Cooperative Extension Service Departments
Administration
Blue Letter - February 2007 No. 3658

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From the Director • Dr. Rick Cartwright Selected to Receive APS Outstanding Plant Pathologist of the Southern Division Award • Electronic Invoicing Taught at Malvern Center • Ouachita FCS Retreat • PowerPoint Has Double Vision • Grants and Contracts

From the Director

We accomplished much in 2006, and we have laid the groundwork for achieving even more in 2007. As you review our successes in 2006, I hope you’ll share my enthusiasm for what lies ahead.

There is great potential as we look over the horizon, but as Charles M. Schultz, creator of the Peanuts comic strip, once said, “There is no greater burden than great potential.”

I hope as you and I reflect upon this past year, you will see the potential and the burden we carry to make this next year even more successful.

I hope you are as pleased as I am with 2006.

We completed the reorganization of our agricultural programs to reside under comprehensive departments that were placed under one administrative unit. The move was meant to benefit our programs and faculty by equalizing salaries, positions and titles. We made sure our departmental budgets were set up to provide appropriate operational funds so our departments and Extension will be strengthened as we seek to provide top-notch programs to our constituents.

We have established three new positions in Biological and Agricultural Engineering, each with 67 percent Extension and 33 percent Research:

• Bio-energy and Bio-products Engineer Dr. Samy Sadaka, from Iowa State University, will join us February 1 and will be housed at our state office. He has considerable experience and expertise in bio-fuels and bio-energy including bio-diesel and ethanol, bio-based valueadded products and by-products use.

• Geospatial Technologies Engineer Dharmendra Saraswat will be completing his Ph.D. at Ohio State University and will join us March 20. He has Extension experience and has conducted research in the application of geospatial technologies in agriculture. We will use his expertise in addressing environmental, production agriculture and community development issues.

• Air-Quality Engineer position will be filled this spring. We are interviewing now for the faculty member to be located in Fayetteville to address air quality issues in animal agriculture, housing and an integrated approach to soil, water and air quality issues.

We made changes to strengthen the plant diagnostic clinic.

• We moved Dr. Steve Vann to the Little Rock State Office, where he is the urban extension plant pathologist.

• We created a new position to better serve the Delta region and hired Scott Monfort.

• We hired Sherrie Smith as program associate at Lonoke.

The Public Issues Education Center should now be operational, and the entire faculty is in place.

• This department did great work on the 2006 ballot issues. It distributed fact sheets so that Arkansans were informed when they voted in November.

• This department is focusing on water quality issues and bio-fuels.

There were changes in Community and Economic Development.

• Dr. Tony Windham was transferred to Assistant Director of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

• More focus has been placed on LeadAR, which we moved into the Community and Economic Development Department. Dr. Joe Waldrum devotes his full time to LeadAR now rather than splitting his time with OSLD.

• Tammy Seefeld transferred from Lawrence County, where she was staff chair, and is now an instructor in rural leadership. Dr. Deborah Tootle joined us from Louisiana State University, and her main focus is rural development strategies and entrepreneurship.

4-H Centennial

• The importance of the upcoming 4-H Centennial celebration, which will kick off in October 2007, cannot be stressed enough. It is our way of bringing attention to the 100 years of 4-H and its impact on the lives of thousands of Arkansans. We hired Sarah Harrison as a program technician to coordinate our efforts, and we have created a budget to help us mark the first 100 years of 4-H in Arkansas. In addition, we will be raising money to defray our costs.

• The Communications Department will provide a packet of information and material for state and county faculty to use in county and statewide events and celebrations. Workshops in each district and for the state office will be given in April and May.

• We’ve got a terrific core of volunteers, led by co-chairs Mrs. Charlene (Stanley) Reed and Mrs. Ann (Milo) Shult, dedicated to making this event successful.

Assistant Director of Family and Consumer Sciences

• A committee has been formed to conduct the search to fill this position. Sharon Reynolds, associate district director for the Ozark District, is chair.

Gerontology to strengthen health emphasis.

• In Family and Consumer Sciences, we recently hired Dr. LaVona Traywick as assistant professor of gerontology to add depth to FCS.

Printing Services gets new director.

• Printing Services has gone through major changes since the loss of Eugene Thomas. We hired Jon Flaxman as director of Printing Services, and we purchased a color copier to make the printing process more efficient.

Physical Plant director

• Charles Whitaker retired and Bobby Johnson, a civil engineer, came aboard as the new director of Physical Plant prior to Charles’ retirement to help with the transition.

OSLD

• Lisa Ferris joined OSLD in September 2006 as an instructional design specialist. She supports faculty in designing online courses. She also serves as administrator of the Educator platform.

P-Cards streamline purchasing

• Financial Services introduced P-Cards credit cards that simplify and speed the purchase of routine products.

e~Print

• We unveiled e~Print to enhance access to budget information for those responsible for program budgets. With e~Print, we no longer have to delete classified salaries before determining remaining M&O budgets. e~Print tallies a total salaries line separate from the M&O budget.

PeopleAdmin

• Applicants may now file applications for Extension jobs on the Internet 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It allows hiring supervisors to request a position vacancy, post the position, review applicant documents, select an individual for the position and obtain the necessary approvals all online. Telephone system for Little Rock State Office

• Plans were completed in 2006 to purchase a new telephone system for the Little Rock State Office with a multitude of services: new display phones, caller ID, call accounting, web-based management software and unified messaging that ties voice mail, e-mail and fax together in a common interface.

IT Call Center finds smarter ways to deliver service.

• With technology tools like Network Streaming and Centra, technical support specialists are able to immediately respond to questions and troubleshoot computer problems. We made strides to better manage our information.

• We have committed our vision and resources to a long-term content management project to facilitate the creation, distribution and retirement of information. Communications and IT will work together with faculty and staff over the next 2 1/2 years to develop the best system for moving our Web site from a static environment to one that will dynamically refresh the information we present to those we serve.

Semi-monthly payroll

• In August, we converted payroll from monthly to semi-monthly with several benefits: it alleviates leave reporting issues in Banner; provides a better cash flow for many employees; sick and annual leave are reported with more accuracy; retirement contributions are invested twice a month.

County program

• We have increased our county offices to 220 county agents working with the citizens of Arkansas.

• County programming now reports to Dr. Mike French.

• We’re developing stronger relationships with county judges. Dr. French, the district directors and I have met with all the county judges, and we feel that a stronger relationship with the judges has emerged.

Grants

• In 2006, UACES was awarded more than $5 million in new funds which strengthen our program delivery.

Start-up package for new faculty

• We have initiated a study to evaluate the equity in how hard funds are distributed for program technicians and program associates to support our faculty effort.

4-H Foundation

• The 4-H Foundation and CES have renewed our MOU.

• An executive director position for the foundation is being jointly funded by Extension and the foundation.

• The creation of this position and the joint funding will create a stronger foundation and help accomplish goals that support our 4-H program.

• The position will also help the foundation raise more money.

Professional development

• Extension administration provides financial support, up to $750, for professional development, including national association meetings and professional development incentives for out-of-state trips. Professionals are encouraged to present at workshops that will build skills and strengthen knowledge in program areas.

• Reminder: The 2007 Galaxy Conference is February 21-23 in Hot Springs, another professional development opportunity afforded Extension personnel.

The list of accomplishments is lengthy, yet it does not cover all of our successes nor does it list our impacts, which are evident throughout the state in the way we deliver solid programs.

I appreciate each of you and what you accomplished in 2006. I look forward to our continued efforts and success this coming year, and I wish you well in your professional and personal endeavors.

- Ivory W. Lyles

Dr. Rick Cartwright Selected to Receive APS Outstanding Plant Pathologist of the Southern Division Award

Dr. Rick Cartwright has been selected to receive the Outstanding Plant Pathologist of the Southern Division of the American Phytopathological Society (APS) for 2007 to be awarded at the annual meeting of the APS Southern Division, which will be held in conjunction with the SAAS meeting in Mobile, Alabama, on February 4-5, 2007.

The distinguished contributions Dr. Cartwright has made to the science of plant pathology in the areas of extension, research and public service are certainly deserving of this prestigious award. I would like to extend my wholehearted congratulations and my best wishes for Dr. Cartwright’s continued success in the years to come!

– Sung M. Lim

Electronic Invoicing Taught at Malvern Center

During the week of January 8-12, nearly a hundred business people from Arkansas and surrounding states attended a hands-on lab-type training event. The one-day class was repeated three times in Little Rock and two times in Malvern.

Companies that sell to military customers are required to learn how to submit their invoices through an online system called Wide Area Work Flow, or WAWF, which is difficult to figure out without help. Three employees of the Arkansas Procurement Assistance Center attended the training. APAC was the host and co-sponsor of the event with the Small Business Administration and the Defense Finance Accounting Service. According to APAC Program Director Sue Coates, herself a professional instructor, the trainer provided by DFAS, Jerry Wheelwright of Rome Research, proved to be exceptionally well qualified and very skilled at explaining the system with great patience.

APAC’s procurement technical assistant, LaDonna Turpin, whose job includes helping clients navigate systems like WAWF, said: “I want to review this material on my own but the online training materials on the DFAS site would have been way over my head before taking Jerry’s class. Now I can understand it well enough to ask intelligent questions.”

Delbert Taylor, APAC’s program associate who spends 90 percent of his time counseling small businesses in every aspect of government contracting, also attended, as did Program Director Sue Coates.

The Defense Department has already asked APAC to host another presentation for vendors in late January or February. When this repeat performance is scheduled, it will be posted on APAC’s “What’s Happening” Web page.

– Sue Coates

Ouachita FCS Retreat

Ouachita District FCS agents met recently to learn new skills and receive program updates during a district retreat. Topics covered during the first day included prevention of chronic health problems, Food Stamp Nutrition Education programmatic support and AIMS support. Conducting program evaluation created so much interest on day two that Dr. Karen Ballard was asked to continue training during lunch.The afternoon was spent learning more about resource management programs.

Day three brought a new area of training for most of the agents – embedding (and creating) videos into presentations to create diversity with educational materials. Updates were given on how to package programs for recognition from professional associations to assist with professional development efforts.

– Kris Elliott

PowerPoint Has Double Vision

Have you ever presented a slide show and wished you could view your notes without the audience having to see them? We have tracked down this obscure feature in PowerPoint and list the instructions below. You must first extend your display to a second monitor. Below are instructions on two common laptops.

Mobile Lab Wide Screen Laptop M465-E

1. Hook the projector to the laptop and power them up.

2. Right click on the desktop, select Properties and the Settings tab.

3. Multiple monitors should be displayed, numbered 1 and 2. Select 2 and check the Extend Desktop to This Monitor checkbox. Hit Apply.

4. Make sure the resolution is set to 1024 x 768 or whatever resolution is correct for your projector. If not, change it and hit Apply.

Tablet Laptop M-280

1. Hook the projector to the laptop.

2. Right click on the Intel Extreme Graphics 2 Driver video driver management software in the system tray.

3. Select Graphic Options and change Output To from the default Notebook + Monitor to only Notebook and hit Apply. Then go back into Graphic Options, select Output To and select Extend Desktop.

You’ll know you’ve been successful at extending your monitor when your projector displays the wallpaper from your laptop but none of the icons.

To set up Presenter View in PowerPoint from this point is a piece of cake.

1. Open PowerPoint and the file you want to show. Select Slide Show from the menu bar and Set Up Show.

2. On the right side of the display window, select the dropdown box under Display Slide Show On and pick the second monitor (which is the projector).

3. Next, check the box below next to Show Presenter View.

- Nina Boston

Grants and Contracts