The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
(Vol. 19 No. 4)
IN THIS ISSUE...
WORD FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH
Dr. Waded Cruzado, our keynote at Annual Conference this year, was also a keynote speaker at the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU) where I was early last week. Dr. Cruzado was honored to give the Seaman Knapp Lecture. Her speech entitled, "Who Needs Extension, Anyway?" The Relevance and Values for our next 100 Years of Engagement, is available through the link simply by clicking on the title. I'd encourage you over the holiday weekend to take an hour out of the Black Friday craziness and read it. It is a wonderful paper. Towards the middle of the paper, Dr. Cruzado tackles some common statements heard regarding Extension:
"I had no idea that Extension was part of your university."
"I like Extension programs, but I am not willing to pay for them."
"Extension programs are dated; we are not an agricultural society anymore."
"It looks like Extension is losing its mission."
And, the fifth and toughest one:
"Why do we need Extension, anyway?"
As she concludes each section, she looks to the future with such statements as quoted here:
The questions for our future should be less about the nature of our programs and more about the impact of our projects on the people we serve. Are our programs relevant? Do our programs make a difference? Are we communicating in the best possible ways the latest results—agricultural, financial, developmental—to our users? Is this information changing behavior and results? Is it improving lives?
Truly an inspirational speech for those who remain passionate for the comprehensive mission of a Land-grant University. And, if you'd like to view her speech from Annual Conference again, just click this link, or find it on our Research and Extension home page along the right side.
I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I truly feel blessed and know that I have so much for which to be thankful. My thanks to each of you for your passion, commitment, and professionalism in making a positive difference in people's lives through your Extension programs. Have a truly thankful week! --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu
PLANS FOR REDUCING NORMAL UNIVERSITY ACTIVITY FOR THE 2012/2013 HOLIDAY SEASON
During the 2012/2013 Holiday Season, the University will close its normal operations from Monday, December 24, 2012, through Tuesday, January 1, 2013, and will reopen for business on Wednesday, January 2, 2013. Following is further information pertaining to this period of reduced university activity. Please share this information with your employees.
USE OF LEAVE
Officially observed state holidays during the holiday period are Monday, December 24, 2012; Tuesday, December 25, 2012; and Tuesday, January 1, 2013. The normal workdays affected during this period of campus closing are December 26, 27, 28 and 31, 2012.
Classified and unclassified non-exempt employees not required to work during this period may use a combination of the following types of leave:
a) 1-1/2 days of holiday time earned for working the Veterans Day holiday
b) calendar year 2013 discretionary holiday, or
c) accumulated vacation or compensatory time
If no leave is available, or if the employee prefers, he/she may use leave without pay with supervisor’s approval.
Twelve-month unclassified employees who do not perform their duties during this period may use vacation, 2013 discretionary holiday, equivalent time earned for working the Veterans Day Holiday or leave without pay.
Questions about classified and unclassified employee leave should be directed to the Division of Human Resources at 532-6277.
County and district offices will follow the holiday schedule that they adopted at their joint board meeting. --Cindy Bontrager, Interim Vice President for Administration and Finance
KANSAS TO KENYA OPPORTUNITY
Kansas to Kenya (K2K) announces opportunities for KSRE
faculty to join the 2013 Community Team traveling to Kenya May 30 to June 12,
2013. The K2K Community Team is made up of people from all over Kansas who
bring a variety of skills, working together to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals for Kenya with attention to health/nutrition, youth
education, women’s rights, micro-finance, business education, sanitation
development, and sustainable agriculture practices.
Community Team meetings will start in early February, so now
is the time to decide if international service work is in your future. For more
information or to get your name on a list to be notified about the Community
Team meetings, contact Sandy Procter, procter@ksu.edu;
or Mary Meck Higgins, mhiggins@ksu.edu. --Sandy Procter
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