We must manage accountability and regain the role of being the most severe judge of our programs to remain viable as individual agents and as an organization. In the recent past there have been two national accountability reporting systems in addition to each state's system. Last year the GPRA, Government Performance and Results Act, established a new reporting format. The GPRA is major legislation among recent federal management reform initiatives. Its purpose is to increase public confidence and to improve program effectiveness by systematically holding agencies accountable for results.
Extension stands at a crossroads.
We can either continue to ill report ourselves or we can use GPRA's analysis to showcase our program successes. Now is the time for Extension to adopt Accountability Best Management Practices, BMPs, to guarantee continued success. BMPs are currently being promoted by agents to improve youth education and crop production. This series of practices forms a process that, if followed, will simplify accountability reporting by providing documented impacts. Impact is the value of the Extension program to the client expressed in dollars or non- monetary benefits.