IASWCD's District Visits Program

Strengthening and Transforming Soil and Water Conservation Districts

The District Visits Program - An Excellent Evaluation Tool

Building District capacity and strengthening natural resources programming and implementation at the grassroots level are the keys behind a District capacity tool available for Indiana Soil and Water Conservation Districts.

Ray Chattin, a Knox County association supervisor and former IASWCD regional director, says the District Visits program is an excellent tool for SWCDs. “This will be valuable for Districts because it will create an awareness of what a fully functional District is and help identify opportunities to improve.

“By providing an impartial snapshot of their District based on individual interviews with all partners, the District visit process becomes a catalyst for change, through the creation of constructive dialogue between partners and by simply allowing situations to be viewed from a fresh perspective,” Chattin added. ”I believe it creates the kind of chemistry that can bring about positive and dynamic transformation at the local level.”
“I already expected the program to be helpful,” said Paula Baldwin, IASWCD vice president and a Marion County SWCD Supervisor. “No matter where you are in board dynamics and philosophy, there can be improvements. I consider our District to be one that already has very open communications among Supervisors and between staff and board, yet there were a couple of surprises - the kind of thing that you leave saying “well, I just assumed....”
Baldwin goes on to say “The value of this program comes from having that outside entity look at your comments. It is not really unbiased - better - it is unattached. Dynamics, personalities, experience levels, etc. are kept out of the equation. It looks at each comment separately and as equally valuable to the outcome. It was refreshing to see our strengths through others' eyes and great help to clarify where the problems may be occurring.”
Jim Lake, District Support Specialist for Northeast Indiana, and co-chair for the program, says the perimeters for the District Visits Program are:

• District visits will only be conducted upon request by a District.
• The visiting team will consist primarily of peer representatives (4-5 people on the visiting team).
• The visit will be to help the respective District assess how it is functioning, not to evaluate it’s programs.
• The visiting team will facilitate the self assessment through one-on-one interviews with localconservation partnership members, and then provide feedback on strengths and opportunities for improvement.

The interviews, feedback and written report to the District will be kept confidential.
The final report for the District will include:

• A written report,
• Overview of the process used to develop the final report observations,
• List of strengths for the board, staff, local agency partnership staff and board meeting,
• List of opportunities, and
• Team contacts for follow-up.

The close-out meeting with each District who participates in the program will include:

• A review of the report,
• Explanation and expansion on strengths and opportunities noted,
• An opportunity to respond to questions generated by the verbal and written report, and
• Comments on plans for follow-up.

Jim Lake says this program is confidential. “We keep our promise of confidentiality by leaving or destroying all the individual interview recording forms and leaving the written report with the District.”
It is important for Districts to understand that all supervisors should participate in the District Visits Program, and the evaluation itself takes time. The evaluation team will only be able to schedule approximately six visits a year. A future goal of the program will be to engage more than one District Visits team, so additional Districts may participate in the program.

If your District wants to find out more about this new tool, contact your ISDA Division of Soil Conservation District Support Specialist.