143 Benefits and Values of the Master Gardener Program

Abstract

<jats:p>Current and former Missouri Master Gardeners were asked to respond how strongly they agreed or disagreed with a list of benefits provided by the Master Gardener program. The survey instrument was an adaptation of Rohs and Westerfield's (1996) Master Gardener Societal and Personal Benefits survey. Questions were assigned to one of the six principal components of volunteer motivation developed by Clary et al. (1998): Understanding, Values, Enhancement, Social, Protective, and Career. Master Gardeners who are currently active volunteers in the program were more likely to respond favorably to many of the benefits provided by the Master Gardener program. Respondents most strongly indicated their agreement that the Master Gardener program, more than any other similar organization, provides benefits related to new learning experiences, exercising knowledge, skills, and abilities, categorized as understanding (U). The overall mean for U was 4.35 on the 5-point Likert scale, a significantly higher score than any other category according to Duncan's multiple range test. Benefits related to personal growth and self-esteem, labeled enhancement (E); those related to altruism and humanitarian concern, labeled values (V); and guilt reduction over being more fortunate than others and addressing one's own personal problems, labeled protective (P), formed the second tier of benefit importance. Benefits related to preparation for a new career or maintaining career-relevant skills, categorized as career (C) were next. Benefits concerning relationships with others, classified as social (S), concluded the list.</jats:p>

Evaluating the Implementation of Video Web Conferencing in Delaware Master Gardener Training

“…The sample demographics of this study are similar to those of previous Master Gardener studies (Jeannette and Meyer, 2002;Schrock et al, 2000a). Chi-square tests of independence indicated Cohorts A and B had no significant difference between gender, education, age, and ethnicity.…”

“…One strategy employed by several states to respond to budget reductions is the use of distance education to reduce the number of face-to-face trainings across the state (McGinnis, 2015;Stack, 1997;Warmund and Schrock, 1999). Upon the introduction of new innovations such as VWC , it is crucial for training standards to be maintained given both their value to trainees (Schrock et al, 2000a(Schrock et al, , 2000b and importance for preparing volunteers to provide agricultural education in their communities (Doerfert, 2011).…”

“…Researchers have hypothesized reduced retention may be a product of dissatisfaction with the education volunteers received (Strong and Harder, 2011). Education has been identified as one of the leading motivational factors for volunteering and the greatest benefit of the program (Boyer et al, 2002;Rohs et al, 2002;Schrock et al, 2000aSchrock et al, , 2000b. The opportunity for informative and engaging horticultural education draws in and provides personal enhancement for volunteers.…”

An Overview of the Current State of Human Issues in Horticulture in the United States

“…Relf and McDaniel (1994) assessed MGs' priorities for the program. Meyer and Hancheck (1997) compared MG training costs and payback in volunteer hours, and Schrock et al (1999) looked at the perception of personal and societal benefits of the MG program to the MG. These types of data have been influential in the development of management tools to direct effective recruitment and utilization of MGs in a diversity of programs (Dorn et al, 2000).…”

Why Master Gardeners Stop Volunteering: Lack of Time

“…Since most, if not all, of these MG programs are substantially underwritten by university funding (Meyer and Hanchek, 1997) understanding the reasons people volunteer and why they leave the program is important. Several reports have documented why people volunteer as MGs, including their needs and experiences in the program (Kirsch and VanDerZanden, 2002;Relf and McDaniel, 1994;Rohs and Westerfi eld, 1996;Rohs et al, 2002;Schrock et al, 2000aSchrock et al, , 2000bStouse and Marr, 1992). Exit interviews are recommended to determine why people leave a position and to gather information about existing problems (Stepputat, 1995) and may be useful to determine why people no longer volunteer as a MG. White and Arnold (2003) surveyed 4-H leaders who no longer volunteered and found the main reasons they left the program were their child was no longer involved, followed by lack of time.…”