The purpose of this descriptive-correlational study was to determine Ohio State University (OSU) Extension 4-H Youth Development agents' perceptions of the importance of and their perceived competence with selected volunteer management competencies. It also examined relationships that existed between personal and professional characteristics; and participation in volunteer-related professional development opportunities.
The population of the study was 100 OSU Extension 4-H Youth Development agents, and a census was used in gathering the data. A mail questionnaire was developed to measure the agents' perceptions of the importance of and their competence with the selected volunteer management competencies. The questionnaire was reviewed by two panels of expert for face and content validity. The test-retest was utilized with 4-H current and former Extension 4-H agents in Ohio, North Carolina, Indiana, and Texas to establish reliability.
A final response rate of 98% was achieved. The data was coded and analysis using SPSS. Hierarchical and stepwise linear regression analysis was used to measure the proportion of variance in OSU Extension 4-H Youth Development agents' perception of the importance of and their competence with the selected volunteer management competencies that could be explained by the personal and professional characteristics and their participation in volunteer-related professional development opportunities.
OSU Extension 4-H agents identified the following volunteer management competencies as "very important:" utilizing 4-H volunteers, supervising 4-H volunteers, and recognizing 4-H volunteers. They identified the following volunteer management competencies as "somewhat important:" identifying volunteer opportunities, recruiting 4-H volunteers, selecting 4-H volunteers, orienting 4-H volunteers, training 4-H volunteers, and evaluating 4-H volunteers. OSU Extension 4-H agents identified themselves as "somewhat competent" with all of the selected volunteer management competencies.
OSU Extension 4-H agents who participated in Extension and non-Extension sponsored or co-sponsored volunteer-related workshops/seminars tended to have more positive perceptions towards the level of "importance of the selected volunteer management competencies. Furthermore, OSU Extension 4-H agents who read Extension volunteer-related journals and non-journal literature tended to have more positive perceptions toward their perceived level of "competence with" the selected volunteer management competencies.