August 5, 2007 Extension Update
Dear Extension Faculty and Staff:
Hello. It is Sunday afternoon and I am finally finding a little time to send out an Extension Update. County fair season is well under way and the State Fair is just around the corner, I hope that all of you involved have a great fair season. These past few weeks I have been involved with a number of meetings/gatherings dealing with a number of new initiatives, regional extension meetings, organizational issues and opportunities, legislative hearings and producer meetings. All in all it has been a very productive time, but a lot of time on the road. I want to take this opportunity to update you on a couple of initiatives in the works, a professional development opportunity, and highlight some extension programs your colleagues are involved in.
But before I start, what is sure to be a long Extension Update, please join me in welcoming Patricia Quintana who has joined NMSU Cooperative Extension to work on some special initiatives she is uniquely suited to address. Patricia will be based out of the Taos county extension office as the Director of Special Initiatives, reporting directly to the Director of Extension. Patricia will have state-wide responsibility to actively seek opportunities to expand the outreach and engagement programs and audiences of New Mexico State University and the NMSU Cooperative Extension Service through special projects and initiatives. Patricia will be working on several programs/initiatives to seek new resources, expand audiences, and increase Extension's political capital. The majority of her work will center on community and economic development initiatives, particularly those involving limited resource audiences. Patricia brings a rich set of skills with her, having worked with policy makers, business leaders, and rural communities for over twenty-five years. Welcome Patricia.
Speaking of special initiatives, you will recall that NMSU Cooperative Extension received $247,000 of state appropriations this past year to start the implementation of additional extension programs in tribal communities. It was decided by the NMSU Cooperative Extension Tribal Task Force (the grassroots advisory committee for this initiative) that the first two Tribal Extension Centers would be located on the Navajo Nation—Shiprock, NM and Crownpoint, NM. Several members of the NMSU Cooperative Tribal Extension Task Force, the San Juan and McKinley County Extension offices, Navajo Nation Technical College, Diné College and others have been working diligently the past several weeks to develop program priorities, position descriptions and Memoranda of Agreement (MOA) to get these programs up and running by early this fall. Both these NMSU Navajo Nation Extension offices will be co-located with 1994 Land Grant institutions—the Eastern Navajo Nation Extension Office will be located in Crownpoint, NM in partnership with the Navajo Nation Technical College (formerly Crownpoint Technical College); the Northern Navajo Nation Extension Office will be locate in Shiprock, NM in partnership with Diné College. The Crownpoint office will be looking to hire a NMSU 4-H youth development agent, the Shiprock office will posting positions for a NMSU 4-H youth development agent and an NMSU home economics agent. Both offices will work collaboratively with the 1994 land-grant Extension programs, the Navajo Nation Department of Agriculture Extension programs and NMSU and University of Arizona county Extension programs. These positions should be posted within in the next couple of weeks. As this initiative is getting off the ground, Patricia Quintana will be providing some administrative support and legislative direction as we prepare for the next round of funding request.
Some of you may recall that the NMSU Cooperative Extension Service received some funding a couple of years ago, thanks to the leadership of Senator Pete Compos, to support an Agriculture Science Center at Memorial Middle School in Las Vegas, NM. Peter Skelton was hired late last summer to provide leadership for this initiative. This past legislative session, we received additional funding to support a 4-H Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Agent to provide additional staff support to this initiative. We have been working through the process to get this position filled as well. The intended role of this position is to provide leadership in creating effective learning experiences for youth, increasing their capacity to understand and appreciate science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and improve their ability to utilize STEM knowledge, skills, and abilities in their lives and careers. This position will work closely with Peter Skelton and teachers at Memorial Middle School. I know that some of you are involved with your local schools with greenhouses; you might want to visit with Dr. Skelton about this initiative.
Additionally, NMSU Cooperative Extension received a non-recurring appropriations for 4-H Youth Development this past legislative session, and some of you have taken advantage of this by applying for mini grants that we coordinated out of the State 4-H Office. I do not have the list of funded projects in front of me, but a wide range of 4-H projects and programs were funded. A big thank you goes to Dr. Hodnett and staff for coordinating the request for, and review of these 4-H mini-grants.
Those of you who attended our last Extension Conference will recall the Polycom session we held on building Extension’s public value. That session was cut short due to technical difficulties. You now have the opportunity to hear the full presentation with some expanded training. NM staff development funds will pay your registration fee. Send Albina Armijo (alarmijo@nmsu.edu) an email that you are interested in participating. You will receive four hours of instruction in how to conduct “Building Extension’s Public Value” workshops from the creator of the workshops, Dr. Laura Kalambokidis, Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota and access to the Building Extension’s Public Value Presenter's Guide, the Building Extension’s Public Value Workbook, and accompanying Powerpoint presentation to download and print for your use. The training will be conducted online via Breeze Live, and will consist of two two-hour sessions with all participants attending both sessions. The training sessions will be Tuesday, August 21, and Thursday, August 23, 2007, at 9:00-11:00 MDT. Consider participating in this workshop, if your schedule permits.
University-wide Extension continues to expand across campus and across communities. Faculty in the Government Dept. in the College of Arts and Sciences are meeting with Extension faculty and staff to explore ways to be involved in tribal extension and county college. The government department can enhance Extension’s efforts to work with county and city governments and involve youth in civic leadership experiences. I will keep you updated on future conversations, and government faculty expertise, and I welcome your participation in these efforts. Perhaps at the upcoming Town Hall meetings, there will be ideas raised about involvement in local government projects.
As you may know there are several eXtension programs that NM CES faculty are involved with including Horse Quest (Jason Turner and Jeff Bader), Just in Time Parenting (Diana DelCampo), Eden (Billy Dictson), Youth Set for Life (Barbara Chamberlin), Urban Integrated Pest Management (Carol Sutherland), and soon-to-be live Diversity Across Higher Education (Wendy Hamilton, Terry Canup & Kim Hand). If you have yet to become familiar with eXtension and how it can help you address questions asked frequently by your clientele, go to: faq.extension.org . Log in and search questions by keyword or topics.
Curry County program director, Stan Jones is piloting a farmers’ market Senior Adult Nutrition Enhancement Program and EBT program employing vouchers and use of an EBT card to assist lower income seniors and families to make healthy fruit and vegetable purchases. Partnering agencies include Commodity Supplemental Food Program through the local Red Cross, NM Farmers’ Marketing Association, USDA Food and Nutrition Service and support through our local Congressional delegation through the USDA Farm Program. August 11 will be the Clovis Farmers Market grand opening, which coincides with the National Farmers’ Market week. Activities planned include the local Master Gardeners answering common gardening questions and the local extension staff demonstrating how to prepare everything that can be purchased at the farmers’ market. Radio stations KTQM & KWKA will be present for a live feed. Bernalillo, San Juan, Valencia, Socorro, and Grant Counties will also be piloting this accessible means for voucher purchases of fresh produce. Great effort, Stan, et al.
I will be attending the Tucumcari and Clovis Ag Science and Extension Center field days Monday and Tuesday, respectively. My plan are to be in the office the rest of the week. To contact me, please call Bea Garrett, 646-3015.
Have a great week.
Paul