NAME and DATE:

Make certain name and date are entered on the Recertification Report. If you are using the on-line form, you only need to enter your name once. Forms without names can’t be assigned to an individual.

INDIVIDUAL CONTACTS:

Individual Contacts are broken down into three categories: Personal, Phone Conversation, and Email contact. This section should be used for activities such as giving gardening advice/instructions to neighbors, friends, relatives or acquaintances. Although this section can handle multiple participants or contacts, it is not to be used for Group Event activities.
Topic should be the subject of the conversation such as pruning, plant selection, landscape design, or watering. Enter date of event. Do not include yourself when listing number of participants.
If you choose to list contact hours while working at events such as the Home & Garden Show or Pond Tour, estimate the number of people whose questions you answered or to whom you gave advice. Show an estimated time spent with these people. For example, if during a two hour event, you spoke with 24 people for an estimated time of 5 minutes each. 24 X 5 = 120 minutes or 2 hours. If you talked to 12 people for 5 minutes (1 hour) but spent a total of 2 hours working, enter the extra hour under volunteer time.
When entering hours, using decimals for partial hours.
For example: 1.5 is an hour and a half           
15 minutes is .25         30 minutes is .5           45 minutes is .75

GROUP EVENT:

When it is determined that you have a Group Event to report, all information under this section must be completed.
Date of event is the date of the presentation.
Title of event is the group name or general public attending.
Location of event is a place such as Breedlove in Lubbock, TX
Preparation Time is the actual time spent preparing for your presentation.
Specific Target Audience is a group such as Master Gardener Interns, Junior Master Gardeners Coordinators, or Lions Club.
Duration of Meeting (Hours) should be the number of hours that you addressed the group. If the meeting was 4 hours and your presentation 1 hour, report 1 hour.
For Total Number in Audience, use a sign in sheet if possible or estimate.
For Participants in Group Setting be as accurate as possible, but estimate when necessary.
Event Details of Relevance, Results, and Response must be completed before a Group Event can be counted.
Relevance can be stated as “____ (subject) is important because ___________.”
Example: Teachers and students need instruction in gardening principles.
Results can be stated as “____ (event) was scheduled to discuss ____.”
Example: Garden was planted with various vegetable types to demonstrate principles.
Response can be stated as “___ (number) attended event and as a result planned to ____.”
Example: Students indicated this was their favorite subject and constantly asked questions.
The reporting of major projects such as Home & Garden Show, Pond Tour, Garden Tour, or Spring Fling should be the Master Gardener coordinator for the event. For example, Jim Brown will report for the Home & Garden Show under Group event. Your participation will be reported under individual contacts or volunteer time.

NEWSPAPER/NEWSLETTER/TELEVISION/RADIO:

All information must be completed for your event to be counted. The number of viewers can usually be supplied by the Extension office.
Web Site: This information is submitted only by Susan Lake or others engaged in the web site.

VOLUNTEER WORK:

The first entry is for reporting work at the educational garden. There are spaces for five entries. If you work more than five days at the education garden, submit another report for the additional days and hours or combine hours.
The other two entries can be used for other volunteer work such as Home & Garden Show, Pond Tour, Arboretum, or church gardens.

CONTINUING EDUCATION UNITS:

For Master Garden Recertification, six hours are required. Hours reported can be Master Gardener programs, Arboretum programs, or hours obtained by attending special informational programs. There are also a few on-line Web courses that you can use.

DEADLINES:

Submit your previous month’s hours during the first week of the next month. Forms can be mailed, hand delivered, or emailed using the “submit” button. Forms should be sent to Lesli White who will be maintaining certification hours for the Master Gardeners during 2008. Forms can also be brought to the Master Gardener meeting.
Information MUST be supplied using the form. Phone calls or slips of paper can’t be accepted.
All hours must be reported each quarter by the following dates in order to be used for re-certification purposes:
March 5         June 5       September 5         December 5