Don't forget to cast your vote for Faculty Senate by the March 5 deadline. We need to have all the Extension and CALS voices we can to represent us.
The 24th Annual Southwest Nutrition and Management Conference met in Tempe last week, February 26-27. Over 300 people attended from across the country and from 5-6 countries. Attendees were mainly nutritionists and veterinarians who represented 3,000,000 dairy and beef cattle. Congratulations to Lance Baumgard, Sara Sanders, Glenn Duff, Bob Collier, Shelly Rhaoads, Julie Stefanic, Damon Pridgen, and the graduate students who made it all run smoothly.
Terra — earth; pod — podcast; a film about the earth. This past week, nearly 35 youth professionals gathered at Biosphere2 for intensive training on TerraPod — a science and film-making project developed by Montana State University's Department of Film and Photography. Over 3 days, 9 film "crews" developed story lines, filmed, edited and narrated their own original science-based films on biodiversity. The purpose of the training was to equip local county educators with the tools and experience to disseminate this innovative program at the local level. To assist with this dissemination, 7 of our new VISTA members participated in the training and shared their skills in movie making. Following the training, county faculty committed to focusing on this as a priority program for the next year, including using a common evaluation tool and reporting on the program as a group in APROL next January.
This "Cooperative Extension Stakeholder Survey" is part of an organization-wide strategic planning process for 2009-2013. One aspect of this process is to carefully consider the needs of our stakeholders/clientele as we develop the future priorities of our Cooperative Extension educational programs. The Stakeholder Survey is short and will take only a few minutes to complete. Directions for completing the Survey are available at the Stakeholder Survey Web Site (www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Z_2bBY8H3Uoc2fJuKyOeRXHQ_3d_3d). Completed Surveys are needed by March 11.
We have received 145 completed Surveys and our goal is to obtain a minimum of 500. If you have completed the Survey and/or distributed the Survey to your key stakeholders/clientele, thank you. For those of you who have not completed and distributed the Survey yet, we need your assistance to reach our goal. Please distribute the Survey to 5-10 key stakeholders/clientele that you work with and request that they complete this important web-based Stakeholder Survey. This is an excellent opportunity for you and your key clientele to have input into shaping Cooperative Extension's future program priorities. Both Colin Kaltenbach and our Cooperative Extension Administrative team need this type of feedback for our Federal USDA report. If you have questions or would like additional information, contact Ed Martin (edmartin@cals.arizona.edu, 520.621.5308), Linda Houtkooper (houtkoop@cals.arizona.edu, 520.621.5308) or Kirk Astroth (kastroth@cals.arizona.edu, 520.621.5316).
With the increasing age of our population, many of us are struggling with how to work with different generations in the workplace and as program volunteers. We've all heard the terms "WWII Generation (The Builders)," "Baby Boomers," "Gen Xers," and "Millenials." A book resource to help navigate the generational differences is "The Art of Connecting — How to Overcome Differences, Build Rapport, and Communicate Effectively With Anyone" by Claire Raines & Lara Ewing (available from the University of Arizona Library). Raines & Ewing use five core principles and present specific strategies for overcoming communication barriers and connecting effectively with anyone, regardless of their professional, generational, ethnic, cultural, or other differences. The article "Consulting Your Clients to Leverage the Multi-Generational Workforce" in the Journal of Practical Consulting (Ballone, 2007) discusses the generational differences and strategies that can be applied in the work environment. Knowing more about the differences in generations can help you build a supportive and effective work and volunteer environment. (Ballone, Carrie. Consulting Your Clients to Leverage the Multi-Generational Workforce, 2007, Journal of Practical Consulting, Vol. 2, Iss.1, 2007, pp.9-15). Provided by the Professional Development Working Group.
Methods of Measuring for Irrigation Scheduling – WHEN (cals.arizona.edu/pubs/water/az1220.pdf) by Edward Martin
The Real Gardens for Real People (RGRP) Tour, presented annually by Master Gardener volunteers from the UA Cooperative Extension in Maricopa County, will take place this year on Saturday, March 21. The 8th annual tour is a self-guided driving tour of the six gardens in the vicinities of Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert, and Mesa, as well as the Demonstration Gardens in Southeast Phoenix. Twenty-six guest speakers will be on-site the day of the tour at the various gardens to give talks and answer gardening questions on many different topics, from soil and irrigation basics to attracting wildlife and growing edible treats in your garden. A Garden Boutique will also be featured at the Cooperative Extension Demonstrations Gardens where garden related items and plants will be on sale. Go to cals.arizona.edu/maricopa/garden/map.pdf for a map showing the Cooperative Extension office location and the major cross streets for the other gardens. On-line tickets are available through March 14 for $20.00 (pubs1.cals.arizona.edu/confreg/reginfo.cfm?ID=95). Tickets are also available at Baker's Nursery (Phoenix), Berridge Nurseries (Scottsdale), Harper's Nurseries (Scottsdale and Mesa), Southwest Gardener (Phoenix), and the UA Maricopa Cooperative Extension office (Phoenix).
James A. Christenson, Ph.D.
(jimc@cals.arizona.edu)
Associate Dean and Director
Arizona Cooperative Extension
Forbes, Room 301
Tucson, Arizona 85721
520/621-7205
520/621-1314 FAX
TMN submittal: http://cals.arizona.edu/extension/tuesday/submittal_form.html