The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
(Vol. 19 No. 11)
IN THIS ISSUE...
WORD FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH
Facilitation for Extension?? Among this week's articles is information on a facilitation training. Why is that important? For Extension professionals (agents, specialists, and even administrators!) to be most effective among their clientele, they need to be able to take the lead at appropriate times and in appropriate settings. Often, it is to get the discussion focused away from conflict and onto the critical issues or real problem. Facilitating such group discussions is a leadership role we must practice, cultivate, and work to perfect (kinda like those sports drills that every player dreads). A training is being offered per the announcement below "Moving Groups Forward:..." It seems rather benign, but it's not! I believe every Extension professional should develop and practice these skills and have confidence to effectively facilitate a group discussion. That's practicing leadership! This
public issues facilitation training is offered by the KSU Institute for
Civic Discourse and Democracy on March 4-6 in Manhattan.
More skill building! Check out other opportunities throughout this newsletter that will help you build your skills, understanding, and practices on being a better Extension professional. As I've mentioned on many occasions, if the day comes in your career where you no longer believe you have anything more to build in your professional portfolio as an employee of Research and Extension, I'd encourage you to move on to something more challenging and rewarding. We need people who believe and practice continuous professional improvement. :-)
It's dry out there! Then there are the drought webinars hosted by the National Drought Mitigation Center! Great ways to gather ideas on the critical decisions necessary among farmers, ranchers, community leaders, homeowners, businesses, etc. as water becomes an even more precious and scarce commodity. While these webinars might have a focus on ranchers, you can be thinking the connections within your community for everyone who uses and could conserve water!
A truly amazing report. Though not in this Tuesday message, I want to point you to an amazing fact sheet about 4-H. Click on "THE 4-H STUDY OF POSITIVE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT: 2012 Summary of Findings from Wave 8." The findings are truly amazing, and these are research-based findings, not someone's perception! Think of what 4-H does for tomorrow's leaders! Think of what 4-H will do for our communities if 4-H were put on a path for growth and continuous improvement! And, these outcomes are achieved whether that young person in 4-H showed a winning exhibit at the fair or not! It's all about involvement, belonging, learning, encouragement, and mentoring.
Okay, some of you are above looking deeply into the outcomes of the 4-H experience. Think for a moment about recruiting students into higher education from a pool that is twice as likely to see college in their future. Think about recruiting from a pool who is more likely to seek out science, engineering, or computer technology. This about a pool of students who practice healthy behaviors like being over 3 times more likely to delay sexual intercourse by Grade 12, or more than twice as likely to exercise and be physically active. Think of a pool of students who will WANT to be involved in the campus community and seek out ways to contribute to their communities, to the tune of 3 to 4 times more likely! What an amazing story! And, it's all about a youth program that thrives on involvement, belonging, learning, encouragement, and mentoring. An amazing story! An amazing opportunity!
And, about board members and legislators. I am so looking forward to our conversations and facilitated discussions with board members and you at Partnership meetings this week and next. A few of us will also have had the opportunity to visit with state legislature committees, updating them on the amazing work of research and extension in finding solutions to the big issues and problems in Kansas. Thanks for all you do, and have a great week! --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu
K-STATE'S 150TH BIRTHDAY - FEBRUARY 2013
Last week, I sent out some information about the K-State Sesquicentennial Celebration, kicking off on February 2013.
This week, I wanted to share more specifically, what you can do now to prepare to celebrate K-State's 150th.
Objective:
Engage faculty and staff as a college/unit to determine the most appropriate way to celebrate your accomplishments and heritage.
§ Consider holding a 150th open forum or small group discussion to answer the question:
How best can we showcase all that which we have accomplished and our heritage during the 9-month celebration (February - October)?
Determine How You Can...
§ Integrate the 150th celebration into existing events and activities.
§ Educate your students about the past, present, and future of your department or unit.
§ Enhance Alumni connections using the 150th celebration as a marketing tool.
Resources:
Media Toolkit-
Spread the word about the 150th by accessing the official logo, pre-made electronic newsletter ads and 150th literature to share with your constituents. Consider printing new letterhead with the 150th logo on it.
As you plan events for 2013, think about adding the "150th logo" to brochures, t-shirts, websites, publications, reports, etc. Co-brand everything you do this year with the special sesquicentennial logo.
Again, to access the logo, go to www.k-state.edu/150 and look under Media Kit for the information.
At the www.k-state.edu/150 site, click on the following:
See Who's Coming -
Visit the 150th website at www.k-state.edu/150 and click "See Who's Coming" to see who else has signed the guest book and who is coming to planned events.
Brown Bag Lunch & Lecture Series-
K-State will have a Brown Bag Lunch & Lecture event almost every other Wednesday during the 9-month celebration. A final schedule has been posted on the website. Two of the speakers (Miles McKee and Chuck Rice) are COA/KSRE faculty.
Wildcat March Exhibition-
This will be an ongoing event that will showcase Kansas State University, its 150th celebration, and the Flint Hills with a community-wide art exhibition.
2013 will be an exciting year in the history of Kansas State University. Think about how you, your office/department/unit can make it special for our students, staff, faculty, and alumni. Use the 150th logo, co-brand, promote, and enjoy. Please let me or any of our COA/KSRE committee members know if you have ideas to pursue or questions to ask.
Please visit the www.k-state.edu/150 site and help get the word out to fellow employees, alumni, and K-State friends. Let's prepare to celebrate K-State's 150th in typical Wildcat style. --Steven Graham sgraham@k-state.edu
MOVING GROUPS FORWARD - FOUNDATIONALLY IMPORTANT FOR EVERY EXTENSION PROFESSIONAL
Sometimes the role of Extension is to provide information. However, in today’s world, handing out information is often not enough. Extension is often sought out to play a role of connecting people. As professional conveners of people, Extension professionals need skills to effectively manage conflict, to engage stakeholders, and to design and facilitate processes that allow groups to move forward on issues. This workshop will help Extension professionals to diagnose and design effective processes to bring people together (convene), and to organize for action. Whether the issue is designing outbreak management plans for livestock, addressing community health issues, or designing strategies and policies for water use, this workshop will help you to approach your work more effectively.
This public issues facilitation training is offered by the KSU Institute for Civic Discourse and Democracy on March 4-6 in Manhattan. Participants will observe public forum facilitation and practice convening skills within the workshop. Specific content will help you increase skills to handle conflict and more effectively design and facilitate engagement processes.
Register today at http://icdd.k-state.edu/facregistration. This workshop is in the Professional Development database under the title, “Public Issues Facilitation: Bringing People Together Around Important Topics.” --Dan Kahl dankahl@ksu.edu
DIVERSITY PROGRAMS OFFICE UPDATE
Happy New Year!
The Diversity Programs Office is ready to start the New Year! We hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday break, and are now ready to dive in to another semester. We would like to welcome our new Graduate assistant, Star Page, who is working on her MS in Academic Advising. We would also like to welcome back Graduate assistant Daja Menefee, and our undergraduate assistants Tyler Warta, Simone Holliday, and Gabriel Ojeda.
The College of Agriculture Diversity Programs Office, under the direction of Assistant Dean for Diversity Dr. Zelia Wiley, and the students of the office would like to remind everyone about Martin Luther King Jr. Observance Week January 26 - February 1, 2013.
On Tuesday, January 29, the College of Agriculture will sponsor its 8th Annual Diversity Student Leaders Luncheon. The event will be held in the Cottonwood Room (KSU student union). The speaker at the luncheon will be Dr. Eric C. Johnson, Senior Pastor of Mt. Calvary 2nd Missionary Baptist Church, in Canton OH. Closing remarks will be by Raymond Hall, Director of Global Diversity and Inclusion, Cargill, Inc. The topic of Dr. Johnson’s address will be, "Is the Dream Dead or Alive?” Please RSVP to the Diversity Programs Office, 785-532-5793, no later than January 24, 5 p.m.
Below you will find a list of activities for the remainder of the week:
The celebration will begin on Saturday, January 26, with a showing of “The Rosa Parks Story” at 1 p.m., at the Marianna Kiesler Beach Museum of Art.
On Monday, January 28, the College of Architecture, Planning, and Design will host a Diversity Lecture. The speaker is Ray Huff of Huff and Gooden Architects. The event will take place at the Little Theater (KSU student union) at 4 p.m. Also on Monday, K-State Salina will show a screening of the film, “Red Tails,” at 7 p.m., in the College Center Conference Room.
On Tuesday at 3:30 p.m., the Commerce Bank Awards Reception will be held in the Alumni Center (Banquet Rooms A & D). This year's awardees are Angela Muhwezi, senior in biology; and Kay Ann Taylor, Associate Professor in Curriculum and Instruction. The reception will honor these outstanding individuals who have done so much to advance K-State diversity, to contribute to the success of historically under-represented students, and to promote inclusion.
The week's observance continues on Wednesday, January 30, with three events. For the first event, the College of Business will sponsor its 14th Annual Diversity Lecture. This year’s speaker is Raymond Hall, Director of Global Diversity and Inclusion, Cargill, Inc. The lecture will be held in Forum Hall (KSU student union) at 10:30 a.m. Later in the day, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity will sponsor their Annual MLK Memorial Program and Candlelight Vigil. The speaker will be Tracey Gibson, Global Inclusion and Sustainability Leader, Cargill, Inc. The Vigil will be held in the Ballroom (KSU student union) at 7 p.m. The day will conclude with a Hot Chocolate Reception, sponsored by the School of Leadership Studies. This reception will happen immediately after the Vigil, in the concourse area outside of the Ballroom.
On Thursday, January 31, speaker Dr. Clarence B. Jones, visiting professor at the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University, will present "The Challenge of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Legacy in the 21st Century" at the MLK Fellowship Luncheon; there will also be a video welcome by Gregory Page, President and CEO of Cargill, Inc. The event will begin at 11:30 a.m. in the Alumni Center Ballroom. The lunch is $15 and reservations are required by January 24. A reservation form can be found at http://www.k-state.edu/diversity/2013MLKLunchReservation.htm.
Finally on Friday, February 1, the annual Laying of the Wreaths ceremony will conclude the week's events at 2 p.m. at the MLK bust in front of Ahearn Field House. Wreath sponsors include the offices of the President and the Provost, College of Human Ecology; Raymond Hall, Cargill; Classified Senate; Student Governing Association; and National Pan-Hellenic Council.
As you can imagine, many people have worked very hard to bring this line-up of MLK celebrations to the K-State campus. The Planning Committee is especially grateful to all the supporters of the observance week activities. We hope you will join us as often as possible for the entertainment, receptions, lectures, meals, fellowship, vigils, processional, and ceremony of laying the wreaths. Let's make the 2013 MLK Observance and Celebration a time of coming together, reaffirming our values, embracing our diversity, and strengthening inclusion as we too question whether the “Dream is Dead or Alive.” The 2013 MLK Observance Poster can be found at http://www.k-state.edu/diversity/2013MLKWeekPoster.pdf. Please pick up hard copies of the poster for display in your area(s) and address any questions to the Office of Diversity at 785-532-6276.
In addition to our support as an official service site, we are also supporting our students. On Wednesday, January 30, the Minorities in Agriculture Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS) will host their first meeting of the semester. Land O’Lakes representatives will be speaking with students of ALL majors about potential career opportunities, at 6 p.m. in Waters Hall 137. Refreshments will also be served.
We strongly encourage each and every member of the College of Agriculture/ K-State Research and Extension Community to take part in these events.
Best wishes for a productive Spring 2013 Semester as we observe Martin Luther King Jr. week in the month of January! --Zelia Z. Wiley zwiley@ksu.edu
ASK THE OEIE EVALUATOR: PROFESSIONAL SKILLS FOR PROGRAM EVALUATION
Research as defined by the British Library is “searching carefully, with a method, so that you can answer a question. It is wider than finding out a fact and more focused than reading widely around a subject.” Program evaluation is research. In this installment, we discuss professional skills that can assist you in your evaluation efforts.
Q: What professional skills will help me evaluate my programs?
Some skills routinely described as “research skills” are really about problem-solving, critical and conceptual thinking, reflection, and communication skills. You need not be an expert in evaluation methods and analysis to utilize skills you already have to carry out effective and meaningful evaluations of your programs.
In the field of evaluation, skills are needed for evaluation design, data collection strategies, and data analysis and interpretation. Below we elaborate on these three skill sets and discuss how these skills correspond to those KSRE professionals already possess.
Evaluation design: Use your critical and conceptual thinking skills to determine the evaluation question(s) of interest. What are the goals of your program and what types of information could indicate whether these goals are being met? What are the needs of the audience(s) for your programs and evaluation results?
Data collection strategies: Use your problem-solving skills to determine how best to gather data about those goals yet do not exceed your available resources. Then once you have determined how to collect this data, use your written and oral communication skills to gather this data from your participants through questionnaires, interviews, or some other approach.
Data analysis and interpretation: This skill set may be the most intimidating if you do not have a formal education in statistics or other types of data analysis. However, at its most basic form, analysis involves pattern recognition and looking for similarities and differences. Use your problem-solving and reflection skills to look for these similarities, differences, and patterns. Then, rely on your communications skills to present your findings in a meaningful, accessible way to your stakeholders in written summaries, presentations, or conversations.
In addition to skills, established principles for conducting evaluation activities may also be helpful to you. We at OEIE adhere to the American Evaluation Association’s Guiding Principles for Evaluators for preparing and conducting evaluation activities. These guidelines – Systematic Inquiry, Competence, Integrity/Honesty, Respect for People, and Responsibilities for General and Public Welfare - describe attitudes and dispositions that will aid your evaluation efforts and suggest basic parameters for conducting effective and meaningful evaluations. Use the link above to find out more.
You can find online resources to help you further build your evaluation skills on the Additional Resources page of the Extension Evaluation Resources website. Networking and partnering with other organizations and KSRE professionals is another great way to improve your skills. And remember, we are a resource for you in any stage of your evaluation.
Questions about evaluation? Visit the Extension Evaluation Resources website or contact Amy Hilgendorf, aehilgen@k-state.edu, 785-532-5538; or Mandi Peters, mpeters8@ksu.edu, 785-532-0648; at OEIE. --Amy Hilgendorf
HEALTHY YOU WELLNESS TIP: SHOULD YOU EXERCISE WHEN YOU ARE SICK?
 If you have a
basic cold, and no fever, mild to moderate physical activity is usually OK.
Sometimes exercise can help you feel better by opening your nasal passages and
relieve nasal congestion temporarily. In general, exercise should be fine if
symptoms of your illness are all “above the neck” -- although, you should
consider reducing the intensity and length of the activity. Instead of a run,
go for a walk, etc. Let your body be your guide. If you feel miserable, take a
break.
You should
avoid exercise if signs and symptoms of illness are “below the neck” such as
chest congestion, hacking cough or upset stomach. Also, don’t exercise if you
have a fever, fatigue or muscle aches. --Sharolyn Flaming Jackson sharolyn@ksu.edu
GET ORGANIZED IN THE NEW YEAR
How quickly could we access our birth certificates, immunization records,
wills, vehicular titles, or even three-month-old credit card statements? Did we
file them away and, if so, where? How long would it take to find or replace them?
A systematic plan for keeping track of important papers can save hours of
anxious searching.
It’s
time to get all those receipts and other statements organized as you prepare to
have your taxes done. Financial records are key to a strong personal credit
standing, can help you save money on taxes and estate planning and are a
continuing indication of your financial progress. The
K-State Research and Extension Financial Management team has the answers in a
publication entitled Organizing Your Household
Records. This simple six page publication reminds you where different types
of papers, such as tax returns, bank statements, etc, should be stored and for
how long. Print a copy of this publication at http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/FinancialManagement/~/doc11767.ashx. The eXtension website has an “Organize Your
Important Household Papers” lesson for you at
http://www.extension.org/pages/14317/organize-your-important-household-papers:-introduction.
Get
in the habit of updating these important documents every year as you get ready
to file your taxes. --Financial Management Program Focus Team – Diane Burnett dburnett@ksu.edu
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