A Study of the Effectiveness of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service's Program Excellence Academy for New Employees

The purpose of the study was to determine if Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service's Program Excellence Academy for new employees increased the knowledge and changed the behavior of new employees related to program development. The Program Excellence Academy for Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service is required professional development training focusing on program development for all new County Extension Agents. Additional purposes of the study included determining if the objectives set for the Program Excellence Academy were being met as well the three research objectives developed to determine the effectiveness of the Program Excellence Academy and identify improvements that could be made. Findings showed the Program Excellence Academy is an effective new agent training activity with some minor improvements in some areas to increase the effectiveness.