Exit Surveying of Interns: Demonstrating Impact on Young Professionals

Documenting impact is becoming increasingly important as funding becomes tighter for Extension programs. An exit survey for interns conducted via an online survey tool is an opportunity to collect information on knowledge and skill gains, as well as document changes in intentions and attitudes about future career paths. An exit survey conducted between 2006-2010 demonstrated increases in knowledge and skills related to coastal science. In addition, the internships enabled students to better define their career goals. There are many activities that we routinely participate in that could benefit from this type of impact data collection in addition to routine evaluation