The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
(Vol. 17 No. 8)
IN THIS ISSUE...
WORD FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH
As 2010 rapidly comes to a close, it is good to reflect on
some of the work and efforts that we have all been about over the past 12
months. I first thank you for your
dedication and meaningful work for which you have been engaged in serving the
wants, needs, interests, and desires of the people in Kansas through your Extension
educational programming.
K-State Research and Extension is constantly evolving, but
our goal remains constant. In a broad
view, we continue with the goal of improving the quality of life and standard
of living for the people of Kansas. In doing that, K-State Research and Extension
takes great pride in the connections, relationships, partnering that we do with
those interested stakeholders in industry, organizations, coalitions, agencies,
and informal groups. These connections
are vital to our effectiveness in reaching vital clientele and moving towards positive development. Our involvement with stakeholders and clientele is vital in that we
bring the research, knowledge, and experience network of Kansas
State University
and the Land-Grant University
system to bear on the issues and opportunities in the state.
Within KSRE, we are continually improving upon our use of
technology. Webinars are rapidly
becoming a norm for updates and training.
Information and educational delivery are also improving per the requests
of stakeholders. Social media is rapidly
becoming a significant means of creating program awareness with clientele. All such use of technology requires us to think creatively and assess how best to utilize these evolving communication streams in delivering info and educational programming. We need to assess how best to use such technologies in the transfer and adoption of the knowledge being shared.
Program Focus Teams are making great strides in identifying
and planning towards signature program initiatives. It is clearly evident that
many teams have truly gelled, providing training and educational support to the
team and the broader system, and have agreed on key program areas that need the
attention of PFT action plans that include program assessment/evaluation towards
impact. Our educational programs have to be making a difference with and for the target clientele, or we need to change how we are delivering or where we are expending our time and energies. Assessment helps to track that progress.
Strides have been made to move our workforce and clientele
towards understanding and appreciation in “navigating difference.” Having a diverse workforce reaching an ever
increasingly diverse clientele is critical to the future relevance in
programming for KSRE. A team of faculty,
administration, and Extension agents were trained to train our workforce in “Navigating
Difference.” We’ll see the plan for such
training roll out in the coming months and training to begin to happen as
guided by that plan.
The multi-county district model is moving to become the
norm. This model offers great promise in
the pursuit of delivering strong local programs to an educated clientele that
meets their needs and desires for the future. With 13 Districts involving 33 counties, and our larger staffed counties in our more
metro locations, we are rapidly moving to where the majority of Kansas
citizens will be served by Extension agents able to devote more of their
programming time to areas of specialization on key local needs and issues.
I appreciate the strides we’ve made in all areas of
programming to keep the foundation of research-based, contemporary, relevant
information and education at the forefront.
Thanks again for all you do in furthering the great work of
K-State Research and Extension. It has
been truly a great year. Have a great
couple weeks, travel safely, enjoy a meaningful holiday season, and I’ll look
forward to continuing to communicate through this newsletter again beginning on
January 4, 2011! --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu
IET AND TECH SUPPORT CLOSED FOR THE HOLIDAYS
The
IET Tech Support office will be closed December 24 through January 2,
and resume normal operation on January 3. During the break, phone
support at 785-532-6270 will not be available, but all KSRE IT services
should be up and running throughout most of the period, including
e-mail lists, web pages and departmental file servers, with the
following exceptions the week of December 27:
1) There will be a
2 hour outage for each KSRE server to allow for a full backup of the
system, which requires the machine to be shut down briefly.
2)
The fileservers will be upgraded, which will require a day for each to
be down. The W: drives will not be available at that time. The
upgrades will occur on December 27 and 28.If you have a technical issue during the break, please send an e-mail to support@ksre.ksu.edu
and we will try to assist you.
If you have any questions or concerns
about available services during break, please feel free to contact IET
at 785-532-6270 or e-mail us at support@ksre.ksu.edu. --Larry Jackson ljackson@ksu.edu
GIFTING WITH A PURPOSE
Tis the Season – it’s time for being generous to your clients and customers and families, to show your appreciation and to share in the spirit of the holiday season. I sometimes think that the benefit of this gift giving should be derived from the act of giving and the feeling of satisfaction that should accompany it.
Gift Giving with a purpose. One of the greatest forms of gift giving is tax deductible for the giver. Here is what these savvy people are doing. Give a gift during the holidays to a good cause. The salvation army, the food shelter, or the foundation in your community that is feeding hungry families. All these items are tax deductible. And help those in need.
Say a family member has Alzheimer’s, Diabetes, Arthritis, Breast Cancer or similar illness, make a donation in their name and give a gift card telling the person of your gift. They will feel you have done something just for them. A gift to the American Cancer Society in memory for someone lost to cancer not only lets you feel good but helps the cause.
Charities include health promotion charities, school building funds, public benevolent institutions, overseas aid fund, registered cultural and environmental organizations and public libraries, museums and art galleries.
UNICEF, a provider of overseas charities, offers packages a donor can purchase. The winter child survival pack is just one of those. With this gift, you can bring relief and hope to a suffering child. UNICEF’s Winter Child Survival Pack provides a girl or boy with the supplies they most need to survive the next 6 months:
Micro Nutrient Packets that help a child on the brink of malnutrition get the vitamins and minerals that are most essential for them to grow up healthy. Immunizations from measles and polio that will save a child from two of the most common and painful diseases in the developing world. Water purification tablets to filter out dirt and bacteria from water so that children can drink without fear of getting sick. Your pack contains enough tablets to clean 50,000 liters of water!
This website, http://www.irs.gov/index.html, will answer all your questions about what is a legally deducible gift. But give gifts from the goodness of your heart.
A gift, is a gift, is a gift. Give them happily, receive them graciously, and be grateful for the opportunity to give and to receive. --Family Resource Management PFT
CLARITY, FOCUS, ACTION – COACHING TOOLS AND TACTICS TO MOVE FORWARD
K-State Research and Extension Professionals have another opportunity to experience the Coaching Skills Workshop on March 9-11-2011. This workshop has been offered twice before and was very well received by participants. We have a limit of 24 participants and will be operating on a first come, first serve basis.
Registration information is located on the Employee Resources website, www.ksre.ksu.edu/employee_resources. Select Registrations in the purple boxes in the center of the page.
Registration is due by February 18 to Dorothy Ireland, Extension Field Operations, 119 Umberger Hall, Manhattan, KS 66506 - Checks should be for $190, payable to KSU.
The program will provide you with effective interpersonal communication skills with many practical applications that will help increase your capacity to lead. An underlying principle is that regardless of position or title, leadership is everyone’s job and a leader’s responsibility is to develop others. At the conclusion of the workshop, you will be able to:
- State your purpose (mission), what you want to achieve (vision), and what is important to you (values)
- Help others identify their values and align them with organizational objectives for greater motivation and fulfillment
- Apply different levels of listening and follow a coaching direction to make interactions more collaborative and productive
- Use powerful questions and collaborate to find the best answers
- Create and sustain higher motivation and commitment, both personally and with others, by learning how to take 100% responsibility
Co-leaders:
The co-leaders for this workshop are Alan Baquet, Deanna Peterson and Keith Niemann. All have been certified as professional co-active coaches by The Coaches Training Institute and are members of the International Coach Federation. --Margaret Phillips margaret@ksu.edu
COMMUNICATIONS STYLE GUIDE TIP
Q. How should I refer to K-State or K-State Research and Extension?
A. Kansas State University — K-State may be used on second reference for documents intended for in-state use. Never use K-State University. Avoid using KSU. Do not capitalize university when used alone. The main campus is in Manhattan. Additional campuses are in Salina and Olathe: K-State at Salina, at 2310 Centennial Road, is home to the College of
Technology and Aviation, which offers associate's and bachelor’s degrees
in engineering technology, professional pilot, aviation maintenance,
technology management, and family studies and human services. The K-State Olathe Innovation Campus has administrative offices at 18001 W. 106th St., Suite 130.
Its academic focus is in animal health, food safety and security, and
other relevant areas. The campus will offer graduate education, both
master’s and doctorate level, as well as certificates, credit courses,
and professional development.
K-State Research and Extension — The abbreviated
name for Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and
Cooperative Extension Service. (See separate entries in the style guide.) The short name is
acceptable for general use, but the full name must appear at minimum as part of the disclaimer on printed materials from all units of K-State Research and Extension. Avoid using extension
alone because it does not encompass the scope of the organization in
Kansas. Do not use the ampersand sign (&) to replace the word and.
KSRE — Do not use this acronym for K-State Research
and Extension except in informal, internal
documents, such as e-mail messages.
For more information, see the K-State Research and Extension Style Guide at http://www.communications.ksu.edu/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=1075. --Nancy Zimmerli-Cates nancyz@ksu.edu
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