The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
(Vol. 18 No. 30)
IN THIS ISSUE...
WORD FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH
It's a busy week in Manhattan with the "Revolution of Responsibility" Discovery Days, Emerald Circle, and the 84th Annual Kansas FFA Convention. All inclusive, we'll have somewhere near 2500 persons, youth and adults coming to town for these major events! Should be a great time for learning, for recognition, and for fun. Best wishes for a great week among all involved!
This time of year seems to represent a shift for many in your work. Agents get busy with camp and preparing for the local fairs. I pulled the following from a message I put forth several years ago reminding of the importance of programming and not letting oneself get drawn into activities without purpose. Hope you enjoy this repeat message. I don't believe it ever loses its significance for Extension professionals.
Program development is a basic skill
EVERYONE can use, whether in research, teaching, or extension
educational work. Program development employs analyzing the situation,
setting forth objectives/outcomes, developing the outputs (materials and
methods) for delivering the program, implementing, and evaluating to
determine if the objectives/outcomes have been achieved. As paraphrased
from The Extension Workers Code by T.J. Talbert, Extension
Bulletin 33, 1922:
"If we do the things that will count
we must have a plan or project and a program of work, either written
up carefully and referred to from time to time or so thoroughly
impressed in our minds that there is no chance of forgetting it....
Stick to it...don't get
sidetracked. Otherwise, all our good resolutions and work begun will
amount to little or nothing."
Having too much to do and so little time
is a common occurrence for all of us. Yet, as this quote by Talbert
tells us, unless we are willing to set our priorities and stick to them,
our work will likely be mediocre at best. Excellence in Extension work comes
through a deep understanding of how our work over the years contributes
to relevant, contemporary, important issues and needs within the
community for which we have responsibility. In this case, community can
be anything from our academic discipline, to a target audience, or to a
geographic region.
Again from Talbert, 1922:
"Our success is not measured by the
half dozen or more pieces of work which we have attempted to carry
forward to completion, but the one or two jobs which we have been
able to do better than anyone else."
Success and excellence in Extension is measured by
what customers / learners do as a response to our programming. It is
further recognized when the goals / outcomes set for the program truly
benefit the targeted audience.
To say that program planning / development is the MOST
important thing we do in Extension shorts the importance of
implementation, delivery, and evaluation. However, if you don't know
where you are headed, how are you ever going to know when you have
arrived?
Have a great week! --Daryl Buchholz
dbuchhol@ksu.edu
2012 WALNUT COUNCIL FIELD DAY
On
Friday, June 1, the Kansas Chapter of the Walnut Council is sponsoring
the Walnut Council Field Day at the KSU Forestry Research Center at 6625
Dyer Rd. in Manhattan.
The
purpose of the field day is to provide an opportunity for landowners,
foresters, scientists, forest industry and other natural resource
professionals to learn the latest information about the growth,
management and marketing of black walnut and other fine quality
hardwoods. Topics
include: growing shitake mushrooms, black walnut cultivars for nut
production, flavor intensity ratings for black walnut in sugar cookies,
thousand cankers disease update, managing mature walnut stands, and
hybrid poplar potential in Kansas.
Registration
is $12, lunch provided, and can be mailed to Kansas Chapter of Walnut
Council, 5197 114th St., Meriden, KS 66512. Call Larry Rutter at
785-484-2509 or email lrutter@embarqmail.com if you have questions or need more information. Or you can visit our website to see a copy of the brochure at http://www.kansasforests.org/calendar/Brochure%20WC%20FD%202012.pdf.
Hope to see you all there! --Leslye Haller lahaller@ksu.edu
ALL ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND HORTICULTURE PFT CLIMATE CHANGE TRAINING IN JUNE
The Horticulture Program Focus Team has chosen climate change as their
area of focus this year. We have prepared a program for our June
Training (June 12-14) to address this complex topic, in a horticultural
light. KSRE Agents are welcome to attend at no charge either in
person (Sedgwick County Extension Office) or online via Adobe Connect,
which will be available live and later archived.
Tuesday, June 12 12:30: Overview of training – Cheryl Boyer 12:40: Introduction to Climate – John Harrington, KSU Geography [bit.ly/L3aHcI]
• Basic science of climate change • Global Projections of climate change
2:00: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Visualization Project, Ray Wolf (via Adobe Connect) www.noaa.gov 4:00: Adjourn 6:00: Grab dinner (on your own), meet at Botanica for the evening Socialize/enjoy live music www.botanica.org Cost: $7 701 N. Amidon Ave. [Map: bit.ly/J0YRA4]
Wednesday, June 13 8:30: Climate Change & Climate Data Tools in the Central Great Plains – Ken Hubbard, HPRCC/UNL [bit.ly/Je4mJl] & Tapan Pathak, UNL Extension [bit.ly/KKzhwX]
• Climate change on a local level • HPRCC tools to evaluate climatic occurrences and weather changes • Hands-on time to investigate Climatic scenarios (decision making)
12:00: Lunch 1:00: Climate Change in plant pathogens in a horticultural context (via Adobe Connect) – Karen Garrett, KSU Plant Pathology [bit.ly/JAiZZ7] 2:00: Soil Carbon Sequestration – Chuck Rice, KSU Agronomy [bit.ly/Je5wV9]
• Tour of no-till pumpkin production study at the John C. Pair Horticulture Center in Haysville
5:00: Evening social at John C. Pair Horticulture Center. Please bring $10-$15 to cover meal costs.
Thursday, June 14 8:30: Communicating climate change to constituents –Bruce Snead, KSU Engineering Extension [bit.ly/ISzHWc] 10:00: Climatic Change and Arthropod Pests – Raymond Cloyd, KSU Entomology [bit.ly/JcifJU] 11:00: Adjourn
For more information, contact Cheryl Boyer, crboyer@k-state.edu; or to register, contact Christy Dipman, cdipman@k-state.edu. --Cheryl Boyer
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