Tuesday Letter

WORD FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH
My message of September 2 has generated some discussion and thought from others.

When asked what to expect of a full time Extension worker, I will emphasize the importance of having 3 or 4 major program initiatives. So, when I ask what those "BIG Ps" might be, I often get, "well, it's 4-H, crop production, nutrition and health, or something similar. That is not what I am looking for. That is what generated the discussion. So, what is Daryl looking for?

It might be best said in a quote by T.J. Talbert in The Extension Worker's Code, "Study the people and their problems and when you are able to know them they will know you." Study the people and problems. In other words, understand fully the situation that needs to be addressed. Be able to articulate that situation. And, then build an action plan, plan of work, or whatever you want to call it around that situation in a manner to help the clientele to resolve that situation.

With that, I'd suggest that 4-H or crop production or nutrition does not describe the situation that needs to be addressed. Instead, the situation is possibly a lack of youth leadership, retaining youth in community, attracting young adults into the community. So, how now can you design a program using 4-H to address those issues?

The situation might be a continued decline of groundwater and the need to transition from full irrigation ultimately to dryland farming. So, how now can you design a program to address those issues?

The situation might be evidence that more and more people in the community are overweight and the community has little or no attraction for exercise opportunity. How might you design a program to address those issues?

What are the 3 or 4 big situations you have identified as important enough for you to focus on a planned educational program that addresses those situations?

UNITY AND PRIDE ALL UNIVERSITY CAMPAIGN
Two years ago, K-State faculty and staff united with alumni and friends in demonstrating their pride and commitment by giving back to the university. We established the All-University Campaign for K-State as a part of the Changing Lives Campaign, which celebrated exceeding its $500 million goal last spring. Through the All-University Campaign, we made a statement to the students and legislators as well as those who have invested in the future of K-State with private gifts, that faculty and staff care about K-State too.

K-State faculty and staff are again giving leadership to expanding the numbers of employees who give back to K-State. The Unity and Pride Campaign is our way of doing that.

When it comes to the K-State family, there is power in numbers. Everyone's participation is important, no matter the size of the gift. A gift of $5.00 will make a statement and make a difference. When your gift is added to other gifts, K-State faculty and staff can have the biggest impact on the university's future. Our united effort inspires others to support K-State. Together, we can make a difference.

In the previous campaign, K-State Research and Extension employees responded with 26% giving some amount to the Changing Lives Campaign. Through this Unity and Pride Campaign , I hope we could DOUBLE that percent of those giving. You will be receiving a packet soon. Take a moment to consider where you'd want a gift to go, and then make that gift a reality, no matter how large or small. Remember, that even $5.00 is significant in that you become one more of our total employee base who has given back to K-State. Join me in making a gift to the Unity and Pride Campaign! --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu

K-STATE RESEARCH AND EXTENSION WORK PLAN - 2010-2014
We are in the very early stages of developing the work plan for the next 5 years, which will begin in January 2010. Through a comprehensive process in 2004, stakeholders and faculty identified 12 critical issues that would represent the focus of our work plan from 2005 through 2009. Those twelve issues were written as outcome statements and are below:

I hope you will agree that those issues have represented and served us well in our focus on the critical situation, needs, and desires of the Kansas citizens, and of our mission in serving those needs and desires.

During this time, the University wanted to identify its priority areas and focused areas of excellence for each department and college . The Colleges of Agriculture and Human Ecology identified the following priority areas of excellence that stakeholders and faculty believe to be relevant and important to the critical issues facing our clientele now and in the future:

In the coming months we will be seeking input and suggestions in order to help guide the resources and work of K-State Research and Extension in the coming years. We hope we can make substantial use of the foundation from the previous work plan and the identified priority areas of excellence. The executive planning team charged to get this process moving forward includes Ernie Minton, eminton@ksu.edu ; Paula Peters, ppeters@ksu.edu ; Kris Boone, kboone@ksu.edu ; Gary Clark, gac@ksu.edu ; and myself, Daryl Buchholz, dbuchhol@ksu.edu . --Daryl Buchholz

KSRE COLLEAGUES
Registration is available for the K-State Research and Extension Annual Conference, October 20-23. Please register online at http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=70 by October 8.

The 2008 conference, "Healthy People, Healthy Earth," provides a great opportunity for networking among Research and Extension colleagues, and features inspiring speakers, awards recognitions, and professional development.

Tuesday morning will feature Patrick Donadio with two great presentations on Belief Driven Success and Communicating with Impact. The K-State Research and Extension Awards Luncheon on Tuesday is also Free to all Registrants. Then on Tuesday afternoon there will be two great concurrent sessions: on “Global Climate Change," and “Health and Wellness.” Other days of the conferences are also filled with great sessions and activities. So, please register today. We look forward to seeing you there.
--2008 KSRE Annual Conference Program Committee

FOUNDATIONS OF PRACTICE - COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 101
Whether you are working with parents, teaching nutrition, building skills in youth, setting board policies, or helping groups concerned with raising cattle or wheat, as Extension Professionals, we need both basic understanding and skills in fundamentals of group process to help people plan, make decisions and solve problems. Foundations of Practice - Community Development 101 will help you better understand and build or enhance your skills for Extension work as we interact with groups and communities.

Facilitators for this workshop will be Extension Development Specialists from UNL.

Workshop Dates: October 2 - 3, beginning at 1 p.m., October 2, and ending at noon on October 3.
Workshop location: KSU Salina - College Conference Center
*Registration Deadline: September 22, 2008*
Registration Fee: $50 (includes workshop materials and lunch on October 3).
Registration can also be taken via Interfund to Jaime Menon.

Interested persons may contact Jaime Menon via e-mail at jmenon@ksu.edu , or phone at 785-532-5840 for a registration form. --Dan Kahl dkahl@ksu.edu

REGISTRATION FOR PRIDE DAY 2008
Don't miss this opportunity to register for PRIDE Day 2008. This year's PRIDE Day will be held at the Sedgwick County Extension Office on Saturday, October 11, 2008. This is the perfect time for Extension Agents to meet PRIDE Community members, and see what great works are going on within their county. You will get a chance to support and applaud these communities as they receive awards for their many volunteer projects!

It is also a great time for communities that you believe might be interested in the workshops listed below to register and take advantage of our workshops, breakout sessions and panel discussions!

The link below should provide you with the information you need to register, find the Sedgwick County Extension Office, as well as hotel accommodations in case you may need them:
http://www.kansasprideprogram.ksu.edu/PRIDE/welcome.htm . Click on REGISTER NOW. Registration must be completed by October 3, 2008.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Jaime Menon via e-mail at jmenon@ksu.edu or by phone at 785-532-5840.

The K-State Research and Extension Community is invited to wish Trudy Rice, County Extension Director, Douglas County, well as she has accepted a position with the University of Kansas Department of Continuing Education.

The reception will be held Friday, September 19, from 4-6 p.m. at the Lawrence Union Pacific Depot Visitors Center, 402 N 2nd Street, in Lawrence. For those unable to attend the reception, please join us at Johnny's across the street after 6 p.m.

If you have any questions, please contact Jennifer Smith at 785-843-7058. Jennifer Smith smithjen@ksu.edu

SECOND FOOD PRESERVATION UPDATE WORKSHOP
The second Food Preservation Update workshop for any Extension agent is scheduled for October 10, 2008 in Grainfield at the fairgrounds. There is still time to register! Deadline is October 1, 2008.

For registration details, see http://www.rrc.ksu.edu . Information is in the green box on the home page. Two more workshops will be held in April 2009.

Contact Lisa Long, llong@ksu.edu , or 620-532-5131, for registration. For more information, contact Karen Blakeslee at kblakesl@ksu.edu or 785-532-1673. --Karen Blakeslee

UNIQUE "ad\" ENTRY REQUIRED FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM
Entry to the Professional Development system makes the proposal entry, catalog and My Home available to users. The Professional Development System may be accessed at https://intranet.oznet.ksu.edu/prof%5Fdev/ . To sign in, type in the userid. This is ad\ (use the slash on the same line as the letter P on your keyboard) and your eID; then enter your password to enter the system. Notice that this \ is different than / and / will not work. My own userid would be ad\margaret; then I use my current password.

LUNCH & LEARN SEMINARS
The Riley County Extension Office has received significant demand to provide our Lunch & Learn seminars on campus for faculty and staff who can't make it off campus during their lunch hour. We are pleased to announce that arrangements have been made to make the series available on campus. Please join us for...

...What's My Kid Doing on the Computer? (A parent's guide to Facebook, My Space and more) by Andrea Schmidt on November 12 in Union 209.

...Do Five Ducks Make a Cow?--Understanding Animal Units by Greg McClure on December 18 in Union East Stateroom 1.

...Alternative Medicine: Herbal Supplements by Ginny Barnard on January 22 in Union East Stateroom 1. --Jennifer Wilson jrwilson@ksu.edu

2009 URBAN EXTENSION CONFERENCE CALL FOR PROPOSALS
Wisconsin will be hosting the bi-annual North Central Region Urban Extension Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at the Hyatt Regency on May 4-7, 2009. The conference theme is: Urban Extension: Relevant Today and Committed to the Future.

* Explore effective technologies for planning, managing and delivering urban programs

* Investigate diversified funding strategies and public private partnerships

This year's conference represents an opportunity to share the experiences in reaching new and diverse audiences in and around urban communities. Concurrent workshops will be held six different times throughout the two and half days of the conference. Workshops will be one hour in length, including time for questions and answers.

There is a poster session on Wednesday afternoon held concurrently with lunch for a two hour period. There will be opportunity for one-on- one or small group interactions around the poster presentations.

We are encouraging Cooperative Extension colleagues to submit proposals to present a concurrent workshop and/or present a display at the poster session. Concurrent workshops should address one of the conference goals listed above.

Submit your Proposal by October 13, 2008. To submit your proposal go to the conference Website, http://urbanconference2009.uwex.edu/email1.html . --Jennifer Wilson jrwilson@ksu.edu

KANSAS CIVIC LEADERSHIP: CONTEXT AND COMPETENCIES
The Kansas Leadership Center is accepting applications for a new leadership development initiative designed to significantly enhance an individual’s understanding of civic life in Kansas and one’s ability to be effective in civic leadership. Context and Competencies is part of a robust strategy of the Kansas Leadership Center to cultivate more civic leadership across Kansas.

The program will use the dynamic “case in point” methodology, peer consulting and other interactive teaching techniques to foster civic leadership. Tools and concepts for working with civic challenges in our communities will be introduced.

Participants will explore what makes civic leadership difficult and will work on key competencies that will make their civic leadership efforts more effective. Finally, participants will be guided, in small group settings, to design low-risk experiments to bring program concepts and ideas into their own practice of civic leadership.

DO YOU NEED A NEW NAME BADGE?
All participants attending the upcoming Annual Conference, October 20-23, 2008, will be requested to wear their K-State Research and Extension name badges.

If you have never received a name badge, if you still have one of the old variety, or if you wish to purchase a new badge, e-mail Sue Robinson, srobinso@.ksu.edu .

Be sure to specify the kind of backing you want - magnet, clip or pin - and specify how you want your name on the badge. There is not room for titles, but department, area, county, district, or research center will be shown if you desire. The alternative I like is just your name below the K-State Research and Extension brand.

Each new employee, at the instructor level or above, receives his/her first name badge free of charge. Counties, districts, areas and departments are encouraged to order name badges for other employees and will be invoiced in the amount of $6 for each name badge.

If a new name badge is needed, please order immediately so we can get it sent to you prior to the conference. --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu

MASTER 4-H VOLUNTEER PROGRAM
As we think about building capacity in 4-H and building our own capacity in Volunteer Development, the Master 4-H Volunteer program comes to mind as a win win opportunity. The Master 4-H Volunteer contributes to the 4-H program and we grow in our ability to utilize volunteers.

Applications are due soon (October 20), so there is plenty of time to recruit one or more from your county/district. If you have any questions, please contact me, rbuchele@ksu.edu . --Rod Buchele

TIME TO THINK ABOUT NOMINATING A FARM FAMILY FOR THE 2008 CLASS OF MASTER FARMERS-FARM HOMEMAKERS
The Master Farmer-Master Farm Homemaker program invites each county to consider nominating a farm family from your county for the Kansas Master Farmer-Master Farm Homemaker recognition. This is an excellent way that you can honor those families that have given so much back in state and community service. Their selection is based on their farm operation and community activities. Nominations are due in the Extension Administration office by Friday, November 21, 2008. --E. J. Sisk, Master Farmer Secretary-Treasurer

DATES TAKEN FROM THE MASTER SCHEDULE FOR SEPTEMBER 24 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30, 2008:

Saturday, 9/27/08, Fancy Creek/Randolph, State 4-H Shooting Sports Matches, Mary Beth Strong
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