September 12, 2007 Extension Update
Dear Extension Faculty and Staff:
Town Hall Meetings were held in Silver City on Aug 22, Farmington on Aug. 29 and in Albuquerque on Aug. 31. Public comments in Silver City centered on distance education efforts, university-wide extension, tourism assistance, health partnerships, work force development, animal protection issues, dairy industry needs, and youth programming. Farmington largely revolved around the need for NMSU and the college to offer for-credit degree programs to the 128,000 people in San Juan County. The college and NMSU were urged to cooperate with other higher ed institutions and invest in teaching locally. In Albuquerque, there was a call to expand much of what we are already doing in the areas of organic agriculture, home horticulture, master gardening, and nutrition programs. We were urged to entertain more in 4-H educational programs and to set aside land on campus for organic agriculture.
Following a recent Director’s Advisory Committee (DAC) meeting, Clay Mathis and Patrick Torres presented a draft proposal to me to create ad hoc “issues based” committees. These committees would be short term, composed of three or more agents and specialists, focus on organizational concerns, and make recommendations and/or present findings to me and the DAC. These ad hoc committees sound like a great way to get organizational involvement in problem solving and create avenues to develop solutions that help the organization move forward. I have asked some faculty members to review the draft proposal, make suggestions and bring the proposal back to the DAC for approval. Thank you, Clay and Patrick for stepping up with this idea. Along these lines, if you have input and or ideas regarding cell phone usage by extension, please provide feedback as requested.
In mid-August, we convened a meeting of key distance education (DE) administrators/players from around campus to discuss DE opportunities—and concerns raised by the Specialists’ Association. Discussion explored incentives for faculty, cash flow considerations, DE support from the College of Extended Learning, and the history of distance education policies. With the information we have gathered, we will start to develop some policy and procedures help clearly define extension role and opportunities in Instructional & General (I & G) programming.
On another DE note, we are hopeful that an agreement will soon be reached with the Higher Education Department that will allow NMSU to offer dual-enrollment courses to high schools on the same basis that other institutions are offering in the state. This would help the college respond to Extension agents’ calls to have our college help local high schools enrich their curricula with concurrent courses. The college is committed to offering two courses in the spring 2008 semester to an 11-school distance education consortium in north eastern NM. Harding County agent, Blair Clavel and District Director Bruce Hinrichs are providing leadership with this initiative.
Vickie Galindo, Extension Grant writer, has moved over to the Arrowhead Center and the College of Business (CoB). Vickie will continue to work on some Extension related projects, particularly those related to workforce development. She will be working under the direction of Dr. Kevin Boberg, but can still be reached at vigalind@nmsu.edu. We wish Vickie well in the CoB.
The Extension Podcast Plunge workshop held last month involved 23 college faculty and staff. Participants were introduced to podcasting software, do’s and don’ts, ITunesU, and the steps to podcast creation. A college website has been set-up for anyone interested in podcast development and support: http://cahe.nmsu.edu/employee/podcasting. Podcast participants were encouraged to submit a podcast proposal/contract to complete at least 6 podcasts within 6 months. Those completing the contract will be able to keep an Ipod. Sonja Serna, Barb Chamberlin and their crew provided an excellent professional development training. Nine faculty and staff have submitted proposals outlining over fifty podcasts directed at target audiences that include students, clientele and faculty. Topics include a series of podcasts on entomology, gardening, beef quality assurance, 4-H news, and diabetes.
Approximately 150 different NM partnering organizations and agencies were identified by 86 of you who recently completed the “Partnership Survey” at the Zoomerang URL. The purpose of collecting this information was to compile a comprehensive database of extensions partners—those that we could inform about our 2008 CES & AES “Base Adjustment to Recover Increased Operating Costs” legislative initiative. Providing our partners with the reasoning behind this proposed legislation will help them to understand our financial needs. We can provide them with talking points if they have the opportunity to speak on our behalf and we can avert unnecessary misinformation and rumors. After all the collected data is organized into useable spread sheets, it will be used initially to inform our Administrative Team. Thanks to the many of you who completed the survey. Your input is greatly appreciated.
The New Mexico After-school Alliance recently appointed Cindy Davies, Bernalillo County Cooperative Extension Associate to the volunteer position of NM After-school Alliance Ambassador based on her outstanding 4-H after-school program work. The After School Ambassador works for a year with local and state contacts to build awareness of the need for more quality after school programs. Cindy is the first New Mexico 4-H agent to fulfill this important leadership and partnership role for the After-school Alliance. After-school Alliance partners include educators, youth, youth advocates, policy makers, faith-based leaders, parents, business leaders, police and prosecutors, entertainers, and others who recognize that after-school programs are a necessity for healthy communities. The state and the federal government are each investing $2 million in after-school, weekend, and summer enrichment programs, and targeted education, such as obesity prevention. NM After-school Alliance advocates include Governor Bill Richardson, Las Cruces Mayor William M. Mattiace, and Congressman Tom Udall (D-NM). Congratulations, Cindy!
Christina Turner, as the lead PI on the project entitled 'Water Ripples - Youth Interactive Games' was selected to receive $5K from the multi-state Southern Regional Special Project Program. Co-PI's are Ashley Osborne, Kentucky, Brian LeBlanc, Louisiana, and Patrick Torres, New Mexico. Christina’s et al proposal ranked fourth of eighteen proposals submitted. The Water Ripples project proposes to develop youth water education materials designed for interactive ‘fun-time’ learning. These materials will include interactive educational games for age groups ranging 4th to 6th grade. Materials will be designed for stand alone instruction as a packaged presentation for young audiences. Congratulations Christina and Patrick!
I will be in ABQ at the State Fair most of this week, hope to see some of you there. Please contact Bea Garrett (505-646-3015) if you need to speak with me.
Paul