TUESDAY MORNING NOTES - April 9, 2013

Tue Apr 9 14:54:55 MST 2013

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

Tuesday Morning Notes 

April 9, 2013

FROM THE DIRECTOR:

In CALS Cooperative Extension our intention is to be productive and have
positive impacts on people's lives, communities, and the economy.  When
asked, most people in CALS and the public we work with tend to think we do
these things quite well.  In fact, most people will contend that this is not
restricted to Cooperative Extension but that these fine benefits to society
extend across all that we do in this college.  Of course I am biased, but I
think we do provide positive social and economic benefits to the State.
However, the problem is not based on what we think and feel but what we can
provide as tangible evidence to support these claims.  We are seeing this
consistently in the requests we receive to demonstrate the economic impact
from our programs.

As a public institution that receives state, federal, tribal, and county tax
payer funding, the expectation that we provide a positive return on the
investment is increasingly common, and in fact it is a very reasonable
expectation.  From a college-wide analysis last year it was independently
estimated that CALS Cooperative Extension had an overall economic impact of
$197.7M in 2011 that included the creation of 2,348 jobs and $10.7M in state
and local government revenue impact.  However, we feel that there is much
more to the college's impact than what is reflected in these numbers from
2011 - especially in our social sciences programs like First Smiles,
Operation Military Kids, SNAP-Ed, and First Things First (to name only a
few!) - that have a much longer term and very much larger  economic
benefits. As a result, we have been making an effort to develop information
to better describe the economic impact from programs.  Our ability to
address these issues is quite variable across the college.  Thus, we need to
do a much better job in making these economic impact assessments across all
programs in CALS Cooperative Extension and to provide the "tools" and
appropriate methods needed to evaluate and measure economic impact.

I do not want to put the full responsibility of program evaluation and
economic analysis solely on the back of the faculty and staff directing our
programs and just add another job to their list.  As a result, we see this
need for economic analysis of impact as critically important across the full
spectrum of CALS Cooperative Extension.  So we have decided to develop an
internal capacity within the college to address economic impact analysis for
all program areas.  In so doing, we are going to build upon an existing core
of expertise that exists in CALS Cooperative Extension and in the Department
of Agricultural Resource Economics (AREC) to expand our economic analysis
capabilities.  We are beginning with one, year-to-year,
non-tenure/continuing track position with responsibilities in economic
impact analysis and we want to direct the effort across all programs in CALS
Cooperative Extension.   Programs from across CALS can then work with this
economic impact analysis group based in AREC in a cooperative manner rather
than being forced to try to do it independently on their own.

Recognizing this critical need for all programs across CALS Cooperative
Extension, we are ready to engage in a process to develop this capacity in
CALS and this position will represent the next step.  In the future, I would
also like to be able to develop the internal capacity to do a better job of
developing program evaluation procedures across Cooperative Extension, which
is related to economic impact analysis.  Collectively, we need to do a
better job of demonstrating a positive return on the investment of public
funding in a real and tangible manner. 

IN MEMORIUM:

Dr. John SmithOur condolences go out to the family, friends and co-workers
of John Smith, Dairy Extension Specialist, Animal Sciences, who passed away
on March 29.  A Celebration of Life took place on Tuesday, April 2 and a
Memorial Mass on Friday, April 5.  Burial will take place in St. Joseph
Cemetery, Jefferson, Iowa.  He has worked throughout the U.S. and
internationally assisting producers with the development of efficient dairy
operations.  He was also recognized with many awards throughout his
professional career.  John, you will be missed.

FOCUS ON FACULTY:

The February 22 issue of Western Farm Press featured an article ("Glyphosate
Resistance Changes Arizona Cotton Industry") with Bill McCloskey, Weed
Specialist, School of Plant Sciences.  You can read the entire article at
the Western Farm Press website
<http://westernfarmpress.com/cotton/glyphosate-resistance-changes-arizona-co
tton-industry> .

MARICOPA COUNTY EXTENSION DIRECTOR SEARCH:

A reminder that two candidates will be interviewing for the position of
Director for the Maricopa County Cooperative Extension within the next two
weeks.  Jonathan Gonzales will be at the Maricopa County Office on April 11
giving a presentation at 10:30am and Cheryl Goar will be at the office on
Thursday, April 18, again with a presentation at 10:30am.  Both candidates
will address their experience and their philosophy moving forward to direct
Extension activities in Maricopa County.  There will be time in the
afternoon if anyone would like to meet with the candidate.  On April 12, and
subsequently April 19, the candidates will be in Tucson.  Please contact
Mary Conner <mailto:mconner at cals.arizona.edu>  if you would like some time
to meet with the candidates.  The seminars will be recorded and uploaded for
viewing.

FEEDBACK REQUEST:

The Extension Evaluation Working Group, funded by the Arizona Cooperative
Extension Signature Program Team grant, is interested in your feedback about
current evaluation efforts and needs within the system.  Your answers will
be anonymous and your input will help inform a Strategic Plan for future
Extension evaluation efforts.  This survey should take about 10 minutes to
complete and can be found at this Survey Monkey link
<http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8H5GHD5> .  Responses are needed by tomorrow,
Thursday, April 11, 5pm.  If you have any questions, contact Lynne Borden
<mailto:bordenl at email.arizona.edu> .  

UPCOMING EVENTS:

May 14, UA Student Union South Ballroom - Local Food Summit.  The Summit
will bring together the University's research, resources, & scholars for a
one day conference on sustainable agriculture to further collaboration and
development of local and regional food systems.  Exact times TBD.  Keynote
speaker will be Gary Nabhan, an internationally-celebrated nature writer,
food and farming activist, and proponent of conserving the links between
biodiversity and cultural diversity.  For more information, contact Kelly
Young.

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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