Board Excellence Newsletter, October 2024
- From the Director for Extension: Nov. Partnership Meeting.
- Agent Performance Review Feedback.
- Self-Assessment Leads to Effective Boards.
- Board and PDC Orientation Modules Available.
- State Extension Advisory Council Nominations are Due Soon.
- Support Local Agents' Professional Association Memberships.
- Save the Date: Nov. 19 Partnership Meeting.
Extension board members are encouraged to participate in the Nov. 19 Partnership Meeting.
Extension board members will have an important opportunity to shape the future of K-State Research and Extension during the Nov. 19 Partnership Meeting. For many months, Kansas State University and extension leadership have been listening to Kansans and gathering information about the needs of our state and its people. During the K-State Research and Extension Annual Conference in late October, extension staff will learn about the issues raised at the more than 75 Delivering on the Promise meetings and will engage in facilitated discussions about how KSRE can best address them.
On Nov. 19, extension board members will hear about the top issues identified at Delivering on the Promise meetings, hear a summary of the extension staff discussions, and provide additional feedback about how K-State Research and Extension can be better poised to address issues critical to Kansans.
The KSRE Partnership Meeting will be held at six locations around the state: Colby, Eureka, Garden City, Salina, Topeka and Wichita.
Please register below if you plan to participate in the KSRE Partnership Meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 19 from 6–8 p.m. A light supper will be served. Registration is $20 per person, paid by the local unit, and is due by Nov. 15. Units will be invoiced automatically when you register.
Soon you will receive an email from PEARS Support that it is time for agent performance reviews. This is a great time to celebrate agents’ accomplishments and give them suggestions for future directions. Agents truly value comments from board members. They are looking for what you thought were successes and want your perspective on their performance.
It’s easy to check the boxes, but providing context via written comments is vital — as the saying goes, “the devil is in the details." If you have a specific example of something the agent did well, write down the experience. They will likely continue those positive efforts. If you have a suggestion for improvement, be courteous and provide details. They will likely try to change that behavior.
The performance review surveys are worded to reflect many of the agents’ responsibilities. Hopefully, as you are pondering each question, you are thinking back to a specific situation that you observed. Use those thoughts to add context to your answers. Words are important and will affect overall performance, so choose them wisely.
Thank you for your time and effort as a board member and for your commitment to your local communities.
By Jan. 1, local extension boards should complete the Excellence in Board Leadership Assessment (PDF). This tool helps boards assess their effectiveness and identify areas to strengthen.
The Excellence in Board Leadership Assessment is a joint project between the State Extension Advisory Council and extension administration. It was introduced at the KSRE Partnership Meeting in 2011 as a tool to support local K-State Research and Extension boards in leadership and development. The assessment is designed for board members to review early in the year and determine areas to work on throughout the year. At the end of the year, each board member completes the assessment and reflects on the progress that has been made throughout the year.
Once board members have completed the assessment, the board chair or local unit director will determine the final ranking and enter the results in the 2024 Excellence in Board Leadership survey or email a PDF of the final assessment to Laurie Chandler, lchandle@ksu.edu by Jan. 1.
Last year, 54 of 67 local units completed their self-assessment — an 81% completion rate. We look forward to seeing your local unit assessment for 2024!
Being an extension board member is an important job, and it can be a daunting task to learn the responsibilities of the job. The New Board Member Orientation module is designed to help new board members understand their role and learn more about the organization. New and continuing board members are encouraged to review the module before they take office and attend their first board meeting.
Board members can complete the module individually or they can be led through the module by the local unit director, other agents, or current board members. In either situation, board members will also want to learn more about local unit operations, budgets, staffing plans, and agent action plans.
Program Development Committee (PDC) members provide valuable input about how K-State Research and Extension can address needs in the local community. The Program Development Committee Orientation module helps PDC members better understand their responsibilities. It includes a short video, guidelines for PDC expansion and the PDC member responsibility overview.
The State Extension Advisory Council (SEAC) is seeking nominations for open positions. The SEAC serves as a consulting group to the director for extension on concerns relating to extension. The group traditionally meets in Topeka in February and at a rotating location in August, with occasional opportunities for further involvement. The term lasts three years and comes with an opportunity to visit Washington, DC, to attend the Public Issues Leadership Development national conference.
The qualifications to serve as an SEAC board member are fairly simple. You need to have served as a board member on a local unit governing body. It is not required to have served as an officer. The nomination should contain a short biography of your experience and interest in extension. A picture of yourself helps personalize your nomination, but is not required. The nominees' information will be circulated to local units in their respective regions to be voted on by those units.
Please submit nominations to Chris Onstad at constad@ksu.edu by Nov. 15. Election results will be available mid-December.
Professional development is the key to staying relevant as a KSRE employee. As an organization with knowledge development and education as its base, lifelong learning is one of K-State Research and Extension’s core missions. We believe this is important for our staff as well as our constituents. Professional development helps employees continue to not only be competent in their profession, but to excel. Extension professional organizations are one way for agents to engage in professional development and network with peers in Kansas and across the country.
Local unit boards are encouraged to support membership in professional associations. While tax dollars cannot be used to pay association dues, non-appropriated funds CAN be used to support agents’ membership dues. Each local unit has a pool of non-appropriated funds which has been generated through gifts, grants, registrations and other sources. Association membership costs less than $150, and agents may be members of more than one association. Consider this as a good investment in your local unit agents.
