The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
(Vol. 21 No. 25)
IN THIS ISSUE...
WORD FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH
A few years back, I ran this message, and it is still one that resonates with me... maybe because I haven't dealt with all my situations that I need to?!? Anyway, I think it is a timeless message that requires planned action, so here it is again!
"When
bad becomes normal." I recall from the lecture given at K-State by Dr.
Temple Grandin in November 2010, she was speaking on her experiences as
an animal behaviorist and a person with autism. Her message to me
related to true leadership when she demonstrated animal behavior to the
experts (farmers, ranchers, cowboys, and all those in the cattle
business) and how changing facility design could better serve the animal
and still achieve the outcome desired of those handling the animals.
However, her work was not understood and scoffed at first. She was
challenging "normal." At one point in her speech, I heard her say we
must never accept "when bad becomes normal."
I think we can all
identify situations where bad has become normal for someone else. It can
be extremely difficult to see normal as bad in our own experiences. A
couple examples that might resonate with you.... maybe it's your office
that needs cleaning because you lose track of important info, maybe it's
avoiding people different from you, or maybe it's having a turnout of 5
once again at an educational meeting that could have had 50 or more in
attendance. You'll be inclined to accept the status quo just because
that's normal, the way it has always been. Oftentimes it takes someone
from outside the situation to draw attention to accepting "bad" as the
way it is. Once recognized, it is then up to you to discover ways to
change the norm and make better. That challenge is more than pointing
out the problem. It's also working to develop solutions. We call that
leadership, which leads me to a couple quotes that I think speak to the
challenge.
“Leadership” is a concept we often resist. It seems immodest,
even self-aggrandizing, to think of ourselves as leaders. But if it is
true that we are made for community, then leadership is everyone’s
vocation, and it can be an evasion to insist that it is not. When we
live in the close-knit ecosystem called community, everyone follows and
everyone leads. - Parker Palmer
“Successful leaders manage conflict; they don’t shy away from it or
suppress it but see it as an engine of creativity and innovation. Some
of the most creative ideas come out of people in conflict remaining in
conversation with one another rather than flying into their own corners
or staking out entrenched positions. The challenge for leaders is to
develop structures and processes in which such conflicts can be
orchestrated productively.” - Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky
Identify
areas that need improvement, listen to others, seek solutions, and
expect resistance to implementing those solutions. When the principles
you are working from provide the foundation for change, you will have to
be strong in your commitment to leading change, and know that it is
worth improving upon what others might call "normal."
Have a great week! --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu
OFFICE 365: ONEDRIVE FOR SHARING AND STORAGE
OneDrive for Business is now available for faculty and staff use. With 1TB of file space, OneDrive can be used as a file sharing and storage solution for class assignments, homework, departmental and committee documents, public research data, and other project information. With OneDrive, you can securely share files with specific individuals.
Before choosing to share and store information on OneDrive consider: - Sensitivity and confidential nature of the information;
- Applicable policies, laws, regulations or other restrictions (FERPA, HIPAA, etc.);
- Agreements with outside entities that restrict your ability to share the information, such as sharing confidential intellectual property;
- Other laws or restrictions (e.g., human subjects, confidentiality, granters, export control, etc.) prevent you from sharing information.
Best practices for sharing files: Don’ts: - Never store confidential data, including but not limited to Personally Identifiable Information (information about an individual that contains a unique identifier);
- Do not share with “everyone” or the “public” (Note: Using the “everyone” space in OneDrive would share a document with the entire campus);
- Do not store non-university files on OneDrive because these could be obtained by others through a subpoena or other legal process.
Do’s: - Only share files with specific individuals;
- Remove individuals’ access when they no longer require access to files or folders;
- Create a new folder when you need to store groups of files.
Information Technology Services is working on a solution for sharing files for the promotion and tenure process, search committee documents, proprietary manuscripts, etc. A recommendation for these types of files will be available fall 2015. Until that time, faculty and staff can use K-State Online Classic or K-State Online powered by Canvas for these sensitive and confidential documents.
To access OneDrive, click the Office 365 app launcher and then click OneDrive.
OneDrive is also available as a mobile app and allows you to easily sync your documents across all your devices. See the following articles on how to configure the OneDrive app on your mobile devices: If you have questions about OneDrive for Business, please contact the ITS Help Desk at helpdesk@ksu.edu or by phone at 785-532-7722 or 800-865-6143. You can also find more information about Office 365 at the ITS Office 365 web site. --Joe Lear learj@ksu.edu
FILESENDER- OUR NEW LARGE FILE TRANSFER SERVICE
We’ve hosted our own large file transfer service for several years. It’s limited to 1 GB of data and is hard for people outside of K-State to use when they send files to us. As a member of Internet2 and InCommons community we have access to a large file transfer service called filesender. Filesender allows us to log in using our eID and password and we can send up to 1 TB of files to anyone with an email address.
For people sending files to us, a guest voucher can be sent which is good for a maximum of 14 days. Each voucher is good for a one-time transfer of files. If more files need to be sent or the 14 days expire, a new voucher will have to be sent. This system is more secure because we know who is sending us files by sending the vouchers to their email address.
To log in go to http://filesender.ksu.edu and click the Log on button. You’ll be asked to enter your organization’s name. Start typing Kansas State University and it will appear in the list. Select Kansas State University from the list and click the Continue button. You’ll be taken to the K-State sign in page to enter your eID and password.
Once logged in you can enter the email addresses of the people you want to send the file to, enter a subject for the message about the file, any message you like, set the expiration date for the file and then upload the file. If you’re sending multiple files, you’ll have to zip the files into one file or send multiple messages. Once you’ve uploaded the file, check the checkbox next to “I accept the terms and conditions of the service” and hit the send button.
For Guest vouchers, click the Guest voucher button, enter the email address of the person you want the voucher to go to, enter a subject line, message, and expiration date and send the voucher. In this view you can keep track of the vouchers and delete them if necessary.
To manage your files, click the My Files button and you will see the list of files you’ve sent and can manage them appropriately.
There is a help button in the system, but you should find the system easy to use.
With this new option for large file transfer, we will be shutting down our hosted Large File transfer system on July 1. If you have any questions or concerns about this change, please let me know. --Joe Lear learj@ksu.edu
VOLUNTEER SCREENING OF 4-H CAMP COUNSELORS AND YOUTH VOLUNTEERS
A focus group comprised of Extension staff met in July 2014 to review current camp counselor recruiting, screening, training, and risk management practices. Based on their input and our revised volunteer screening policies, the following guidelines should be used to ensure that camp counselors (and youth volunteers) are properly screened and, that as Extension professionals, you and the 4-H program are protected.
Definition of a registered volunteer: A volunteer, adult or teen, with authority to independently plan and conduct educational experiences for youth with other adults present or in a public setting OR a volunteer whose position puts them in close, ongoing, interaction with youth.
Clarification regarding Camp Counselors:
- Youth must be 14 years of age by the time the camp is held to be a camp counselor.
- It is recommended that all camp counselors go through the full volunteer screening process. However, if the Extension Board determines that the camp counselor application process (application, interview and training) is sufficient, the registered volunteer screening process can be waived.
- All camp counselors must complete a Child Abuse and Neglect Registry form annually. This review is conducted within the state of Kansas. The application fee is waived for Kansas 4-H and has an average two week turnaround. The process would be handled the same way as it is currently done through the revised volunteer screening process.
- Youth 18 years of age or older must complete both a criminal background check (CBC) and the Child Abuse & Neglect Registry form in addition to the camp counselor application process. It is recommended that they complete the full registered volunteer screening process.
Clarification regarding Youth Volunteers:
- All youth volunteers must complete a Child Abuse and Neglect Registry form annually. This review is conducted within the state of Kansas. The application fee is waived for Kansas 4-H and has an average two week turnaround. The process would be handled the same way as it is currently done through the revised volunteer screening process.
- A youth volunteer that is 16 years of age or above and fits the definition of a registered volunteer must complete the full registered volunteer screening process.
If you have any questions, please contact Sarah Maass, semaass@k-state.edu. --Sarah Maass
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