Issue Identification Deadline fast approching May 15th, 2011

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)

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

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

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

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

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!

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.