Friday, September 27, 2013

District 11 Extension News:
I know I have not posted in a very long time, but yes the blog is not dead!!! I wanted to provide you some reminders to some recent administrative communication, if you have any questions give me a call.

Honoring 40 Years of Service

Below and attached is an invitation to Dr. Parker's Retirement Celebration being sent out by the our office.  Hopefully most of you will be able to attend, as Dr. Parker touched many County Agents lives in working with Texas Agriculture.  Please share this information with Ag Producers in your counties that you think would be interested.  I know some agents have included the invitation in their county Ag newsletters, and some were going to do an email blast to producers.  Also, please share this information with retired agents living in your counties, who would be interested in attending. 

Let’s all try to make Roy’s Celebration something very special! This retirement celebration is not only a celebration for Dr.Parker it is a celebration of 40 years of Extension Programing in Texas. Dr. Parker's driving work ethic translated into many of the agents that worked with him and the demonstration cooperators and producers that learned from his wealth of knowledge. His efforts clearly made a difference in the lives of so many Ag producers making them more productive by his persistence to be the best Extension Entomologist in the Nation.  We have just been fortunate to call him our own.


  Program Planning Conferences
As planned at our recent district workshop, attached is the schedule and agenda for the program planning conferences for the week of Oct 7th thru Oct 10th. The conferences will be conducted using the lync program. You will soon be getting an invitation to a lync meeting on your outlook calendar.  I would suggest that you test your lync program for working  order, prior to the morning of the conference.  It is acceptable to join another coworker at their computer for the group and county sessions.  However you will be required to lync with the RPD’s and possibly myself for the individuals sessions.  Austin County please send me some possible dates in order to schedule your conference.

I want to remind you that this is one of the most important tasks that you must complete as a county Extension agent.  Identifying the issues of your clientele and addressing their needs with your plans is what should drive you in Making a Difference in 2014.

Please plan on the entire day for the conference, however I believe that most of you will be done early afternoon.  Please be prepared by entering you 2014 plans into Texas by Oct 1st.  If your first draft of plans are not in the system by your designated PPC you will have to come to Rosenberg for the regional face to face program planning conference, November 1st.  

I also want to remind you , new this year you are required to send me your updated curriculum vita, as it is also important that you work on your dossier each year.

I look forward to our conferences, and reviewing you plans of work,  please call if you have any questions.

 
The Texas 4-H & Youth Development Program is pleased to announce the capability for volunteers to report their activities and accomplishments. As you well know, the 4-H Program relies heavily on volunteers to reach more youth, lead educational programs, coordinate activities, and manage clubs and groups. We know that volunteers are doing great things in the 4-H Program! In order to assess the impact they are making, we have developed two online reporting options for volunteers to report their activities and accomplishments.
 
4-H Club Manager Reporting: This reporting system is for 4-H club managers and is accessible on 4-H CONNECT. Club Managers will need access to their 4-H clubs in order to report club meeting numbers and activities. The information inputted by volunteers is accessible at any time by County Extension Agents.
4-H Volunteer Reporting: This online reporting system is available for any type of volunteer to report an activity. Volunteers can use it to report club meetings, project activities, workshops, project visits, and community service activities, just to name a few. Club managers are welcome to report using this online system; however, they should not report to both systems. Information reported to this site will be sent by the 5th of each month to County Extension Agents.
 
More information about these two reporting options can be found on the Volunteer Resources web page at: http://texas4-h.tamu.edu/volunteerresas well as the one-pager attached. How-to videos are also available on the site to walk you and volunteers through the reporting systems.
 
Several online trainings, using the TTVN Web Meeting Program, will also be hosted this Fall to showcase the two volunteer reporting options. The trainings are scheduled for the following dates and times.
Friday, October 4th at 10:00 am - Event ID: HPL435605; Link: https://ebs-saba.ads.tamu.edu:443/GA/main/000000686cea000001413d996d4cbab5
Tuesday, October 22nd at 2:00 pm - Event ID: LLL482406; Link: https://ebs-saba.ads.tamu.edu:443/GA/main/000000686cea000001413d996d4cbabf
Monday, November 4th at 10:00 am - Event ID: HRP524963; Link: https://ebs-saba.ads.tamu.edu:443/GA/main/000000686cea000001413d996d4cbac9
 
Please feel free to contact Courtney Dodd or Toby Lepley with any questions about these two volunteer reporting systems.
 
Personnel News:
I want to announce that  Mr. Jason Ott, has accepted the ANR position in Nueces County. Jason will transfer to Nueces County from Medina County in District 10 effective October 1st. We are fortunate to have Jason join the staff in Nueces County and the our D11 team. He comes highly recommended as an agent with great knowledge of production agriculture and will prove to be a great asset to the Nueces County agricultural community. Please join me in welcoming Jason to the Coastal Bend.
 
October 6-12 is National 4-H Week, which culminates with “one day 4-H” — a day of community service set for Oct. 12.   I know you all have many activities planned for this important week , pleas let us know how the District office can help support your efforts.