April 2009 Archives

Dear Colleagues,

Three years ago, we formed the American Indian Task Force to look at the needs of the American Indian tribes in Minnesota, to identify what role Extension could play in addressing those needs, and to begin appropriate programs and research. Last week, the Extension deans had the pleasure of hearing the three-year progress report from the task force. The cross-disciplinary task force has worked closely with tribal communities to build relationships and understand needs. In the last three years, Extension has hired four new staff to work specifically with American Indian audiences who have established several examples of successful, culturally sensitive programs in 4-H, natural resources and family development. 

This is an example of what we can accomplish when we work across our disciplines to focus on specific audiences and their needs. I look forward to seeing more information about the impact of these efforts in the coming years.

Bev Durgan

By the end of this week, you will find a link on the Extension website with information related to the H1N1 (swine) flu. Specifically, we will direct the public to the national websites and resources that provide timely updates and information about the virus. In addition the swine team will be updating the swine website with timely information for producers.

The Minnesota EDEN team will also be working with the University to outline our policies on whether or not to hold public classes and meetings in the case of a local outbreak of the virus. Watch for more information about that in the next few weeks.

Bob Byrnes
MN EDEN Coordinator and Regional Director

On Saturday, May 2, maintenance will be performed on Extension servers between the hours of 8 p.m. and midnight. Services impacted include but are not limited to:

• Extension website
• Extension Store
• MyPrograms
• File shares and printing in Extension Regional Office, Marshall
• Twin Cities campus printing

Individual and department shares (H: and S: drives) and email will not be impacted by this maintenance. If you experience issues with connecting to Extension resources on Sunday, May 3, please call and leave a message on the IT helpline at 612-624-6700.

Rex Wheeler
IT Operations Manager

If you haven't looked through the Extension website lately, you may be interested in seeing some of the new program overview pages thatexplain the work of the program team, describe and link to program pages, and gather content from all over the website into one place. If a program has its own website, the user can easily get to it as well, and all  overview pages now also have automated sections such as "New on the Web" and "Workshops."

The latest overview pages to be added this week are the new agriculture and garden overview pages. The Extension website team will continue to work with program teams and Extension center staff to create a site that meets the educational goals of the centers, the programs and their audiences.

Karen Lilley
Extension Web Manager

Extension will be placing increased effort in the grants area in the near future by searching for and hiring a grants coordinator this spring or early summer. Grants opportunities are increasing, the proposal process is very competitive, and the accountability associated with grants is great.

Extension administration realizes the need for resources to assist departmental and field faculty in going through the grants process of finding, applying, setting up and reporting. The grants coordinator, along with your Extension center's grants accountants, are key resources for the grants process. Watch for the posting of this new position in the near future to the Extension Employment Opportunities & Jobs webpage.

Mike Schmitt
Senior Associate Dean for Programs and Research

The date listed in the original April 9 Extension Weekly article was incorrect for submitting photos, letters and other memorabilia items. Please submit items for Donna Rae's May 4 retirement celebration to Joan Sigmundik by May 1.

Dick Senese
Extension Associate Dean, Community Vitality

Dear Colleagues

Today, the University broke ground for the $3.3 million renovation at the regional Extension office and research and outreach center in Morris. The renovation will allow the center to serve as a demonstration and research platform for renewable energy and green building technologies, in addition to the current research and extension programs in agriculture, natural resources, nutrition and youth development.

 This building project is exciting for Extension for several reasons. In addition to supporting our effort to build our research and extension programs in renewable energy, this is an opportunity to create a regional Extension office that reflects our changing office needs. The Morris office will have public meeting rooms for programs as well as work spaces for our many traveling educators. This project has also benefited from the work of Extension's new development officer, Matt Musel. AgCountry, a Fargo-based financial services company, made a generous gift to the building project. In honor of that gift, the 220 capacity auditorium at the center will be named after them.   

I look forward to sharing the progress of the Morris project with you in the coming months.

Bev Durgan

There are several key statements that must appear on Extension materials to indicate that we uphold federal and state civil rights laws and regulations, as well as University equal opportunity policies. These statements, which include equal opportunity (EEO) and disability access (ADA) statements, must appear on Extension publications and materials whether printed or available online.

For definitions and information on how to use these statements visit the required statements webpage on the employee site. A shorter version of this document that provides just the wording for each statement is available to both staff and freelance designers as part of the "Production Guidelines for Freelancers and Staff" on the public site.

Sarah Bjorkman
Employee Communications Manager

There is a temporary change in the approval process for grants with Extension personnel.  When someone from Extension is listed as a Principal Investigator (PI) or a Co-PI, the Proposal Routing Form (PRF) needs to be approved by three "approvers" in Extension. 

They are as follows:
1. Supervisor for the PI/Co-PI
2. Extension Finance and Planning team member, Betsy Leverty (lever002)
3. Extension administration, Mike Schmitt (schmi009)

If there is a case where Betsy is preparing the PRF, she will list her alternate approver, Georgia Dunlevy.  If you have any questions don't hesitate to contact Mike Schmitt, or Madonna Monette. More information is also available on the employee website.

Mike Schmitt
Senior Associate Dean, Programs and Research
and
Madonna Monette
Finance Director

The Extension Center for Youth Development invites University faculty and staff to attend its free public symposium, "A European Perspective on Youth Work Concepts, Policies, and Practices."  Presenter Lasse Siurala, Ph.D., director, Department of Youth, City of Helsinki, will talk about how non-formal learning in the youth field has gained political recognition, contributes to social integration, develops work-related skills, increases social capital, promotes active citizenship, and enhances social change.

The symposium will take place on Friday, May 8,  from 8:30 a.m. to noon, McNamara Alumni Center Memorial Hall, 200 Oak St. SE, Minneapolis, MN  55455. This symposium will also be available live via web link.

Visit the Extension youth website for more information and to register.

Wendy Huckaby
Youth Development Communications Manager

Rod Elmstrand, regional director, Mora has announced his retirement effective May 1. Rod has held a number of professional and faculty positions within Extension focused in agriculture, natural resources and community vitality.  

Rod began his Extension career in 1983 in Mille Lacs County, followed by nearly 20 years in Chisago County.  Midway in his career, Rod was selected among his peers to serve as a Bush Fellow studying community economics.  Prior to taking the regional director role in 2004, he served as Extension director/educator for Chisago and Isanti counties.  Rod looks forward to spending more time with his family and intends to stay involved in his local community. 

A farewell celebration and open house is planned for April 29, 2-4 p.m. at the Extension Regional Office, Mora.  Please join me in wishing Rod the very best in his retirement.

Lee Raeth
Director of Field Operations

Dear Colleagues,

Last Thursday I had the opportunity to tour some of the flooded areas in the Moorhead-Fargo area with Extension staff from Minnesota and North Dakota. We discussed the current and future needs and how we can work together to address those needs.

Both North Dakota and Minnesota will be applying for special federal funding for emergency response education. We are coordinating our requests to ensure that we are taking full advantage of the resources from both universities. The additional materials developed with this funding, will also be available when a disaster strikes in the future. Senior Associate Dean Mike Schmitt is working with our disaster response coordinator, Bob Byrnes, the disaster response team, and center associate deans to complete Minnesota's request.

In the meantime, Extension continues to add timely resources and information to the flood website, we have increased hours for the Flood & Farm Information Line and we are working with the Iowa State AnswerLine to expand services as well.

I want to thank all of you who continue to respond to the additional needs created by the flooding situation.

Bev Durgan

A challenging budget situation and economic uncertainties make it a great time to celebrate working at the University and finding more ways to enrich our jobs and careers here. That's why I'm so pleased to announce the First Annual U of M Professional Development Fair, Wednesday, April 22 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Coffman Memorial Union. 

The Professional Development Fair will include an information expo featuring training and development organizations from across the University, giving employees unprecedented access to all of the opportunities available to help develop and update essential skills. The event will also include breakout sessions on important topics and a keynote address by certified career management professional Trudy Canine. Due to space constraints, the keynote address is limited to 200 participants, so you'll want to register soon.  Registration information and additional details about the Professional Development Fair are available on the University website.

Leslee Mason
Human Resources Director

The deadline to register to join your peers at the annual Extension Staff Consultative Committee (ESCC) 2009 Staff Day is tomorrow, April 17. The event will be held at The Lodge at Brainerd Lakes on May 7.  Registration information and the agenda are available online.

Registration questions should be sent to Julia Gladhill. General event questions can be directed to co-chairs Ilhan Omar or Cindy Gerdes.

Ilhan Omar
Nutrition Education Assistant
and Cindy Gerdes
Program Coordinator, Nutrition Education Programs

Shirley Mah Kooyman, adult education coordinator at the Landscape Arboretum, received the Bruce Beresford Horticulture Educators Award from the MN State Horticultural Society on February 7 . The award is given to honor people with 15 or more years experience as an educator in the gardening world. Shirley has been at the MN Landscape Arboretum for over 24 years and has been teaching for just as long.  She was nominated for the award by the Hennepin County Master Gardener Program where she has been a member since 1984.

Dear Colleagues,

I was recently asked if Extension would stop offering programs in a county if the county no longer funded local Extension positions. I was surprised by this question, which is why it is the subject of this week's column.

This is the same question that prompted Extension's major restructuring in 2004. At that time, Extension educators were located in county offices, and Extension's funding from state, federal and county partners were combined to pay for those positions. During the 2003 state budget crisis, some counties told us they were not going to be able to continue providing their funding. Extension needed to find a new model that ensured that our statewide programming continued regardless of county investment, while allowing counties to receive additional services if they did invest in Extension.

Our current model ensures that regional and statewide Extension programs are available for all Minnesotans. These regional and state positions are funded through state and federal dollars. Counties can choose to supplement the regional and statewide programs with local county-funded program positions, including 4-H program coordinators, Extension educators and Master Gardener coordinators. 

While Washington County's decision to eliminate funding for local 4-H Extension positions has drawn a significant amount of attention, it is important to remember that our 2009 contracts with counties included an increase in funding from eight counties and slight reductions from seven counties. While counties have difficult budget decisions ahead, commissioners from across the state continue to tell me how committed they are to Extension in their counties.   However, we do know and acknowledge that it will not be possible to maintain the some level of 4-H programming without a local program coordinator.

We will continue to work closely with counties to support their investment in Extension. And, if a county reduces or eliminates funding, we will continue to provide our regional and state programs and information to people in those counties.

Bev Durgan

Extension is continuing to monitor the flood situation in northwest Minnesota and respond to community needs. A newly designed, more user-friendly Floods & Rain section is now available on Extension's website. Take a look. It provides resources―from creating a family disaster plan to cleaning up after the floods.

The many helpful resources are organized under topics, and brief descriptions have been added, making information easier to find. The resources themselves have been reviewed and updated as necessary. For example, due to recent requests for information about the safety of drinking water, materials in the "Water" section were refreshed. Working with our staff and our collaborators, Extension will continue to respond to the needs of northwestern Minnesota.

Bob Byrnes
MnEDEN Coordinator and Regional Director

The following sessions are coming up in the next few weeks. Please note, we are using a new audio conferencing system. Log into the UMConnect meeting and follow the audio conference instructions on the screen. Click on the links below for event details.

Movie Maker to Media Mill: Creating video for the web, April 16, 1 p.m.
 

Office 2007 Overview, April 21, 1 p.m. and April 30, 1 p.m.
 

A complete list of upcoming webinars can be found on the employee website.  If you have questions, contact Chery Day. 

Chery Day
Organizational Training Unit Coordinator

The University has introduced a new policy on the use of the University's trademarks, logos, colors and seals which is now available for a 30-day review and comment period. The policy outlines the requirements for establishing a consistent visual and brand identity. Feedback received will be considered prior to the policy going into effect. For more information, view the policies under review.

Aimee Viniard-Weideman
Assistant Dean, Communications

Donna Rae Scheffert, leadership development specialist and Extension professor, Extension Center for Community Vitality, is retiring as of May 31, 2009. In addition to her specialist position, Donna Rae has held a number of professional and faculty positions within Extension focused on leadership development.  Recently she is best known for her work with Horizons.

Her awards include the Extension Dean and Director's Distinguished Service Award for Campus Faculty, Futures Award from Minnesota Rural Futures, and numerous other professional recognitions. She has co-authored a book chapter forthcoming from Jossey-Bass called "Facilitating Multi-Cultural Groups," along with several publications and articles.

Donna Rae looks forward to spending more time with her family and intends to stay involved in local leadership.

An open house will be held Monday, May 4, 2009, from 3:45 to 5:15 p.m. in the Cherrywood Room, St. Paul Student Center; program at 4:45 p.m.  Submit photos, letters and other memorabilia items to Joan Sigmundik by March 30.

Dick Senese
Extension Associate Dean, Community Vitality

Barb Liukkonen, water resources education coordinator and program leader, is highlighted in the Science Museum of Minnesota's exhibit on water as one of the seven "water heroes" working to protect and improve Minnesota's water resources.

The water heroes portion of the exhibit shows how ordinary people can make a difference. The exhibit panel highlighting Barb describes her work with the voluntary Citizens Monitoring Bacteria network, who regularly collect, observe and share data with the government agencies.  The exhibit runs through April 26.