

All volunteer work done by Master Gardeners is significant to their communities, but not all work is an SFE project. SFE is designed to recognize outstanding group projects, not an individual who does outstanding work.

All Tennessee Master Gardener SFE winners will be entered in the International Search for Excellence contest for the following International Master Gardener Conference. (Deadline for IMG SFE is December 5, 2009.)

CRITERIA FOR QUALIFICATION

Project submissions must meet the following guidelines to qualify for SFE awards.

  1. Project type and timeframe.
  2. Projects must fit into one of the following categories. Only one project may be submitted by a group per category.
  3. Youth
  4. Demonstration Garden
  5. Workshop or Presentation
  6. Community Service
  7. Innovative
  8. Research
  9. Special Needs Audience (Senior, Disabled or Horticultural Therapy)
  10. The project must have completed at least one cycle and must have been worked on over the past two years.
  11. Program projects that have previously won Tennessee Master Gardener or International Master Gardener Conference SFE awards are not eligible in any category.
  12. Simple to replicate — A goal of SFE is to share excellent ideas and programs that can be replicated by other Master Gardener groups. A 20-acre botanic garden would be difficult to replicate, but the gardening ideas inside it would be easy to create somewhere else.
  13. Practical — An SFE program is designed to appropriately convey the needs of the community and supports the mission of Extension.
  14. Original and creative — The program is created and adapted to local needs using the unique skills and talents of the volunteers.
  15. Compatible with Extension Master Gardener mission.
  16. Projects must have an educational component.
  17. Projects must be available to all persons without regard to race, color, sex, disability, religion, age, veteran status, political beliefs, sexual orientations, national origin and marital or family status.
  18. Projects should extend the resources of Extension to the public wherever they live, helping them use knowledge to solve problems at work, at home and in their communities.
  19. Information provided should be university research-based.

THE APPLICATION

The Search for Excellence project application should be written by the Master Gardeners involved in the project, not by Extension staff. Complete the following form to submit your application:

  • Name of Master Gardener group and state or province submitting application
  • Name and e-mail of Master Gardener contact person
  • Name, title, address, phone and e-mail of Master Gardener Coordinator/Extension staff
  • Category — Must select and submit in only one category
  • Youth
  • Demonstration Garden
  • Workshop or Presentation
  • Community Service
  • Innovative Project
  • Research (Applied scientific methodology)
  • Special Needs Audience (Senior, Disabled, Horticulture Therapy)
  • Description of project (100 words) — Include target audience, goals, location and partnerships.
  • Methods (200 words) — Planning and implementation.
  • Results (100 word limit)
  • Significant learning and impacts (200 words)— Significant learning and change in attitude and practices are outcomes that Extension uses to evaluate the impact of their service and programs. Impacts from Extension Master Gardener projects should improve peoples’ lives. Explain how this project augmented learning, increased knowledge or changed practices to enhance quality of life. These impacts could be economical, environmental, educational, health, community-based, etc. SFE projects should be developed to reach the most people possible from the target audience. Impact numbers are not as significant if the target audience does not learn or utilize information. Make sure you ask participants how this information helped them and record this as an impact. Depending on the nature of the project the evaluations may be very informal (i.e. casually asking questions) or formal (i.e. pre-test/post-test). For example, evaluation questions that ask, “How do you plan to use this information?” or “Can you share specific information that you learned today?” can help show impact — especially if you can show that 70 percent of the participants plan to use fewer pesticides.

Visit the International Master Gardener Conference webpage at for additional information regarding project evaluations for measuring impact of projects. This webpage also contains examples and archives of previous winning SFE projects.

  • Budget narrative (50 words) — Funding and how it was spent.
  • List the names of Master Gardeners directly involved in this project. Please do not include their roles or any other individuals in this listing.

Application instructions:

1. E-mail applications to Mike Payne at attached as a Word file. Do not send photos or any files that are zipped or compressed. Please put the Master Gardener program, county and state in the subject line of all e-mails. Questions should be directed to Mike Payne or to Beth Babbit at . No hard copy or mailed applications will be accepted.

2. Applications that exceed three pages or contain photographs will not be considered for competition. Do not include any pictures.

3. A verification letter or e-mail from your County Extension Advisor/Coordinator is required and must come directly from that individual. This letter or e-mail verifies that all Master Gardeners involved are currently in good standing with their local program. The deadline for this verification is the same date as the application deadline. Any project submitted without this document will not be considered.

4. If your project is selected as a winner, you will be required to submit a poster for display at the Tennessee Master Gardener Winter School or State Conference (poster guidelines will be provided to winners).

5. Do not send handouts or any other large files with this application. Submit only this completed application and the verification letter. Any files, pictures, handouts, etc., will be discarded.

6. Receipt of application and Extension Coordinator verification will be verified via e-mail from the Tennessee Master Gardener SFE Committee within two days of the committee receiving it. If you fail to receive verification within 48 hours of submission, contact Mike Payne (). The committee cannot be responsible for applications not received due to spam mail blockers, etc.

EXPECTATIONS OF WINNERS

1. If selected as a Search for Excellence winner, you will be expected to give a short (3 minute maximum) address describing your project at the next Tennessee Master Gardener Winter School or State Conference. You will be asked to provide several single digital pictures of your project to be included in the group PowerPoint of 2010 SFE winners.

2. POSTER: If you are in the top three in your category, you may be asked to prepare a 40” x 30” poster to be displayed at the Tennessee Master Gardener Winter School or International Master Gardener Conference. Posters shouldinclude photos of the project, a state map showing where the project is located, name of the Master Gardener group and information about the group, as well as other pertinent information.

3. At this time, there is no reimbursement for your registration fees or travel expenses to the Tennessee Master Gardener Winter School or State Conference. If money becomes available you will be notified.

4. Your Master Gardener program, rather than individual Master Gardeners, will receive a plaque for winning the Search for Excellence category. The Tennessee Master Gardener Search for Excellence Awards are sponsored by the Tennessee Master Gardener Endowment and the Tennessee Master Gardener Advocacy Board.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION

Projects will be rated on a 100 point scale. All applications are judged independently by at least three Extension faculty members and three Master Gardeners who are members of the SFE Committee. They will use the following criteria:

Simplicity of project (easy to replicate)...... 10 points

Practicality, usefulness or relevance of project for situation...... 10 points

Originality or creativity...... 10 points

Consistent with Extension and MG missions...... 20 points

Clarity and completeness of project application...... 20 points

Did significant learning occur?...... 20 points

Number of people impacted...... 10 points

TOTAL...... 100 points

All of the scores will be totaled and divided by the number of judges. Projects that do not achieve a score of 80 points or better will not receive a SFE Award.

A judge will be excused from reviewing an application from the county in which he or she works or volunteers as a Master Gardener.

All scoresheets will be returned to the applicants as soon as possible. We hope that the comments will help to strengthen your volunteer work. All decisions and scoring by the judges will be considered final.

We applaud all the volunteer work done by the Master Gardeners and hope that this work is being recognized on the county and regional levels. The Tennessee Master Gardener recognition is a SEARCH FOR EXCELLENCE of the highest quality within Master Gardener programs across Tennessee and the United States and Canada.