Extension Update: August 2004 Archives
An April 30th Biweekly Update article outlined new expectations for staff revenue generation. Since then, questions have arisen on implementation of these expectations. An answer list on the most frequently asked questions, assembled by the Leadership Team, is now available on our intranet under "Policies and Procedures". Feel free to contact Program Leaders for more information on the implementation process.
Cost reduction strategies, as announced in the January 9th Biweekly Budget Update, remain in effect. This includes a ban on out-of-state overnight travel on state or federal funds unless you are serving in a leadership role at the event. Feel free to contact members of the Leadership Team for more information on these procedures.
It's not too late to sign up for the 2004-05 inservices.The deadline is August 27. Professional development is a part of the performance management system.
For detailed instructions, view the on-line memorandum.
Our strategic plan indicates we will “increase staff awards and recognition for outstanding performance and interdisciplinary accomplishments.” In January, 2002, the Extension Educator Council (EEC) appointed a sub-committee with Extension Educators, PAT and Operating/Support staff representation to address this goal. The sub-committee conducted a recognition needs assessment with staff and submitted a logic model to the Leadership Team that addressed these needs. The Leadership Team in turn appointed a Recognition Work Team to put the logic model into action.
Recognition Work Team members Cheryl Whiting, Seth Wilner, Mary Tebo, Charlotte Cross, Karen Blass, Paul Bonaparte-Krogh, Jim Grady and Nancy Franz developed a recognition plan with the goal of creating an organizational culture change where staff feel valued through multifaceted recognition. The plan summarizes our current awards and adds four new awards for implementation over the next two years.
New awards added this year include “Performance Beyond Expectations” and “Professional Courtesy.” All staff are eligible for these awards with nominations due December 31st. For more information on all our staff awards, refer to the Recognition Plan and the resources on the new recognition section of our intranet . On line nomination forms will be available in October. Thank you to the Recognition Work Team members for their hard work on this important aspect of our strategic plan.
Steve Turaj received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of County Agricultural Agents in July at its 89th annual meeting in Orlando. This award determined by peers, goes to the top two percent of county educators from each state with more than 10 years of service.
At the same meeting, Steve received an award as a national finalist (one of two) in the PRIDE (Public Relations In Daily Efforts) program. Steve's "Kale Project" represents one rural county's efforts to encourage the production of a phytonutrient-rich vegetable crop suitable for its northern location. The project involved a personal column in the local papers, a twilight meeting open to both growers and the public, and mobilizing media contacts for extensive newspaper coverage. The kale project highlighted work by UNH Cooperative Extension researchers with local organic vegetable growers in Coos County. Congratulations, Steve!
Robin Peters, Brenda Carey and Terri Schoppmeyer attended the annual Society for Nutrition Education conference in Salt Lake City in July and presented a poster session titled: “Cultural Cuisine: A Food-Based Program with a Global Perspective.”
“Cultural Cuisine” is a food and nutrition program with a global perspective. The program’s ultimate goal is to increase dietary acceptance of a diverse selection of healthy foods. Conducted in three locations in New Hampshire, low-income children learn, in a classroom or after-school setting, about the cultural and ecological factors that shape a country’s cuisine. Students prepare a dish from selected countries and explore the country’s culture through a multi-disciplinary approach which may include geography, art, history, math and health. It also incorporates writing skills through journals the children keep. Parents receive newsletters to reinforce each lesson and encourage cultural cooking at home. Congratulations to Robin, Brenda, and Terri for this excellent poster presentation.
Application deadline for the Irvine Professional Development Grant is August 31st. This grant has been increased to a maximum award of $500 per semester, effective FY05. The application is available on-line.
The Irvine Professional Development Grant goal is to advance the professional development of administrative office professionals at the University of New Hampshire. Currently, the Irvine Professional Development Grant is funded for $1,000 annually and is awarded bi-annually with a maximum individual award of $500 in any fiscal year (July-June). The Selection Committee's goal is to award grants to a minimum of two qualified applicants per fiscal year. More than one grant may be awarded by the selection committee bi-annually, with the combined maximum not exceeding $500.
A CSREES grant awarded last week to UNH Cooperative Extension for $63,088 will support water quality programs in New Hampshire. It is part of a grant awarded to the New England Water Quality Program that includes Extension programs from URI, UConn, UMass, UNH, UVM and UMaine.
The University of Rhode Island is the lead institution for this project. UNH Cooperative Extension's portion of the funding will support our work in fresh and estuarine water quality monitoring and community-based natural resource protection education.
The regional aspects of the project encourage us to share expertise across states, collaborate on multi-state projects and report our impacts collectively. In addition to our efforts within the state to improve water quality, staff members from each state also contribute to some aspect of the regional coordination. UNH Cooperative Extension's contribution will facilitate program planning and evaluation by training other New England water quality staff in using logic models.
The Communications Work Team gathers September 9 in Boscawen. Team members include Holly Young and Peg Boyles as co-chairs, Paul Bonaparte-Krogh, Steve Judd, Faye Cragin, Gail Kennedy, Gillian Hodges, Mary Tebo, Kathy Jablonski, Sharon Cowen and Tina Savage.
The overall goal of this work team is to develop ideas, policies and direction for UNH Cooperative Extension’s internal and external communications. At this first meeting of the group, the team will review the vision/logic model for the Communications Unit of UNH Cooperative Extension, and team members will look at marketing and other essential communications work.
Other discussion topics include the possibilities of developing marketing campaigns for selected publications, social marketing programs for innovative Web features and benchmarks for assessing quality improvements in written communications and Web content.
As well, the team may focus on developing protocols and training for pre-testing communications products on real-world users and for periodically retesting important communications products.
Staff input is always welcome. Contact either Holly Young or Peg Boyles with your ideas and suggestions for this important work team.
In the past few months, I've received many questions about funding issues facing UNH Cooperative Extension. Questions range from what our funding issues are, to how we're financed at the state, county and federal level. To help keep everyone informed, please review the following background statement I developed. It describes our state, county and federal funding partnership: http://www.ceinfo.unh.edu/SSCFFI.htm
The Biweekly Update becomes the Extension Update starting with the August 20th issue, with a new, easier-to-read format. The Update replaces our UNH Cooperative Extension Intranet front page and includes a search function for current and past issues of the publication, as well as archived categories of articles and links to other important news sources for our work. I'll continue to send you the link to the Extension Update every two weeks, but with this new format, you can access it daily on our Intranet. Please let me know what you think of this new format.
Thank you to all of you who helped with our Program Gap Analysis process. A summary and action report Gap Analysis report.doc is now ready to distribute to the people who participated in the process. Some of you may want to share this report with stakeholders who didn't participate in the process. If that is the case, please provide contextual information so the report is correctly interpreted. The report will be sent to gap analysis participants next week. Thanks again for your hard work on this important step in addressing the critical and emerging issues of NH individuals, families, communities and businesses.
A professional development opportunity for law enforcement, educators and service providers addressing hate crimes and bias takes place Wednesday, August 11th, at the Memorial Union Building on the UNH campus. Highlights include speakers Frank Amoroso, director of Community Relations Services for the Justice Department, New England Region, and Andrew Tarsy, New England Executive director, Anti-Defamation League.
Panel representation includes Sam Chan, Laotian Community, Richard Haynes, NAACP Portsmouth, Ben Guiliani, director, Migrant Workers Group, Mosses Sebunya, Muslim Community and Adam Solender, Jewish Federation of Greater Manchester. The event runs from 9-2 p.m. in the Granite State Room of the MUB, and a $10 fee due at registration covers coffee, snacks, lunch and parking. To reserve a space, call Durham Police at 868-2324 or UNH Affirmative Action at 862-2930 by Friday, August 6th if you plan on attending.
President George Bush gets a special treat today when 30 members from Rockingham 4-H clubs provide a "mini-fair" at a picnic at the home and fields of Douglas and Stella Scamman in Stratham. Highlights of this showcase event include horticultural and consumer judging, gardening, leatherwork and blacksmith projects, action exhibits on CPR and robotics, and displays on Operation Military Kids, 4-H Shooting Sports and animal science. The 4-H members will also involve visitors in tying quilts for "Sewing from the Heart." 4-H donates these quilts to David's House or ABC Quilts, for children who face serious illnesses or hospitalization. A crowd of more than 1,000 guests is expected to attend today's picnic.
Provost Bruce Mallory worked with a university-wide committee on the introduction of UNH's Academic Plan, which includes a series of town meeting presentations given by Provost Mallory. You're invited to a presentation Tuesday, October 5th from 1-2 p.m. in the MUB I. The presentation includs a question and answer period. Please contact me if you have any questions. If you plan to attend, contact Sharon Blake at sharon.blake@unh.edu
The 2004 Academic Convocation on September 14th will draw upon the expertise of three of UNH's most distinguished faculty and provide an opportunity to explore the interconnectedness of three domains of academic life - teaching, scholarship and service.
The 2004 Academic Convocation speakers include Charlotte Bacon, English (Outstanding Assistant Professor,) Jeffrey Diefendorf, History, (Distinguished Professor,) and Carole Barnett, Management (Jean Brierley Award for Excellence in Teaching.) The convocation takes place in Richards Auditorium, Murkland Hall, from 12:40-2 p.m.
Responding to grower requests for education in pasture management, Sullivan County Extension Educator Seth Wilner teamed up with Bruce Clement and Heidi Smith (NRCS) to develop and implement a pasture management program in the spring of 2001. Cheshire County Extension Educator Carl Majewski joined the effort in 2002.
The program evolved over time, responding to the needs and suggestions of the participants. In the first year, a daylong workshop focused on the basics of pasture management, including the principals of Management Intensive Grazing (MIG), soil fertility and fencing layouts. This workshop was followed by a single pasture walk at a local farm. Subsequent workshops focused on advanced topics such as animal nutrition, integrating pastures in whole-farm planning, and pasture plant growth patterns. Typical programs include Extension staff, regional specialists, and panels that allow fellow producers to exchange ideas.
Evaluations and needs assessments shaped the growth of the program. In each of the last three years, participants received information packets that complemented speakers' presentations. This past year, packets featured a new set of UNH Cooperative Extension fact sheets developed by Majewski.
For the past two years, five pasture walks at area farms using MIG followed the annual workshop. The walks adapted science to a specific farmscape and demonstrated how producers adapt grazing principles to their operations. During the pasture walks, farmers exchanged ideas and learned how others implement technology and creativity to set up a grazing system for their livestock.
Program evaluations over the past two years demonstrated an increase in knowledge and skills. These include the ability of participants to:
* identify weeds and grasses in their pastures,
* augment their pasture's soil fertility,
* obtain higher grass productivity in the pastures and higher stocking rates of livestock in pastures,
* direct market grass-fed meats,
* design pasture layouts and fencing schemes, and
* have a greater understanding of the principals of Management Intensive Grazing.
A number of participants also enrolled in USDA Farm Bill programs to upgrade their grazing infrastructure.