July 25, 2017
Welcome Dr. Gregg Hadley - Achieving Extension Excellence
I am so pleased to welcome Dr. Gregg Hadley as our new Associate Director. Dr. Hadley assumes leadership of K-State Research and Extension on August 1 and he will be totally engaged from the beginning. He has plans to hit the road, getting around the state to interact with faculty, staff, Extension board members, as well as stakeholders. He is committed to extension excellence and we welcome his leadership!
Dr. Hadley is a proponent of professional development and the need for continual growth and development of our faculty and staff. One such opportunity for growth for me has been professional association membership.
I recently returned from attending the NACAA (National Association of County Agricultural Agents) annual meeting and professional improvement conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was an excellent meeting, attended by approximately 15 K-State Research and Extension faculty and many family members. There were outstanding opportunities for networking, recognizing excellence, and professional development. Similar opportunities abound for members of Epsilon Sigma Phi, ANREP, NACDEP, NAE4-HA, NAEPSDP, and NEAFCS. Check out the Professional Associations web page on the Employee Resources Web site to learn more about professional association opportunities: http://www.ksre.k-state.edu/employee_resources/Extension%20Professional%20Associations.html.
I have always recommended that our Extension professionals should spend approximately 10% of your time in professional development. Certainly, membership in one or more of your professional associations should be a part of your professional development plan. But there are also many other forms professional development can take. Program Focus Teams, subject matter professional development, webinars, books and other self-study, all offer opportunities. And don’t forget about the need to hone the core competencies that can help make you an excellent Extension professional. Core competencies are the basic knowledge, attitude, skills, and behaviors that contribute to excellence in Extension programs: http://www.ksre.k-state.edu/employee_resources/programming/professional_development/Core-Competencies.html.
Seek out training opportunities that will help you improve core competency performance. You may find such opportunities inside or outside of normal Extension professional development channels. One excellent way to develop core competencies is to become a better organizational citizen. Professional development occurs, and core competencies are improved, through your work as a member of a teaching team, serving on a committee, serving as a PFT leader, and holding a leadership position within one of your professional associations. Through our own professional development, we can all do our part to enhance Extension excellence!