The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service

  
Vol. 11, No. 33  June 28, 2005

IN THIS ISSUE...

...Word from the Associate Director - Extension and Applied Research
...Status of Faculty Positions
...State of Kansas Employee Benefit
...Diversity Programs Office Update
...Thank You from Jo Ellen Arnold
...Specialists' Quarterly Reports
...Kansas Youth Leadership Forum Presenters Needed
...System-wide Infogram Submission Guidelines
...Tuesday Letter Submission Guidelines
...Master Schedule

...Tuesday Letter Archives

WORD FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH
Summer is upon us. The round of 4-H camps will soon be wrapped up, and county fairs will be springing up all over the state. This is a time when our attention in local programs does turn heavily towards the youth. The pressures of wrapping up the 4-H projects and getting them on exhibit at the fair are bittersweet for many. You, as professionals working out there, can help keep the focus towards the youth and not so heavily on the project exhibit. Remember it is that young person who is the 4-H project being developed, and not the rabbit, dog, steer, dress, pie, chest of drawers, or any other exhibit being brought to the fair. As questions or controversies arise with respect to the judging or placings of the exhibits, keep asking yourself and others the question, "What is it we want to teach our youth as an outcome of this situation?" Regardless of the decision, know that impressions of the way in which the issue was handled will remain in the minds of those youth for years to come. I'd hope we call it a county "fair" because it is.

I'd offer one other challenge to you. Look around the K-State Research & Extension and 4-H Youth Development fair exhibits and information provided to the public. Get a group of volunteers tasked to look for ways your 4-H program can become even more inviting to young people in your community you may not be reaching. Look for ways to incorporate these ideas into the coming years of the 4-H program to assure that all the young people of your community are afforded the opportunity to experience the best youth development program in the country, and likely the world!

Have a safe Independence Day holiday. --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu

STATUS OF FACULTY POSITIONS
To check the status of faculty positions that are currently in the search process, see the K-State Research and Extension Job Opportunities website at http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/main/jobs.asp . Click on "Employment Status of KSRE Faculty Positions." Search committee chairs - contact Dorothy Ireland in the Extension Operations Office at direland@oznet.ksu.edu , or 785-532-5787, to keep the information updated. --Stacey M. Warner swarner@oznet.ksu.edu

STATE OF KANSAS EMPLOYEE BENEFIT
Following is information regarding two workshops for supervisors and employees. These workshops are available to State of Kansas employees as an employee benefit:

Upcoming June Workshops - Kansas City, Emporia, Winfield, Wichita, and El Dorado

* For Supervisors--Improving Communications with Employees:  http://da.state.ks.us/ps/subject/healthquest/sup05description.htm

* For Employees--Achieving Work & Life Balance: http://da.state.ks.us/ps/subject/healthquest/ee05description.htm

LIFELINE Call 1-800-284-7575

A confidential, FREE, service that provides benefits eligible employees and their dependents with professional counseling and referral services. It is an employee benefit sponsored by HealthQuest, the state of Kansas employee health promotion program. --Stacey M. Warner swarner@oznet.ksu.edu

DIVERSITY PROGRAMS OFFICE UPDATE
Welcome to Summer 2005! The College of Agriculture Diversity Programs office works to build partnerships throughout the College of Agriculture to promote diversity awareness. We are responsible for offering guidance and support to ethnic minority students’ involvement in the agricultural sciences and related fields. We work diligently to identify ethnic minority candidates eligible to participate in scholarship and internship programs in our College of Agriculture and K-State Research and Extension.

As an update, spring 2005 was a great semester for we had a record number of minority graduates participating in May commencement and the first annual Wallace Kidd Memorial Diversity Award reception. Dr. Miles McKee, retired Animal Sciences and Industry Professor, was the first award recipient from the Diversity Programs Office.

To kick off the summer, we have presented our academic programs to the 2005 Gear Up Program that included 25 rising 10th and 11th graders from Junction City, KS high school and we have promoted our programs with community college and HBCU representatives, specifically Kansas City (KS) Community College and Lincoln University (MO).

Please join me as we welcome Stephanie Taylor, student assistant for the Diversity Program Office for the month of June. Stephanie is a graduate student in Apparel and Textiles from Overland Park.

As usual, please contact Dr. Zelia Wiley Holloway, Assistant Dean for Diversity, at zwh@ksu.edu  or 785-532-5793. --Zelia Holloway

THANK YOU FROM JO ELLEN ARNOLD
I want to thank all of you who called or sent cards at the time of my mother's death. Your kindness and caring thoughts have helped greatly. It truly is humbling to be a part of our Extension family at a time like this. --Jo Ellen Arnold jearnold@oznet.ksu.edu

SPECIALISTS' QUARTERLY REPORTS
Instructions for recording Specialist Effort in RETORIC can be found at http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/prev/ . Select RETORIC Support Documents, then Record Specialist Effort. Please record Specialist Efforts soon after the end of the reporting period on June 30. If you have questions or need assistance, call the Planning and Reporting office at 785-532-6775. --Marie Blythe mblythe@oznet.ksu.edu

KANSAS YOUTH LEADERSHIP FORUM PRESENTERS NEEDED
It is time to recruit instructors/presenters for the 6th Annual Kansas Youth Leadership Forum, to be held November 18-20 at Rock Springs 4-H Center.

This conference, designed for youth, ages 14 - 18, will include speakers, track sessions, consulting groups and the election of the 2006 Kansas State 4-H Youth Leadership Council.

We're recruiting proposals for workshop session instructors/presenters. Topics should center on leadership. Some ideas might include, but are not limited to, community service, citizenship, communication, conflict management, ethics, motivation, decision making, leading by example, time management, international citizenship, multi cultural studies, diversity, business etiquette and getting involved after high school. The Kansas State 4-H Youth Council members hope that you (or one of your volunteers) will be interested in sharing your expertise or talent with this opportunity.

You will find the letter and proposal form on the KYLF web page, http://www.kansas4-h.org/Events/KYLF/ .

Proposals are due to the State 4-H office by July 10, or if you have questions, contact Beth Hinshaw,  bhinshaw@oznet.ksu.edu ; or Justin Wiebers jwiebers@oznet.ksu.edu . --Beth Hinshaw and Justin Wiebers

SYSTEM-WIDE INFOGRAM SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Infograms will be prepared for immediate family members of employees, unclassified and classified. Immediate family is defined as spouse, father, mother, child, brother, sister. Infograms will be prepared for retirees, but not for immediate family members of retirees. The most frequent announcements to the system have been deaths. However, "good news" items that may be of broad interest regarding employees or their immediate families are also welcome.

It is VERY IMPORTANT that all messages for Infograms be sent to Infogram@oznet.ksu.edu . These messages are then received by both Marlene Hightower and Sue Robinson to get distributed systemwide. When messages are sent to any other address, the Infogram can be delayed by several days or longer. --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu

Please send your submissions to tuesday@oznet.ksu.edu  and not to Sue Robinson directly.

VIEW THE MASTER SCHEDULE OR ADD NEW ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS. 

Top