Wells Fargo Extension Professional Award/Program Enhancement Grant

This award provides a term professorship for a state or county extension faculty member who has a distinguished record of Extension programming and who has implemented creative, innovative educational programs and educational products. The proposed extension program must be in the public policy arena of land and water use, urban/rural interface, families and children, environmental quality, human resources development, or competitiveness/trade. As these public policy issues are often complex, these extension faculty may work in partnership with community agencies, state government, other universities, community colleges, and other institutions with the best expertise in these areas to address current and future public policy issues. Candidates must have a minimum of 5 years of Extension experience.

What does “Public Policy” mean?

The definition of public policy is: “A course of action adopted and pursued by a government”… or, “Action taken by a government to address a particular public issue.” These actions could be tied directly to legislation, or they could be an interpretation of a law that turns into rules and regulations put forth by a particular agency. For example, the FDACS Best Management Practices program for agriculture and the Green Industries BMPs are public policy related to environmental quality… Water use restrictions are public policy enforced by Water Management Districts…Food safety laws are public policy enforced by FDACS and FDA. There are many other examples like these where extension can be or is involved from an educational perspective.

Proposal Format (8 pages maximum)

  1. Applicant’s…
  2. Name:
  3. UF ID number:
  4. Title:
  5. Office location:
  6. E-mail address:
  7. Extension assignment: _____%FTE
  8. Total years in UF/IFAS Extension: _____
  9. Justification: State the need for the proposed educational program.
  10. Provide a statement of learning objectives.
  11. Provide the content outline – What content will be included in the program?
  12. What are the expected results?
  13. Evaluation method: How will you determine if the learning objectives have been met?
  14. Describe the final deliverable product.
  15. Provide a timeline for the program. (Please try to spend the $10,000 award within 1 year of receiving the funds.)
  16. Provide a basic budget for the program (e.g., OPS, materials, travel, technology, etc.)

Have your application reviewed by a colleague or unit leader and edit as needed to assure that it is in the best shape possible (this step is optional, but recommended).

Submit the application document (Word file or PDF) using the upload feature at

Evaluation criteria

Criterion / Points
1. Proposal demonstrates a public policy need to be addressed. / 10
2. The goal of the program is clearly stated. / 10
3. The proposed methods, approaches, and strategies are realistic, reasonable, effective, and outcome-oriented. / 10
4. The grant applicant has credibility for this kind of work. / 10
5. The budget allocations to this program are appropriate. / 10
6. Program objectives and outcomes are clear and measurable or tangible. / 10
7. The project is innovative and does not duplicate previous work. / 10
8. There is innovative use of emerging technologies. / 10
9. There is a solid evaluation plan. / 10
10. Project deliverables will have significant impact on Florida Cooperative Extension. / 10
Total / 100