The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
(Vol. 17 No. 17)
IN THIS ISSUE...
WORD FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH
The State Extension Advisory Council (SEAC) met in Topeka on Monday and Tuesday of last week. Part of our purpose in meeting there is to
give SEAC members the opportunity to advocate for K-State Research &
Extension with legislators. It was also an opportunity to meet a few of
our partnering state agency contacts to gain a perspective from those
individuals on the importance of these partnerships and future
opportunities. Judging from feedback given by the SEAC members, those
objectives were effectively accomplished.
Legislature has many difficult decisions to make in the coming weeks and months, much of which centers around dividing up the pool of revenues for FY2012. We remain early in that process, and it is very difficult to predict yet where the spending priorities will land.
It remains our duty to be able to answer "what are three very important initiatives that are being addressed through your Extension programming, how are those initiatives important to Kansans, and what evidence do you have that your Extension programs are making a difference with respect to those initiatives?" If each of us is prepared to answer those questions with thoughtful, factual information, K-State Research and Extension and your local Extension unit will benefit!
Also, note the message below regarding federal funding issues and our work on that front from Gary Pierzynski. Interesting times. As Gary indicates, if you have stories to be shared with our Congressional leadership, get that information to Gary, Steven, Ernie, and myself. This is a time to remain positive and putting forth messages that show our relevance and impact per the paragraph above!
Have a great week! --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu
UPDATE ON FEDERAL FUNDING ISSUES FOR FEDERAL FISCAL YEAR 2011
You may
be hearing a lot about communication initiatives regarding federal funding
issues, and I wanted to let you know where we stand with things.
Last
week, eXtension and others hosted webinars regarding communications campaigns
and social media initiatives – asking groups to send messages regarding the
effects of cuts, as well as submitting positive stories about the impacts of
our work. We recognize that there are
differences in every state and do not feel some of the strategies work well
here. We have selected a strategy that
emphasizes the positive impacts of our work; we do not want to emphasize the
effects of potential cuts. We strongly
urge you to submit ideas to us about the positive impacts.
The U.S.
Congress has appropriated dollars to operate until March 4, 2011. H.R. 1, which made $61.0 billion dollars in
cuts and was passed by the House on February 18, 2011, is not being accepted by
the Senate. A compromise is being
negotiated to extend operating funds for another two weeks.
Let’s
not panic. There will be a lot of
negotiation between the House and Senate.
We have a great team monitoring the situation and the effects on Research and Extension funding, 4-H funding, Special Grants, etc. They are providing updates to Ernie Minton,
Daryl Buchholz, and Steven Graham. These colleagues,
along with Sue Peterson, are constantly monitoring the negotiations and are
communicating with the Kansas Congressional delegation.
In
addition, I am in Washington, D.C., this week, along with President Schulz, the
Kansas CARET representatives, and other K-State administrators. We are visiting with our policy makers and
making the case for funding the programs that are critically important to K-State
and to Kansas.
If you
decide you want to send a message to Congress yourself, as an individual
citizen, please first refer to: http://www.k-state.edu/govrelations/contactwithleg.htm.
We must
be very careful how we write and/or call legislators, whether in Washington,
D.C. or Topeka. Thanks for your continued
cooperation and assistance. --Gary
Pierzynski, Interim Dean and Director gmp@ksu.edu
INTENTIONAL HARMONY: MANAGING WORK AND LIFE LEADER TRAINING DATE SET
An Intentional Harmony Leader Training date has been set for May 18, 2011, in Manhattan.
Intentional
Harmony: Managing Work and Life (IH) was developed by University of
Illinois Extension
to help people balance their work and personal lives. Intentional Harmony is based in family theory and
interdisciplinary
research, and teaches individuals how to create harmony in their
lives, reduce
stress, and balance competing demands. You must be a trained IH
leader to use
the curriculum and provide the Intentional
Harmony program to local audiences.
The cost of the
1-day Intentional Harmony training is $75, and
all curriculum materials and lunch is included. You will also
have access to
the Intentional Harmony website,
which includes downloadable facilitator’s guides, PowerPoint
presentations,
video clips, activity sheets, handouts, research reference
sheets, news
commentaries, press releases, publicity brochures, and other
materials that are
updated periodically.
If you are
interested in
becoming a trained IH leader, please e-mail Deb Sellers at dsellers@ksu.edu and follow up information will be provided.
For
more information, contact Debra M.
Sellers, 785-532-5773,
dsellers@ksu.edu. --Debra
Sellers
DIVERSITY PROGRAMS OFFICE WELCOMES WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH
March is here and with it comes Women’s History Month. As we say goodbye to February and Black History Month, we welcome spring and all the activities that are associated with Women’s History. Stop by the Diversity Programs office in Waters 138 to get updates on activities associated with Women’s History throughout the month of March.
Last week the Diversity Programs office and MANRRS chapter recognized Assistant to the Dean Steven Graham for his work in supporting diversity on campus and in the College of Agriculture with the 2011 Wallace Kidd Memorial Award. A reception honoring Graham and the past recipients was held last Wednesday where Mitchell Kidd, Wallace Kidd’s grandson and student at K-State, attended representing the Kidd family. We are grateful for his appearance and support of the award.
Next week Zelia Z. Wiley, Ph.D, assistant dean for diversity and director of the Diversity Programs, will be taking a group of students to Wayzata, Minnesota - a suburb of St. Paul - Cargill’s World headquarters, for Cargill’s Backpack to Briefcase: Building a Competitive Edge for Success on March 6 - 7. The program provides students with a look at what it takes to be a part of the Cargill team and exposes them to job, internship and networking opportunities with this prestigious corporation. Several students applied, but only seven were asked to participate. Please help us congratulate the following students on this exciting all expenses paid opportunity thanks to Cargill: Alexia Sampson-Bellot, Jocelyn Clemons, Jordan Eder, Juan Flores, Keshia McAfee, Natasha Peterson, and Cassandra Smith.
Finally, the Diversity Programs office, College of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, and the MANRRS chapter are proud to host this year’s High School Symposium and National MANRRS Conference in Overland Park, happening March 31 – April 2. The High School Symposium gives Kansas City area high schools students a chance to see what careers are available in the agricultural industry along with information about college life at K-State.
We encourage everyone to stop by the Diversity Programs office in Waters 138 for more information about scholarship opportunities, diversity involvement opportunities, counseling services with diversity issues and information about diverse happenings within the College of Agriculture and around campus.--Zelia Wiley zwiley@ksu.edu
CREATING A CHARITABLE GIFT TEAM
Dave Ramsey, the famed radio and TV financial whiz, urges
his audience to “live like no one else, so you can live like no one else.” Doing so allows savers to eventually become
givers and that can be great news for your community and charitable
organizations.
The key to local support is planning.
Once a highly-appreciated asset -- like ag land – is sold,
revenue often leaves the community and may never benefit local people and
programs. Working with your local
professionals, the KSU Foundation Gift Planning staff can help develop
charitable strategies that can benefit community organizations or create funds
to benefit local people and programs. The objective is to reduce taxes so landowners can support their
passions. The professional team includes
accountants, attorneys, financial planners, Extension agents and the charitable
organization.
In some cases, landowners may not be philanthropic until
they see how much they have to send to the IRS. Proper planning can reduce or eliminate many taxes and create a family
legacy with an endowed fund that supports the landowners’ favorite charities
and their families.
In many cases, agents hold the keys to philanthropic
support, based on established relationships and educational roles. Frequently, agents have personal or
professional ties to most – sometime all – of the team members.
Local charitable giving team meetings will begin when tax
season ends. To discuss a local meeting, contact Gordon Dowell at the KSU
Foundation, gordond@found.ksu.edu, or
call 800-432-1578. --Gordon Dowell
“FOOD SAFETY FOR BOOMERS AND BEYOND” - HANDOUT DISTRIBUTION UPDATE
“Food Safety for Boomers and Beyond” (FSBB) is a newly developed on-line multimedia consumer education program for adults. Our plans for EACH of the 105 Kansas counties to receive at least 5 hard copies (four sets in English, one with Spanish handouts) and CDs of our program are well under way. During the Agent Update earlier this month, agents and staff were able to take materials home with them for about 2/3 of the counties; the remainder are being distributed now via the Extension Communications office in Manhattan. Please be watching your mail for the next couple of weeks for receipt of these materials.
I’d like to confirm that FSBB was developed as an “on-line” program with interactive questions, informative videos, “Learn More” sections, glossary, references and pod casts. To access the entire program including a certificate for program completion, go to the KSRE hosted website address: http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/foodsafety. Click on the box on the right side of the screen, “Food Safety for Boomers and Beyond.” The distribution of handout materials and CDs is to make use of the program easier (strongly preferred by older adult audiences), and is especially helpful for those areas of our state where good or quick internet connections are difficult. You are welcome to contact our media expert, Gerry Snyder, gsnyder@ksu.edu, if you have distribution questions; or Dr. Valentina Remig, remig@ksu.edu, if you have any content or program questions.
We hope that you use the program with your community and local groups. You may simply download the handouts and print them on your own computer. Or, as libraries do, you may prefer to have your clients/visitors “check out” the CD to view on their own and have them return the CDs to your office. The handouts are meant to be printed and then used as a reminder of the lesson (or post on refrigerator or in your own offices). Personal professional development is an opportunity too, if this is not your current area of expertise. You may be seeing upcoming news releases on our program as well as enjoy that your county has it’s own copy. Now eat and handle foods safely! --Gerry Snyder
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