Extension e-news

Dear Colleagues,

Extension's academic promotion process was established in 2006 to support and recognize educators for their achievement in six categories: scholarship, education and teaching, program leadership, engagement, program management, and service.

I am pleased to announce that 22 Extension staff recently completed the process to achieve the following:

Promoted from assistant Extension educator to associate Extension educator: Laura Kieser and Randy Pepin.

Promoted from assistant Extension professor to associate Extension professor: John Bennett, Barbara Radke, Jim Paulson, Karen Terry, Connie Burns, Mary Caskey, Betsy Johnson, Kelly Kunkel and DeeAnn Leines.

Promoted from associate Extension professor to full Extension professor: Karl Foord, Doug Holen and Amy Rager.

Reconfirmed rank of associate Extension professor: Debra Botzek-Linn and Jill May.

Reconfirmed rank of Extension professor: Mike Leopold, Lisa Behnken, Gary Hachfeld, Chuck Schwartau, Gary Wyatt and Cindy Peterson.

Promotion is a professional indicator of personal and organizational success. Extension's promotion process reinforces the importance of our Extension education model and our responsibility to develop and deliver effective research-based educational programming.

I want to thank all those involved in this year's academic review process -- the applicants, supervisors, review committee members, peer reviewers, mentors, program team members and administrative staff.

The application process for the 2014 promotion cycle will begin soon. If you are considering applying for academic promotion, please discuss with your supervisor and submit your letter of intent by August 19.

Bev Durgan

Important due dates for submitting financial transactions for Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 must be followed to help minimize last-minute problems. Respecting these deadlines will provide adequate time for appropriate review, approval and processing of transactions, and will reduce the risk of improperly posted documents due to system delays, unavailable approvers, unforeseeable errors or other problems.

In brief, Fiscal Year 2013 deadlines are:

• June 19, 4:30 p.m. - All Vouchers (PO and Non-PO related)
• June 20, 4:30 p.m. - Expense/Travel Reimbursements
• June 21, noon - Requisitions/Purchase Orders
• June 25 - A/R Billing (customer maintenance requests) - establish customers
• June 27, noon - A/R Billing (customer profile exists) - create invoices
• June 28, noon - Purchasing Card (PCARD) reconciliation & deposits

Additional deadlines have been sent to all Extension staff who routinely prepare financial documents for accounting transactions. More information can be found by reading the complete University of Minnesota FY 2013 closing procedures. For questions regarding these deadlines, contact your accounting representative or Extension Finance and Planning.

Madonna Monette
Finance Director

Allen S. Levine, dean of the U of M College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS), announced this week his plans to step down at the end of August from his position as dean of the college and director of the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station. He will return to the faculty and assume new academic responsibilities.

An interim dean and director will be named soon; a nationwide search for the permanent position will be launched later this summer.

Levine, 63, has been dean of CFANS since the college was created via a merger of two colleges and a department in 2006. He is a professor in the departments of food science and nutrition, psychiatry, surgery, and medicine, and is a member of the graduate faculties in nutrition, food science and neuroscience.

Becky Beyers
CFANS Communications Director

Materials from many sessions that were offered at the 2013 Extension Staff Conference are available online. Slides and/or handouts from the sessions have been posted. Photos that were taken at the event are also online for viewing. Visit the staff conference website on the Extension intranet to access the available conference materials.

Ying Iverson
Professional Development Director

The University is in the process of making decisions about web and video conferencing tools and services. Extension relies on UMConnect (Adobe Connect) for distance meetings, events and presentations and this is our opportunity to provide input into this process. The current version is outdated and they are gathering information about how people currently use web and video conferencing as they research new or upgraded web conferencing solution(s). If you use web conferencing, please take the web and video conferencing survey.

Karen Matthes
Director, IT Training and Support

The news media turns consistently to University of Minnesota Extension experts for reliable information on the unwelcome impact of weather on crops.

In recent weeks, Extension experts have been interviewed for stories on late and prevented planting, alfalfa winterkill and options in safety net programs. Here are just a few examples:  

• Agri News, published June 4, shares insights from several Extension staff, as well as our website dedicated to late planting.
• Minnesota Public Radio features Extension in this June 5 piece on alfalfa winterkill and repercussions for dairy farmers.  
• The Post-Bulletin examines the status of crops in southern Minnesota on June 4, with observations from Extension experts.  

These articles and more are shared via Extension's In The News website (users can subscribe to a weekly email that provides a sampling of Extension news headlines through this site).

Extension experts also share their acumen in a wide range of areas via  Ag News Wire; recent contributions have included columns on cover crops and prevented planting insurance options.

Allison Sandve
News Media and Public Relations Manager

A more robust and user-friendly survey tool, Qualtrics, is now available to University of Minnesota students, faculty, and staff. The University has licensed Qualtrics, a web-based survey tool, to replace UMSurvey, which will be decommissioned August 2, 2013.

Some of the features Qualtrics provides include:

• Secure authentication using a UMN Internet ID
• Ease of use with point-and-click survey building
• Advanced capabilities, including unique survey questions, branching, piping and trigger-based responses
• A collaboration feature which enables multiple users to work synchronously on shared surveys and data
• Ability to download data into Excel or SPSS with the full syntax retained
• Help and support provided by Qualtrics, including live training

To learn more, set up an account, and get access to training, visit the the Survey Connection website.

Note to Current UMSurvey Users - Action Is Required
In order to retain survey questions and/or data collected in UMSurvey, you must export and save your data as a CSV file before August 2, 2013. Instructions for how to export your data are available on the UMSurvey website.

Note to Current Qualtrics Account Holders
We are aware that some University affiliates have existing Qualtrics accounts that were not purchased through a University license. In order to avoid complications and retain access to existing surveys, please contact Qualtrics directly and ask to have your accounts migrated. Email support@qualtrics.com or call 800-340-9194.

If you have questions related to the transition, email survey@umn.edu. All requests for help can be directed to Qualtrics support.

Karen Matthes
Director, IT Training and Support

Congratulations to the newly elected representatives to the Extension Faculty Consultative Committee (EFCC). Elections were held in April and results are:

Community Vitality representative-Neil Linscheid
Community Vitality alternate representative-Ryan Pesch
Youth Development representative-Ann Walters
Family Development representative-Debra Botzek-Linn
Family Development alternate representative-Mary Caskey
EFANS representative-Dave Bau

Elections are held on a staggered schedule and continuing members are:
Community Vitality representative-Denise Trudeau Poskas
Youth Development representative-Jennifer Skuza
Youth Development alternate-Amber Greeley
Family Development representative-Jill May
Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences representative-Tom Halbach
Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences alternate-Krishona Martinson
Local Extension educators representatives-Diane DeWitte
Local Extension educators alternate-Brenda Postels
At large representatives-Susanne Hinrichs and Joel Haskard
At large alternate-Kathryn Draeger
Past president-Jerry Tesmer
Thank you to outgoing representatives and alternates: Karyn Santl, Terry Nennich, John Bennett, Lori Rothstein, Rosi Heins, Renee Kostick, Ryan Pesch and Cynthia Messer.

Jill Kokkonen May
EFCC Executive Board Member, and
Extension Educator, Health & Nutrition

Kathryn Draeger, statewide director, Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships, was appointed by Governor Dayton and approved by the Minnesota Senate to serve as the state's agricultural representative to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency board. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) Citizens' Board considers and makes decisions on varied and complex pollution problems that affect areas of the state. These decisions are intended to achieve a reasonable degree of purity of the water, air and land resources of the state in order to provide for the maximum enjoyment and use of these resources for the welfare of the people.

CSBU Recognition at Eastcliff: On Wednesday, June 19, the University will be honoring 389 University of Minnesota civil service and bargaining unit employees from all campuses who will celebrate milestone work anniversaries (of 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 and 50 years). The recognition event will take place at Eastcliff from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. on June 19.  

Extension staff who will be recognized at this event include:

• Ruth Thunstrom, community nutrition educator, Isanti County
• Mary Krentz, community nutrition educator, Sibley County
• Mark Schultz, executive office and administrative specialist, St. Paul Campus
• Paula Berg, community nutrition educator, Chippewa County
• Hope Moulton, community nutrition educator, Chisago County
• Mary Wint, community nutrition educator, Kanabec County
• Virginia Wilson, community nutrition educator, Yellow Medicine County
• Nancy Winter, community nutrition educator, Kandiyohi County
• Chee Yang, community nutrition educator, Ramsey County
• Nancee Easter, payroll specialist, St. Paul Campus
• Roger Dahmen, community nutrition educator, Hennepin County
• Brenda Slaughter, executive administrative specialist, Hennepin County
• Debra Thomas, community nutrition educator, Anoka County
• Berit Gerhardson, principal office and administrative specialist, Hennepin County
• Georgia Dunlevy, accounts supervisor, St. Paul Campus

New Employees

Alison Link recently joined the Extension Technology team as an academic technologist. Alison will work with Extension programs to consult, advocate, and produce online learning and other learning technologies. She recently finished her masters degree at the University of Minnesota in multicultural college teaching and learning, with a focus on Twitter and technology adoption in higher education. She is particularly passionate about ways that technologies can support global collaborations.

Previously, Alison worked as an instructional technology fellow for the College of Education and Human Design. Her undergraduate work was at Grinnell College in international relations. Alison also loves to bike, garden and go to the State Fair. We are excited to have her energy and knowledge in Extension. Welcome Alison!

Amy Baker
Chief Technology Officer

Emily Krekelberg joined Extension on May 20 as an Extension educator, ag production systems, livestock, in Stearns, Benton and Morrison counties. She just received her B.S. in animal science with a dairy production emphasis from the University of Minnesota. Her past experience includes two separate internships while in school: one working in the county Extension offices of Carver/Scott and Blue Earth, and the other working for an animal health company. The focus of Emily's work in Extension will be addressing the educational issues of dairy and beef producers in the counties she serves. Please welcome her to Extension.

We are pleased to welcome Jerry Buckley to Extension as an Extension educator, ag production systems, home and commercial horticulture, in Norman and Mahnomen counties. His first day of work was June 3. Jerry graduated from North Dakota State University with a B.S. in agricultural economics. Past experience includes an internship with the USDA-ARS in Mandan, ND assisting with crop and livestock based economic research, and most recently as an Extension agent in training with North Dakota State Extension based in Cass County, Fargo, ND.

Nathan Johnson
Program Leader, Local Programs

We are excited to welcome three new livestock educators to University of Minnesota Extension!  Eric Mousel received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska. Eric started with Extension on May 28, and comes to us with great knowledge of beef cow/calf Extension and teaching experience. He is well-known for his expertise in applied reproductive strategies in beef cattle. Eric will be a member of the Beef Team in the Extension Regional Office in Grand Rapids.

Nicole Kenney received her B.S. at Texas A&M University and an M.S. in beef feedlot nutrition at the University of Kentucky. Nicole brings new energy and innovative applications to beef feedlot management. She will also be a new member of the Beef Team in the Extension Regional Office in Willmar.

Sarah Schieck is a Minnesota native and received both her B.S. and M.S. at the University of Minnesota in swine nutrition. Sarah will bring excellent teaching experience to the job, having spent the last few years teaching livestock nutrition and management classes at Ridgewater College in Willmar. Sarah will be a member of the Swine Team In the Extension Regional Office in Morris.

Jeff Reneau
Program Leader, Livestock

Ashley Hokanson, office manager/HR technician, Grant County, 5/16/2013


Departing Employees
Laura Kieser, Extension educator, ag production systems, has taken a position with AgStar doing information research for their organization. Laura has been an educator in Carver and Scott counties since 2004 and has developed a reputation for strong educational programs in dairy, small farms and Annie's Project. Over this time she transitioned the City to Country Tour program from a free program to a program which generates funds to support county requested income. She quickly adopted the use of evaluations to drive programs and generate outcomes for the counties. Good luck to Laura in her new position!

Tim Arlt
Program Leader, Agricultural Business Management, Local Programs