The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service

  
Vol. 13, No. 8  January 2, 2007

IN THIS ISSUE...

...Word from the Associate Director - Extension and Applied Research
...Marlene Hightower Retires from Extension Administration
...Tuition Assistance Program
...Building Extension's Public Value Through Community Capital Investments
...Marie's Pick of the Week
...Criteria for Prioritizing New and Existing Kansas 4-H Projects
...Excel Budget Development and Management Spreadsheet Available this Week
...United Associations Conference, March 1-2, 2007
...Master Schedule

                                                                                                           ...Tuesday Letter Archives

WORD FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH
Happy New Year! Hard to believe it is 2007. I recall growing up as a kid thinking how old I would be by the time 2000 rolled around, and now it is 2007! I don't think I am near as old as I had once thought I'd be now!

With the new year will come new challenges. To all of you across the state who are enduring the aftermath of the winter storms, know that I appreciate your work in helping move information along and working to help the farmers, ranchers, families, and communities in special need. I would remind you of the Hay Exchange Directory on the Kansas Farm Bureau website as one potential resource to help find readily available hay for livestock. Also, stay in touch with your county's emergency management resource persons, as resources can be made available to assist those with stranded livestock and other special needs.

Looking ahead, I look forward to the Partnership Meetings with Local Extension Board members and Extension agents later this month. We will have a full agenda with some special announcements regarding work of our K-State Research and Extension reporting task force, the Professional Development team, and on-going dialog around the movement towards greater recognition of age-appropriate learning experiences and activities in 4-H Youth Development. I also look forward to seeing the displays brought to the Partnership meetings by Extension agents with attention to some of the focused program work happening locally and its impact on the people being served through that program. --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu

Marlene is well known throughout the system, and probably even more so by the retirees for whom she took great care in keeping them informed of the happenings among the "Extension family." Her contributions to the office, in my support, and to the system as a whole were greatly appreciated. She truly exemplifies the selfless servant leader.

TUITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
The application deadlines for the Tuition Assistance Program have been changed to align the semester with the intersessions associated with that semester, and to provide a later application date for the fall and spring semesters, thereby allowing an applicant more time to enroll in their class of choice. Effective January 1, 2007, the application deadlines are:

Questions should be addressed to the Division of Human Resources at 785-532-6277, or e-mail: benadmin@k-state.edu .

BUILDING EXTENSION'S PUBLIC VALUE THROUGH COMMUNITY CAPITAL INVESTMENTS

Online Breeze Conference
January 16, 23, and 30, 2007

9 - 10:30 a.m. CST

--Be able to explain the criteria for a good or service to be funded by the public sector.
--Be able to explain how your program satisfies one or more of those criteria.
--Be able to explain Extension's comparative advantage in program delivery.
--Have begun drafting a "public value message" -- a response to the question, "Why should your program receive public funding?"
--Understand how to maximize the public value "bang for the buck" by examining the evidence.
--Have an understanding of the Community Capitals Framework.
--Have developed a "map" of how your program inputs benefit public life through investments to community capitals.
--Have started sketching out a program evaluation design that uses community capitals to identify indicators, outcomes and impacts.  

The registration fee is $50. Please register by January 9, 2007. All cancellations prior to January 9, 2007, will be assessed a $10 processing fee. Cancellations after January 9, 2007, will be assessed a $25 processing fee. If registrations do not meet expectations, the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development reserves the right to postpone this conference to a later date.

Registration is available online at https://www.ucs.iastate.edu/mnet/ncrcrd/quickregister.html . --Dan Kahl dankahl@ksu.edu     

CRITERIA FOR PRIORITIZING NEW AND EXISTING KANSAS 4-H PROJECTS
The State 4-H Advisory, and recently the special task force from KEAA, asked that we share this information as recently finalized by the 4-H Department and 4-H Advisory. This is a guide to share with individuals and groups as they might ask how and when can a subject matter area be considered for a state wide project and listed on the Enrollment Form. Please use as a reference when these questions arise.

Criteria for Prioritizing New and Existing Kansas 4-H Projects

Rationale: Interest and relevance in 4-H project offerings fluctuate over time; thus, it becomes necessary to review current subject matter offerings and possible new fields of interest. Resources can then be directed toward projects in greater demand and more involvement. The State 4-H Youth Development Department considers the following criteria for maintaining and adding new projects to the Kansas 4-H Enrollment Form:

1. Does the project demonstrate a clear and present need? To continue a project we consider:

    * The number of Extension Units offering the project (approximately 25%)
    * The five-year enrollment average (Greater than 100)

2. Is the project consistent with the outcomes in the state's strategic documents for 4-H and Research and Extension? Does the project have stated educational objectives with learning experiences that practice the experiential learning model?

3. Does the project provide opportunities/abilities to develop and enhance life skills?

4. Is current curriculum available? From 4HCCS or other research-based materials.

5. Does the project have a core of available volunteer leadership? Project leaders or agency volunteers who are willing to provide the opportunities and environments for learning to take place.

6. Does the project recognize skill mastery through the State 4-H Recognition Program, either in a new category or a pre-existing umbrella category? ($1,000 up front and a yearly commitment of $500 to start a new program)

--Jim Adams jadams@oznet.ksu.edu

EXCEL BUDGET DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT SPREADSHEET AVAILABLE THIS WEEK
The Excel Budget Development and Management Spreadsheet, which contains the Financial Checksheet, (KSU8-19), that can be utilized to summarize 2006 financial operations, will be posted on the K-State Research and Extension website by mid week. This spreadsheet also includes a budget worksheet to use in preparing the 2008 budget, an equipment replacement plan worksheet for planning future equipment purchases, and the Budget forms for the 2008 budget.

A message will be sent to the "counties e-mail distribution list" announcing the availability of the spreadsheet. --Jim Lindquist jlindqui@oznet.ksu.edu

UNITED ASSOCIATIONS CONFERENCE, MARCH 1-2, 2007
Mark your calendar and plan to attend the UAC, "Coming Together for Kansas and the World," at the Sedgwick County Extension Education Center. There will be more than 25 concurrent sessions, interactive roundtables, and the keynote speaker, Curtis Dean Hall.

Session topics include cyberbullying, grant development, stress management, True Colors (basic and advanced), Professor Gadget, nutrition, Red Cross Pandemic Flu training, animal assisted activity for the elderly, financial information and more! There is also a post-conference training session, Health Promotion - from Planning to Implementation.

Watch for registration information and the Website announcement! --Marie Blythe mblythe@ksu.edu

VIEW THE MASTER SCHEDULE OR ADD NEW ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS.

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