January 25, 2022
Upcoming Events
We are a large extension education system. As such, we devote a lot of time and effort to communicating to our system and providing for the professional development of all of our extension professionals. We have several big things on our winter and spring calendars. I am going to use this opportunity to discuss just a few important events.
Of course, our 4-H Youth Development Program Rally kicks off today, January 25, through January 27, in Emporia at the Lyon County Fairgrounds. 4-H Youth Development extension professionals from across the state will meet for professional development in a variety of youth development and Kansas 4-H topics.
If you are looking for a colleague that engages in 4-H Youth Development on those three days, they are probably there!
On January 27, we will gather via Zoom at 7 p.m. for our quarterly Partnership Meeting. Our Partnership Meetings are informational and board development meetings targeted towards our Extension Boards, Program Development Committee members and local unit extension professionals, but, of course, our regional and campus-based extension professionals are always welcome to participate.
At this Partnership Meeting, we will present budget news, our hiring process, the Economic Prosperity Plan, review our board resources and acknowledge our Excellence in Board Leadership participants. Our featured discussion will focus on creating a better work environment.
Make sure you reach out to your Extension Board and Program Development Committee members and remind them to Zoom in and participate!
A reminder to all extension professionals that JANUARY 31 is a VERY IMPORTANT DATE. Everyone must have the Cybersecurity Awareness Training completed by January 31, or your eID will be suspended, meaning you will lose access to your email and your online resources.
Be sure to invest the two hours (probably less) it takes to participate in this important online training. Use the following link to find more information and to take the training: https://www.k-state.edu/it/security/cybersecurity-awareness/index.html.
On Friday, February 4, we will hold our Extension Update at 3 p.m. Robin Reid will be on hand to inform us about our new Office of Farm and Ranch Transition. Of course, we will have our normal administrative update session, but I know you will love hearing about this new initiative as farm and ranch transition has been a popular and very important transdisciplinary interest area for quite some time.
Speaking of important transdisciplinary interest areas, I encourage you to read the Tuesday Letter article below titled “A Chance to Make a Difference.” Facilitation training is an increasingly important competency for extension professionals to master. We have made an investment to bring a very popular and thorough facilitation professional development opportunity to our system. Spaces will be limited, so be sure you read the article to understand how you can participate in this very important training!