For JOE Institutional Delegates: The Role of the JOE Institutional Delegate

The Extension Journal, Inc. Board of Directors seeks to foster a communication link with designated representatives of institutions and agencies in the Cooperative Extension System (1862, 1890, 1994) for all communication relevant to the Journal of Extension (JOE). The president elect of the Extension Journal Board of Directors is the official contact between JOE Institutional Delegates and the Board. This individual will communicate with representatives on a periodic basis, at minimum semiannually, to provide relevant information, training, and support regarding JOE.

As a JOE Institutional Delegate, you have the opportunity to inform staff and faculty in your institutions and agencies on how to access and use JOE electronically in their professional development, as a programming resource, and for their own professional recognition. At a minimum, you are expected to complete the following:

1. Maintain JOE's visibility as a professional resource within your institution/agency.
   
   

   ACTION: Make certain that JOE is a link on your institution/agency's Extension-Outreach Web site.
   
   How to correctly link to the JOE website.
   
   ACTION: Announce to all staff and faculty each issue of JOE each time it is published. To have mailing lists for your institution/agency added to the JOE issue announcement list, please contact JOE technical support.

   ACTION: In your institution/agency's in-house media, highlight articles written by authors at your institution/agency when they are published by JOE.

   
   
   
2. Actively promote and market JOE.
   
   

   ACTION: Promote JOE readership and article submission in your institution's in-house media.

   ACTION: Present JOE information at appropriate orientation and in-service opportunities.

   ACTION: Collaborate with the Board of Directors on reader surveys and other evaluation activities.

   ACTION: Assist in staffing exhibits at agent association conferences or other Extension-related conferences held at your institution when JOE has an exhibit. To reserve a JOE display for use at meetings and conferences, please complete the display request form.

   
   
   
3. Inform colleagues about the National Job Bank maintained by Extension Journal, Inc.
   
   

   ACTION: Make sure that the National Job Bank URL is a link on your institution’s human resources home page.
   
   https://jobs.joe.org/

   ACTION: Promote National Job Bank to those posting positions as well as to those seeking jobs.

   
   
   

You may find that you'd like to do more to promote the benefits and rewards of JOE among your Extension colleagues. To help you do so, several additional opportunities are suggested for your consideration:

1. Familiarize yourself with JOE and all of the resources available on the JOE Web site.

   ACTION: Provide your colleagues with regular updates on JOE, including site usage statistics.

   
   
   
2. Familiarize faculty and staff to the different sections in JOE, their purposes, and the type of articles suitable for each section.
   
   

   ACTION: Become familiar with the JOE submission guidelines.

   ACTION: Demonstrate how to search JOE for articles using the JOE search page.

   ACTION: Suggest ways to use JOE, such as classroom assignments, programming, orientation, or in-service education.

   ACTION: Solicit reviewers for JOE. Reviewers are Extension professionals whose CVs have been reviewed by the JOE Editorial Committee and JOE Editor, appointed to the Editorial Committee by the JOE Editor Committee Chair, and work closely with the JOE Editor.

   ACTION: Discuss the peer review process and reviewer expectations with colleagues. Below are brief descriptions of review criteria by type of article:

   • Feature Articles. Evaluated in terms of contribution to Extension System, clear focus, interest to Extension educators, rigor; 3 reviewers.

   • Research in Brief. Evaluated on clear statement of problem, methodology, usefulness and rigor of the research, findings and implications, and replication; 3 reviewers.

   • Ideas at Work. Evaluated according to importance, innovativeness, usefulness, and adaptability; 1 reviewer.

   • Tools of the Trade. Evaluated on usefulness to profession; reviewed by editor.

   • Commentary. Evaluated on clarity of position, specific information, rationale, and logical arguments; reviewed by editor.

   
   
3. Encourage faculty and staff to author manuscripts for JOE. JOE is a refereed journal and thus appropriate to use for tenure and promotion and other professional recognition; also assist faculty and staff at your institution in submitting manuscripts.
   
   

   ACTION: Familiarize yourself with the information in the "For Authors" section on the JOE Web site as well as the JOE Frequently Asked Questions.

   ACTION: Forward periodic email reminders to your colleagues describing the procedure for submitting articles to JOE.

   ACTION: Suggest ideas that you think will make good articles to your colleagues.

   
   
   
4. Periodically brief the Extension Director or Administrator of your institution about JOE .
   
   

   ACTION: Provide periodic updates on site usage statistics.

   
   
5. Arrange a smooth transition to ensure continuity when JOE Institutional Delegates responsibilities are transferred to another individual.
   
   

   ACTION: Inform the Board by emailing JOE technical support if a replacement Institutional Delegate is named.

   ACTION: Provide the new Institutional Delegate with this document describing responsibilities and make him/her aware of support materials available electronically on the JOE Web site. As the Board develops support materials, they will be placed on the JOE Web site and JOE Institutional Delegates will be notified by email.