TUESDAY MORNING NOTES - March 27, 2012

Tue Mar 27 11:26:48 MST 2012

TMN submittal:
http://cals.arizona.edu/extension/tuesday/form/submittal_form.html 

Tuesday Morning Notes 

March 27, 2012

FROM THE DIRECTOR:

In December 2011 Dean Burgess initiated a college-wide strategic initiative
for CALS.  The Phase I reviews were completed at the unit level addressing
12 basic questions and these were submitted to the Dean's office in January
2012.  On March 13 Dean Burgess distributed the Phase II materials,
consisting of another set of questions for review and response at the unit
level which are to be completed and turned in by April 13.

Many people in CALS have been asking about the these reviews associated with
the strategic planning effort and the nature of the relatively short
turnaround time for both the Phase I and II responses.  There are several
fundamental points that are important to recognize associated with this
process.  First of all, we are engaging in a long-term planning process
associated with the development of the CALS21 strategic plan.  The Phase I
and II reviews are primarily associated with this long-term strategic
planning effort.  Therefore, it is important to point out that this phase of
planning is not designed or intended to direct the budget reductions that we
are immediately facing for FY13.  However, it is certainly reasonable to
expect that these Phase I & II reviews will serve to "flavor" the nature of
the final set of plans that will be used to deal with these FY13 budget
cuts.

In response to many questions on the turnaround time associated with the
Phase II review, I want to emphasize the fact that we (CALS Cooperative
Extension) will complete the Phase II review by April 13.  In doing so I
have distributed the Phase II questionnaire throughout the Extension
organization in CALS and solicited input at all levels with a request that
comments and suggestions should be channeled through the local unit
administrators (e.g., County Extension Directors [CEDs], Department Heads,
etc.).  I have asked all CEDs to submit their materials to my office by
April 9 for review and development of the final Phase II document that will
be generated from CALS Cooperative Extension.  The departmental responses
are being submitted directly to the Dean's office and I will have
responsibility for review at the Executive Council level.  Following the
Phase II review the overall strategic planning process in CALS will continue
with a Phase III (and final) strategic planning document for every unit in
CALS.  CALS Cooperative Extension will do this as a single administrative
unit.  It is important to realize that Phases I & II are about strategic
thinking prior to strategic planning, which is Phase III.

Accordingly, we will have the opportunity to return to our Phase I & II
assessments and also address the need to acquire information from the
stakeholders and the various agencies and communities we work with
throughout Arizona.  As you can see this is both an internal and external
information gathering process.  Thus, it is very important for everyone in
CALS Cooperative Extension to begin to think ahead and prepare for this
broader and very basic effort in securing input for this long-term strategic
planning process.  

This process is important for everyone as it is part of our shared
governance responsibility and one way that everyone's voices may be heard.

Dean Burgess will be sending a memo to the college within the next few weeks
providing more detail regarding CALS strategic planning and will also be
discussing it further during his presentation on April 10 at the CALS
Faculty/Staff Meeting, to be held at the UA campus Student Union South
Ballroom as well as being web cast.

Finally, Dean Burgess has made it clear to me that CALS Cooperative
Extension is a unique entity within CALS in many ways, including its
management structure, and that I am responsible for its future direction and
success.  Together, we have the opportunity to identify our purpose and what
we should be doing to get where we need to be so that we are responsive to
our stakeholder's 21st  century needs as well as our state's economy.  We
will have a lot of say in how we should be achieving our aims and who will
do what.  So for the time being, we are going to do the best we can with
this Phase II review being cognizant of its overall purpose.  I encourage
everyone to be involved and participate in a constructive manner.

FOCUS ON FACULTY:

Congratulations to Kirk Astroth who, effective last Monday, March 19, is
adding to his position of 4-H Youth Development Director a new role of
Assistant Dean, providing support to me in my new role as Associate Dean and
Director, Economic Development & Extension.  Kirk will take system-wide
leadership in the administration of the human science programs in Extension
and provide leadership in the development and implementation of various
distance education and social media projects and objectives that are
initiated by the Extension Administrative Team.  

FOCUS ON PROGRAMS:

For the second year in a row, Extension's Climate, Natural Resources and
Sustainability Signature Program Team (the Team) was awarded a grant from
the UA Green Fund Committee to fund the Externships in Sustainability
Program.  This year, the Team received requests for eight sustainability
projects in six counties that plan to use ten UA students on their projects.
The projects range from an outdoor watering demonstration project in
Maricopa County to coordinating community food systems initiatives in Graham
County.  Project coordinators will be recruiting UA students for these
externships in the next few months for this summer's program.  For more
information, contact Mark Apel <mailto:mapel at cals.arizona.edu> , co-chair.

FACULTY CONSULTATIVE GROUP SURVEY REMINDER:

If you have not already done so, Ed Martin and Dan McDonald ask that all
agents and specialists  complete the Faculty Consultative Group (FCG) survey
<https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/62RS8VR> .  The deadline for completion has
been extended to March 30 at 5:00pm.  The FCG is developing metrics to help
demonstrate the effectiveness of state programs and county offices within
University of Arizona Cooperative Extension (UACE), and would like your help
in ranking these metrics and identifying other metrics of importance.  Many
of the metrics listed represent a base concept that will be combined with
others to better reflect the unit and/or program.  For example,
Grants/Contract funding in an Extension office would be further extrapolated
to "Grants/Contracts per FTE in the office."  The plan is to examine trends
over a three-year period in a fair and consistent manner.  Note that this
survey is separate from the Dean's Phase II questionnaire.  Thank you in
advance for your time and commitment.

eXtension NAMES INSTITUTIONAL TEAM ADVISORY COMMITTEE:

eXtension has announced the formation of a new Institutional Team Advisory
Committee.  The members of this group will help determine effective
programming for Institutional Teams nationwide, including monthly web
conference content and materials and message development for Team use.  The
group will also help determine content tracks for the upcoming National
eXtension Conference, review criteria for and evaluate nominations for the
annual Be, Grow, Create Institutional Team and Individual Awards, and help
to recruit and build Institutional Teams within their regions.  Members of
the eXtension Institutional Team Advisory Committee are:  Robert Casler,
University of Arizona; Meridith Berry, University of Missouri; Janet Sylvia,
University of Georgia; Neal Vines, Penn State University; and Todd Beane,
West Virginia State University.  For more information on the Institutional
Team Advisory Committee, contact Terry Meisenbach
<mailto:tmeisenbach at extension.org> .

GRANT PROPOSAL PROCEDURE CHANGE:

Effective immediately, when emailing grant proposals to CALS Admin, they
should  be sent to  grants at cals.arizona.edu .  This email goes to both
Lorinda Mills and Cyndi Pawlowski, as well as others.  Any and all e-mail
communication regarding grants should go to this e-mail address, even if you
are already working with one of them us on a proposal.  Please share this
information with all  faculty who may directly e-mail grant proposals.  They
hope that this will make their process more efficient.

A NEW SOCIAL MEDIA TOOL:  

Pinterest is a new social media tool that is growing very rapidly!
Pinterest, publicly launched about a year ago, is a social networking tool
that creates social networks around a users "interests".  I knew many people
used this tool for personal "pinning" but I was surprised to see the
potential this tool has for public outreach and education in Extension.
Check out the recording <http://learn.extension.org/events/476> .  For more
information, contact Sheila Merrigan <mailto:merrigan at cals.arizona.edu> .  

TECH TIP OF THE WEEK - NATIONAL DO NOT CALL REGISTRY:

While not computer related, some of you may be interested in the National Do
Not Call Registry <https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx> .  You can
register new phone number(s) or check to see if your phone number(s) are
still registered (if you registered before 2008) at
<https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx>
<https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx>.  The Registry gives you a choice
about whether to receive telemarketing calls at home and you can register
both home and mobile phones for free.  Most telemarketers should not call
your number once it has been on the registry for 31 days.  If they do, you
can file a complaint
<https://complaints.donotcall.gov/complaint/complaintcheck.aspx?panel=2> .
Telephone numbers placed on the National Do Not Call Registry will remain on
it permanently due to the Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007, which became
law in February 2008.  For more information, check out the National Do Not
Call Registry FAQ web site
<http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt107.shtm> .

NEW PUBLICATION:

Defoliation Timing for Arizona Cotton
<http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/crops/az1561.pdf>  by Randy Norton, Guangyao
(Sam) Wang and Shawna Loper

NEW WEBSITE REDESIGN:

The Arizona Center for Research and Outreach at the University of Arizona
has unveiled their newly redesigned innovative and interactive
CYFERnetSEARCH.org site <https://cyfernetsearch.org/> .  This site is part
of the CYFERnet Evaluation work that is funded through USDA-NIFA to support
the Children, Youth and Families At-Risk initiative.  The site features
interactive tools like the logic model and survey builder along with vetted
resources designed to build the evaluation capacity of program providers,
practitioners, and evaluators.  If you have any questions, contact Lynne
Borden <mailto:bordenl at email.arizona.edu> .

UPCOMING EVENTS:

*	34th Annual Arizona/Utah Range Livestock Workshops, April 10-13,
Hurricane/Kanab, Utah - sponsored by the University of Arizona, Utah State
University, Bureau of Land Management-AZ Strip District, USDA Forest
Service, and USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service.  For more
information, contact the Mohave County office
<mailto:mohavece at cals.arizona.edu>  (928.753.3788). 

*	Dickson D. Despommier, a microbiologist, ecologist and Professor of
Public Health in Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University, has,
in recent years, received considerable media coverage for his ideas on
vertical farming.  Despommier will speak at the CEAC Short Course Mission
Award Dinner on Wednesday, April 11.  Limited seating is available to
non-course attendees on a first come, first serve basis.  Additional details
are available at the CEAC website <http://ag.arizona.edu/ceac> .

*	Noxious, Invasive Plants of Arizona (RNR/PLS 400) - a 5-week course
meeting 5 days/week for 5 consecutive weeks, beginning June 4 (as a part of
Summer Session I on the UA campus).  The primary objective of the course is
to develop a deeper understanding of noxious and invasive plants that are
currently established in Arizona or that threaten the state due to their
close proximity in bordering states/countries.  For more information,
contact Instructor Larry Howery <mailto:lhowery at ag.arizona.edu> , Instructor
(520.621.7277) 

Jeffrey C. Silvertooth
Associate Dean

Director for Economic Development & Extension
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
PO Box 210036
Tucson, AZ  85721-0036
520.621.7205
520.621.1314 (fax)

To submit tips, suggestions, ideas for changes and anything that could help
us be more effective, use  the "Director
<http://extension.arizona.edu/state/directors-suggestion-box> 's Suggestion
Box" - all submissions are anonymous.  

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