January 31, 2017
Partnership Meetings Update
Partnership meetings in Wichita and Manhattan are now history. Currently we are in Cimarron and will be in Oakley tomorrow. Response from those who attended Partnership meetings last week has been very positive with respect to presentations and discussion. A highlight this year has been presentations by Extension professionals who have stories to tell with respect to their experiences in having a more specialized focus, role, and responsibility. Their presentations have created a much clearer vision for what specialization of Extension professionals at the local level can mean in transforming the future for Research and Extension. Their message conveys how specialization increases capacity. How it helps us to reach a larger audience. How we can better engage with volunteers and collaborators. How it facilitates interdisciplinary work. And, how it will enhance professional and personal work and life satisfaction!! This movement in specialization is creating the ability for Research and Extension to be a true leader in your communities by bringing the knowledge and solutions to the citizens. All of that creates greater impact in quality of life and well-being for Kansans.
It is gratifying for me to see the leadership and professionalism among our Extension educators as you move towards the future of Research and Extension, where we need to be.
Dr. Floros also highlights our message to stakeholders through a review of the annual report to state legislature, and several great videos that express the impacts we are having. Addition to the COA/KSRE annual report is a companion eight page impact report from work of our Program Focus Teams. I hope you will follow this link to the Annual Report website and review the materials and information contained within that site.