The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
(Vol. 17 No. 25)
IN THIS ISSUE...
CLASSIFED EMPLOYEES OF THE YEAR TO BE RECOGNIZED ON APRIL 27
On
Wednesday, April 27, from 2 - 4 p.m. in the Union Ballroom, the Kansas
State University Classified Employee Recognition Ceremony will take
place.
Employees will be recognized for: Years of Service;
Attaining Retirement; as Departmental/Unit Employees of the Year; plus
the K-State Classified Award of Excellence will be announced. Guest
Speaker will be Dr. Noel Schulz. Refreshments will be served following
the ceremony.
K-State Research and Extension will have many
employees being recognized in the various categories. Two employees
being recognized in the Departmental/Unit category are:
1) K-State Research and Extension:
Justin Bolte, Senior Agricultural Technician, Agricultural Research Center, Hays, KS.
Justin was nominated by John Jaeger, Assistant Professor, Agricultural Research Center Hays, KS.
2) College of Agriculture:
Michael Larson, Senior Agricultural Technician, Department of Agronomy, North Central Experiment Fields, Belleville/Scandia, KS.
Michael was nominated by Dallas Peterson, Professor, Department of Agronomy.
Please
attend the ceremony and help us recognize the great work of Justin,
Michael, and all our excellent Classified Employees. --Steven Graham sgraham@k-state.edu
3I SHOW BOOTH UPDATE FOR GARDEN CITY
The 3i Show will take place on Wednesday - Friday, May 4-6, 2011 in Garden City. This year will see a slight change to our displays at the 3i Show. We will have two adjoining booths in the large 3i Show building on the fairgrounds in Garden City. The booths will be along the north wall, where our regular K-State Research and Extension booth has always been. The new second booth will contain displays by AgrAbility and the Kansas Agricultural Mediation Service (KAMS). So, Kerri Ebert, Char Henton, and Steven Graham will be working in the booths.
We will have four chairs and would encourage any K-State Research and Extension agent, faculty member, or employee to stop, say 'hi', and join us for a little while, anytime during the 3i Show. We look forward to seeing you and our citizens who attend the show. --Steven Graham sgraham@k-state.edu
WEBINAR ON COUNTY BUDGET REPORTS
The Office of Local Government will conduct a webinar for
county agents who will visit with their county commissioners to deliver the
annual Kansas County Fiscal Conditions & Trends reports. This brief 20
minute webinar will be conducted Thursday, May 5, at 12:30 p.m.
The Webinar will enable agents to effectively introduce this
information resource that was developed specifically for county commissioners
who are grappling with their most important responsibility – managing county
finances in a very challenging economic environment.
OLG gives county agents the option of delivering the reports
personally or having them sent directly to commissioners. Many agents have
requested they deliver the reports personally as an opportunity to interact
with commissioners while visibly demonstrating that Extension is working to
develop potentially high-value information resources specifically intended to
benefit county commissioners.
To date, agents representing more than half of Kansas counties have
requested the opportunity to deliver the reports personally, but many also have
asked what they need to tell commissioners about the reports and how to use the
information they contain. This webinar is intended to enable agents to
effectively introduce the reports, answer basic questions about interpreting
the information contained in the reports, and to familiarize commissioners with
additional services and assistance freely available from OLG (including the
upcoming webinar for commissioners).
The Kansas County Fiscal Conditions & Trends reports are
produced annually by the Office of Local Government as an aid to county
officials who are actively gearing up for their annual budget deliberations.
The reports provide a detailed overview of county finance trends for the past nine
years together with background and evaluation information leading to the
current budget season. This is the 12th annual report produced by
OLG.
Please join me Thursday, May 5, at 12:30 p.m. for
this 20 minute webinar. Use the following link and sign in as a guest if you do
not already have an account: http://connect.ksre.ksu.edu/olg/.
If you are unable to attend the webinar, it will be recorded and available on
our website, www.ksu-olg.info. --Katie Morris katielea@agecon.ksu.edu
KANSAS ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP PROGRAM: CLASS OF 2011
The
Kansas Environmental Leadership Program (KELP) will hold the second session of the
Class 11 environmental leadership training in Garden City. Class 11 meets for four
sessions, which began in March of 2011 and continues through November.
Participants
in the KELP training will have an experience in environmental leadership that
will prepare them to become effective change agents for improved water quality
in their community. KELP is fusion of concepts, activities, resources, and
experiences that combine the most current in leadership studies and practices
with current thinking and research on water quality.
In
2003, KELP was recognized by CF Industries with a National Watershed Award and
by Epsilon Sigma Phi for the State Team Award. In 2009, the Kansas Association for Conservation and Environmental
Education presented the governmental award for Excellence in Conservation and
Environmental Education to KELP.
KELP
Class 2011 includes the following participants:
Angela Buzard of the Environmental Finance Center at Wichita State
University; Chris Cardinal of the Sierra Club; Chad Christie from ICL Performance Products; Cara Hendricks,
KDHE Bureau of Water, Watershed Management; Scott Jones, Flint Hills RC&D; Shane Lyle, Kansas Geological Survey;
Keith Martin, K-State Research and
Extension; Tonya Richards, Marion County Planning, Zoning & Environmental
Health; Travis Sieve, KDHE Bureau of Water, Watershed Management; Natalie Snyder,
City of Wichita; Joesphe Stiles, Kansas Jaycees Cerebral Palsy Ranch; Matt Unruh,
KDHE Bureau of Water, Watershed Management; Bobbi Wendt, Kansas Water Office.
For
more information, contact Brandi Nelson at kelp@ksu.edu
or visit the web page at www.ksre.ksu.edu/kelp.
For further information on the Kansas
Environmental Leadership Program, please contact the KELP Coordinator, Brandi Nelson, nelsonbm@ksu.edu
DIVERSITY PROGRAMS OFFICE SPRING UPDATE
With the semester coming to an end, the Diversity Programs Office has been busy with MANRRS, recruiting and preparing for the summer and fall.
National MANRRS Conference
Kansas State University College of Agriculture, Veterinary Medicine, and KSRE couldn't help but be recognized at the final ceremony of the 2011 National MANRRS Career Fair and Training Conference for everyone’s hard work in making the conference in Overland Park a huge success.
There were over 800 undergraduate and graduate students who came from all over the conference to participate, as well as 100 sponsors and corporations.
The conference started out with the High School Symposium, in which over seventy Jr. High and High school students from all over Kansas came and learned about the variety of majors and opportunities K-State’s College of Agriculture has to offer. Dr. Zelia Wiley and Dr. Don Boggs led the K-State student delegation.
Dr. Jeff Gwirtz, from the Grain Science Department, did a workshop to help students explore the process of buying wheat and turning it into flour. Students had the opportunity to do a hands-on grain exercise and see the milling process. Dr. Kevin Donnelly led a workshop which allowed students to explore and discover new information about flowers and reproduction in plants. He did this by giving the students different kinds of plants to examine and dissect.
On Friday was the career fair in which corporations, the government, and universities were offering various internships and jobs. There was also a KSRE booth staffed by Nozella Brown, Wyandotte County Family Consumer Science Agent; with Laura Parente, Dietetics Intern.
“The career fair held at the 26th MANRRS Conference gave me an insight into what is available now within the Agriculture industry,” said senior in Animal Science, Evette Jones. “Now I can further improve my qualifications to become a better candidate in the future.”
Later that evening was the annual MANRRS fashion show, where students presented the style of clothing that is appropriate and inappropriate business attire. Freshmen in Animal Science, Yasmine Mitchell; Marcella Steele; and freshman in Food Science, Krystal Anderson-Morales; participated in the fashion show.
Saturday, the students participated in various workshops to help prepare them for interviews, talking about the do’s and don’ts of interviewing. Corporations also had discussions with the students about what a leader is to them. Students had to attend all workshops in order to attend the talent show and party later that evening.
Saturday’s lunch was the award banquet for students who won first through third in the contests. They were awarded scholarship money as well as a plaque.
“After seeing what the contest consisted of, it is definitely something I want to compete in next year,” said sophomore in Agriculture Technology Management, Jocelyn Clemons. “MANRRS promotes and rewards the good work students do.”
The K-State MANRRS Chapter returned to campus Sunday morning and talked about their experience at the MANRRS meeting on Wednesday, April 6. “After hearing reports from the MANRRS members who went to the National MANRRS conference, I was intrigued and I felt as if it was something I wanted to participate in next year,” said freshmen Johnathan Johnson.
Cargill’s College for a Day
Cargill’s College for a Day took place April 6, in Dodge City. Students were invited to come to Cargill’s Meat Solutions Processing Facility and learn more about what Kansas State’s College of Agriculture as well as what Cargill has to offer. There were over 50 students in attendance, some of whom will be attending K-State in the Fall.
MANRRS Chapter
At the MANRRS meeting, April 6, students went over the expectations and obligations for the Executive Officers. Students were nominated and elections took place at the next chapter meeting, April 20. Officers will be installed May 5, which will be the last meeting of the year and there will be refreshments.
For more information about the K-state Diversity Programs Office, please contact us or just stop by Waters Hall 139. --Zelia Wiley zwiley@ksu.edu
MARIE'S PICKS . . .
My picks this week include success stories from Chuck Otte, Geary County; and Delta George, Bourbon County:
***In April of 2010, the first annual Geary Community Sustainability Council Green Fair was held. More than 200 people attended the event to visit with vendors and participate in educational presentations. Evaluations by attendees and vendors indicated a very high level of satisfaction and indicated a desire to attend such an event in the future and to learn more about sustainability. One of the older attendees said, "I learned more about sustainability and energy conservation in the 30 minute session I attended than I had in the last ten years!" He then went home and replaced all of his incandescent lights with compact fluorescent light bulbs.
***The Uniontown Garden group, which came into existence after an Extension
meeting last year, continues to meet on a monthly basis and help out in
the community. The group continued with the flower pots on the street
corners, took on the landscaping at the kiosks around the walking trail,
and have taken it upon themselves to decorate the City Park for the
Fourth of July Festivities, Labor Day events, and the Christmas season. Following a flower sale and caramel apple fundraiser they purchased two
trees to continue the gardening legacy to their grandkids. --Marie Blythe mblythe@ksu.edu
CLARITY, FOCUS AND ACTION - COACHING WORKSHOP
Clarity Focus, Action is a workshop that teaches coaching skills. It is designed to help you help others get clear on where they want to go, get focused on the various paths to get there, and then move them into action. This workshop will be useful to you if you supervise others - as almost everyone in our system either directly supervises others or works with someone who needs a little nudge because they are 'stuck'.
The University of Nebraska Extension will accept two K-State Research and Extension professionals to attend their workshop on September 27-29, 2011. It will be held at Camp Carol Joy Holling near Ashland, Nebraska.
Please contact Margaret Phillips, margaret@ksu.edu, if you are interested in participating. The only cost to you would be for travel to and from the workshop.
Co-leaders for this workshop are Keith Niemann, Alan Baquet, and Deanna Peterson. All have been certified as professional co-active coaches by The Coaches Training Institute and are members of the International Coach Federation. --Margaret Phillips
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