The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
(Vol. 18 No. 51)
IN THIS ISSUE...
WORD FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH
We were honored to have Dr. Waded Cruzado, President of
Montana State University, to provide the keynote address at the 2012 K-State
Research and Extension Annual Conference. Her lecture focused on “The Morrill Act: Past and Future!” Dr. Cruzado sheds understanding, purpose, and
responsibility in being a Land-Grant University. Her personal stories, passion, and light
humor will draw you into her lecture.
Anyone with a connection to the Land-Grant University system in the
United States will find Dr. Cruzado's comments to be insightful, meaningful, compelling,
and challenging as we consider the future compelling
mission for which such Land-Grants must pursue. Even if you were one of the nearly 400 persons
sitting in Forum Hall on October 17, 2012, I’d encourage you to listen to her
again and gather more of the insight and wisdom she brings on the vision,
mission, and future of our Land-Grant University system. Click here to watch recorded video
Thanks for your presence and learning attitude at the 2012 Annual Conference. We have much for which to be proud, and such great responsibility to the future through our being The Land-Grant University in Kansas. Have a great week! --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu
KANSAS HEALTH FOUNDATION PROFESSOR OF COMMUNITY HEALTH: CANDIDATE SEMINARS AND MEETINGS; FEEDBACK NEEDED BY FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26
Candidate interviews for the Kansas Health Foundation Professor of Community Health position are being held this week (Monday) October 22 for Dr. Roberta Riportella and (Wednesday) October 24 for Dr. Brenda McDaniel. This
position is intended to be a liaison and resource between K-State
Research and Extension, KU Medical Center, community health partners,
Kansas citizens and funders.
Dr. Roberta
Riportella's (currently at
University of Wisconsin, Department of Consumer Science), interviewed on Monday, October 22.
Dr. Brenda
McDaniel (currently at
Kansas State University, Department of Psychology)
Seminar: Wednesday, October 24, 10-11 a.m. in Justin Hall 167
In addition to her seminar time,
an opportunity for University faculty to meet Dr. McDaniel is Wednesday,
October 24; 3:45-4:45 p.m. in Justin Hall 167.
Candidate
seminars will be live web-streamed and will be posted for viewing at the K-State Research and Extension
Seminars/Interviews website at http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/Seminars/p.aspx?tabid=370. Curriculum
vitae and interview
feedback forms and Axio Survey links will also be available along with the candidates'
seminars. Feedback forms and survey
responses are due not later than Friday, October 26, at 5 p.m.
Please contact me or a search committee member if you have questions.
Search Committee members include:
Dr. Sandy Procter, Human Nutrition
Debra Bolton, SW Area Extension Office
Trudy Rice, Community Development
Lisa Martin, Shawnee County Extension
Anthony Wellever, Department of Family Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center
Dr. Elaine Johannes (Chair), School of Family Studies and Human Services
--Elaine Johannes ejohanne@ksu.edu
COMM TIPS: CHECK THE FACTS FOR NEWSLETTERS - OCTOBER 24
Do you – or worse, your readers – find errors after
you've mailed your newsletters? Wrong date? Wrong name under the
photo? Join us for Comm Tips this week and learn some quick tips to check facts, figures, and faces before you
print.
Next Program: Check the Facts for Newsletters - Wednesday, October 24, 9 a.m.
Presented by - Nancy Zimmerli-Cates, Publishing Coordinator
Please
join us for Comm Tips. This weekly online series provides you helpful
information with your communication and technology skills. Comm Tips is every Wednesday, October 3 to December 5, at 9 a.m. Each program is 20 minutes with 10 minutes for Q&A.
Fall 2012 Schedule:
October 3: Windows 7 TipsOctober 10: Photo/Image Editing No program October 17 (K-State Research and Extension Annual Conference) October 24: Check the Facts for Newsletters October 31: Join the Online Conversations
November 7: KSRE Image Library
November 14: iPads for Extension Educators
No program November 21 (Thanksgiving Break)
November 28: Trinkets and Treasures
December 5: Technology Purchasing and Vendors
This is a "live" online program. Simply log in to http://connect.ksre.ksu.edu/commtips as a guest with your name. These programs will be recorded in case you miss them.
For the Comm Tips schedule, program descriptions and previous programs, visit the Comm Tips webpage at http://www.communications.k-state.edu/communication-services/comm-tips/. Please bear with us as we get that page updated with the latest information. To access recordings of sessions from earlier this semester, please use the links in the schedule above to go directly to the recorded session. --Russ Feldhausen russfeld@ksu.edu
INTERNATIONAL SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES FOR FACULTY, STAFF AND STUDENTS
If you are possibly interested in doing international service, you are invited to a discussion to learn how to get involved in various two-week summertime community or medical experiences with the project, Kansas to Kenya, 2013 and beyond.
Plan to attend a “brown-bag lunch” informal discussion, hear a short introductory presentation about previous trips, meet our Kenyan guests, and ask questions.
When: Noon to 1 p.m., Friday, October 26, 2012
Where: Waters Hall, room 137
Coffee provided.
Faculty, staff and graduate students are invited. A similar program will be held for undergraduate students on Thursday, October 27, 7 p.m., in Justin Hall, room 247.
Contact Mary Meck Higgins with questions, mhiggins@ksu.edu. --Mary Meck Higgins
WEBSITE FOR THE KSRE/COA 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS
There is now a live website for the KSRE/COA 2025 Strategic Planning Process. To visit the site, you can either go to the KSRE home page and click on the bottom left button "Our Strategic Plan and K-State's Vision 2025" or you can enter http://strategicplan.ag.ksu.edu/p.aspx in your browser.
The process is underway. The website is up and running. Dean and Director John Floros briefed the KSRE/COA Steering Committee and members of the subcommittees on Monday, October 8. You can watch that briefing from the website.
Last Friday, October 19, the Steering Committee met and created a brief questionnaire which will be going out to agents, faculty, staff, students, alumni, clientele and others across the State and region early this week. The various subcommittees will begin meeting very soon.
The goal is to have input from the subcommittees flowing to the Steering Committee so a draft Strategic Plan can be worked on over the Holiday break and into early January. That draft plan will come back out to everyone for review and input. Sometime in the Spring, a draft Strategic Plan will be forwarded to the President and Provost for their review. A final plan will be finished by the end of Spring semester or in early summer.
We value your input and participation in the Strategic Planning Process. Please send your ideas and input to the various subcommittees or to John Leslie and Steven Graham, co-chairs of the Steering Committee. --Steven Graham
GROWING KANSAS LEADERS EXTENSION CAMPAIGN
Good news! $4,465 was raised toward the Growing Kansas Leaders Extension goal during Annual Conference nearly meeting the $5,000 matching gift. As we are so close, the donor has graciously extended the deadline so please get your gifts in early. If you need the forms, go to www.kansas4hfoundation.org, and they are on the home page of the website. Pledges are welcome for the campaign and can be made for a 2-3 year period. Anyone with an extension appointment, or who works in or for support of the 4-H program can be a part of this state wide campaign.
The Extension portion of the Kansas 4-H Foundation's Growing Kansas Leaders Campaign was announced during Annual Conference. The goal is $50,000 with the first $25,000 dedicated to increasing the A Step Ahead Extension scholarships. The remaining $25,000 will be used to create an award to recognize office professionals and 4-H program assistants.
If you have questions, contact the Extension co-chairs, Susan Johnson - Douglas County; Chuck Otte - Geary County or Jodi Besthorn - Sedgwick County. --Jodi Besthorn besthorn@ksu.edu
PART 14 FINNEY COUNTY HEALTH/WELL-BEING ASSESSMENT AND SOCIAL CAPITAL STUDY
Social interaction and community engagement can come in many forms. What we call, Social Capital can be formal and/or informal relationships. Human connections, for optimal social cohesion, are those that bridge one community of interest to another. We call that, Bridging Social Capital. Bridged groups begin to experience shared identity when common goals are discovered. That increases access to new information, allows for sharing of cultural practices, contributes to understanding of one another, and leads to collective action on community issues. However, let’s begin with Bonding Social Capital, those connections among family and other near kin.
Near kin can be those with whom one shares similar backgrounds, such as political ideologies, cultural similarities, or other characteristics that bind one to another. Bonding is the raw material from which we learn to build trust and acquire looser linkages.
Finney County, being highly heterogeneous, shares many characteristics of high social capital, those connections among people from different backgrounds. For example, in this study, two results jumped out when comparing Anglo and non-Anglo groups: faith-based and public schools involvement. There was no statistical significance between Anglo and non-Anglo, when income was an effect, of involvement in faith-based activities such as church (Temple, Mosque, or Synagogue). So, economically disadvantaged non-Anglo respondents were just as involved in their faith communities as wealthy Anglo respondents. The same result was acquired when involvement in school sports and school programs were measured with ethnicity and income as effects. However, other measurements of bridging social capital did show statistical significance.
With ethnicity as a constant and income as an effect, as income increased, so did participation in organized community sports, political parties, civic/social clubs, and elected office. In other words, economically disadvantaged respondents were less likely to be involved in the aforementioned community activities than their wealthier counterparts. Also, respondents with low-income were least likely to vote, which was consistent with those who were not eligible to vote because of documentation status, contrary to popular belief that such persons do vote.
When education was tested as an effect with ethnicity, it did not show statistical significance. However, 69% of respondents, overall, socialized with friends and acquaintances 16 or more times per year, which is an indication of a community that is well connected. Qualitatively, respondents shared that they have a degree of fear of people who do not come from similar backgrounds, but have found that that fear is assuaged when interactions do occur. Places where those interactions happen include the zoo, school programs, parades, and at the community’s fitness centers. How comfortable are you when it comes to interacting with others not like you?
Extension’s Change Agents States Catalyst Team offers a training opportunity called, Navigating Difference. The next opportunity is in November in Garden City. The training helps you to uncover your own biases. Once we recognize our biases, we begin to understand how we interact with those who come from dis-similar backgrounds. That is when the racial, cultural, and socio-economic barriers begin to disappear. If you are interested in participating in Navigating Difference, check out the KSRE website, and look for the heading. I can help you enroll as well. Next week, we will talk about another hallmark of high social capital: trust. --Debra Bolton dbolton@ksu.edu
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