Coastal Bend AgriLIFE Extension Vision

Guadalupe County –Making a Difference in 2011

2012-01-17T07:47:00.000-08:00

Guadalupe County –Making a Difference in 2011

One of the innovative approaches for interpreting programs and increasing Extension visibility is the utilization of short videos that can be utilized with Commissioners, Legislators and other leaders. This approach is being incorporated with our traditional program interpretation efforts could be very effectively in many of our counties. Some of the basic elements that this venue provides is the…

Opportunity to reach busy elected officials and staffers with a brief and concise message that communicates programmatic outcomes.
Opportunity to add value to traditional program interpretation efforts.
Opportunity to package interpretation message for technology savvy audiences.

To view the most recent example of one of these videos done in Guadalupe County click on the following;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=FIPV6KYR29A

District 11 staff, I hope that each of you are using the flip video cameras that we sent you to capture video and or pictures to make such interpretation pieces such as in Guadalupe County. This video was created using the Animoto software with still pictures, the software is free off the Internet. I thought that you would find this clip interesting and provide you ideas for your own. I am looking foward to seeing these clips from District 11 staff. DM

New Year!!! New Opportunities in 2012!!!

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We are a week into the new year and moving past the holiday season to one of the busiest times of theyear. January brings a new start to our programs as we focus on our clientelein addressing their needs.

With the dawning of a new year, comes an abundance of new opportunities forTexas AgriLife Extension. The opportunities, accomplishments, and milestones wecelebrated in 2011 are not to be overlooked, as I review you programing atrecent future performance reviews I am amazed at all of the programs and successesas you meet your and in many cases exceed your expectations.

As true leaders in your county and communities you should look to the futureand how you can continue your high quality programs in 2012. Texas Agrilife Extensionwill excel if leaders and managers in our counties take steps to aggressivelyadvance our programs based our our grassroots issues identified by ourcommittees.

With the help of our RPD's you have designed a plan in the TeXas system. Usethis system as your calendar to make a difference at the end of each day. Makeit a priority to meet the tasks and goals that you have set for yourself in2012. Remember you are in control of your calendar use your time wisely. Injust one of the many initiatives that I will try to continue to reinforce inDistrict 11 is our:

“Backto Basics” Program Development Initiative- The hallmark of Extension programminghas been our involvement of clientele committees in identifying issues, programplanning, implementation of programs, and interpretation of programs. Anincreased focus on committee effectiveness will improve programs, ensure ourrelevance and enhance our interpretation capacity.

As you have noticed I have included the old or for some of youthe new program development spreadsheet in your performancereviews documentation. I believe it is extremely important to show thestructure of your committees as you document the many meetings, and participationof your members. We will continue to move back to the basics in program developmentto strengthen our county programs.

District 11 Outlook Calendar
I would like to remind you that if you have district events or multi county events that you would like to place on the District outlook calendar please send those in to Sylvia Falcon at our district office. We are working on a new District website and if you have pictures of your programming please send those in to Diana Moglia so she can incorporate them in to the websites when possiable.

District 11 County Judges and Commissioners Conference:

The conference recently held in Sinton, at the San Patrico County Fair Grounds was a great success. I want to thank Kathy Farrow for her great leadership in chairing the event and working as a great host. Adrian Arredondo also provided much help during the conference. Thanks to Heather Ware, Becky Ham, Kayla Kaspar, Anthony Netardus, and JD Folbre for working to coordinate speakers. Thanks to Michael Donalson ,Matt Bochat and our office manager Barbara Moretich for helping with registration and facility arrangements. Others on the District Marketing committee provided posters of outstanding outcomes for the conference. We had 2 county judges, and 31 county commissioners with 11 counties represented, we also had 2 state representatives address the group. Also I want to thank Dr. Droomgoole for attending and addressing the group.

This Conference continue to provide mewith excellent opportunities to highlight educational program outcomes, enhance relationships, solidify partnerships and provide County Commissioners with valuable continuing education.

Reminder- Customer Satisfaction Counties for FY2012-2013

The customer satisfaction program within Texas AgriLife Extension Service is designed to help ensure the agency continues to provide timely, relevant, and effective educational programs to the citizen of Texas. It is also a state-mandated performance measure for our agency. Counties need to give attention and care to this data collection effort as its critical to our agency’s continued existence and programmatic success.

Organizational Development has designed two sets of scan forms (standard and with client change) that counties can choose from to meet their customer satisfaction reporting requirement

Counties required to participate in customer satisfaction reporting for FY 12-13 are listed below:

Calhoun
Dewitt
Goliad
Matagorda

What a Required County Must Do to Comply

Each agent within a required county must use any version of a standard or customer satisfaction with outcomes scan form (click here to download forms http://od.tamu.edu/evaluation/scan-forms/download-forms/customer-satisfaction-scan-forms/) for at least two program events within the fiscal year (September 1 – August 31).
Submit the scan forms from step 1 and a completed cover sheet to Organizational Development for processing (click here for mailing instructions http://od.tamu.edu/evaluation/scan-forms/sending-your-forms/). Also, to ensure agents meet the outcome summary reporting deadline (typically in early December) they should not sit on their completed forms; send them in ASAP as processing volume around the deadline is heavy and takes longer than usual.
Steps 1 and 2 must be done by each agent within a required county for each fiscal year (FY12 & FY13)

Due to the oversight of various funding partners it is imperative that Texas AgriLife Extension Service monitor the satisfaction of our clientele as it relates to programs. Failure to comply with performance measures, such as customer satisfaction, can severely impact appropriated funding. Compliance with this performance measure will be treated as a significant part of your professional obligations.

Success in Extension
Distance Education Initiative-

The utilization of technology in program delivery can add value to ourtraditional program delivery methods and increase our effectiveness in reachingcertain audiences. Establish expectations for the utilization of technology inprogram delivery. We must quit talking about technology assisted learning andprovide leadership to ensure the adoption of innovative program delivery thatadds value to our traditional program delivery.

Some of these include utilization ofLync, eXtension, on-line learning modules and the future development andutilization of Smartphone applications in program delivery. An example of theutilization of distance education in program delivery is the organization offive hands on workshops in District 1 and District 2 scheduled in January 2012that will provide producers with information on how to optimize agriculturalapplications for iPhones and iPads including a risk management "app"developed by Texas AgriLife Extension Services' risk management team. This isjust one example of program delivery methods that are being utilized to addressthe educational needs of clientele.

Such tools as our IT Tuesday workshps are ways to develop your skill set in moving toward real Distance Edcational Programing. Below is an upcomming workshop to help you work with your new websites.

This workshop: “Move your County Webpage fromthe 90s to the 00s! ”

When: Tuesday January 10, 2012 9:30 to 11:00a.m.

Instructors: Jeffrey SoRelle and Greg Thomas

Session Description:

This session will focus on simplifying and making your website'slanding "the first page on your website" look and feel like it hashad a makeover.

We will use before and after demonstrations to show you want youcan do make you county webpage landing look amazing.

All county websites were moved from the TECO system into theWordpress system with very little filtering or cleaning up of thecontent.

This session will focus on:

1. Removingthat old content

2. Addingnew video to the video link

3. Adding apodcast

4. Addingand removing widgets

5. Addingand removing page tabs

6. Adding aphoto slide show

7. Andcustomizing the look and feel of the site.

About signing up:

Go to https://first-call.tamu.edu/centra.php

Click on Enrollment

Search for IT Tuesday in the Event Name Search box Or selectthe start date

Select the event

Click Enroll

Keep up with IT Tuesday and new IT learningopportunities! Join us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ITTuesday

Keep up with the latest IT Tips – http://ittoolbox.tamu.edu

Need help? Contact us – http://first-call.tamu.edu

Personnel News: Welcome to Erika Bochat , as our new Victoria County FCS Agent, Erika started this week and has already made an impact in attending committee meetings and setting up her office. Please join me in welcoming Erika to her new appointment.

2011-11-22T11:46:00.001-08:00

Conducting Effective Performance Appraisals- Pre – Appraisal Process

An agent’s performance has a significant impact on The Texas AgriLIFE Extension Service capacity to fulfill its mission. However, the effectiveness of the performance appraisal conference is directly correlated to the preparation prior to the conference itself. If the Pre-Appraisal process is to be effective the Extension agent must …

Finalize monthly reports on the TeXas System.
Finalize all County Commissioner’s Court reports.
Submit annual outcome summaries
Review support materials provided to DEA in monthly reports.
Review interpretation materials that communicate programmatic outcomes.
Review County Media Efforts, such as program area newsletters, radio programs, news releases
Complete our Making a Difference Documents- out come and/or out put summaries
Review 4-H enrollment goals
Review your inter disciplinary programs
Review your Showcase Events(including participation of Elected officials)
Review Multi-County Programs, Result Demonstrations and tours.
Review Leadership Advisory Board and Youth Board Events.

Your Performance Reviews are being scheduled starting in December. Barbara Moretich will be giving you a call to schedule your PAS. I am going to complete this task this year by going to five locations in the District. I may conduct some of these confrences on LYNC.

I will also send you an email this week in preparation for your PAS as to know what to prepare for. I truly appreciate all of you hard work, on my behalf it is great to get see all the excellent programs you provide to your clientele during the year. I am very fortunate to work with the best agents in the state.

San Antonio Livestock Exposition- Leadership Extension

The “Leadership Extension” program is designed to provideExtension faculty with an opportunity to develop comprehensive leadershipskills. Beginning in May 2012, Class X will consist of four, four daysessions held at six month intervals. The sessions will be held at threedifferent locations across the state and one session in Louisiana. Eachsession will cover a wide variety of leadership topics.

Extension faculty with at least five years of Extensionexperience who aspires to enhance their leadership skills are eligible toapply. I would ecourage perspective agents to the SALE-LE website at http://sale.tamu.edu.Completed applications are due in our office by December 1, 2011.

District 11 4-H Events and Activities

Looks like we had a great District 11 Crossroads, a big thanks to those of you that assisted with the planning and implementation of the event. We now move on over to the District 11 Food Show and The Coastal Bend Classic both on December 3rd , Looks like we are getting good participation for both events. We still need judges for the food show please find judges and send the information in to Sharon.
Our focus needs to continue to be provide our 4-H members and leaders with the best quality experience possible. If we can remember to keep our focus among our many tasks associated at the end of the year these two events will be greatly successful.

Major Show Entries due December 1st. Those of you that are preparing your entries for the major stock shows, please be aware of the December 1st deadlines. It would be a good idea to review your validation information so no one gets left out. I know this is a process that can bring on much stress right before the holiday, however, please make sure you double check your entries and validations keep good documentation as every year problems always shows up. Cover your tracks!!!!!

District 11 Personnel News
This morning Refugio County Court approved Michael Donalson, as their new County Extension Agent for Agriculture and Natural Resources. Michael will start on December 1st. Michael will start first step in San Patricio County. Michael comes highly recommended from Tarlton State University he will also be receiving his Masters Degree next month. Please help me to welcome Michael to District 11.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I would like to wish our District 11 Extension family a Happy Thanksgiving. I am fortunate to work with a great group of agents, specialists, and support staff in District 11 thank you for all you do.

Everybody looks forward to the thanksgiving feast. The turkey, the pies, and the celebration, football,shopping or even sitting in a deer blind.

However, thanksgiving is incomplete without a moment of reflection. Spare a moment, and say a prayer of gratitude for life's little blessings.

For, it is these little blessings that enrich our life. Here is a quote, that I was forwarded on Twitter, that I wanted to share.

If you learn to appreciate more of what you already have, you'll find yourself having more to appreciate. -Michael Angier

I hope you can send some quality time with your family and friends this Thanksgiving. If you will be traveling be careful on those busy highways. DM

2011 Outcome Summaries Due Dec. 1st

2011-11-11T07:51:00.001-08:00

Telling our Story”. You will hear this as one of the most important jobs we do as employees for the Texas AgriLife Extension Service.Accountability is central to the relevance of the Texas AgriLife Extension Service. As a state agency, who receives funding from federal, state, local, and grant/contract sources, we must be good stewards of the funding we receive.
Accountability Framework
Accountability of our program is a high priority for everyone in Texas AgriLife Extension Service. It allows us to tell our story as well as make corrections in educational programs.
Interpreting evaluation results and marketing those results to stakeholders is very important. If the Extension educator does not interpret and market these results, how will the community and stakeholders know the results of the evaluation?
When interpreting program results, the Extension educator should address the “3 R’s”. These are: Relevance, Response, and Results.

Relevance – What was the relevance of the program?
Response – How did Texas AgriLife Extension Service respond to the relevant program?
Results – What are the results? What happened as a result of the educational program?

Answering the “3 R’s” provides the stakeholder with sufficient background and evidence of what the program was, how it was addressed, and what happened as a result of the program. Typically, the Extension educator would develop a one-two page summary revealing the “3 R’s.” This is the time to be creative and so something exciting that will draw the stakeholder in. It is important to use table, graphs, and / or pictures to reveal the impact of the program. The template that all County Extension Agents should use for their outcome summary and the county annual report can be found at:
http://agrilife.org/communications/resources/extension/documents/
The new templates including public value statements can also be found in the task bar on the right of the web site.

Most organizations have numerous stakeholders. Extension educators must decide who they should market their results to. Some examples include:

The Community – through media outlets if possible.
The County Committee
Program participants
Extension colleagues
Commissioner’s court and county judge
Texas AgriLife Extension Service administrators / County Directors / District Extension Administrators / Regional Program Directors
Community and state legislators

Texas AgriLife Extension Service’s mission is to provide quality, relevant outreach and continuing education programs and services to the people of Texas. In order to this effectively, it is imperative that each Extension educator in the agency develop educational programs in a strategic and systematic way. Texas AgriLife Extension Service’s Program Development Model provides these steps to address when developing educational programs. The success of this agency is based on providing quality, relevant programs that have defensible results.

District 11 County Extension Agents Outcome summaries are due on December 1st, please send your document by email to me and cc Barbara Moretich. Your County Making a Diffrence Document (Annual Report) is due by December 15th.

District 11 County Judges and Commissioner Conference set for December 13th
Our annual County judges and commissioners conference is set for December 13th, at the San Patricio County Civic Center located on the grounds of the San Patricio County Fairgrounds in Sinton, Texas. The conference has been developed by our District marketing and interpretation committee. Topics of discussion will include, use of social media in the workplace, Economic implications of pipeline infrastructure within the Eagle Ford Shale, Rural Fire Emergency management panel, and updates on legislative issues. Also in attendance we will have State Representatives Todd Hunter and Raul Torres both from Corpus Christi. Each County Judge and Commissioner in our District will be getting a letter of invitation to the conference. I expect for each agent to make personally follow up on the invitation and personally invite your judge and or commissioners to the the conference. The conference will provide 5 hours of continuing education toward their requirements. Our members of the marketing and interpretation committee are: Ginger Easton-Smith, Shamaine St. Julian, Rhonda Cummins, Anthony Netardus, Kayla Kaspar, Becky Ham, JD Folbre, Brent Batchelor, Zach Davis, Kathy Farrow, Kelvin Neal, and Dianne Gertson.

District 11 Ag Retreat- El Campo, Texas

The District 11 Ag Retreat was held this past week in El Campo Texas hosted by Peter McGuill, Brent Batchelor, and John O'Connel. This was an excellent retreat including great tours of Prasek's Hillge Smokehouse and Green Leaf Nursery. I want to thank Dr. Megan Domiguez for conducting the grass identification contest for agents and Dupont and Dow Agrisciences for providing the excellent prizes. Congratulations to Phillp Shackelford for winning the pair of boots and 1st place, also Congratulations to Scott Willey for winning the rookie award. Thanks to Dr. Larry Falconer , Dr. Monty Dozier and Dr. Roy Parker for attending and providing their updates for our agents.

Agents that presented at the retreat were Clyde Crumbley, Brian Yanta, John O'Connel and Jeff Stapper. These agents did a great job in presenting result demonstration data, using relevance, response and results with in their outcomes. Philip Shackleford presented a very good disucssion on how to develp a professional poster for professional meetings and other interprative events.

The 2012 District Ag Retreat has been set for November 6th and 7th in Karnes County. There will be a clear expectation for all Agricultural agents to attend next year. TCAAA will still provide leadership to this Ag retreat each year. However all agents members of TCAAA or not will be expected to attend. 4-H agents with agricultural appointments will also be expected to attend next year. A big thanks goes out to the host agents for a great retreat and a great admosphere for fellowship.

Flip Video HD Cameras

Each District 11 county will soon get a new Flip camera to use with your programing. These cameras are very easy to use in capturing just about anything associated with your programs and uploading the video to your computers, YouTube and your websites. The support of the Behmann Foundation provided an opportunity for Pete Flores to apply for a grant to supply all of our counties with the Flip Cameras. It will be required for each county to upload a total of four videos each year associated with all disciplines of county programing.

County Email Boxes
I was just made aware that some of our counties are not checking their county boxes since support staff have their own email addresses. It is important that the county boxes get checked once a day. Information is still being sent to the county box. For example if a client requests information for you though your web site they may choose the county box email to request information. I want to remind all agents and support staff that our web sites are no different than our front door of our offices. We should be inviting and accessible to our clientele. Agents ---you are ultimatly responsible for checking the county box , please designate some one to do so or check it yourselves. There are no plans that I know to do away with county boxes, till then we need to use our county boxes.

District 11 Personnel News:
More changes this month in our District. Amy O'Brien-Glenn has resigned her position of FCS agent in Aransas County. Amy will help to run her parents business in Eastland Texas. We wish Amy luck in her future.

Sam Womble has trasfered to Bandara County as the ANR agent in District 10 and started his new role this week. Shamaine St. Julian has accepted the position of 4-H agent in Harris County effective December 1st. Sam an Shamaine have provided great leadership in their respective counties and to District 11, I know that District 9 and 10 will be getting very high quality agents and we wish them much luck in their new counties.

Joe Janak will be resigning after 34 years of service to Extension. Joe last day will be at the end of February. Please join me in congratulating Joe on his long distinguished Extension Career.
I will meet with the Refugio County (ANR) and Washington County (4-H) County Courts this month to approve agents, soon these new agents will assume first step duties in San Patricio County and Austin County. We are in the process of identifying a finalist for the Victoria County FCS position and interviewing for the open 4-H position in Victoria County.

Molly Grace ready to go home

We also have a new addition to the District 11 family, Miss Molly Grace McManus, she came into the world on Monday Nov. 7th, 8 lbs. 6 oz. and according to her dad , with a great pair of lungs. Congratulations to Kyle and Jodi McManus for their great blessing.

District 11 Agents Interpret Success of One Day 4-H

2011-10-20T14:32:00.000-07:00

Agents Should Plan on Interpreting Success Associated with One Day 4-H

One of the keys to program interpretation is recognizing opportunities to communicate program success to stakeholders when they present themselves. Many times you as a County Extension Agent conduct very effective programming efforts which result in measurable outcomes, then move on to the next program without taking time to interpret the success of the program they just completed.
On October 8, 2011, Texas AgriLife Extension Service provided the leadership in conducting a very effective service project called One Day 4-H through our 4-H and Youth Development Program in all 18 counties in our District. There is no question that this activity will result in tremendous success and agents should make a special effort to interpret the results of their county project.
The following is the type information that could be utilized in a effective interpretation effort;

Number of Projects in the county.
Number of 4-H Youth Involved.
Number of NON-4-H Youth Involved.
Number of Adults Involved.
Total Number of People Project reached/assisted.
Hours Took to Complete Project.
Value of Time Contributed (Independent Sector Value).
Number of lbs of food collected.
Value of the food collected.
Number of care packets made.
Value of care packets made.
Number of miles of road/beach/park cleaned.
Number of lbs of Trash collected or materials recycled.
Number of people reached by Educational Projects.
Money raised for other organizations.
Number of new 4-H members recruited because of One Day 4-H.

Please remember to step back evaluate and reflect on the successes of your programing and use this as the motivation to interpret to our funding partners and prospective supporters of our programs.

Superior Service Award Nominations Deadline Extended to November 15, 2011
Agent/staff recognition is a tool that reinforces and rewards the most important outcomes agents and staff create for our District/County. When we recognize agents and staff effectively, we reinforce the actions and behaviors we most want to see agents and staff to repeat. An effective employee recognition system is a powerful tool.

One of the methods that can be utilized to recognize agents and staff is by nominating them for the 2011 Texas AgriLife Extension Service Superior Service Award.

Dr. Smith announced on October 4, 2011 that the nomination deadline for the 2011 Superior Service Awards Nomination has be extended until November 15, 2011. Guidelines and the online application can be found at http://agrilife-extadmin.tamu.edu/SSA/.

District 11 Ag Retreat Call for Presentations- Due Oct. 28th

In preparation for the upcoming District Ag Retreat November8^th, and 9^th in El Campo, I wanted tocall for professional presentations from Ag. Marine, 4-H, and IPM agents planningto attend the retreat. Each year we set time aside on the agenda forpresentations by agents on information that would be useful to the group interms of result demonstrations, new or innovative programing, and or results ofyour 2010 outcome programing. The presentations may not be limited toAgricultural programing, topics may include 4-H leadership, community and oreconomic development etc.

The presentation should not be more than 15 minutes inlength and must include some type of professional visual aids such as but notlimited to a power point. It is expected that if you have not presentedin the past two years, you will present this year. This would be anexcellent opportunity to discuss a topic of your choice that would benefitothers in the district. This would also be a great opportunity to add toyour dossier.

I need for you to submit your intent to present to me byemail no later than October 28^th, please include the topic of yourpresentation, I will inform you if your presentation is selected for thisyear’s presentations by November 1^st. Give me a call if youhave any questions. DM

Program Planning Conferences as success on LYNC

The new process of using LYNC for our program planning conferences were a success. I believe we had good interaction with out having to travel to a central location for at times limited assistance for agents that have done a great job in establishing there plans for 2012. I would like to remind agents that if you have plans that need to be revised due to suggestions from our RPD's and 4-H specialist please complete these by November 1st. These plans must be completed, submitted and approved by the RPD's by the 1st. If you need assistance and can not get your plans approved by the 1st we will encourage you to come to the Corpus Christi Center on November 14th for a face to face program planning conference to finalize your plans. Give me a call if you have any questions.

County Coordinators please remember to forward me an updated job responsibilities form for my approval by December 1st.

2012 Professional Development Contract

As you know we no longer have plans and or tasks in TeXasfor your professional development activates. Please sign and forward me the contract for approval by the RPD and myself. Pleasereview the contract and select the activities that you will be attending in2012. Please mail me a signed paper copy and I will forward to the RPDsfor their approval and signature. I need these contracts in by your designatedProgram planning conference.

As you can imagine it is not easy to include all of theactivities, so please add any other conferences , professional meetings ,symposiums, workshops, etc.. that you plan on attending during the year. I have also selected some of these activities and added them to our D11Extension outlook calendar for your reference. We can update unplanned activities during the year.

I also would like to remind you that this will be ourcontract and your investment in your Professional Development for 2012. This contract will also be used by the RPD’s and myself as a tool to gauge yourcommitment in developing yourself as a professional educator in your county.Please refer to my email, on September 28th, 2011 for a copy of the contract.

District 11 County Judges and Commissioners Confrence Scheduled

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One of the components of the County Programs “Making a Difference” Interpretation Initiative are District Judges and Commissioners Conferences that will be conducted in all of our Extension Districts .

District 11 Confrence - December 13, 2011- Sinton, Texas

These conferences provide a tremendous benefit for both our County Commissioner Court members and Texas AgriLife Extension Service. The following are some of the reasons that this component of our interpretation plan is critical;

Enables me to solidify partnerships with County Commissioners Court members in their District 11.
Demonstrates Texas AgriLife Extension Service’s commitment to county government.
Provides an opportunity for Texas AgriLife Extension Service to showcase effective educational programs conducted in the District.
Provides customized professional development for County Commissioners within a District.
Provides a venue for quality interpretation.

Agents should be reminded that District 11 “Making a Difference” Interpretation Initiative includes the following;

District Judges and Commissioners Conferences hosted by Marketing and Interpretation committee.
Utilization of the Extension Making a Difference Newsletters that communicates Texas AgriLife Extension’s public value. This newsletter will be published on an annual basis.
Utilization of the Extension Making a Difference annual reports that communicates Texas AgriLife Extension’s public value.
All Counties conduct formal interpretation events with County Commissioners Courts annually that communicates Texas AgriLife Extension’s public value.
All Counties involve elected officials in Extension “showcase” events.

Our marketing and interpretation committee will meet on Thursday October 6th, starting at 9:30 am over LYNC. Individuals were contacted to join in the conference. All agents can provide suggestions for programs and interpretation ideas for the the upcoming Judges and Commissioners conference. Please give me a call if you have suggestions to share.

District 11 Professional Development Contract Due by your Desiganted Program Planning Conference

As you know we no longer have plans and or tasks in TeXasfor your professional development activates. Please refer to the email I sent you this past Wednesday for the attached contract that youwill sign and forward back to me for the approval of the RPD and myself. Pleasereview the contract and select the activities that you will be attending in2012. Please mail me a signed paper copy or use the (fillable form)version to make it easier to complete, you can sign electronically and thenforward to me by email . I will accept them on paper or electronicallysigned , I will forward to the RPDsfor their approval and signature. I need these contracts in by your designatedProgram planning conference.

I also would like to remind you that this willbe our contract and your investment in your Professional Development for2012. This contract will also be used by the RPD’s and myself as a toolto gage your commitment in developing yourself as a professional educator inyour county. Please give me a call if you have any questions. DM

Personnel News

Give Matt Bochat ,new agent in Bee County a call next week to welcome him to the District , he will start Monday October 3rd. News comming soon on Washington County 4-H and Refugio County ANR. Victoria County 4-H came open internally this week, help me recruit internally in bringing another great agent to D11.

Program Planning Confrences Scheduled

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I believe we hada good productive workshop this week in Edna, some things have changedslightly but the process is still simple in that your plans are your contractwith administration on how you are going to program in 2012. You are incharge of your work calendar and it all starts with developing your plans.Remember you will be evaluated on your performance directly from your plans in2012. I wanted to thank all of the specialists that participated in the workshop. I would also like to thank Logan Respess, Director of the Texas Sea Grant program, and Jacquelin White , Interim Program Leader for FCS for the Cooperative Extension program for spending both days with us and supporting the agents they work with. A big thanks to Mike Hiller and his support staff for hosting us at their great facility.

I also wanted you toknow that because of this situation of TExAS being offline we will allowflexibility on the deadline once the system is up and running. It’s Importantthat you all continue in working with RPDs and local planning groups indeveloping program plans for 2012.

Program Planninghas been around a lot longer than the TExAS System and the system no wayinfluences how we work to develop the plans. It is simply mechanism that we utilizeto publish and report to our plans with administration , stakeholders andsupporters. The key is that the plans are of high quality regardless ifthey are up on the system or hand written on a tablet. The importance is thatthey are developed before you ever sit down to type into the system. ComputerSystems don’t dictate planning and they don’t identify issues that need to beaddressed in our counties, that’s done thru committees and the issueidentification forums that were done earlier in the year. I know that Scott andthe OD crew will work hard to get the system up and running soon, and they haveworked hard to make it better for our agency.

Scheduled ProgramPlanning Conferences for 2012

Ø Wharton County – October 7^th, 2011 –8:30 am - Lync Webcam Conference

Ø Group 1 – October 11^th , 2011 - 8:30a.m. - Lync Webcam Conference – Aransas, San Patricio, Nueces, Nueces EFNEP

Ø Group 2 – October 12^th, 2011 -8:30 a.m. - Lync Webcam Conference - Washington, Colorado, Fayette

Ø Group 3 – October 13^th, 2011 - 8:30a.m. - Lync Webcam Conference – Jackson, Matagorda, Victoria

Ø Group 4 – October 14^th, 2011 - 8:30a.m. - Lync Webcam Conference – Dewitt, Lavaca, Karnes, Goliad,

Ø TBA – Bee, Calhoun, and Austin / Face to FacePPC to be determined depending on need

Heather Ware, New Coastal Comminity Development Agent

Logan Respess, received a fewquestions from Agents and others who attended the D11 PPW in Edna regarding ournewest hire Heather Wade. Heather is new to us and new to Extension. She is thefirst ever Coastal Community Development Agent in Texas. She fills a two-yearsoft money partnership position between the Mission-Aransas National EstuarineResearch Reserve (UT) and Texas Sea Grant (TAMU). Logan will be activelyworking to extend her position through grants and contracts beyond the two-yeartime frame.

Heather’s position will besimilar in her geographic setup to our IPM agents. Her area of operation willbe the counties bordering the NERR (Calhoun, Refugio, Aransas, San Patricio,and Nueces), but could potentially help others outside this area. Heather is anUrban Planner by training and will be working almost exclusively in the realmof CRED.

Attached you will find herhiring announcement. If you have any additional questions, please feel free tocontact Logan (L-respess@tamu.edu) orHeather (hbwade@tamu.edu).

Matt Bochat, New Bee County Agricultural and
Natural Resourse Agent

Matt Bochat will assume his new appointment in Bee County on October 3rd. Matt is a former Ag agent serving in our agency for 11 years. Matt served in Gonzales, Jasper, Smith and Brazoria Counties. We are fortuante to have Matt come back to Extension and bring his experence and energy to the Bee County Extension program. I know that Kathy Ball our office manager in Bee County is eager to have an agent to work with. Please give Matt a call to welcome him to his new role.

Monica Flores, New Refugio County office manger and

4-H program assistant

Today is Monica's first day on the job and after several months of having no one at the office it is great to have Monica ansewering the phones and helping clientele in Refugio County.

Monica is a native of Refugio, and a former 4-H member, she is also a graduate of Texas A&M University. Help me in welcoming Monica to our District team.

Training Opportunities for TExAS Version 3

2011-09-01T14:51:00.001-07:00

As plans for the roll out of TExAS Version 3 continue to move forward, Organizational Development has scheduled a series of online training sessions to provide agents with an overview of the changes. These sessions will predominately be conducted via Lync. However, there is likely to a be a few sessions that are Centra based to provide opportunities for those who do not have access to Lync. Each of the sessions listed below will be limited to 20 participants. The Organizational Development Unit will use an RSVP system to enroll individuals in a session. Below is a schedule of the training opportunities.

September 21^st – 9:30 am & 2:30 pm
September 22^nd – 9:30 am & 2:30 pm
September 27^th – 9:30 am & 2:30 pm
September 28^th – 9:30 am & 2:30 pm
September 29^th – 9:30 am & 2:30 pm
October 4^th – 9:30 am & 2:30 pm
October 5^th – 9:30 am & 2:30 pm
October 6^th – 9:30 am & 2:30 pm

Organizational Development has indicated that they will add sessions by providing concurrent sessions or new sessions if needed. You are encouraged to participate and to RSVP for the session of their choice.

Major Livestock Show Calf Scramble Information

Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo – January 13 – February 4, 2012

Purchase certificate value of $500
Certificates used to purchase a breeding beef or dairy heifer
Entry process

1. To obtain Calf Scramble entry applications by mail, you as CEA must contact the Stock Show Office prior to October 1 to make your request. Entry applications will be mailed on October 1 to all CEAs and ASTs who have requested the applications.

2. Entry applications will also be available on the Stock Show website fwssr.com on October 1.

3. Entries are sent directly to the show.

4. Entries will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. After all the positions have been filled, the remaining applications will be kept on file and used on an as needed basis.

5. Each County 4-H Program is limited to a maximum of six entries.

San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo – February 9-26, 2012

Purchase certificate value of $800
Certificates used to purchase an animal in these Junior Breeding Departments – Beef, Dairy, Swine, Sheep, or Goat
Must show the animal in the 2013 San Antonio Stock Show
Entry process

1. Entry Application and Release and Indemnification Agreement were e-mailed on August 25, 2011
2. Completed Entry Applications and Release and Indemnification Agreements must be returned to the District Extension Administration as a county group by September 19, 2011
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo – February 28 – March 18, 2012

Purchase certificate value of $1,500
Certificates used to purchase a breeding beef or dairy heifer or market steer
Must show the animal in the 2013 Houston Livestock Show
Entry process

1. Online entry applications will be available on the Livestock Show website hlsr.com from October 1 through December 1, 2011.
2. Entries will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. After all the positions have been filled, the remaining applications will be kept on file and used on an as needed basis.
Star of Texas Fair and Rodeo – March 9-24, 2012

New format for 2012 – Ultimate Scramble Championship
Purchase certificate value of at least $1000 while others could be awarded $1,500, $2,000, $2,500, or $5,000
Certificates used to purchase market steer, market lamb, market goat, market barrow, breeding heifer, or breeding goat.
Must show the animal in the 2013 Star of Texas Fair and Rodeo.
Entries begin January 15, 2012 directly to the show.
Entry fee is $25.

Monthly Reports Due September 8th, 2011 !!!!

September 8, 2011- All reports for June, July, and August must be entered into the old version of TExAS. An initial lock of the records will occur at this time. Daily compliance reports will be provided to DEA.
September 9 – 14, 2011- The old version of TExAS will be taken offline to convert to TExAS Version 3. No activity in TExAS will be allowed during this time.
September 15, 2011- TExAS Version 3 will be online. Entry of plans and reports will resume.

The 4th quarter of the 2011 fiscal year ends in August (June, July, and August). Agents should ensure that they have met their professional obligations of completion of Commissioners Court reports, Travel, Quarterly Legislative one page email, PCR monthly reports and of course reports on the TEXAS system before September 8th.

District 11 OUTLOOK Calenders

Two 2012 District Calendars on our outlook system are beingdeveloped , a 4-H Calendar, and an a Administrative/ Professional DevelopmentCalendar. These calendars will be ready to be shared with you onyour email by our upcoming conference .

If you have any dates that you would like on the calendarsfor 2012 please send them to Sharon Thompson (4-H0 or Sylvia Falcon (ADM-PD ) calendar.

Some of the dates will certainly overlap and that’s ok. Weare also planning to post the 4-H calendar on the web , the other ADM/Prf.Development calendar is only for staff internally. Trainings, district meetings,retreats, annual meetings, selected multi county programs, specialist trainings, Professional Development training series etc….. are items we will need. These calendars will beshared read-only , updates will only be done by our support staff at the D11office. Please send in dates by Thursday September 8^th.

District 11 Personnel News:
I am currently in the process of identifying a finalist for each of these positions, Bee County ANR, Refugio ANR, Washington 4-H, Calhoun ANR.

Mandi Wallace, has resigned her position as Lavaca County FCS agent as of August 31st. I wish Mandi much success in her new career choice, and thank her for her service to Lavaca County and to our District.

Labor Day Holiday!
If you read this post before the Holiday, have a good safe time, If you are reading this after Monday, hope you had a good restful time off , but if you have not done so, you only have three days to finish up your reports before the lock down! Thanks for all you do to keep our programs strong in our Counties. DM

Program Planning-Back to the Basics

2011-08-22T13:48:00.000-07:00

The Program Planning Workshop and Conferences are some of the most important meetings conducted our District each year. At times these meetings can become heavy with process and light in productivity. The reason this can be the case is that focus is on check lists and getting the program planning process finalized rather than attention to quality of the programs and detail.

We all constantly talk about thinking “outside the box.” That’s fine, and we should certainly think outside the box. But here’s another approach that we had better not ignore – get back inside the box and get the basics right as it relates to Extension programming.Some of the basics that leads to success in Extension programming that should not be ignored during Program Planning Conferences includes;

Volunteer Management.
Clientele relations. Agents should ensure that our county offices are inviting and welcoming places for clientele to visit.
Effective communication with clientele.
Effective internal communication
Effective utilization of the Program Development Process- Program Planning, Program Implementation, and Evaluation and Interpretation.
Effective reporting.
Effective utilization of Program Specialists.
Effective utilization of teaching methodologies (result demonstrations, educational workshops, short courses, newsletters, news articles, etc.).
Mastery of subject matter.
Responsiveness to clientele needs. Remember that just because we can duplicate a plan from a previous year, does not mean it should be done. Agents should be challenged to provide fresh new programs , not just duplicate a plan from a previous year.
Effectively working with funding partners.
Appropriate professional development and career development. Quality time should be spent in discussing status related to career ladder promotion.

In order to focus on the basics in Extension Programming , agents should allowing program development to become a series of manageable steps. Here are some actions to take and points that County Extension Agents should consider when developing programs so that measurable outcomes becomes an integral part of the process.

1. Develop Goals for Programs Based On Need
Who are the audiences to be served? What are the outcomes to be sought? Are these outcomes attainable and measurable? Do potential programs fit local or clientele interests, and Texas AgriLife Extension’s state strategic plans?
2. Determine Priorities
Consider time and resources available. If choices must be made, which programs are likely to have greater impact on more people? Which ones are likeliest to grow? Which might be turned over to volunteers or advisory groups to maintain? Which might provide the greatest positive media attention and other forms of recognition for agents and the Texas AgriLife Extension Service? Which are likely to generate the most scholarly contributions for Agents? Which have the support of clientele and advisory groups?
Agents should involve stakeholders–people who have an interest in program results–in planning and decision-making whenever possible.
3. Determine Specific, Measurable Objectives for the Programs Selected
Agents should confirm that their objectives are measurable and attainable. If agents are unable to list their objectives in writing, they are probably not ready to plan or deliver the program. Agents should determine how they will know if the objectives are met (evaluation method).
4. Determine Extensions role in Public Value for every program.
5. These four actions above are made available directly from our grass root program area committees. The stronger our committees the better information we will have to prepare our yearly plans.

District 11 TEAFCS Retreat
I had the great opportunity to attend this years D11 TEAFCS retreat in Corpus Christi at Padre Island last week. I want to congratulate the members of TEAFCS for a great professional development opportunity for their members. I was particularly impressed with the professional presentations provided by Mandi Wallace, Sally Garret, and Jennifer Boening as agents in the Spot Light. Agents also provided one pagers for the the idea sharing session. Discussion after each presentation was productive for all at the retreat. Thanks for allowing me to attend and for the great fellowship at dinner the night before. DM

This week in D11

August 25th, Deadline for State Fair Entries!
August 25th, CBC planning meeting , Victoria County Extension office 9 am. All committee members and species superintendents expected to attend in person or by Lync.
August 25th, CEA FCS Youth Strike Team Briefing 11:00 am , Lync

Personnel News:
Help me in congratulating Shamaine St. Julian as she was awarded her Masters Degree last week. Shamaine's commitment to her education and professionalism is clearly evident as she continues to provide high quality direction for the Austin County 4-H program.
Great Job Superstar !

TExAS Version 3 Upgrades

2011-08-11T13:23:00.000-07:00

TExAS Version 3 is scheduled to be launched in mid-September. This version of TExAS has numerous upgrades and is designed to run more efficiently. Given the nature of these changes, a strict timeline must be set in place for the transition. This timeline is as follows;

Early August (prior to the 12^th)- All planning functions in the current version of TExAS will be turned off. No entry of 2012 plans will occur in the old version of TExAS.
September 8, 2011- All reports for June, July, and August must be entered into the old version of TExAS. An initial lock of the records will occur at this time. I will be getting daily compliance reports on the status of the District 11 agents reports.
September 9 – 14, 2011- The old version of TExAS will be taken offline to convert to TExAS Version 3. No activity in TExAS will be allowed during this time.
September 15, 2011- TExAS Version 3 will be online. Entry of plans and reports will resume.

All Extension agents need to be mindful of this timeline and make plans accordingly as it relates to program planning.

District 11 Fall Faculty Conference and Program Development Workshop, will be held on September 13^th, and 14^th, at the Jackson County Service Center, in Edna, Texas. This conference will clearly set the stage for program planning and Monty, Elaine and I will communicate expectations for program development and plan submission for the upcoming year.

Program Planning Conferences will be held beginning on Tuesday October 11^th trough Friday the 14^th. Counties will be assigned a time slot during this week, we will use the Lync system as to help reduce travel costs. Please clear these days till further notice as we work through our DEA/RPD/4-H specialist scheduling in our region ,you will soon be assigned a time slot within the D11 program planning week for your Program Planning Conference.

New District 11 County Websites

District 11 has been selected as the next district in our state to transfer to the new website content management system and the AgriLife Communications Web Services Team is ready to begin moving your county Extension website into the new system. All that you need to do is initiate the process and the Web Team will handle the migration of your existing content.

To initiate the process, please complete and submit the form on

http://counties.agrilife.org/d11

I expect for your to complete this form and submit as soon as you can but no later than next Wednesday August 23^rd, please let Sylvia Falcon at our District office know when you submitted the form.

Once your information is submitted, you will be contacted on a first-come first-served basis. You will be notified as soon as your accounts are created and you will be directed to training resources, scheduled live training sessions as well as the login credentials for your new site.

The Web team is looking forward to working with each of our counties and we hope to minimize the amount the effort required for this transition.

Please inform your coworkers of the process and transition.

If you have specific questions, please contact...

websupport@agrilife.org

or,

http://agrilife.org/learnwordpress/ask/

Thanks in advance for your attention to and support of this transition, DM

District 11 Personnel News

I regret to inform you that Jennifer Janssen, CEA-FCS Jackson County and Sarah Brandes 4-H Agent Victoria County, have both resigned effective last Friday August 12th. I wish them both the best of luck in their new career choices and thank them for their years of service in Jackson and Victoria County and to the Texas Agrilife Extension Service.

Improving the Extension Program Planning Process?

2011-07-26T11:50:00.000-07:00

Texas AgriLife Extension Service places a great deal of time and resources in conducting program planning conferences. It is no doubt that program planning conferences is a critical component of Texas Agrilife Extension Service’s performance management system. However, the program planning conference itself is only one component in a series of related activities which includes the distribution of Program Planning documents that provides expectations for programming, Program Development Trainings and Workshops, Specialist Scheduling, the Program Planning Conference, Plan review and feedback, Plan approval, coaching and feedback by District Extension Administrator and Regional Program Directors during the implementation of programs, and the Performance Appraisal. The following graph illustrates Texas AgriLife Extension Service’s performance management system;

In today’s economic climate program planning must be focused on ensuring that Extension is efficiently allocating resources that results in the following;

Program excellence not just focused on approving a plan on the TeXas System.
Committed to developing better programs that result in measurable outcomes.
More efficient utilization of District Extension Administrator, Regional Program Directors and Agents time.

One of the methods that will be utilized to increase the efficiency of the program planning conference will be utilizing Lync to conduct the program planning conference. We will utilize this distance educational communication tool to add value to pre- program planning conference activities (distribution of program planning materials, program development trainings or workshops, specialist scheduling, etc.) by employing video conferencing capabilities that is collaborative, engaging, and cost effective.

Microsoft Lync can provide the following benefits for Extension;

Control costs – District Extension Administrator, Regional Program Directors and agents can effectively communicate among geographically dispersed County and District offices without long distance charges. Integrated audio, video, and Web conferencing will reduce travel costs, as well as the cost of third-party teleconferencing fees.
Improve productivity- Applications available with Lync assists District Extension Administrator, Regional Program Directors and Agents communicate within a more productive format. Instead of e-mailing documents back and forth for approval, Middle Managers and Agents can rely on real-time collaboration through desktop applications such as sharing plans and reports on the TeXas System, power point presentations, Word documents and utilization of a virtual whiteboard.
Gain operational efficiencies -By integrating Lync in program planing and conferencing delays can be reduced or eliminated. For geographically dispersed county and district offices, group chat can enable efficient, topic-specific, multi-party discussions saving time and money.
Enables Extension to be more responsive to clientele- By reducing the number of face to face meetings that require travel time for Agents allowing them to be in the county to respond to clientele needs and conduct educational programming.

Whenever any change is implemented some are reluctant and have questions related to the change. The following are some questions that have been posed related to the use of distance education in program planning conferences;

Question- Will Lync be utilized for conferences with all agents?
Answer- All agents may be involved with a Lync conference, but agents who need additional assistance will be required to attended a face to face program planning session. The District Extension Administrator and Regional Program Directors will identify those agents who need to participate in a scheduled face to face session which include agents who are not prepared for their Lync session, new agents, agents who have plans that do not contain required elements, agents who have performance issues, etc.

Question- What happens if the system does not work the day the Lync session is scheduled?
Answer-This system has proven to be very reliable, however it is always advisable to have backup plans in the event a technical problem arises. However, this is really no different than if an agent or middle manager has car trouble on their way to a meeting– we need to have a backup plan to accommodate unexpected situations!

Question- Will this diminish the effectiveness of the program planning conference?
Answer- No! The program planning conference is only one component of the performance management system and if we conduct quality program development trainings or workshops and conduct an effective program planning conference via Lync our program planning should be even more effective. It should be emphasized that Lync provides face to face interaction, capacity to share documents, provides opportunity to utilize power point presentations and many of the same elements that have been utilized in the past during conferences except middle managers and agents are saving time due to reduce travel and reduced down time for agents who have traditionally had to wait for their individual conference.

Question-Will Lync be utilized for other conferences and meetings?
Answer- Yes!! Middle managers and Agents will utilize Lync for planning meetings, mid-year reviews, cluster meetings, involving specialists in program area committee meetings, collaboration of development of educational materials, etc.

It is expected that District 11 agents be recognized as visionary leaders who embrace change and aggressively implement new management processes. As Texas Agrilife Extension incorporates Lync in our management processes the most important element that will influence the success of this process in our District is our mindset and attitude.

Your Outlook Calendar

As we continue to explore the many new effective tools associated with our migration to the Microsoft Exchange Outlook system I wanted to encourage you to use your Outlook calendar. Your calendar is inter-graded into your email account and to the Lync system. When you are invited to a meeting via email or to a online meeting through Lync you will be asked to accept or decline the invitation. If you accept the invitation the system will automatically add the meeting to your Outlook calendar. You will be getting many emails in the future from me and others with invitations to meetings etc. It would be beneficial if you would use your calendar to keep track of important dates and deadlines. We are also in the process of initiating a District 11 Extension Calendar and a District 11 4-H calendar that will be shared with each one of you and your support staff. You will be able to view the calendar from your Outlook email account and will have the availability to post county events to the District calenders. There will be much more to come on the use of your calender in the future. I have used an electronic calendar for the past two years and have become accustomed to the calender very quickly. There is also much value in sharing your calendar with your support staff, once your calendar is shared with support staff they can add appointments and reminders to your professional calender and you can also do the same. I understand that not all of you have mobile devices that will incorporate your calendar to your device, however you still have the option to print your updated calendar.

D-11 4-H NEWS

HIPPOLOGY CONTEST – JUST FOR FUN!!!

District 11 will be hosting an invitational Hippology Contest at the Fayette Co Extension Office (LaGrange, TX) on Saturday, August 13, 2011. This contest is being offered as a fun, friendly opportunity for youth with an interest in horses to test their knowledge and skills of the horse industry. Many of the competitions will be participating in Hippology for the first time so don’t hesitate to come and learn more about this FUN contest! Thanks to JD Folbre, Kara Matheney, Tina Kallus (volunteer from Fayette Co) and the Fayette Co staff for working together to make this possible. For more information, rules, and registration deadlines, visit the link on the District 11 4-H website at http://d114-h.tamu.edu.

District 4-H Photos Available

More photo galleries have been added to the District 11 4-H website:

· 2011 Junior Leader Lab (thanks to photographer Scott Willey)

· 2011 Leadership Lab

· 2011 Texas 4-H Roundup – District 11 Photos (these are candid shots, professional photos can be found on the Texas 4-H website)

All these photos and more from other events can be found by clicking on ‘D11 4-H Photo Galleries’ on the right hand menu of the District 11 4-H homepage (http://d114-h.tamu.edu/)

Please feel free to download any of the photos for your own use, newsletters, publications, etc. Please share the link with 4-H families in your county too!

WANTED: Photos from the District Horse Show! If you or any of your 4-H families have photos from the District Horse Show, please let me know…I would like a copy!

Texas 4-H Volunteer Conference

We are excited about the upcoming first ever Texas 4-H Volunteer Conference to be held in San Antonio on July 29-31, 2011. There are over 250 volunteer registered statewide. District 11 will be represented by 15 volunteers, 1 agent, and 1 workshop presenter.

Volunteers registered from District 11 include:

ARANSAS – Elizabeth Beebe & Ada Owens, AUSTIN – Monica Eskew, BEE – Candace Kovar, COLORADO – Katie Kunz & Barbara Weishuhn, DEWITT – Monica Carson, FAYETTE – Carlette Drabek, Jennifer Miksch, & Jennifer Zapalac, KARNES – Corina Venable, NUECES – Linda Johnson, VICTORIA – Henry Wood & Karen Wood, WHARTON – Stacie Williamson.

Shamaine St Julien and Jodi McManus will also be attending.

Please make sure to thank these volunteers for taking the time to learn more about supporting the 4-H program and see if they can share information at an upcoming Club Manager or 4-H Volunteer training in your county.

Customer Satisfaction- Required for Some Counties

2011-07-14T10:11:00.000-07:00

Customer satisfaction is the degree to which there is match between the customer’s expectations of the product and the actual performance of the product. Expectations are formed based on information consumers receive from promotions, family, friends, opinion leaders, research, and past experience with the product.
Customer satisfaction is an important measure of the ability of an organization to successfully meet the needs of its customer. It also helps demonstrate an organization’s worth and effectiveness to its stakeholders which is critical in maintaining their support.

The concept of customer satisfaction is easily transferred to Extension programming – with the product being an “educational program.” To assure continued relations with our clientele in the future, we need to ask basic questions:

How satisfied are they with the product they receive?
Are we meeting their expectations?
What are we doing right? Wrong?
How can we improve to keep their support?
Did the product help them make a decision about their own situation?

The customer satisfaction program within Texas AgriLife Extension Service is designed to address these basic questions to help ensure the agency continues to provide timely, relevant, and effective educational programs to the citizen of Texas.

It is also a state-mandated performance measure for our agency. Counties need to give attention and care to this data collection effort as its critical to our agency’s continued existence and programmatic success.
Organizational Development has designed two sets of scan forms (standard and with client change) that counties can choose from to meet their customer satisfaction reporting requirement
Counties required to participate in customer satisfaction reporting for FY 10-11 are listed below:

District 11
Aransas
Jackson
Karnes
Wharton

What a Required County Must Do to Comply

Each agent within a required county must use any version of a standard or customer satisfaction with outcomes scan form (click here to download forms http://od.tamu.edu/evaluation/scan-forms/download-forms/customer-satisfaction-scan-forms/) for at least two program events within the fiscal year (September 1 – August 31).
Submit the scan forms from step 1 and a completed cover sheet to Organizational Development for processing (click here for mailing instructions http://od.tamu.edu/evaluation/scan-forms/sending-your-forms/). Also, to ensure agents meet the outcome summary reporting deadline (typically in early December) they should not sit on their completed forms; send them in ASAP as processing volume around the deadline is heavy and takes longer than usual.
Steps 1 and 2 must be done by each agent within a required county for each fiscal year (FY10 & FY11)

http://od.tamu.edu/files/2010/03/Texas-Counties-FY11.pdf
Failure to comply with performance measures, such as customer satisfaction, can severely impact appropriated funding. Compliance with this performance measure should be treated as a significant part of Agents professional obligations.

Excellent Drought Resources available from the EDEN Network

A severe drought continues to have a grip the Coastal Bend of Texas and is forcing ranchers to liquidate their herds, farmers to fear for their crops and municipalities to restrict residential water use. Texas AgriLife Extension Service has developed and compiled some very useful drought materials that has been posted on the Texas Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN). These resources can be viewed by clicking on the following link: http://texashelp.tamu.edu/004-natural/droughts.php

The Basics of Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was signed into law on February 5, 1993, and became effective on August 5, 1993. Since its inception, County Extension Agents have had questions regarding this federal law. FMLA is designed to help employees balance their work and family responsibilities by allowing them to take reasonable leave for certain family and medical reasons.

FMLA provides eligible employees up to 12 weeks of job protection and continuation of benefits coverage while on leave due to certain family and medical emergencies. Employees are eligible for FMLA if they have completed 12 months of state service (does not have to be continuous) and have worked more than 1250 hours within the past 12 months.

State employees are required to use all available paid leave before using unpaid leave. FMLA coverage runs at the same time as paid and unpaid leave used for the FMLA-qualifying event.
FMLA qualifying events includes;

Birth of a child.
Placement in employee’s home of a child for adoption or state-certified foster care.
Employee’s serious health condition (illness, injury or pregnancy)
To care for employee’s spouse, child or parent who has a serious health condition.

If an employee is using leave due to the birth of child, adoption of a child younger than 3 years of age, or placement for foster care of a child younger than 3 years of age and the employee is not eligible for FMLA than Parental Leave coverage is used. Parental Leave provides up to 12 weeks of job protection only.

On January 28, 2008, President Bush signed into law H.R. 4986, the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2008 (NDAA), Pub. L. 110-181. Among other things, section 585 of the NDAA amends the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) to permit a “spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin” to take up to 26 workweeks of leave to care for a “member of the Armed Forces, including a member of the National Guard or Reserves, who is undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy, is otherwise in outpatient status, or is otherwise on the temporary disability retired list, for a serious injury or illness.” The NDAA also permits an employee to take FMLA leave for “any qualifying exigency (as the Secretary [of Labor] shall, by regulation, determine) arising out of the fact that the spouse, or a son, daughter, or parent of the employee is on active duty (or has been notified of an impending call or order to active duty) in the Armed Forces in support of a contingency operation.”

For more information regarding the Family Medical Leave Act contact Human Resources or refer to the System Regulation, 31.03.05 Family and Medical Leave at http://policies.tamu.edu/31-03-05.pdf

District 11 Personnel News:

Sarah Womble, County Extension Agent FCS in Victoria County will assume her new duties as the District 10 4-H Specialist starting September 1st. Please join me in congratulating Sarah on her new appointment. We have had the great fortune to have had Sarah in District 11 for many years and I know she will do a great job providing leadership to the District 10 4-H program. On behalf of the District I would like to thank her for her service to our District and to the Victoria County Extension program.

Julie Ketelson, County Extension Agent FCS in Washington County will be resigning her position effective July 29th, Julie will be moving to New Mexico, to pursue her advanced degree. Join me in wishing Julie much luck in her future endeavors, and thanking her for her service to the Washington County Extension program and our District.

Establishing goals and objectives at the county level

2011-07-05T10:45:00.001-07:00

Establishing goals and objectives at the county level is an important and ongoing role of every effective County Extension agent. One of the processes utilized by Texas AgriLife Extension Service is strategic planning. John Campbell (1995) described strategic planning as the “…hallmark of progressive organizations. It deliberately and methodically addresses missions, goals, emerging needs and opportunities as it determines institutional priorities” (p. 194). Campbell emphasized that “an important prerequisite to strategic planning is strategic thinking, the process of consensually acknowledging, articulating, and achieving vision of future values and institutional missions” (p.194).

As a result of strategic planning County Extension Agents along with their Leadership Advisory Boards can establish clear and concise goals and objectives for educational programming efforts. Boone, Safrit and Jones (2002) reported that “ the goals/objectives of the organization and the desired impact they define have their origin in the contemporary needs of its current and emerging public's and constitute the framework within which all decisions and actions about the organization’s program must be linked” (p. 101).
John Campbell (1995) in discussing leadership requirements for the Extension component of the land-grant University system stated the following:

•   Leading involves vision and effectiveness.
•   Leadership is about prioritizing, innovating and initiating.
•   Leadership is about creativity, adaptivity, and agility.

Leadership looks at horizons and the long-term big picture, not merely day-to-day activities and the bottom line. As County Extension Agents you provide leadership to County educational programs in the future it is essential that you, as Campbell described, look at the horizon and the big picture, not just focusing on the day-to-day activities. In order to establish a vision for the future it is imperative that we utilize a systematic strategic planning strategy in order to validate the issues that Extension programs are addressing through Extension educational programming.

In last weeks email from Dr. Smith, our new marching orders are in place in form of our 2011 Issue Identification Summary‒the results of local issue forums and online surveys that recently involved more than 10,000 people representing every Texas county. Thanks to the District 11 County Leadership Advisory Boards and all of you who carried out this important effort.

Locally identified and prioritized issues give direction to all of us in AgriLife Extension. In my opinion this is what keeps up relevant, as we are still just one of the few agencies that are grass root driven. They guide our agency’s strategic plan and the development of our programs, curricula, and resources, as well as our planning with partners and stakeholders.

Now we’re challenged to address these critical issues while adjusting to reduced financial and human resources. In reference to Dr. Smith's email form last week, if you have any questions or concerns to the current budget and staffing situation, status of Partial Cost Recovery Initiative, and how we are staying the course, please do not hesitate to give me a call.

I want to commend you for staying the course during a very busy spring and summer. As we move toward these next 6 month period I can only be more positive in the out look of Extension in Texas and District 11. It is up to us to keep Extension programs strong and relevant in District 11 for the benefit of our valued customers.

References

Boone, E.J., Safrit, R.D. & Jones, J. (2002). Developing programs in adult education: A conceptual programming model. (2nd ed.). Prospect Heights, Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc.

County Programs Vision 2011, Dr. Darrell Dromgoole, Texas AgriLife Extension Service

Dropbox
www.dropbox.com
I recently discovered a Internet application, http://www.dropbox.com/features, suggested by another DEA , that would help to sync files form my desk top computer to any other of my devices in order to have access to them when needed either on the road or at home. This is a free service up to 2 GB, for me that's a lot, since I delete files after I have placed them on my drop box not needing it any more. Files that I put on my dropbox are assessable on my home commuter, notebook and even my blackberry. I also like the feature that is works as another drive on my computer, all I have to do is drop files into the drive, its is very simple use.
Most useful item on my phone is that I can upload pictures to my drop box and the pictures are there to use when I get to any of my computers. I don't have to upload them using any cord or sync process. You can even share your files , pictures, videos etc.. with others very easily if you want.

Recently there are many other Cloud computing applications to use such as on Amazon Cloud, ICloud, etc. I just thought this was useful enough to share with you as many of you work form different work stations as it is becoming more frequent for County Extension Agents. I am pleased that may of you have taken advantage of the our new LYNC program and some of you have created ANIMOTO videos to share with your stakeholders the videos shared only add value to our programming, keep up the great work, DM

District 11 Spring Faculty Confrence Follow Up

2011-06-20T10:37:00.000-07:00

In reference to our my presentation and our exercise in understanding public value conducted at our recent Spring Faculty Conference in Sinton last month, I want to follow up with this post summarizing an April 2011 Journal of Extension Article. We had much discussion contributed from our exercise on how to write a public value statement . It will be important that we use this concept to include in our outcome, output plans and our Making a Difference documents in the near future.

During challenging economic times, the value that decision-makers place on Extension from a public value stand point is critical. In a recent Journal of Extension article entitled Advancing the Public Value Movement: Sustaining Extension during Tough Times, Nancy Fraze suggested several steps necessary to advance this movement. Some of these steps that are fundamental in advancing public value outlined in this article include (Franz, 2011);

Understand the differences between Public and Private Value- Many Extension faculty and administrators have difficulty envisioning and communicating how Extension work translates to public value for non-program participants. The goal becomes not simply changing clientele behavior, but showing how this behavior change leads to outcomes that benefit the general public by generating public value (Kalambokidis & Bipes, 2007)
Create the Case and Urgency for Public Value- Extension faculty and staff must embrace that we can’t continue in a “business as usual” mode. Extension must recognize that it is imperative to be able to demonstrate and communicate that our program benefits more than the individuals participating in the program. One of the methodologies that could be utilized in assisting staff to think in terms of continually thinking about how this program has public value is to have agents provide public value stories during annual performance reviews.
Move from Embracing Private or Personal Value to Embracing Public Value- According to Franz (2011), Extension faculty, staff , and administrators should reexamine the way they describe Extension programmatic outcomes. The table below shows several examples of reframing learning.

Comparing Extension’s Private and Public Value (Franz, 2011)

Private or Personal Value	Public Value
Youth and Adults develop leadership skills	Increasing civic participation
Homeowners conduct tests for septic tank leaks.	Decreasing water pollution or drinking water contamination
Youth and adults increase their intake of fruits and vegetables	Decreasing health care costs
ServeSafe certification by restaurant workers	Reducing food-borne illnesses and related health care costs
Youth serve on teen court	Reducing juvenile recidivism and court costs
Reduced use of pesticides	Improved water quality

Embracing the public value of Extension means repositioning the manner that Extension faculty describe what clientele learn/behavior changes/ adoption of technology (programmatic outcomes) to what economic, environmental and social condition change as a result of programmatic outcomes.

Develop Public Value Story Telling Template- If Extension is successful in enhancing public value in Texas AgriLife Extension Service’s interpretation efforts thru the incorporation of public value statements templates must be created for utilization in interpretation documents (Making a Difference Quarterly email stakeholder updates, Making a Difference Animoto videos, Making a Difference annual reports, etc.). These templates include a title describing the public value gained from the educational effort, information on the relevance of the issue being addressed, Extension’s educational response, and results which include the public value of the program.

Lessons Learned from Public Value Work

According to Franz (2011), Extension programs embracing the public value movement have discovered that changing the culture of a Extension system to embrace public value isn’t easy, but is possible and effective. Franz (20110 reported that the following may be helpful in implementing public value;

Be proactive with public value stories rather than waiting until decision-makers cut Extension funding or programs.
Start the movement with early adopter, and nurture the mid-adopters.
Build urgency with faculty and staff by using real stories about lack of understanding or misunderstanding of Extension work.
Provide a wide variety of professional development opportunities for Extension staff to enhance their public value thinking, skills, and story development.
Secure public value champions in the organization at all levels to help catalyze change.
Don’t underestimate the ability of clientele to determine, measure, and share public value of Extension programs (Franz, 2009).
Encourage researchers to conduct research and share results connecting the private value of Extension with public economic, environmental, and social condition changes.
Create a strong statistical base for the relevance section of public value stories to make them more convincing and make it easier to measure actual change due to Extension programs.
Bridge field and administrative visions and actions around public value efforts through middle managers.
Determine which programs should be supported solely by public funds and solely by private funds by determining the public value of each program.
Involve economist, program evaluators, communications staff and stakeholders in developing public value stories to more deeply and authentically tell the story.

The public value steps outlined in this article and piloted with several Extension systems and national work groups can be informative for District 11 agents as we begin to determine how this concept can be utilized to enhance current interpretation efforts.

District 11 Agents received some preliminary training related to Extension public value at our 2011 Spring Conference. Agents are encouraged to review the following articles and websites to become more comfortable with this concept;

http://www.joe.org/joe/2011april/a1.php
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/kalam002/publicvalue/

References

Franz, N. (2011). Advancing the Public Value Movement: Sustaining Extension During Tough Times. Journal of Extension [On-line]. 49 (2) Article 2COM2. Available at: http://www.joe.org/joe/2011april/comm2.php.
Franz, N. (2009). Promoting organizational sustainablity: Engaging volunteers to tell the program impact story. The International Journal of Volunteer Adminstration, 26 (3), 3-11.
Kalambokidis, L. & Bipes, T. (2007). Building Extension’s public value: Presenter’s guide. St. Paul: University of Minnesota Extension.

Dr. Darrell Dromgoole, Associate Director-County Programs, Texas AgriLife Extension Service.

2012 County Budgets Requests

2011-06-14T13:26:00.000-07:00

Summer time for many county commissioners courts and county auditors start to ask Extension offices to review their budgets for those counties on a fiscal year of October - September. District 11 has 9 counties on a Oct-Sept. and 9 counties on a Jan-Dec. fiscal year budgets. Each county handles this a bit differently.

D-11 County Coordinators:

Again, we will follow the process that you have used in the past. I request that you give me a call or e-mail and let me know of your needs / requests prior to presenting them to the court. I want to be informed of each county request and the process for submitting the request to the Judge / Court. The better informed I am, the more supportive I can be when speaking to courts regarding county budgets.

For those of you who are new to the role of county coordinator, please give me a call and I'll be happy to walk you through the budget development process.

I look forward to working with you through the budget development process.
As counties look at their expenditures and future budgets there can be some challenges to over come.
Please be frugal in your requests and make sure that if you are going to ask for more funds that they are warranted. Proper documentation of items such as travel in extremely important if asking for an increase in travel. County travel does not have to be equal to be equitable for each agent.

Summer Work Schedules

4-H Round Up, association meetings, leader lab, horse shows ,crop tours, validations, etc, these and many other work duties will take you out of the office for a big part of the summer. At times you will be away for as much as a week at a time. It is important that if you leave the office for a work related task, please inform your support staff of where you are going, for what reason , and let them know when you will come back to the office. Much of this can be discussed at weekly office conferences, however things come up and it is necessary to be at many places in preparation for an event.

When clientele call the County Extension Office or come by asking to see the agent, it is important that support staff know where you are and when you are coming back. Of course many of your clientele can call you on your cell phone, but it is good business for new clientele and those not communicating with you often to expect a timely response to their needs. Our clientele expect for our offices to be open when they need to visit with us, please make sure that proper communication is in place if for some reason your office must be closed for a short time period. DM

Career Ladder Timeline

2011-06-08T08:59:00.000-07:00

Texas AgriLife Extension Service and Cooperative Extension Program agents implement innovative and contemporary programs that meet the needs of local clientele and communities. These programs result in measurable outcomes that truly “Make a Difference”. One of the methods agent are recognized and rewarded for effective programming is through the County Extension Agent Career Ladder system.
The purpose of the career ladder is to provide a system for measuring and documenting the progress of Extension Agents in their profession and to reward their professional accomplishments. Recently on June 1st, we had our annual South Region Training in Victoria, with 25 agents present and 8 speakers. The training was a informal workshop assisting agents in understanding the process in applying for promotion. In depth training was also provided in completing the dossier as agents seek promotion. D11 agents present were Charles Seely, Makenzie Wyatt, Dianne Gertson, Ginger Easton Smith, and Mike Hiller. I would also like to thank some of our Level IV agents for contributing to the training as presenters, Kathy Farrow, Jeff Stapper, and Diana Weise.

The following table provides a timeline from June through September for managing promotion in the Professional Career Ladder System for County Extension Agents;

Legislative Quarterly Reports

Most of the Legislative Quarterly Email one page reports have come in and again the information is an excellent way to keep our state legislators and their staffers updated on our programs. I want to remind each of you that these reports were established specifically for state legislative contacts certainly they are appropriate for your county judges, commissioners and key leadership in your counties, but please make sure that this communication is sent to all your state representatives and senators contacts.

Attached is a video that Jodi McManus created on "ANIMOTO" highlighting our recent spring meeting in Sinton last month. Thanks to Brent Batchelor for being our official photographer and sending these photos to us. We are in the process of sending the pictures to you of the award presentations. However, if you would like any of these pictures in the video, email Jodi and she will send them to you.

This simple video is an example of how we can use social media as a tool to interpret our programs such as in your Quarterly Legislative Email reports and other quick media updates enhancing our programs. If you want to see the video on the Animoto site click on the link below.

Click here to view 2011 D11 Spring Meeting Video

State Summer Association Meetings

I want to encourage you to attend your respected professional association meetings this summer. These meetings can be excellent ways to develop yourselves professionally.The meetings provide inspiration, great tours of the region , recognition, and fellowship among your peers. I also encourage you to become engaged in your associations as officers and through committee work. The meeting also provide opportunities to involve you family and share valuable experiences of a county Extension agent.All of you have included your professional association annual meetings as a task in your individual development plans, I look forward to reviewing your reports involving your participation in your meetings.

Contact your District 11 directors, and or alt. directors for more information on the meetings and registrations.

July 16-20 TCAAA, Wichita Falls
July 18-20 Texas Extension Specialists Association, San Antonio
July 26-28 TEAFCS Fredricksburg
Aug 3-5 TAE4-HA Beaumont

District 11 Personnel News

Mr. Jerry Gray, has resigned as County Extension Agent ANR in Refugio County, effective this week. Jerry has accepted employment out of Extension. I want to thank Jerry for his service with the Texas Agrilife Extension Service in Matagorda and Refugio Counties, and wish him the best of luck in his new endeavors.

District 11 Quartery Legislataive Email Report

2011-05-31T14:37:00.000-07:00

Interpretation of our programs in our District, County, and communities is more important than ever.

In 2011, I expect for each District 11 county to provide a one page quarterly email report to your State senator and state representative and their staffers. We can keep them updated and most importantly update their district staff. I want you to get to know your legislative district staff especially they new staff members of newly elected state leadership.

As representatives of state government and our funding partners, our programs are also their programs. I want to remind our agents and specialists that we must stay positive in our interpretation efforts. it is imperative that we stay positive! in providing information of our successful programs great programs are our best interpretation.

The quarterly reports can be creative with limited amount of pictures, and video, including much of the same information that you provide in your county commissioner reports, highlight timely events during the year. Keep it short to the point and include public value and or economic effectiveness of our programs each time.

I am not asking for you to do much more than you are doing already as you complete your reports each month. I know that you can clearly understand that completion of this and other special reports is a critical professional obligation associated with professional educators with Texas AgriLife Extension Service.

Your quarterly legislative email report, TExAS monthly reports, and county commissioners reports are due by Tuesday June 7th.

The Power of Positive Attitude

by Remez Sasson

Positive attitude helps to cope more easily with the daily affairs of life. It brings optimism into your life, and makes it easier to avoid worry and negative thinking. If you adopt it as a way of life, it will bring constructive changes into your life, and makes them happier, brighter and more successful. With a positive attitude you see the bright side of life, become optimistic and expect the best to happen. It is certainly a state of mind that is well worth developing and strengthening.

Positive attitude manifests in the following ways:

Positive thinking.

Constructive thinking.

Creative thinking.

Expecting success.

Optimism.

Motivation to accomplish your goals.

Being inspired.

Choosing happiness.

Not giving up.

Looking at failure and problems as blessings in disguise.

Believing in yourself and in your abilities.

Displaying self-esteem and confidence.

Looking for solutions.

Seeing opportunities.

A positive attitude leads to happiness and success and can change your whole outlook on life.

District 11 Agents: I found this definition of positive attitude, as I tried to get through a challenging day after a holiday, Monday and Tuesday all in one. It is clear that agents moral and attitude could be better in our challenging times due to our budget concerns. I want to remind you that all we can control is the quality of our programs, our positive attitude, and our professionalism. DM

Quality Counts Verification is now active and ready to be used!

2011-05-18T09:02:00.000-07:00

Quality Counts Verification is now active and ready to be used! Moving forward into the 2011-2012 Major Show Season, Quality Counts Verification will be a part of the process for entry in all major shows. This means youth exhibitors will need to demonstrate their knowledge of the Six Pillars of Character and the Eight Core Concepts presented in the Quality Counts Curriculum. To do this, they will need to pass an online test on the website ( http://qualitycounts.tamu.edu/ ) and acquire a Quality Counts Verification number.

Things you need to know about Verification:
* 2011 - State Fair of Texas will implement Quality Counts Verification on a voluntary basis.
* 2012 - All Major Livestock Shows in Texas will require Quality Counts Verification at the time of entry - This means youth will need to be verified prior to entry in the fall of 2011.
* A Verification number is obtained by answering 80% of the questions correctly on an online test.
* You will have access to the Verification Records for your county by logging in as a County Extension Agent.
* Your initial username and password is your email address and your county name. Example: Username - kchilek@ag.tamu.edu Password - brazos. (please note: you may need to try both variations of your email address: @ag.tamu.edu and @tamu.edu)
* You should log in and set up your own unique password.

The Quality Counts website ( http://qualitycounts.tamu.edu/ ) will serve as your portal to the online test, Verification Records, and educational resources related to Quality Counts. From this website, you can access all of the Quality Counts curriculum and various PowerPoint presentations for use with 4-H livestock exhibitors, 4-H leaders, and local support groups and organizations.

Distance Educational Tools for our Youth Educators

4-H Social Media: Choosing Your Channels
May 18, 2011: 1pm CST
Start off your social media ventures by discovering how a quick survey of your audience can help you understand their interest and investment in social media. This session will also focus on finding your primary audience and how they will affect your engagement online. Finally, examine how a social media strategy can help you meet your organizational goals.
View and Participate: http://www.4-h.org/get-involved/social-media/training.aspx

4-H Social Media: Starting Your Own Pages
May 25, 2011 1pm CST
Should you develop a page or a group? Who will build and manage your pages? What privacy settings should you consider? What is a hashtag anyway? Get to the nuts and bolts of creating your own social media channels, as National 4-H Council’s social media team lead you through a step-by-step process of preparing your own Facebook and Twitter pages.
View and Participate: http://www.4-h.org/get-involved/social-media/training.aspx

4-H Social Media: Content Generation
June 1, 2011 1pm CST
Generating content can be easy when you use the incredible resources of the 4-H Community. Learn how to build an editorial calendar, schedule your updates in advance using tools like Hootsuite, and how to use eXtension to collect general content for your social media outlets.
View and Participate: http://www.4-h.org/get-involved/social-media/training.aspx

4-H Social Media: Online Safety Best Practices
June 8, 2011 1pm CST
The best way to build a 4-H network is to create a secure online community for both adults and youth. Social media experts will provide you with an outline of best practices for adult volunteers who may be interacting with youth online, as well as a series of recommended privacy settings to keep youth and adults safe on your pages.

View and Participate: http://www.4-h.org/get-involved/social-media/training.aspx
These are listed on http://learn.extension.org. No registration is required, just log in to the link on the training day. District Extension Administrators should let agents know about these online training opportunities.

Meaningful Internships Pay off

In the summer of 2011, Texas AgriLife Extension will host a number college interns regardless to the fact that all these interns will be unpaid. Research indicates that providing college students with meaningful internship opportunities with employers increases the chance that they will stay in that career field after graduation.

Agents, if you have contact with college students ( former 4-H members) that show and interest in a possible internship with our agency and in District 11 please direct them to me for proper protocol in getting them on board.

Remember, even though Extension is currently in limited hiring capacity our future success is dependent on our ability to attract a talented, diverse and competent workforce. The time we spend with interns now is an investment in our future.

Spring Faculty Conference and 4-H Scheduling

Jodi and I are looking forward to our Spring Faculty Conference next week in Sinton, we have a full agenda for our two day meeting. You are running out of time to register so please get this done ASAP. We need to prepare for the meals , meeting rooms, etc.. You have recently been emailed more information on the conference by Sharon Thompson, see the map of the fairgrounds as it is not the easiest place to get to if you don't know where you are going. In advance, I want to thank the San Patricio County staff for hosting this year. I know they have gone over an beyond to plan in making our conference a success.

Please come prepared to stay for the entire conference. We will also have an opportunity to recognize our outstanding agents and their accomplishments at our social, dinner and award presentation on Tuesday evening. The dress for the conference will be professional casual nice office attire (for the men that means,no ties ladies you know what this means, we will be outside for the social, dinner and the presentation of awards.I need for one of the agents to volunteer to be the official photographer for the presentation of awards. I you have a good camera and know how to use it, I would really appreciate someone taking pictures so we can forward the pictures to the agents for recognition in their counties.

Issue Identification Deadline fast approching May 15th, 2011

2011-05-09T09:11:00.000-07:00

The County Issue Identification Deadline is fast approaching, please enter you information into the website, if you need help let me know, or call Dr. Jeff Ripley for help. All of the guidelines for issue identification and procedures are at: http://extensionissues.tamu.edu/?page_id=7

End of The Quarter
In reviewing your reports, I would like to remind you that the end of the quarter, is approaching at the end of May, all your monthly reports in Texas, should be completed by the 7th of June . This includes your county commissioners reports, travel, and our new Legislative Making a Difference, email one pagers. The one pagers should be emailed to state representatives, senators, us congressman, and their staff, you will also want to send to your local funding partners , county court members, and selected stakeholders in your county.

District CEA Strike Teams

Hurricane Season Just around the corner, most of you are very involved in providing leadership to your communities and county concerning Hurricane awareness and preparation. Once again we are in the process of establishing our District ANR strike team and FCS/4-H strike team. I will be evaluating the individuals on the team and call several of you in order to submit my list to our state office. If you would like to volunteer for the Hurricane strike teams please give me a call by the end of the week.

During the agency’s 2008 Hurricane Season After-Action Reports the concept of District CEA Strike Teams was borne. When disaster strikes how can we elevate the human resource needs and improve our ability to support the CEAs in the stricken area. Local CEAs may be victims themselves and the incident may call for an elevated level of professional responsibilities and commitments to fulfill Extensions role in County and State Emergency Management Plans.

District 11 Hurricane Recovery County Publication Management Plans (CPMP)

DEAs are responsible for approving and filing the Hurricane Recovery CPMP. This plan should include the pre-storm and post-storm distribution plan with county and city post-storm recovery/distribution center points-of-contact and addresses/information for each county and city recovery/distribution center in the plan. This contact information is essential in the event that local CEAs and/or their families are impacted by the storm or have been asked by their county judge/EMC to perform other duties after the storm. With the completed CPMP on file DEAs have the option mobilize one or more of our CEA FCS/4-H Hurricane Recovery Strike Teams to assist local CEAs to implement the CPMP.

I am asking for you to review you CPMP and make and send me a copy of the new updated plan, if yo have not changes make reference to the new plan year and submit the plan to the district office for filing. if you need a template for the plan let me know. I need the plans by next Monday, May 16th, 2011.

2011 Texas 4-H Volunteer Conference

July 29th-31st, 2011

San Antonio, Texas

Registration Now Open on 4-HCONNECT.
DON'T MISS OUT!

Why a Volunteer Conference?

The opportunities for our youth, our volunteers, and our 4-H Program continue to grow! With this growth comes the need to prepare and provide our volunteers with the best resources and training possible. As our 4-H Program continues to expand and become more vital to the youth of Texas, it is imperative that we effectively engage and empower our volunteer network.
Our volunteers need access to the highest quality educators and resources so they are best equipped to return to their counties and work in partnership with their local County Extension Agents to further develop our youth. This has never been more important as we consider how to most effectively lead our youth.

Conference Highlights

The Texas 4-H and Youth Development Program will be sponsoring a state-wide leader training on July 29-31, 2011 in San Antonio to prepare the new generation of 4-H volunteers to lead and instruct our members. Highlights of the conference will include:

High energy, dynamic, and engaging conference addressing the emerging issues of youth development and the Texas 4-H Program.
A two and half day conference filled with quality educational workshops and general sessions. (Scheduled to start on Friday evening and conclude on Sunday)
Opening session featuring engaging communicator and leading teen expert, Grant Baldwin, as well as an updated on the state of the Texas 4-H and Youth Development Program by Dr. Chris Boleman.
Sessions on Saturday and Sunday focused on needs provided through agent and clientele surveys ensuring our program leaders are receiving the training they want!
It’s not a one time thing! This is on target to become a bi-annual event (off years of Texas 4-H Congress).
Conference will include web-based video streaming of some sessions for those that cannot attend in person!

Recognizing District 11 Agents:

Stephen Biles, Joe Janak, and Peter McGuill recently had their article published in the "International Journal of Agronomy:"

Great to see our agents being recognized for their demonstration work internationally.

Soybean Yield along the Texas Gulf Coast during Periods of Variable Rainfall as Influenced by Soybean Cultivar and Planting Date, W. J. Grichar, S. Biles, J. D. Janak, and P. McGuill
Volume 2011 (2011), Article ID 314852, 14 pages

You may access this article from the Table of Contents of Volume 2011, which is located at the following link: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ija/contents/

District 11 Spring Faculty Confrence and 4-H Scheduling(May 24-25)

2011-04-25T15:53:00.000-07:00

Plans are under way for our Spring Faculty Conference and 4-H Scheduling, at the San Patricio County Fairgrounds(Civic Center) in Sinton, Texas. Please make arrangements to participate in our annual conference. The event will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday May 24 and 25th. Tuesday May 24th a BLT Centra will be held for agents involved in a group setting form 9 am to 12 noon.

The general session will begin with all AgriLIFE and CEP Agents in attendance, registration at 1:00 pm the conference will start at 1:15 pm. on afternoon of the 24th. We will discuss Distance Education and Engagement: The Value of Technology. We will also have an administrative update from Dr. Bonnie McGee, followed by a evening social , dinner and award presentations at the fairgrounds, not the Welder Wildlife Foundation as once announce.

Wednesday May 25th will be a full day with optional professional association breakfast meetings prior to the general session starting at 8:30 am. Check with your association chair as to where and when your meeting will take place. I will provide some administrative updates, then will provide a short program on interpreting public value for your programs. To follow my program we are fortunate to have Dr. Chris Boleman in District 11 as he will provide a program on marketing your Extension programs.

Next RPD's Monty Dozier and Elaine Fries will provide programing updates. The remaining of the program will involve 4-H updates, calendar, agent assignments with breakout sessions. An updated agenda will be provided soon. The registration fee will be announced and registration is on 4-H connect.

Please be prepared to stay till the end on both days. If you have prior commitments make every effort to change them. Tuesday evening Dr. McGee will help to present awards and recognize our D11 agents. It is important that you stay to participate in the awards presentation as we recognize our agent's outstanding accomplishments.

Outlook Migration and LYNC

I believe that all District 11 staff and offices have migrated to our new Microsoft Exchange Outlook email program. I am going to select a few of you to start the process of installing LYNC a instant messaging software associated with Outlook, the program integrates, messaging, phone conversations, video, and presentations. This would be a alternative to our Centra system and even phone conferences. The software instillation instructions can be viewed on the AgriLIFE first call IT website. I will be contacting a few of you soon and prior to our May training so we can show our staff how it works. It is my goal to have every agent using LYNC in the near future. It will be a great tool to conduct meetings, share ideas, and just simple communication on a daily basis. For you early adopters here is the link on information on LYNC, or just go to our AgriLIFE IT web site.

http://first-call.tamu.edu/migration.php

direct link http://first-call.tamu.

Credit for Life Fair

Information about a great program submitted by Kara Matheney:

The new credit for life fair event was a great success!! The students were engaged and seemed to have a somewhat realistic grasp on how the real world works by the time the fair was over. Student evaluations have been sent to the bean counters and should be back soon. Every volunteer (30 + from the community), including the Principal, Superintendent, and Assistant Superintendent, raved about the event and are on-board to host the event again and serve as volunteers in the future. As of now Angela McCorkle and Kara are working together on a grant to make this a training opportunity and eventually a viable outcome program for other agents/counties.

Altair participated in the first-ever Credit for Life Fair held April 15 in the school’s gymnasium. The fair, appropriately presented during national Financial Literacy Month, was designed to provide young adults with “real-world” experience in managing personal finances, said event coordinators.

Approximately 30 volunteers from area businesses, the school and the Texas AgriLife Extension Service assisted with the fair, presenting students with budget-related options and money-management challenges and advice. Each student was given a career and monthly salary, as well as a credit score based on how well they performed on a financial pre-test. They were then provided choices relating to financial essentials, including rent and transportation, as well as “luxuries” such as having their hair styled. The goal of the exercise was for them to remain within their monthly budget.

“The students learned quickly how hard it was to stay within a budget. They were in awe of the expenses associated with real life living, how quickly things added up, and how easy it was to exceed their budget,” said Kara Matheney, AgriLife Extension agent in Colorado County. “They also learned some careers were not as glamorous as they thought and didn’t pay as much as they expected.”

“The event was great,” said Rice Consolidated ISD superintendent Mike Lanier. “Giving the students a chance to see real-world situations and to interact and make choices was much better than reading about it from a textbook or off a blackboard. I was also impressed with how smart many of the kids were in the choices they made.”

Lesley Carey of Trafco Industries in Eagle Lake, served as the committee chairperson for the event and added that, “At the fair, the kids got a better understanding of how things really are, and how important it is to establish and maintain good credit.”

District 11 4-H Fashion Show a Success

Story Boards

Excellent Attendance

The 4-H fashion show was held in Victoria, Texas on Saturday, April 16th in the Victoria Mall. The event was a great success with many complements from the leaders , volunteers and parents. It seemed that the young people in the event were having a really good time. The participants were also excited to be in a small fashion show at the mall.

The event also gave an opportunity for 4-H promotion and outreach as many shoppers stopped to see what was going on. A big thanks to the Victoria County Staff, area agents and committee members for organizing this great new but traditional event. Our District 4-H Council also assisted greatly with the event.

Thanks to Jodi McManus for her coordination of the event and the Victoria Mall staff for allowing us to have the event in their facility at no charge.

Texas Budget Cycle

2011-03-30T12:46:00.000-07:00

Spring is a busy time of the year, planting season, educational programing, and 4-H District contests have our main focus, and I appreciate your efforts to implement our partial cost recovery initiative in your spring plans of work,.

However, it is also clear that many of you have questions on the Texas Budget and how the proposed budget cuts could affect our agency. To date we do not know what the budget reductions would involve because the budget has not been pasted. Below is a good explanation of the Texas Budget process and a how the budget process moves through the house and senate prior to being submitted for approval. I suggest you take a look at this article from the Texas Tribune to gain a better understanding where we are in the overall process. If you have any questions feel free to give me a call.

http://ow.ly/4prp5

District 11 Spring Faculty Conference and 4-H Scheduling
May 24-25, Sinton, Texas

Our annual spring faculty conference and 4-H scheduling has been scheduled for May 24th, and 25th, in Sinton at the San Patricio County Fairgrounds, Civic Center. We will have a full two days of instruction starting with a BLT Centra that will be viewed by selected individuals , we will follow the Centra presentation with a general session, involving a distance technology training, the evening of the 24th we will have a social with an expectation that every agent be in attendance. We will present several awards to our agents, and have administrative updates from state administration. Tentatively we will have our social and program at the Welder Wildlife Refuge north of Sinton. The following day May 25th, we will continue with 4-H programing and scheduling. Please mark your calender as every Agrilife and CEP Agent will be expected to attend.More details to come soon.

Partial Cost Recovery
As we close March 2011, we will start to work on our District Cost Recovery Report. Please make sure that you have submitted any funds associated with your programing in our first month of our new imitative. Please go to the web site for forms and information on the procedures.

http://agrilifeas.tamu.edu/fiscal/cash-mgmt/ext-cost-recovery/

District 11 4-H Contests

We are about to start our Spring 4-H Contests in order to qualify our young people for State Round Up. I would like to remind you that each an every one of you are youth educators. We will assign you to the many tasks that we need accomplished, I expect for you to continue to provide enthusiasm for the contest, also be positive as you assist with your task. These contests are important to our 4-H members and leaders. Your support of our young people is of great importance to them and their leaders. Most of the time all you need to do is be there and provide your support to the contestant and their family.

An agent needs to remember that the monetary cost involved in participating in a contest is very high. There is an investment by a parent or leader in time and money to practice and travel to the contests. It is important that they know we are appreciative of their investment in our programs. Please read the rules, meet the deadlines, and finally be professional in your attire, we must look the part. These contests are just not another Saturday we have to work, these Saturdays are important times in our young peoples lives.

In the words of a former District 11 agent , Jack Hunter, "every body got to be some where, if we got to be here we need to make it the best". District 11 Horse Show Beeville, Texas , 105 degrees, June 1999.

District 11 4-H Round up Blinn College April 9th
District 11 Horse Judging , TAMU April 9th
District 11 4-H Fashion Show , Victoria Mall, April 16th
District 11 Livestock Judging, Entomology ID, Meats Judging & ID, Range & Pasture Grass ID, Soil Judging, TAMU, April 30th

Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant. -Robert Louis Stevenson

Solving Problems Using Creativitiy

2011-03-16T15:20:00.000-07:00

Most of you know that I am a twitter user, I don't tweet much but do follow mostly news sources that I am interested in personally and professionally, one of the individuals I do follow is John Maxwell, a author of several Leadership books, and well known leadership speaker etc.. He provides short blogs on helpful leadership topics I find useful. Today his topic is titled Complicated problems need creative solutions. I would suggest that you take a look at this site when you have time. John Maxwell provides some good points and ways to establish discipline of creative thinking when faced with challenges. Clearly Texas AgriLIFE Extension Service is being challenged with changes. I would consider our Partial Cost Recovery Initiative just initiated this month to be a creative solution to a very complicated situation. Below are the points that John Maxwell writes about in his blog today. http://johnmaxwellonleadership.com/

1. Spend time with creative people.
2. Look for the obvious.
3. Be unreasonable.
4. Practice mental agility.
5. Dare to be different.
6. See problems as opportunities.

District 11 Quarterly Legislative Email One Pagers

Thank you for your diligence in completing these reports, I am extremely pleased in the quality of these interpretation pieces that you and your support staff have completed. Some of you have commented that you have received positive comments from contacts.We need to continue to provide positive information to all of our stakeholders. I also continue to see some really creative new way you are implementing our cost recovery imitative this is one of the best things you can do right now.

Historic Day in Dewitt County

Anthony (Old Dog) Netardus

Anthony Netardus officially became the longest tenured County Extension Agent in DeWitt County history. The previous Agent who held this distinction was Gilbert Heidemann, who was an Agent in DeWitt County for 15 years, 8 months and 15 days. Netardus surpassed that today, currently serving DeWitt County for 15 years, 8 months and 16 days, and counting. Congratulations to Anthony!!!

4-H News from Jodi's Desk

CONGRATULATIONS TO STATE QUALIFIERS

Hats off to the District 11 Dairy Judging Teams that recently competed in Houston and qualified for the Texas 4-H Dairy Judging Contest to be held in April. State qualifiers include the Fayette County 4-H team of Amber Matula, Jennifer Drabek, Dillan Drabek, and Dakota Zapalac, Washington County team of Kristian Kasprowicz, Samantha Meyer, Kyle Bentke, and Laramie Naumann, and Wharton County team of Hannah Weinheimer, Danielle Valenta, and Shelby Stary.

Congratulations to the Matagorda County Wool Judging Team of Chasidi Jackson, Faith Grisham, and Dillon Bramble. They competed in the Houston Livestock Show Wool Judging Contest and qualified for the Texas 4-H Wool Judging Contest in June.

Wildlife Conservation Camp

The Texas Chapter of the Wildlife Society invites you to the best week of your summer. Wildlife Conservation Camp will be held July 17-23, 2011 at Welder Wildlife Refuge in Sinton, Texas. The Conservation Camp focuses on exciting, hands-on, outdoor experiences and activities with presentations led by wildlife professionals from across the state. Students must be nominated by a Texas Chapter of the Wildlife Society member, teacher, county Extension agent, youth leader, or local Farm Bureau. Student must be in high school at the time of nomination. Cost for each student is $250. The application deadline is May 1, 2011. You many download an application at www.tctws.org For more information, contact Dr. Megan Dominguez mkdominguez@ag.tamu.edu

NEEDED: 4-H Volunteer Award Applications

We realize this is a very busy time of year for agents; however, it is important not to forget to recognize our volunteers! Each year, Texas 4-H provides awards and recognition for various individuals and groups that provide support to the 4-H program. All awards are presented at the Salute to Excellence banquet during Texas 4-H Roundup.

PLEASE FIND JUST A FEW MINUTES BEFORE MARCH 23 to complete the short nomination form to recognize a volunteer from your county. There are 5 nomination categories: Citation for Outstanding Service to 4-H, Texas 4-H Alumni Award, Meritorious Service Award, Salute to Excellence Award, and Leader’s Legacy Award. To find out more details about each category and to download a nomination form, please visit:

http://texas4-h.tamu.edu/volunteers/recognition_volunteer/index_recognition_volunteer.php

Each district gets to recognize two Salute to Excellence winners and we have only received 1 application/nomination for this year! Please consider nominating a volunteer from your county! If you have any questions, or need any help, please contact Jodi.

2nd Quarter Reports Due March 7th

2011-03-04T08:41:00.000-08:00

Effective Extension educational work requires that reports be timely, accurate, concise, and complete. Reporting is an element of Extension work that you may be the most favorite part of your job. Our County Extension Agents do an excellent job of programming, but some fail to capture their accomplishments in monthly reports. John Campbell (1995) in his book Reclaiming a Lost Heritage emphasized the public accountability importance of reporting by stating, “taxpayers deserve to know that their money is being prudently extended in society’s best interest” (p.140). The Legislative Budget Board (LLB) receives your TEXAS reports. If you did not report it did not happen. If you don't get your reports in prior to end of the quarter those reports are useless.

It is extremely important that Texas AgriLife Extension Service account for all educational activities and contacts. Failure to report these performance measures can severely impact appropriated funding. Reporting is fundamental to comprehensive Extension programs and should be treated as a significant part of Agents professional obligations. Reporting should be thought of as tool to modify and improve educational programs, as well as to communicate program progress and results to faculty, staff, planning committees, elected officials, clientele, and Extension Administrators.

As your District Extension Administrator I monitor Agent reports monthly to ensure that all Agents develop a system for maintaining records and documentation for my reporting purposes. All reports should contain the following:

•Who are targeted audiences for program/activity and the number attending?

•What issue is being addressed and subject matter covered?

•When did the program/activity take place?

•The impact of the program/activity. Adoption of practices, knowledge gained or behavioral changes should be reported.

The 2nd quarter ended in February (December, January and February). District 11 agents should have completed their reports on the TEXAS system before March 7th.

Reference: Campbell, J.R. (1995). Reclaiming a Lost Heritage. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press.

Legislative Contacts Quarterly Email One Pagers

I have been extremely pleased with the quality of the Legislative Quarterly One Pagers (December, January and February) that have been sent out recently. The information is more important than ever as state legislators work in Austin to balance our state budget. Your one pagers are being read, today an agent called me to tell me that he had contact with a Legislative aid about their county one pager and the aid requested the email sent in another format. This tells me that they want our information. Your Legislative Contact Quarterly Email One Pager is due to your Legislative contacts, county commissioners, selected stakeholders, and cc both Barbara Moretich and I by March 7th the end of the 2nd quarter.

Distance Educational Survey:
For those agents that have not completed the survey I asked you to complete last week, the deadline has been extended till today March 4th, you can go to the survey at the link below:

http://tamuag.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_6eSUKOo9Mv29sJ6

Partial Cost Recovery

There has been much discussion and questions on starting our new partial cost recovery initiative this week. Remember, try to find ways to implement cost recovery not look for ways to exempt your programs for the new process. We need to recover cost now and as quickly as possible. The Regional Program Directors and my self welcome your questions, keep them coming. Ag/NR agents your questions on Pesticide CEU's are being answered, you point of contact will be Dr. Dozier, and I will visit with Monty on trying to make our CEU cost recovery as consistent as possible in the District. Dr. Dozier is working with the state office in getting the answers to your questions.

2010 Performance Reviews

I have completed all of our performance reviews, and you should be getting an email from greatjobs, indicating your PAS is ready to certify. In completing my second year in evaluation your successes, I am certainly amazed of all your high quality outcomes. At times it may seem that I may ask more and more from you, but good agents can only get better if their supervisor challenges them; my job is to challenge agents in exceeding expectations. I am very fortunate to have agents in our district that that understand our mission and our capacity to provide quality service and leadership to those we work with.

Please certifiy your PAS and send back to me so I can forward to our unit head. The system sends me an email to let me know I have a pending evaluations for action when you complete the process in Greatjobs. If you have any questions contact me or our district office manager Barbara Moretich.

Distance Educational Tools

2011-02-24T13:33:00.000-08:00

As Extension begins to develop educational program delivery strategies that include distance education, one of the most challenging aspects is to establish a culture among County Extension Agents to integrate this educational program delivery strategy into their ongoing programming.

As Extension faces challenges, distance education becomes of up most importance to the effectiveness and the accessibility to Extension programs.

As we launch the Texas AgriLife Extension Service Distance Education Initiative individuals want to talk about what needs to be developed, when in reality agents already have a number of strategies/tools available that are not being adequately utilized now. During the course of the next couple of weeks we will be featuring some excellent examples of Distance Educational strategies that agents can utilize now in the delivery of programs to clientele.

Some examples are: Family and Consumer Science agents have embraced distance learning by providing the leadership in developing Distance Educational Tools to add value to their traditional program delivery. The Dinner Tonight program provides clientele with a tasty, healthy, and cost effective recipes that can be quickly prepared.

The web site to see one of the East Region’s County Extension Agents demonstrate a recipe click on the following link:
http://healthyliving.tamu.edu
Also, a blog will be utilized to provide clientele with information regarding preparing nutritious meals. The blog can be reviewed by clicking on the following link:
http://nutritionalrecipes.blogspot.com/

Another one of the strategies that is easy to accomplish is for County Extension Agents to utilize web sites that can be effectively utilized to add value to traditional program delivery methods. One of these innovative examples is a websites designed to address issues facing the beef cattle industry entitled Cow Sense U. The following is a link to view this site: http://www.cowsenseu.org/.

Yet another, of these innovative examples is a websites designed to address issues facing the beef cattle industry entitled Ranch TV. The following is a link to view this site: http://ranchtv.org/.

An innovative example of utilizing technology in District 11 as part of this District’s Distance Education Initiative includes the following presentation by Victoria County Agent Sam Womble .
http://coastalbend.tamu.edu/Edvideos/Victoria.htm

Another is the Texas 4-H Livestock website.. Through your promotion and support, it has the potential to be one of the most utilized online resources Texas AgriLife Extension Service has to offer. The following is a link to view this site:
http://agrilife.tamu.edu/livestock101/

Numerous agents and specialists have utilized weblogs or blogs to interact with clientele. Listed below are just a few examples of how Extension educators with Texas AgriLife Extension Service is utilizing weblogs or blogs;
http://wild-wonderings.blogspot.com/2011/02/feral-hog-questions-and-answers.html
http://cbagbriefs.blogspot.com/2010/11/cotton-variety-test-results-posted.html
http://agrilife.org/etg/2011/02/18/mid-february-marks-rose-pruning-season/
http://cbagbriefs.blogspot.com/

Soon we will migrate to new county web pages that can be better utilized by you in providing distance education.

Distance Education Survey:Your participation in this survey is crucial in implementing our Distance educational initiative. This is your reminder that it is an expectation that every District 11 agent complete this survey before Monday, February 28, 2011.

You may complete this survey by clicking on the link below;

http://tamuag.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_6eSUKOo9Mv29sJ6

Partial Cost Recovery:

By the end of the week District 11 will have had, three trainings and most of our agents will have been provided information on implementing our new initiative on March 1st. I appreciate the attitudes that you all have had in being as positive toward embracing our new way of doing business. Please remember to go to our web site: http://ExtensionCostRecovery.tamu.edu for all the necessary materials and guild lines. The website has recently been updated with more power points in assisting to inform your committees and support staff on cash management procedures. Those agents that have not made the trainings due to conflicts will have an opportunity to participate in a teleconference soon, more details to come.

4-H News:

All district Roundup contest information has been posted on the District 11 4-H website.

http://d114-h.tamu.edu/events-and-contests/roundup/

Our highly successful Coastal Bend Classic needs to be evaluated by our agents, a meeting on Monday February 28th, starting at 1:00 pm in the Jackson County Demonstration kitchen has been scheduled. For those of you that can not make the face to face meeting, you can call into a conference call. I will send out the phone number and code Monday Morning.

Changing how we do business!

2011-02-10T12:39:00.000-08:00

During the course of the last couple of weeks, two initiatives were announced related to Distance Education and Partial Cost Recovery. These new initiatives will change the way we do business, for all Texas AgriLife Extension Service faculty and staff. As county Extension agents, it is imperative to provide a positive attitude for the change which will enable these important initiatives to be successful.

If you really think about it, is it that much different from what we have been doing for years any way. Extension agents for a very long time , have used innovative ways to allocate material resources in order to support their program. Program area committees have been used as the support base for fund-raising and effective programing. For example, when a agent needs a new sprayer for demonstration work, or a refrigerator to store ingredients for nutrition programs, they have allocated funds associated with their committees to acquire these necessary materials that the county or state Extension does not provide. Now your committees will be even more important than ever, by supporting our state Extension network, not only on the local level.

I don't know about you all, but when I go to church I put money in the basket hoping that the funds get used at my local church, but I know some of that money goes to administration to assist in funding the infrastructure and employees providing the mission of our church. Once a year I also get an opportunity to pledge funds that help other areas of our churches mission. I am not implying that we are becoming a church, but such a concept works and if embraced the mission of an organization such as ours can be stronger and be supported by all who benefit. I am very pleased that our state administration is not just sitting back and waiting to see what happens with our state budget, our new initiatives are effective ways to recover the cost and provide new ways to deliver our programs. We need you to help to load the wagon! and continue to help pull it along, just like we have many times before, now we must all pull harder than we ever have.

Financial Creativity
Some examples that should be implemented regarding the development of creative funding strategies are as follows;

Partial Cost Recovery that is utilized to increase the capacity of the agency.
Partnerships with municipalities.
Grants to fund specialized programs.
Partnerships with school districts to deliver specialized youth programming.
Partnerships with community colleges to deliver specialized program in communities.

The bottom-line is that it is imperative that county Extension agents implement new and non-traditional funding models. If our county Extension agent's do not embrace concepts that will generate non-traditional funding sources, Extension has limited strategies to utilize to address any additional budget cuts beyond the reduction in faculty and staff positions.

What are your programs worth to those that could pay for the information?

Innovative Program Delivery
County Extension Agents-must establish goals in adopting innovative program delivery that adds value to our traditional program delivery. Some of these might include;

Engagement and utilization of eXtension
Podcasts
Production alerts to growers, or consultants through smart phones
Blogs
On-line learning modules

These type of efforts take deliberate planning and action and talking does not get it done. Its time for D11 agents to step up and be the leaders that you are in technology delivered program delivery.

Some Extension professionals are concerned that these type of strategies are abandoning our traditional educational methods and clientele. These approaches should actually strengthen our relationship with our traditional clientele while providing avenues to reach new clientele and enhancing our program delivery efficiency.

Extension represents the heartbeat of the land-grant university system. Texas AgriLife Extension will only continue to be as relevant in the future as it is today if we continually evolve from the "ground up" through our local committees, and county support.

The basic concept of Extension using objective, research-based information to help the public is of greater importance now than ever! I encourage you to “control what you can control” , which is the quality of your programs and how you can interpret the value of your programs to your stakeholders.

District 11 Partial Cost Recovery Trainings Scheduled

In order to facilitate many of your questions in relation to the new guidelines, new priorities, and expectations, I am holding three agent trainings/workshops in the District in February. These trainings will allow me to provide you direction and guidance in developing our game plan to implement these guidelines on March 1st, 2011. We hope that our Regional Program Directors can participate if they are available however due to the short time frame Dr. Dozier and/or Dr. Fries may not be personally available.

February 18th, Fayette County Extension Office in LaGrange, 1 pm to 3 pm

February 23rd, District Office, Corpus Christi, 1 pm to 3 pm

February 25th, Jackson County Services Bldg. in Edna , 9 am to 11am

You are welcome to visit with me prior to the training, however it is extremely important that each agent make one of these short but important trainings. I know this is a busy time of year and it may be impossible to be at one of these trainings. If you have a conflict please let me know so other arrangements can be made to provide you with the tools you need to be successful in implementing the partial cost recovery guidelines. More information will follow, I just wanted to get on your calendars as quickly as possible.

Major Livestock Shows a busy time of the year

We are in the middle of the San Antonio Stock show and will be moving very quickly into the heart of the major livestock show season in Texas. We have a great opportunity each year to support our young people as they represent our local county programs in the big city.

Our livestock feeders come in two types in my opinion,those that participate and those that compete! There is absolutely nothing wrong with either type of individual. Those that participate will travel to the city to learn more about their feeding experience, animal agriculture and build life long relationships. Those that go to compete are usually those that have more experience and expect to place. As advisers to 4-H members and leaders you must provide support to both of these type of individuals. Some feeders need more help then others, but be mindful about how you can best support all of your exhibitors in making their major livestock show experience the best possible. Remember to continually check in with your feeders when appropriate, during there time at the shows.

You must also remember that you are on official business and need to be professional in your capacity to lead your junior livestock show programs. In most cases you are an adjunct faculty member of your members school district. Remember that your appearance "even if you slept in a truck all night" must be appropriate for a Extension educator. Look for and take advantage of teachable moments with your young people and leaders. The relationships that your build with feeders and their parents will last a lifetime from your work at major livestock. DM

4-H Day at the Capitol

Thank you to the large delegation of 52 youth and adults from District 11 that braved the weather to attend the 4-H Day at the Capitol. Texas 4-H was recognized by legislators in both the Senate and House Chambers. Our very own Kelley Ullrich of Fayette County was selected to represent Texas 4-H on the Senate floor during the recognition. Kelley serves as the District 11 4-H Council Chairman and is a member of the Texas 4-H Council. After the morning recognitions, attendees enjoyed lunch and guest speaker Senator Glenn Hegar. In the afternoon, participants visited the offices of their local senators and representatives. There has already been positive feedback from legislators about how impressive it was to see the gallery filled with "4-H green".

4-H REMINDERS:

Texas 4-H Opportunity Scholarships and SALE Rural Youth Award Applications are due to the District Office on Friday, February 11, 2011. If you have applications that you have not mailed yet, please notify Sharon Thompson ASAP so she knows to be watching the mail for them. If you have NO APPLICATIONS from your county, please email Sharon to let her know so she can complete her county checklist.

Engaging the Leadership Advisory Board in Identifying Critical Issues

2011-01-31T13:53:00.000-08:00

WHY DO WE FOCUS ON ISSUE IDENTIFICATION?
Developing educational programs based on community needs is the foundation of Texas AgriLife Extension’s success. The Leadership Advisory Board’s Issue Identification process provides an avenue to hear from all types of clientele and people within a county. Providing solutions to county problems and issues will allow AgriLife Extension to remain viable to constituents. What could be more important to AgriLife Extension than listening to its “customers” – the people of Texas?
Our ability to meet educational needs depends on knowing what local residents see as their issues that impact their lives. There is no way to know the answers to these questions unless they are asked. Therefore, AgriLife Extension will involve the Leadership Advisory Boards in a process to ask residents what is important to them.

This activity is just one part of the needs assessment process. Other processes to collect information include, but are not limited to:

State and National Trends

Commodity/Industry Groups

State and Federal Mandates

Emerging Issues

County Committees/Planning Groups

The issues that surface should be discussed with county committees, task forces, and subject matter specialists to determine the appropriate action for educational programming.
Texas AgriLife Extension is unique because it has faculty in every area of the state who is dedicated to educating Texans in many areas of need. This uniqueness provides an opportunity to bring together the people of Texas, other service agencies, and educational groups to help provide solutions to the problems and issues facing Texans.
Remember the mission of AgriLife Extension: “Improving the lives of people, businesses, and communities across Texas and beyond through high-quality, relevant education.”

For more information, call the Organizational Development Unit at 979-845-7280, visit the website dedicated to this process at http://extensionissues.tamu.edu, or go to the Organizational Development Unit’s website at http://od.tamu.edu.

In visiting with you and your coworkers during our recent Performance Appraisal Confreres, I have asked each one of you how and when you would be implementing your identification of issues. I want to remind you that the process must be completed by May 15th. With the busy spring of the year just upon us please know that each staff must complete this very important task. Thanks to many of you that have already entered your information on to the web site.

Engaging the Leadership Advisory Board in Identifying Critical Issues---Time Line

Sept-Oct., 2010 – Discuss with DEA/RPD the process for your county
Oct.-Dec., 2010 – Meet with LAB (or Chair) to begin plans.
Dec.-Apr. – Implement Process
May 15 – Enter issues online

Degree Information

In Extension, degrees are central to career ladder advancement and are a recognized means of professional development and learning. please go to the organizational site for proper forms that need to be submitted as you enroll in classes. Many of you have already done so, but if you have not you can get many of your questions answered on this site.

http://od.tamu.edu/employee-development/degree-information/

4-H & Youth News

Take A Stand website!

A new section called "In The News" has been added which showcases news articles and other resources that you may find of interest. There may be information in the articles or materials you wish to replicate in your county as you market and conduct the Take A Stand program with youth. Please take some time to go to the website and check out the information! I think you will find some great ideas there, including a "Keep Your Cool Rap", a Rumors Activity, and some great news articles! http://texas4-h.tamu.edu/agents/take_a_stand/index_take_a_stand.php

If you have had a news article about the program in your local paper, please scan and send it to me! If you have developed an activity to supplement Take A Stand, please send them to Cheryl Newberry, the instructions for the activity and if you have pictures to go with it, that is a bonus! I will format it and post it on the web!

Program Update: We have completed the first year of the program and I am pleased to report that there were a total of 377 educational sessions conducted reaching over 20,000 youth and adults! That is GREAT!

MOST of those contacts were not supported with evaluations being submitted to Paul Pope for scanning (only about 1100 were sent in). Whether or not you do an outcome with Take A Stand, if you complete the program with a group, PLEASE USE THE EVALUATION AND SEND IT IN FOR SCANNING so that we can have the data for state-wide impact! If you hand tabulate the data, we still need you to send it in for scanning -- especially if you are doing an outcome!!! This is very important!!! Time restraints on due dates for outcome summaries may require you to hand tabulate, but I can still use the data if you will send it on in for scanning!!!

District 11 Reminders:

We have many Take a Stand Outcomes in District 11 please help to report your successes.

REMINDER: 4-H OPPORTUNITY SCHOLARSHIPS due to the District Office by February 11, 2011.
Agent Monthly reports due by February 7th, Commissioners Court Activity Report, Travel and Texas Reports. Accountability is more important than ever. If need to ask why you have been in a cave, please leave your cave and take care of business, thanks for what you do everyday, DM

District 11 Legislative Quarterly Reports

2011-01-20T08:03:00.000-08:00

Interpretation of our great programs in our District, County, and communities is more important than ever. You certainly know how important it is in a difficult time in our states history, and you also are aware that I have reinforced this during our performance reviews this year.

In 2011, I will implement and expect for each District 11 county to provide a one page quarterly email report to your State senator and state representative and their staffers. It is not appropriate to have formal interpretation with our state legislators during the session. We must let them get to business in Austin. However we can keep them updated and most importantly update their district staff. I want you to get to know your legislative district staff especially they new staff members of newly elected state leadership. It is appropriate to invite your state legislators and their staff to your show case events in your counties. Several of you have invited your state leaders to your stock shows during this stock show season. This is a great way for them to interact with our volunteers, and youth in action. If they come to your events involve them in an opportunity such as a presentation, opening ceremony and or award presentation. As representatives of state government and funding partners, our programs are theirs as well. I want to remind our agents and specialists that we must stay positive in our interpretation efforts. We may start to see some negative publicity from other areas especially the media, it is imperative that we stay positive! in providing information of our successful programs great programs are our best interpretation.

The quarterly reports can be creative with limited amount of pictures, and video, including much of the same information that you provide in your county commissioner reports, highlight timely events during the year. Keep it short to the point and include public value and or economic effectiveness of our programs each time.

I am not asking for you to do much more than you are doing already as you complete your reports each month. I know that you can clearly understand that completion of this and other special reports is a critical professional obligation associated with professional educators with Texas AgriLife Extension Service. If you want more ideas on completing this report , I would suggest you contact Nueces, Victoria and or Karnes County. These counties already do a great job in providing a quarterly email update to their state senator, representative and their staff.Give me a call if you have any questions, DM

Cost Recovery

Recently we have received several notices of some significant changes in how we will do business in our counties concerning cost recovery and others ares, and will be receiving even more direction soon. I want to also make it clear that we should be open minded in looking to the future. County Extension agents are extremely resourceful individuals, for example just look back at your human and material resource allocations for this past year in your PAS materials. I am always amazed of how we allocate resources to acquire what we need to be productive.

I believe this will make our agency stronger, and make our programs better. Giving the choice of paying more taxes or paying for information clientele need, I believe our customers will choose to pay for relevant, research based knowledge from trained reputable educators such as yourselves. We must all (Agents, Specialists, and Volunteers) buy into our new changes and be unified as a team across the district. If you have any questions or concerns on cost recovery or other areas please give me a call.

District 11 4-H News from Jodi

District 11 Consumer Decision Making Contest

The district CDM Contest will be held on MONDAY, MAY 9, 2011 at the KC Hall in Hallettsville, TX. Registration will be after lunch with a contest start time around 2 p.m. More details will be emailed soon!

District 11 Photography Contest

Thank you to everyone that participated in the photography poll. For the 2011 District 11 Contest (junior & intermediates only), we will continue to submit printed/mounted photos. However, the 2011 contest will use the NEW STATE CATEGORIES! Complete photo contest rules and guidelines will be emailed soon and posted on the District 11 4-H website. NOTE: The 2012 D11 Contest will be moving to electronic submission and judging. Please make your clientele aware of this change now!

REMINDER: 4-H OPPORTUNITY SCHOLARSHIPS due to the District Office by February 11, 2011.

County Extension Agent- Generalists or Specialists

2011-01-10T12:46:00.000-08:00

I am almost done with my tour of District 11 Performance Reviews I had good visits with agents last week in Fayette, Wharton, Lavaca, Jackson, and San Patricio Counties. Each personal discussion concludes with professional development, and goals for the future. I am asking the same question of all agents in relation to their professional expectations and how they believe their clientele see them in their county. Most of our D11 agents respond to being either a professional educator or resource person in the county. Our District 11 resident philosopher and Austin County Extension agent, Mr. Phillip Shackelford explained the duties of a county Extension agent are not of an occupation or a job it is a way of life. I believe that Phillip explained it well as we continue to meet the mission of AgriLife Extension.

Most of you if not all are more generalists rather than specialists in your occupation, depending on your staffing pattern and the size of your county. We all try to know everything and to be everything to everyone, but we must also remember that in developing oneself professionally it is important to nurture each ones passion. I have asked each agent what is their specialty and challenged them to foster their specialty with this years professional development opportunities. Our more tenure agent"s each have a special talents and a passion in which they learned over the years, and are resource persons to other agents in our Distinct and in the state. New agents and mid career agents, with the help of our RPD's I want to challenge your to find your area of expertise and continue to grow as professional educators and ultimately become revered as our experts of the future.

Key leaders in your County

Another question that I am asking of each agent during PAS reviews is if Dr. Smith called one day and asked you if you could give him a few names of advocates and or ambassadors of your county program who would they be. In the mist of our challenging times we must stay mindful of how are programs are making a difference in our communities. Take time to think of these individuals and how we can use our volunteers to continue to tell our story.

County Committee Documentation

As I review your committee and program building structure in your county I often ask to see your documentation on your committees. Most of our agents have a procedure that they follow to document their meetings. A good protocol is first a letter must go out to the committee, secondly a sign in sheet must be provided and kept, and a designated recorder must take minuets , some times this is the agent. After the meeting the minutes are then sent out to the committee especially those that were not in attendance.

I know that documentation is also supported through the Texas system, however it is nice to see the protocol that is followed by our agents. I want to highlight a few counties and agents in this process. Brian Yanta in Goliad County scans every document associated with committee work he then saves the information each year and provides me with what I need electronically. He has every year in his career, documented on his computer . Another excellent effort is out of San Patricio County, Kathy Farrrow, county coordinator keeps all of this documentation and provides a matrix and or snapshot of the county committee structure. They includes, LAB, Youth board, Program Area committees and tasks forces that meet each year. This is a great way to see the entire county program building structure in a county.

Texas 4-H Livestock Ambassadors in District 11

The Texas 4-H Livestock Ambassador Program equips youth with the knowledge and skills to become an ambassador for Texas AgriLife Extension Service, the Texas 4-H Program and animal sciences as it relates to livestock projects. After attending the Ambassador training, students are required to log at least 20 hours of service annually, helping novice 4-H’ers with their livestock projects and educating fellow 4-H’ers. Hats off to the following youth from District 11 that have attended the Livestock Ambassador training:

· Ty Batchelor, Matagorda County

· Emily Kelley, DeWitt County

· Rachel Kaplan, Nueces County

· Cuatro Schauer, Bee County

· McKenna Schulte, Washington County

· Chelsey Rudasill, Washington County

We encourage counties to invite these young people to serve in leadership and teaching roles at livestock clinics and workshops, quality counts trainings, local projects visits, or other areas where you see fit. Several of these members assisted with the Coastal Bend Classic to work toward their annual 20 hours of service. Please give them other opportunities to assist and log service hours.

Personnel News in District 11

District 11 agents help me welcome Mr. Charles Seely to District 11. Charles is now the new Calhoun County 4-H Agent. He is completing his first step training in Matagorda County prior to assuming his duties in Calhoun County on February 1st. Charles comes highly recommended from Tarleton State University. I know the Calhoun County 4-H members and leaders have plenty for him to do as he starts his Extension career.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-03T07:38:00.000-08:00

I hope you had a good Holiday Break and are ready for the new year. I wish each an every District 11 staff member a prosperous and productive 2011. It is clear as I continue my tour of District 11 during our performance appraisal evaluations, how effective and productive each one of you were last year. You certainly made a difference in the lives of your clientele in 2010. I truly appreciate all that you do to make District 11 one of the best Extension Districts in the state.

I would like to remind you to please have your staff job responsibilities assignments for the year ready for review. This is the time we evaluate your specific area of work and tasks associated with these job responsibilities. I also want to commend those of you that have completed your civil rights reviews, the process goes much smoother if you have your observation record completed prior to my visit. If you are to have a CR review please pay attention to this detail.

Utilizing Volunteers in Interpreting Extension Programs

The utilization of volunteers who serve on various committees and task forces is an excellent strategy to implement in both formal and informal interpretation efforts. The involvement of volunteers in the interpretation process is ingrained in many county’s interpretation culture. In counties where volunteers are utilized in interpretation agents have spent quality time arming committee and task force members with the type of information needed for them to effectively interpret Extension educational programs. However, there are many counties across District 11 where volunteers could be more effectively utilized in formal or informal interpretation efforts. Elected officials place tremendous creditability on information related to Extension educational programs when it is provided by constituents. However, volunteers don’t provide interpretation by chance– it happens as a result of planning, training, and design.

In order for volunteers to be effective in interpreting programs they must:

Be an individual whose opinion is valued and respected by your elected officials.

Have an active role along with agent to plan,implement, evaluate and interpret effective county programs that results in measurable outcomes.

Have an understanding of the Texas AgriLife Extension Service as an organization.

Your volunteers should be armed with appropriate data related to Texas AgriLife Extension’s roles in providing educational programming efforts your county.

They should Embrace the philosophy that an investment in Texas AgriLife Extension Service programs is an investment that provides a return in your county in terms of economic, environmental, and/or social outcomes.

Be equipped with information related to specific program(s) outcomes in your county.

Making a Difference Interpretation Templates/ County One Pagers

These templates have been posted for County Annual Report and Outcome Summary reports. It is imperative that these be consistently utilized when developing interpretation pieces. The link to download these documents is as follows: http://agrilife.org/communications/resources/extension/documents/

Your outcome summaries should be uploaded to Texas. I am also asking for you to update your county one pagers. Some of you already have, this was an extremely useful tool for me in my first full year. please make the necessary adjustments and send them in to me by January 15th, thanks, DM

Annual Agricultural Income Increment Report

Due Date:January 14th, 2011 my office, please send thorough email and cc Barbara Moretich

Agricultural Agents, I appreciate your leadership and cooperation in providing the annual estimate of Ag Production Value from your county. These are the only current annual income data available to represent Texas Agriculture to county, state, and federal agencies, news media, new commercial industrial prospects and agribusiness.

Merry Christmas District 11

2010-12-19T22:00:00.000-08:00

I would like to wish our District 11 Extension Team a Merry Christmas and a happy new year. As I read your making a difference reports and your outcome summaries, I am amazed at the great programs that you are providing your clientele each year. We certainly have the best district in the state but only because we continue to have the best agents in the state. As we prepare for a new year just around the corner, I encourage you to take some time to enjoy your family and all of what the holiday season is meant to be. If you are going to try to start shopping like me this week, be careful on the roads and as you travel to see family and friends. This has certainly been an eventful year for Extension, as I look back upon this year I am thankful to have the staff of great agents, support staff and volunteers in District 11. I am sure you can also reflect on your year not only professionally but personally. Get some well deserved rest and come back ready to continue to Make a Difference in your counties in 2011.
The District office will be closed during the holiday break from Thursday, December 23 through January 1st; we will resume regular business hours on January 3rd, 2011. I know that many of your county offices will be open for some time during these days. If for some reason your office must be closed during the non-county holiday times, make sure that your clientele can reach you or a designated person if they need to. I will be available on my cell phone (361)543-7595.

District 11 County Judges and Commissioners Conference

We had a excellent conference on December 14th, in Edna. 4 county judges and 23 county commissioners attended the conference. 8 District 11 counties were represented at the conference. Four attendees were newly elected officials. Judon Fambrough with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University provided a program on wind energy opportunities in the Coastal Bend, Dr. Rebecca Dundensing, provided a program on Economic Development opportunities and evaluation, and Mr. Dennis Dewitt, provided a great program on County health and community affair issues. State Representative John Zerwas, District 28 contributed with a legislative update on the many issues affecting lawmakers in Austin this legislative session to start on January 11 2011.

The program finished with information from Jim Allison, general counsel for the judges and commissioners association of Texas. Also in attendance was Ms. Ashely Mathews with the VG Young Institute for County Government, and Dr. Dromgoole, Associate Director for County Programs. Dr. Dromgoole provided an update discussing our Budget reduction and possible future budget cuts.

Thanks to the JJ and Mike for being great hosts, and for the other agents that I ask to assit with the conference.

Outlook Conversion Process

District 11 counties that have been converted to Outlook email system are Karnes , San Patricio and Refugio Counties.

What does this mean? Basically means that any groups that you have created with Karnes, San Patricio and Refugio county staff will not get the e-mail if you send e-mail to the group as it exists. You need to go back and re-add the staff back to your personal groups.

In a nutshell, when the staff is moved to Outlook the e-mail address is deleted from the GroupWise address book, thus their names and e-mail address are removed from all personal groups. The new e-mail address is then added back to the GroupWise address book, but this procedure will not add the e-mail back to personal groups.