The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service

  
Vol. 13, No. 39  August 7, 2007

IN THIS ISSUE...

...Word from the Associate Director - Extension and Applied Research
...Professional Development System Link
...2008 Kansas 4-H/FFA Wheat Plot Varieties
...August 25, 2007 - 4-H Contest Day at K-State!
...Turn the Lights on October 18!
...Marie's Pick of the Week
...CECD Seeks Community and Economic Development Indicators Feedback
...K-State Research and Extension Web Address (URL) Survey
...Marketing Minute: Demographics of Kansans
...Master Schedule

                                                                                                           ...Tuesday Letter Archives

WORD FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH
Response to my article from last week has been great, all the way from reflecting on one's work, to "telling it like it is," to a request for clarification on the meaning of "achieve a terminal relationship with clients," and several other comments. Thank you for that feedback.

I believe "extension work" is somewhat misunderstood and misrepresented even by those of us who are responsible for carrying out that assignment! The confusion may come from our lack of differentiation between an event and a program.

When you read E. M. Roger's roles of a change agent in light of our contemporary program development and logic model terminology, you see parallels in the process.
 

E. M. Rogers' Roles of Change Agent	Logic Model Terminology
Develop need for change	Situation, needs assessment
Information exchange relationship	Define target audience and engage
Diagnose problems	Identify problem vs. symptoms
Create intent to change in client	Identify intended outcomes
Translate intent into action	Planning and implementing the outputs, activities and participants
Stabilize adoption, prevent discontinuance	On-going activities to support reaching medium and long-term intended outcomes
Achieve terminal relationship with clientele	Identify an ending of the program and move on to new needs assessment and target audience.

The bottom line is that extension work is not simply giving a presentation at an event, it's not one article in a newsletter, it's not even spending all your time simply answering the questions that come to you. Extension work is a continuous loop of developing the needs, planning the intended outcomes, defining and engaging with the target clientele, designing and conducting a series of educational interventions, helping that clientele to help themselves, and then moving on to the next major set of needs. And, in addition, you really ought to be able to describe YOUR extension work to others.

So what is it that you and your target clientele see needing change, and as a result you've developed a plan to help that target clientele in achieving and sustaining that change? To me, that's EXTENSION WORK! --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM LINK
Approximately 170 proposals have been entered into the Professional Development System. Soon it will be time to search for opportunities that fit your goals. A link to the Professional Development System has been added to the K-State Research and Extension oznet home page to help facilitate a more convenient and direct path to the catalog, www.oznet.ksu.edu .

Thanks to the many specialists and agents who are contributing professional development opportunities. About half of the proposals are currently listed in the catalog. By September 1 most will be available to search.

Questions about the Professional Development System may be directed to Margaret Phillips, margaret@ksu.edu . --Margaret Phillips

Eastern Kansas Varieties:  Post Rock (new), Fuller (new), 2137, Overley and Santa Fe.
Western Kansas Varieties:  Post rock (new), Fuller (new), 2137, Danby, and RonL.

Post Rock and Fuller are new varieties this year.  Danby and RonL are white wheat varieties.  Let Deryl Waldren know if your county/district has special conditions and would like “east” or “west” varieties specifically.  For more information, contact Deryl Waldren at 785-462-6281 or e-mail dwaldren@ksu.edu .  --Deryl Waldren

AUGUST 25, 2007 -- 4-H CONTEST DAY AT K-STATE!
Mark your calendars, recruit your teams, reserve the van and plan to be on the K-State campus for Livestock, Horticulture and Meats Judging contests.

For the first time, the Meats Judging contest will be available for Livestock teams and any other novice members to experience. We would strongly encourage livestock teams to participate in the meats contest while they are waiting for the results of the Livestock Judging contest. This will be a great opportunity to learn about the main reason most meat animals are produced. The meats contest format is particularly suited for learning about wholesale and retail cuts that your family might regularly purchase.

All three contests are scheduled so that agents and coaches will be able to attend results and keep up with the progress within walking distance. Check the State 4-H Website at www.Kansas4-H.org and look under "What's Hot" for information, schedules and entry deadlines. --Jim Adams jadams@ksu.edu 

TURN THE LIGHTS ON OCTOBER 18!
The 8th annual Lights On Afterschool will be October 18. Organized by the Afterschool Alliance, it will include rallies, celebrations, forums and other events at schools, city centers, shopping malls and other venues in every corner of the country. This year, Lights On Afterschool will kick off a year-long celebration of the 10th anniversary of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers federal afterschool initiative. Register today at http://www.afterschoolalliance.org/lights_on/index.cfm  and check regularly for updates!  --Diane Mack dmack@ksu.edu and Pam Van Horn pvanhorn@ksu.edu

The purpose of this survey is to gather K-State Research and Extension employees' opinions about the organization's Website address, or URL. The URL applies to the organization's homepage, as well as all local unit and campus units currently using an extension of that Web address. K-State Research and Extension has begun discussions to evaluate the effectiveness of the current URL. Your participation in this survey is voluntary. Thank you for your time! --Linda Sleichter lsleicht@oznet.ksu.edu  

MARKETING MINUTE: DEMOGRAPHICS OF KANSANS
A common first step in marketing is to look at the demographics for your potential clients. For K-State Research and Extension, that means looking at the U.S. Census data for all of Kansas. 

Location: As of the 2000 Census, the bulk of Kansans live in the Kansas City metro and Wichita metro areas, plus Salina, Manhattan, Topeka, and Lawrence. Johnson and Sedgwick counties are the most populated, both listed more than 450,000 people. As of 2000, these were also the counties experiencing the most growth in population.

Age: According the 2002 U.S. Census data, 18 percent of Kansans are 65 and older, 31 percent are 45 to 64 years old, 20 percent are 35 to 44 years old, and 31 percent are 18 to 34 years old.

Ethnicity: According to the 2000 U.S. Census data, 82 percent of  Kansans classify themselves as white, non-Hispanic. However, there are pockets of diversity throughout the state. For example, Wyandotte County is the most diverse, with 51.6 percent of its population white, non-Hispanic; 28.3 percent (46,000 people) Black or African American; and 16 percent (25,000 people) Hispanic or Latino. The diversity is not limited to metro areas. More than 37 percent of Ford County's residents are Hispanic or Latino.

For a full demographic analysis of Kansas' population or to get demographics specific to your county, go to  http://factfinder.census.gov/ .

In next week's Marketing Minute, we'll compare all Kansas residents to our current users, which can help us identify who we're not yet reaching. If you need more information, please contact Linda Sleichter at 785-532-5804, or e-mail lsleicht@ksu.edu .-- Linda Sleichter

VIEW THE MASTER SCHEDULE OR ADD NEW ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS

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