The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
(Vol. 20 No. 42)
IN THIS ISSUE...
YOUR INVITATION TO ROBERT BURTON'S "LAST LECTURE" FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS
More than 5,000 students later, K-State’s Burton to give one ‘Last
Lecture’
from “Production Economics” to “Rural Banking.” For 30 years Bob Burton
has helped shape students’ understanding of economic theory and more.
The Kansas State University agricultural economics professor will give
one last lecture today, August 26, and this time the public is
invited.
Burton will speak about the reflections of his career
in the Cottonwood Room of the K-State Union at 4 p.m. CDT. Refreshments
will be served. He retired on July 5.
The lecture is one of several planned this fall as part of a “Last
Lecture” series in which several K-State Department of Agricultural
Economics faculty members will give one last lecture for the campus
community and the public shortly after retiring.
Burton taught numerous courses since coming to K-State in 1984
as an assistant professor. He became professor in 1999.
He is credited with being instrumental in the department’s distance
education movement through his undergraduate “Farm and Ranch Management”
course. He also taught “Farm Resource Acquisition and Finance,” “Farm
Management Strategies,” “Advanced Farm Economics,” and “Computer
Applications in Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness.”
Through those courses and his earlier work at West Virginia University,
Burton taught more than 5,000 students.
Burton said he particularly enjoyed teaching “Production
Economics” because it taught students to understand economic theory,
which was useful in whatever careers they chose.
His research often focused on risk and return in whole-farm or ranch
management and most recently, on farm land ownership as a retirement
strategy and agricultural health and safety.
Burton earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agricultural
economics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in
1969 and 1977, respectively. He earned a Ph.D. in agricultural economics
at Purdue University in 1982.
Before coming to K-State, he was an assistant professor at West Virginia
University and also served in the U.S. Navy for four years.
Some
of his honors included the Gamma Sigma Delta Outstanding Teaching
Award, 2008; Recognized by Mortar Board Senior Honor Society of Kansas
State University for “Outstanding commitment to students of Kansas State
University” 2007; and the Western Agricultural Economics Association,
Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching with More Than 10 Years of
Experience, 2003.
More information about Burton’s August 26 lecture or any in the “Last
Lecture” series is available by contacting Judy Maberry at judym@k-state.edu or 785-532-4493. --Amanda Erichsen aerichsen@ksu.edu
LAST CALL FOR KSU ENTOMOLOGY RETIREMENT RECEPTION FOR PHIL SLODERBECK
Please RSVP soon!Retirement
Celebration for Dr. Phil Sloderbeck
Phil has
served the Department of Entomology and Extension for many years.
When: September 4, 2014
Where: Bluemont Room/Cottonwood Room @ K-State
Student Union
(“dutch treat” luncheon ----$12.11 per person)
informal presentation following meal
Time: 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Instead
of a retirement card, we will be collecting letters to put into a notebook for
Phil. If you wish to submit a letter for this notebook, please submit your letter
to Sharon Schroll right away.
RSVP to
Sharon Schroll
by email: sschroll@ksu.edu or call 785/532-5891
--Sharon Schroll
PREPARE KANSAS 2014
Prepare Kansas 2014 starts in less than a week! All KSRE
employees are invited to participate. There is no cost to participate but
registration is required. Registration closes September 6.
Prepare Kansas is a new K-State Research and Extension
online financial challenge designed to help individuals and families be better
prepared ahead of disasters which can ease recovery. The program focuses on a
few activities every week during September, including Developing a Household
Inventory; Reviewing Your Insurance Coverage; Putting Together a Grab-and-Go
Box; and Tips for After the Disaster.
How the Prepare Kansas online financial challenge works:
-While individuals register to participate, the weekly
challenge activities can be completed by families and at work sites.
-Register at http://bit.ly/1pwiiFE.
-Weekly challenge tasks are sent via
email to participants on Mondays and are also posted on the blog at https://blogs.k-state.edu/preparekansas/.
-Participants report their progress online
when prompted via email to do so.
-Prepare Kansas starts on September 1
and ends on September 30.
Questions? Please contact Jamie Rathbun, jrathbun@ksu.edu; or Elizabeth Kiss, dekiss4@ksu.edu. --Elizabeth Kiss
DIFFERENCE MAKERS: SEEK FIRST TO UNDERSTAND
At K-State Research & Extension, we provide education to people that empowers them to improve their lives, livelihoods, and communities. Shawnee County Extension Agent Lisa Martin discusses one such program that helps low income families make healthier nutrition and food buying decisions in her entry, Seek First to Understand.
To read the entry, please go to:
https://blogs.ksre.ksu.edu/differencemakers/.
For those of you who have trouble with the security certificate message when you try to
access the Difference Makers site, here are some directions:
You should be able to continue on to the site in Firefox by clicking on I understand the risk,
and clicking add exception, and confirm security exception. In Chrome, click proceed
anyway and in Internet Explorer, click continue to site.
We hope you enjoy this issue of Difference Makers. --Gregg Hadley ghadley@ksu.edu
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Website: http:/www.ksre.ksu.edu/p.aspx?tabid=70 Dates: Tuesday, October 21 through Thursday, October 23 Awards luncheon: Moved to noon Thursday, October 23 Hotels: All Manhattan hotels are listed on the website. Room blocks are reserved at Holiday Inn at the Campus (due 9/25/14), Fairfield Inn by Marriott (due 9-19-14), and the new Bluemont Hotel. Speakers: April Mason, K-State Provost and Senior Vice President; John Floros, Director of K-State Research and Extension and Dean of the College of Agriculture; Jim Richardson, Kansas Native and National Geographic Photographer; and Marshall Stewart, Special Assistant to the Dean and Director of College Strategy and Leadership, North Carolina State University.
Conference Objectives: - Celebrate the historical importance of the Smith-Lever Act that created the Cooperative Extension Service 100 years ago.
- Promote learning through innovative programs based on our five grand challenges.
- Build personal and professional relationships through networking with colleagues.
- Recognize outstanding programs and contributions by faculty and staff. -- Ken Odde, conference chair, kenodde@ksu.edu
WORKWELL LAWRENCE SYMPOSIUM -SEPTEMBER 10
Stephen Ilardi, a nationally-recognized expert on depression and a University of Kansas researcher, will be the keynote speaker at the fourth annual WorkWell Lawrence Symposium, Wednesday, September 10. The symposium will be from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Convention Center, 200 McDonald Drive, Lawrence.
Ilardi, author of "The Depression Cure," will talk about six lifestyle elements that help prevent and fight depression. "We have an epidemic of mental illness," Ilardi said. He believes the increase is a result of our lifestyles. "We were never designed for the sedentary, indoor, socially-isolated, sleep-deprived, fast-food laden, frenzied pace of modern life."
The symposium is open to the public. Advance registration is $40. After September 8, it will be $50. For more information on the complete agenda and to register online, visit livewelllawrence.org. --Susan Johnson susanjohnson@ksu.edu
REACHING 1ST GENERATION 4-H FAMILIES GRANT
The Department of 4-H Youth Development and Kansas 4-H
Foundation are pleased to announce the Reaching 1st Generation 4-H Families
grant for 2014 – 2015. The purpose of this project is to engage Hispanic youth
and their families, in southwest Kansas, in safe and active learning
experiences that are grounded in positive youth development. Those units with significant qualifications
“primarily in southwest Kansas” are encouraged to apply.
The primary goal of the project is to expand local programs
in which undeserved youth fully participate in 4-H and engage in relevant and
age appropriate programming in science, health and leadership development. A
secondary goal is to establish new clubs or integrate youth and their families
in existing clubs that are culturally sensitive and relevant to the needs and
interests of the new families.
Applications for this RFA are due October 1. Grants will be
awarded in the amount of $1,000 which may be used for program materials and
supplies, volunteer screening, educational opportunities, youth scholarships
and local unit support.
Grants will be for one year, with an option for extending
participation in year two, pending satisfactory completion of year one. Grants
start mid October 2014 and end September 30, 2015.
Information can be found at http://www.kansas4-h.org/p.aspx?tabid=574.
Contact Diane Mack at dmack@ksu.edu
for more information. --Diane Mack
2014 IMPACT REPORTS AND 2015 ACTION PLANS
Impact Reports for the 2013-14 program year and Action Plans
for the 2014-15 program year are due October 1.
For extension agents, these documents are part of the
online Performance Review process. The current Impact Report and next year’s Action
Plan and Professional Development plan need to be completed before
beginning the Performance Review. These are available in KSRE Online.
Specialists should check with their Unit Heads for due
dates.
KSRE Online
You need to pay attention to the program year. When you
login, the default is the current program year October 1 – September
30. October 1 the year will change!
Impact Reports
From the KSRE Online menu, select Action
Plans, Impact/Outcome Reporting. Your reports are for the 2013-14 program year.
Your Action Plans are listed. Under the Impact/Outcome Reporting column, click on
Report to begin a new report. If you have already entered a report, you will
select View to edit or complete the Impact Report. You may report Success Stories in a text box at the bottom of the
report form. If you have Success Stories that are not related to an action plan, you
may report those in the text box at the bottom of the Planning and
Impact/Outcome Reporting home.
Action
Plans
Add, copy and/or edit (localize) action
plans for 2014-15. Each PFT has at least one Action Plan to select from.
All agents are asked to:
- Develop
two or three focused Action Plans with at least one of them based on the
work of your Program Focus Team.
- Gather
evidence of outcomes
For additional information related to Agent's Action Plans, go to http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/programming/doc15130.ashx.
Professional
Development Plans
Agents may select options from the Professional Development Catalog in order to
complete Professional Development Plans for 2014-15. Each PFT has Professional
Development options in the catalog. You may search by Program Focus Area within
the catalog.
The intent of the professional development system is to support agents in
gaining greater expertise in their focus area as well as in other areas in
which they do programming. From the Catalog you may search for
professional development opportunities by Program Focus Team.
Performance
Review
Agents need to be sure to complete the 2014 Impact report, 2015
Action Plan, and 2015 Professional Development Plan before starting on
the Performance Review process. --Marie Blythe mblythe@ksu.edu
DIVERSITY PROGRAMS OFFICE WELCOME BACK
Welcome back students! The Diversity Programs Office (DPO) would also like to welcome back its staff: Carolina Camacho, Coordinator; Megan Carroll, Graduate Assistant; Lachelle Marshall and Anna Armstrong, Undergraduate Assistants. We are excited and energized for what is to come this fall semester.
DPO would like to share some information about our events for the beginning of the school year:
• Thanks to all who attended the College of Agriculture Fall Teaching and Advising Workshop on Monday, August 18. This year’s theme was “Students and Faculty: Leading for Inclusion.” The workshop was led by the Cargill Global Inclusion and Diversity Facilitators, Eric Ahlness and Shannon Lueck. It was designed to increase one’s knowledge and skills in working with diverse audiences (i.e., students, parents, faculty/staff, etc.); to become more aware of their own personal and organizational cultures; to examine how personal and organizational cultures affect our ability to work across differences in both negative and positive ways; and to build skills to increase competencies in working with others who are different. Most importantly, to assist students as they matriculate college and later the workforce. Overall, to make the College of Agriculture experience welcoming to all.
• Project IMPACT Scholar Convocation was held on Monday, August 25, at 5:30 in Fiedler Hall. The convocation served as a way to gather all of the scholars in Agriculture, Business, and Engineering to help them start the school year off in the right direction.
• The Activities Carnival will be held on Thursday, August 28, starting at 6 p.m. at the Student Union. When you go, please make sure to stop by the Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences (MANRRS) table to find out more information.
• The Black Student Union (BSU) Barbeque will be held on Saturday, August 30, from 1 to 5 p.m. Please stop by the MANRRS table to find out more information.
• The Watermelon Feed will be held on Tuesday, September 2, at 6:15 p.m. on the Weber Hall Lawn. This is a great way for the students to kick off the school year and learn about the College of Agriculture. There will also be a MANRRS informational table at the event.
• The first MANRRS meeting of the year will be held on Wednesday, September 3, at 6 p.m. in Waters Hall, Room 137. We will be having a Welcome Pizza Party and invite new students to join us.
• Multicultural Engineering Program (MEP) Pizza Party will be held on Thursday, September 4, at 5:30 p.m. in Fiedler Hall. MEP has invited the College of Agriculture DPO and MANRSS chapter to attend, as well as the College of Business Multicultural Business Student Association (MBSA). This is an opportunity to learn about multicultural student organizations that are on the KSU campus.
Please continue to look for more diversity events as we continue to advertise. We appreciate your support. For more information about upcoming events or to collaborate with the DPO, please call 785-532-5793 or contact Dr. Zelia Wiley, Assistant Dean of Diversity, zwiley@ksu.edu. --Zelia Wiley
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