The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service

  
Vol. 12, No. 24  April 25, 2006

IN THIS ISSUE...

...Word from the Associate Director - Extension and Applied Research
...Summer Interns for 2006 Have Been Announced
...Thank You from Robyn Deines
...Kansas Wheat Market Shows
...Publication Order Form Error
...Position Announcement for the Department of Agronomy
...Stream Channel Field Course to be Held in July
...Master Schedule

...Tuesday Letter Archives

WORD FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH
In continuing on Jim Collins' monograph, "Good to Great and the Social Sectors," Collins points to the third issue being to get the right people on the bus within the social sector constraints. So what are the common constraints? Low pay scales, tenure, volunteers who aren't paid at all, lack of resources, can all play into an inability to motivate workers or to remove them from your paid or volunteer workforce. Collins points out that getting the wrong people off the bus can be more difficult in a social sector organization than in a business. So, does that doom such an organization to mediocrity at best?

Through this column both this week and next, I will provide some suggestions coming out of Collins' monograph that are useful every day. There are two compelling true stories he offers where individuals within an organization took upon themselves to create greatness. I'll use one this week and the second next week to provide background on the focus and commitment it takes in a social sector organization like K-State Research and Extension to move forward towards greatness.

The first example was Roger Briggs, department chair of a 14-person department within a suburban school system who kept believing schools could be so much better. But, he wasn't the superintendent or principal, so what could he do to create improvements? His strategy was in hiring the right people, or as Collins calls it, "getting the right people on the bus." Without adequate salaries, he set forth a determination to fill faculty positions with people compulsively driven to make whatever they touch the best it can be--not because of what they would "get" for it, but because they simply could not stop themselves from the almost neurotic need to improve. His turning point came when an adequate teacher came up for tenure. The individual was good, but not to the standards set for greatness. So, that person was let go. Soon after, a spectacular teacher applied and was hired. Hire by hire, and tenure decision by tenure decision, a critical mass came together into a culture of discipline and greatness.

This example may suggest some brutality in a process of moving towards greatness. It also suggests an opportunity to create greatness within pockets across a much larger organization. Just because others might settle for mediocrity, doesn't destine you to have to accept that. And, moving towards greatness is as much a personal decision as it is an organizational one. Without personal commitment first, it cannot happen with the organization.

Take home message..... focus on WHO first, getting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people into the right seats on the bus. As quoted from Collins' monograph, "Tenure poses one set of challenges, volunteers and lack of resources another, but the fact remains: greatness flows first and foremost from having the right people in the key seats, and not the other way around."

Next week, how does one get people to want to work in an organization that doesn't have the resources for motivating salaries and operating funds? --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu

THANK YOU FROM ROBYN DEINES
Thank you to everyone who remembered the Galen Deines Family with cards of sympathy, financial contributions and donations to the Galen Deines Children's Educational Fund. Our family truly appreciates all the support, prayers, thoughts, cards, floral memorials, stamps and phone calls that have been received from the Extension agents, organizations and family members.

The Extension Family has been very supportive through this great loss. Thank you for everything. --Robyn Deines rdeines@oznet.ksu.edu

KANSAS WHEAT MARKET SHOWS
Agents involved in the Market Wheat Shows need to:

--Norman Schlesener nesmas@ksu.edu and Pat Murphy jmurphy@ksu.edu

PUBLICATION ORDER FORM ERROR
The July 2006 New Publication Order Form (due May 1) inaccurately shows the item number for "IrriGage," the brochure from the Mobile Irrigation Lab that describes construction and use of a minimal-evaporation rain monitor. The item number should be MF-2552. We regret the error. --Nancy Zimmerli-Cates nancyz@ksu.edu

POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRONOMY
Assistant or Associate Agronomist; Kansas Crop Performance Testing Coordinator, Department of Agronomy, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS. Provide leadership and coordination of the Kansas Crop Performance Testing Program for major agronomic crops in Kansas. The program includes sites at Research-Extension Centers, Agronomy Department Experiment Fields, and cooperating private farms. 

TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE:
Required: M.S. in Agronomy, Crop Science, or related field, with a strong background in field plot techniques and crop production. Course work in statistics and experience with statistical software and relational databases. Excellent oral and written communication skills. Ability to work effectively with the public and seed company representatives, and to supervise employees. Must have or be able to obtain a Kansas Commercial Drivers License (CDL). Strong commitment to expanding and fostering diversity in the department.

Desirable: Experience with Great Plains crop production, variety testing, SAS, MS Access database software, website design and maintenance, budget management, and supervising employees. Possess or capable of obtaining a Commercial Pesticide Applicator's license.

HOW TO APPLY: Screening for this position will begin June 1, 2006 and will continue until a suitable candidate is identified. Send a letter of application, resume, and transcripts, and arrange for three (3) letters of reference to be sent to: Ms. Roxana Ortiz, Department of Agronomy, Kansas State University, 2004 Throckmorton Plant Sciences Center, Manhattan, KS 66506-5501; roxana@ksu.edu , 785-532-6101. Please refer to "Kansas Crop Performance Testing Coordinator" position in all correspondence.

For further information about the position, feel free to contact Dr. Gary Pierzynski, Interim Department Head, at gmp@ksu.edu , or Dr. Kraig Roozeboom, Search Committee Chair, at kraig@ksu.edu . --Roxana Ortiz roxana@ksu.edu

STREAM CHANNEL FIELD COURSE TO BE HELD IN JULY
Stream Channel Field Course: Mapping and Assessment of Natural Stream Channels, will be held July 24-29 in Sheridan, Wyoming.

This six-day course consists of hands-on fieldwork, lectures, and group activities. Participants will learn how to map stream channels, organize and analyze stream data, and will be introduced to the concept of natural channel hydrology. The workshop is designed for college students and practitioners involved in natural resources, and other related fields. Three hours of graduate or undergraduate credit is available. For program or registration information visit www.dce.ksu.edu/dce/conf/streamchannel . --Continuing Education sinnpio@k-state.edu

VIEW THE MASTER SCHEDULE OR ADD NEW ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS. 

Monday, May 8, through Friday, May 12
.... Program Development Orientation, Manhattan, Statewide, Pat McNally pmcnally@oznet.ksu.edu , Pat Murphy jmurphy@ksu.edu , and Paula Peters peters@humec.ksu.edu
 

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