Evaluation of Program Changes with the Ohio State University Nursery Short Course

Evaluation of Program Change with The Ohio State University Nursery Short Course Presenting author – Dr. Hannah Mathers, Denise Johnson The Ohio State University Nursery Short Course (OSU NSC) has been providing the green industry with cutting edge educational information, research updates and innovations for nursery, landscape, garden center, tree care and turf professionals for 80 years. The three sponsors of the OSU NSC - The Ohio State University Department of Horticulture and Crop Science; OSU Extension Nursery, Landscape and Turf Team; and Ohio Nursery and Landscape Association – work closely together in the planning and implementation of this program. On January 25-28, 2009, 120+ sessions were presented by internationally, nationally and locally recognized experts and industry leaders to over 2,000 attendees. The OSU NSC, held in conjunction with the Central Environmental Nursery Trade Show (CENTS), was modified in 2007 to establish non-competing hours with CENTS with only morning educational sessions organized into tracks of four 50-minute presentations per track that focused on selected topics. In 2009, additional educational sessions were provided on Tuesday with one afternoon track of four 50-minute sessions called “Foundations and Fundamentals.” Also in 2009, all day educational sessions were provided on Wednesday with the addition of two 50-minute sessions in five tracks in the afternoon. Evaluations of the trade show and Short Course during 2007, 2008 and 2009 indicate some of program changes have benefited the program and others have been detrimental. Attendance for the Short Course has declined by 30% in this three year period and the trade show 31%. Trade shows across the United States have seen dramatic declines in attendance. Also, the economy has factored into people's decisions to cut back on these types of events. In addition to annual on-site attendee evaluations which use a Likert scale evaluation tool, data has been gathered from students attending a class associated with the Short Course. Results of 2007 through 2009 evaluations will be presented to determine the impact on the program.