The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
(Vol. 17 No. 51)
IN THIS ISSUE...
WORD FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH
With all the great information below in this week's Tuesday Letter, I am wondering why bother with my musings. But, I will still throw a few at you.
Thanks to everyone who played any part in the success of the 2011 KSRE Annual Conference! I hope you went home satisfied that you had some thoughts, ideas, plans, or products to take away and use in some way in your personal and professional work. If not, shame on you! Judging from the cafeteria of educational offerings and information, lots of opportunities were available.
If you attended a session, listened to someone, or talked with a colleague in the hallways who helped you personally or professionally, why not send that person a note of thanks!?! You'll make their day, and you'll feel better for it as well.
Congratulations again to the many recognized this week through the various professional associations and through KSRE for your accomplishments and contributions. And, for all the rest of us who weren't recognized, know we are all still valued for our contributions towards making a positive difference through our work that will improve the lives and economic well-being of the people of Kansas and beyond! Keep at it, and our day will come!
And, I honestly heard from three separate outside observers with respect to all of you at Annual Conference, how impressed they were of your sharp dress, professionalism, and friendliness. I'd say those are great qualities for the KSRE workforce! Thanks for being there and being you! And, have a great week! --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu
TEAM THOUGHTS...
While making
the rounds to the various Agriculture, Natural Resources and Community
Development Program Focus Team meetings at the K-State Research and Extension
Annual Conference last week, I was
asked to distribute in the Tuesday Letter
my 5 Broad Goals for Program Focus Teams that I shared with them. I decided to
use this opportunity to start a new Tuesday
Letter series called Team Thoughts. So, as requested, this first Team
Thoughts issue concerns 5 Broad Goals for Program Focus Teams.
Goal 1: We will
fulfill learner needs.
This should
be the primary strategic intent and passion of all educators and education
teams. If we aren’t working together to better educate our learners, what's the
point? With teams, we should even be able to do this at a higher level than we
can as individuals – the proverbial whole exceeding the sum of the parts.
Goal 2: We will do our best.
If we are
passionate about meeting learner needs, we should strive to do our best.
Whenever Coach John Wooden was asked what made his teams so great, he often stated
that they insisted on playing at their best – day in and day out. Because so
few teams were willing to do the things to be at their best, winning came easy
for his teams.
Goal 3: We will have fun.
If we are
passionate about meeting learner needs, enjoy what we do, and surround
ourselves with team members who share our passion, how can we not have fun
while working together? A team that isn’t having fun won’t be a team for long.
Goal 4: We will share our success stories.
If we are
passionate about meeting learner needs, we should want to share our success
stories. Extension professionals tend to not toot their own horns.
Nevertheless, communicating success is important because it gives us a greater
sense of accomplishment, shows other teams how they might be successful, and
tells our learners and other stakeholders what a great investment our programs
are!
Goal 5: We will embrace continual
improvement.
If we are
passionate about learner needs and doing our best, it is only natural that we
will seek to become better at what we do. When a team rests on its laurels, it quickly
loses relevance to the team members and its learners. If you pardon another
sports reference, we only have to look at our 2011 KSU football team to see the
power of emphasizing continual improvement. Most who watched the first game
would have bet against KSU being a top football team, but, by improving on a
game-by-game basis, the Wildcats are undefeated and a top ten team in both the
AP Poll and the BCS standings.
Well, there
you have it - 5 Broad Goals for Program Focus Teams – any team for that matter.
If your team is consistently achieving these goals – that's great. If not, feel
free to contact me. By discussing the issue, we may be able to find a way to
turn that team into a great team! --Gregg Hadley ghadley@ksu.edu, 785-532-5838
ANNUAL CONFERENCE SOCIAL MEDIA SESSION INFORMATION AVAILABLE
Did you miss the social media session at the K-State
Research and Extension annual conference on Wednesday, October 19? The session was recorded (thanks to Russ
Feldhausen and Gerry Snyder) and is
available for viewing. Four panelists discussed how land-grant
university faculty and staff can foster a new model for engagement using social
media. The panelists were:
• Jim Langcuster, news and public affairs specialist, Alabama Cooperative
Extension System;
• Jeff Caldwell, multimedia editor, Meredith Corporation, Des Moines, Iowa;
• Eli Sagor, extension forester, University of Minnesota Extension; and
• Dan Toland, director of digital strategy, Ohio Farm Bureau Federation.
A
wiki with presenter information and links to the connect sessions is available
at http://ksusocialmedia.wikispaces.com/. --Elaine Edwards elainee@ksu.edu
CONNECT WEBINAR TRAINING: OCTOBER 25, NOVEMBER 1, NOVEMBER 8
It was nice seeing many of you at our Connect booth at Comm Expo during annual conference. There are new Connect training dates offered on Tuesdays, October 25, November 1 and November 8 at 9 a.m.
This session is a
good overview for both new and experienced Connect users. No
registration is necessary. Simply go to http://connect.ksre.ksu.edu/connecttraining/ during the training time.
If you are new to Connect, this free program is a great communication tool. It is used for on-line
webinars, meetings, research, educational classes, collaboration, and even KSRE District meetings.
For more information, visit the TechWeb site, www.ksre.ksu.edu/techweb/, or contact Gerry Snyder, gsnyder@ksu.edu,
IET, 785-532-6270. --Gerry Snyder
4-H LEADER TRAINING PROJECT PILOT
Through the Kansas 4-H Foundation Grow 4-H Initiative,
there are 4-H Leader Pilot Projects for Plant Science Leaders and Foods Leaders.
This program will involve project leader instruction through monthly webinars.
Plant Science Leader Program – This program started in October,
but will take other applicants prior to November 1, 2011. The next session is November 16, at 10 a.m. See the details sheet and register
here at http://www.kansas4-h.org/p.aspx?tabid=348.
Foods Leader Program – Applications should be made by
December 1. The first session is on
January 17, 2012. We will be contacting
local offices to double check that volunteers have your approval to take part
in the pilot. Up to 25 leaders will be
selected. See the details sheet and register at http://www.kansas4h.org/p.aspx?tabid=347.
We hope that you will help us recruit 4-H Project Leaders
to take part. All leaders that take part
must have local Extension Agent approval. We also would be happy to have a few staff members take part if they
wish.
If you have questions, please contact Beth Hinshaw, bhinshaw@ksu.edu, (Plant Science); or Diane Mack,
dmack@ksu.edu, (Foods).--Beth Hinshaw
MARIE'S PICKS . . .
This week my picks are outcomes and success stories related to their wheat programming from Todd
Whitney, River Valley District; Brent Goss, Ellsworth County; Jonie James, Harvey County; Brian Waldschmidt, Harper County; and Scott Chapman, Post Rock District:
**"Wheat's Up" was the focus for
statewide and River Valley District wheat plot tours in 2010-11. Evaluation surveys were completed by 47 of the 176 total attendees at the seven
plot locations. Based on the wheat disease identification scoring, 85% of those
attending increased their knowledge of the major wheat diseases and management
strategies. And, their estimates were that our K-State Research and Extension
wheat plots educational program increased their farm profitability by more than
$247,000 collectively among all the responders - which could be extrapolated to
be up to $920,000 increased net income - if all in attendance had similar
results.
**Brent reported that the number of questions dealing with
wheat fungicide has drastically increased over the last
couple of years. Many producers are seeing the benefit of a fungicide
application and are starting to ask "when" and not "why?"
**In Harvey County, the local wheat variety plot tour provided an avenue for more than 100
producers to see the differences in over 25 varieties of
wheat. Information highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of each variety allowed them to be more informed when selecting the
variety that will work best for their operation. Seven producers reported that they changed from a
continuous wheat rotation to a crop rotation using wheat, sorghum, and
soybeans.
**Being the first year for this action plan in Harper County, Brian stated that it is still undetermined
what the long-term outcome will be. However, as a result of the canola plot
that was set in the middle of a wheat field, it is obvious what
part of the long-term effect will be. The surrounding field was
completely covered with feral rye, while the canola plot was almost 100% clean of the rye. Studies have shown that a wheat producer can
expect to at least clean up 90% of the feral rye in just one year of
canola production and that statistic held true for the plot. After
wheat harvest in the coming year, we should get a better understanding
of what the quality of wheat should do.
**Scott reported there is much more awareness, having been contacted by
producers
who indicated they will rethink their selection for double crop to
ensure volunteer can be controlled. No-tillers with cover crops
containing volunteer wheat have asked about the risk and been willing to
burn-down the cover crop early enough to stop the spread of this
disease. Several producers have encouraged the
continual reminders of the significance of Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus on
the district wheat crop. -–Marie Blythe mblythe@ksu.edu
ASK THE OEIE EVALUATOR - RESOURCES FOR MEASURING TO REPORTING PROGRAM IMPACTS
In this installment we will highlight some recent additions to the Extension Evaluation Resources website, http://apps.oeie.ksu.edu/extension/, that may be useful in your evaluation efforts. These resources include a PowerPoint originally developed for and shared at the K-State Research and Extension annual conference.
Q: What are some resources I can use for measuring program impacts?
The Extension Evaluation Resources website houses various resources to assist in your program evaluation efforts, and will offer more resources as the collective KSRE toolbox grows! Four new additions to the website offer particular value for measuring program impacts.
The "Tips and Tools for Measuring Program Impacts: From Delivering Programs to Reporting Impacts" PowerPoint presentation provides a general overview of the process for measuring impacts of KSRE programs. The PowerPoint highlights three key phases of the program evaluation cycle, from reviewing evaluation instruments to writing your final impact reports, and suggests important considerations during each phase.
"Reviewing Evaluation Instruments," aligns with the first phase. This simple rubric can help you review existing evaluation instruments and determine if it will meet your needs or if adjustments are needed. This rubric can help you consider the utility and feasibility of an evaluation instrument in its present state for your particular program, and based on your review, you can begin to identify adaptations you could make to better serve your evaluation needs.
"Analyzing Program Impacts: Data Analysis Plan," can assist you once you have collected some data and need to figure out what to do with it. This worksheet prompts you to revisit questions from your survey or interview protocol, determine what you hoped to learn from asking that question, and think about what type of data analysis is needed. For example, if you wanted to know if you were able to increase the knowledge of your participants about a certain topic, a frequency count or calculation of percentage would be a useful analysis. The second page of the worksheet summarizes some of the basic analytical strategies that will provide you with the answers you and your stakeholders will want in most situations.
"Preparing to Write Impact Reports," can assist you after your data has been analyzed and you are ready to present your impacts. This worksheet prompts you to consider key findings from your analysis and to determine how you can write about them in a meaningful and valuable way for your audience. As you work with your results to present your program impacts, make sure to think about how the results fit together and tell a complete story about your program, including quantitative (statistical) and qualitative (testimonials and open-ended) results.
If you try out these tools and have some feedback for us, we would love to hear it! We would like to further refine these tools so they best meet your needs, and your input is valuable to that process.
Do you have questions about evaluation or resources to suggest for the website? Contact Amy Hilgendorf at OEIE, aehilgen@k-state.edu, or 785-532-5538. --Amy Hilgendorf
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