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Cooperative Extension Service |
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Agricultural
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Dr. Ivory W. Lyles |
To enhance uniformity of Agricultural Experiment Station (AES) and Cooperative Extension Service (CES) operations, the Division of Agriculture has recently implemented a number of policies, e.g., the Classified Employee Performance Evaluation policy and the Flex-Time policy.
Another policy recently implemented is the Nepotism policy. The Division of Agriculture recognizes that potential conflicts of interest may exist when members of the same family are employed by the Division, particularly in the same department or unit. This new policy states that no family member shall have direction or supervision of another family member, be in the chain of command of another family member or participate in decisions to hire, retain, promote, evaluate performance, determine duty assignments or determine the salary of another family member. “Family member” means an employee’s spouse, children of the employee or his or her spouse, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews, first cousins, parents, grandchildren or grandparents, whether by blood or marriage, of the employee or his or her spouse. This policy applies to all employees of the Division, including temporary and hourly employees.
To review the policy in full, please go to the Division’s website and select PMGS 08-4.
Finally, in the March 2008 Blue Letter, I reported that Administration is currently working with the civil rights compliance officer in reviewing and revising our civil rights data collection policies and templates. Recently a new “Annual Civil Rights Compliance Desk Audit” template was created. It is available online as A.F.F.A.C.T-11. This much needed replacement for the previous annual civil rights report is a more effective way for county personnel to record demographic information related to their outreach efforts.
Please continue to refer to the Office of Affirmative Action’s website as resource tool for readily identifying and accessing civil rights policies and templates. The website has other useful information, including training materials, helpful tips and demographic data collection forms. It also provides a link to the appropriate nondiscrimination statement to use when announcing specific meetings or activities to the public.
- Ivory W. Lyles
Extension Receives State’s Top Volunteer Service Award
The University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service received the top award for its volunteer contributions to the state of Arkansas at a state recognition event held at the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion on September 24, 2008. Volunteers of the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service contributed a total of 1,423,472 hours of volunteer service to the state of Arkansas, valued at $27,124,390. In 2007, 877 Arkansas organizations contributed a total of 19,062,664 volunteer hours, for an estimated dollar value of $414,678,410.
Arkansas citizens benefit greatly from services provided by volunteers. The impact of volunteer service is felt through out the state in terms of monetary value and the availability of services offered by organizations.
Receiving the award for UACES was Ivory W. Lyles, Associate Vice President - CES. Others in attendance were Darlene Millard, Anne Sortor and Mike Klumpp.
– Mike Klumpp
E-mail Survey: Blackjacks Rule, Outlook Mentioned Most Frequently
Blackjacks rule. A quarter of Extension employees never use the GroupWise calendar function, and half of all GroupWise users always or sometimes use web access.
These are some of the results from the online survey on e-mail usage that wrapped up October 15. More than 900 invitations to participate were e-mailed, with 28.5 percent completing the survey and entering for a chance to win a $50 gift card. Congratulations to Tom Barber, who won the card in a random drawing. The survey was offered by the Ad Hoc Committee on E-mail.
Among the survey’s findings:
Who answered?
Other fun facts to know and tell:
In the general comments section, Microsoft Outlook was the program most often mentioned in comparison to GroupWise. Pegasus and browser-based e-mail were each mentioned once.
The committee, appointed by Dr. Lyles, has until the end of the fiscal year to complete its mission to offer a “stay-or-go” recommendation and have that recommendation evaluated by an independent consultant.
Your committee members are Brett Barham, Mark Barnhard, Ryan Francis, Amy Hedges, Melanie Malone, James Marshall, Donna Taylor, Willa Williams, Phyllis McQuany and Mary Hightower, chairman.
Feel free to offer comments to committee members.
– Mary Hightower
Biennial Water Conference Set for November 7
The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture’s Public Policy Center and the UALR Bowen School of Law will present their biennial water conference on November 7, 2008. H2Overdrawn: A Forum on Water Policy, Law, Science and Technology will feature a keynote address by Robert Abrams, a professor at Florida A&M University College of Law and one of the nation’s leading water law experts.
The one-day event will look at the past, present and, most importantly, the future of water resources in Arkansas.
Participants will:
Presenters will discuss a broad array of topics, such as alternative practices for source water protection, advances in water quality analysis, successfully establishing an irrigation district and the effect of recent court rulings on wetlands jurisdictions.
Registration fee for the day-long conference is $50 for adults and $20 for students. A limited number of student scholarships are available.
The conference will be held at the C.A. Vines 4-H Center in Ferndale. The registration fee covers admission to all sessions, a CD of all PowerPoint presentations, continental breakfast, lunch and break refreshments.
Continuing education credits may apply. To view the agenda and download the registration form, go to http://www.ppc.uaex.edu. For more information, contact Lorrie Barr at lbarr@uaex.edu or call 501-671-2299.
– Lorrie Barr
Extension Service to Sponsor Ten Tax Update Schools
Professional tax preparers, farmers, small business owners and anyone interested in income tax preparation can take part in one of the two-day 2008 Income Tax Schools offered around the state. The schools are sponsored by the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. The schools are open to anyone regardless of race, color, national origin, age, sex or disability.
Classes are from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day. Topics to be covered include trusts, employment taxes, financial distress, rulings and cases, new legislation, ethics, individual problems, education, small business, agricultural issues, depreciation and LLC.
The instructors are tax experts with extensive experience with the Internal Revenue Service. Representatives from Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration will also conduct sessions.
The schools will be in Harrison (Comfort Inn), October 30-31; Fayetteville (Clarion Inn), November 3-4; Fort Smith (Holiday Inn City Center), November 6-7; Texarkana (Rural Electric Cooperative Building), November 10-11; Batesville (UA Livestock and Forestry Center), November 13-14; West Memphis (Holiday Inn), November 17-18; Monticello (UAM Forest Resources Building), November 20-21; Jonesboro (Holiday Inn), November 24-25; Hot Springs (Clarion Resort on the Lake), December 1-2; Little Rock (Ferndale 4-H Center), December 8-9.
The program meets the guidelines for 16 hours of credit for continuing professional education as defined by the State Board of Public Accountancy (including 2 hours of ethics).
The Cooperative Extension Service will provide tax manuals and reference materials for participants. Registration cost is $210 per person, except at the Batesville and Little Rock schools, where lunch will be served, changing the cost to $225. Registration will be accepted until the last day of the conference provided space is available.
– Kim Magee
Increased Funding for Free Services to Arkansas Businesses
On September 30, 2008, the Department of Defense (DOD) renewed its contract with the Arkansas Procurement Assistance Center (APAC), which serves the entire state from Malvern.
The Center offers free counseling and technical assistance on any issue related to government contracting to help Arkansas businesses serve and supply public agencies nationwide, according to Sue Coates, instructor and APAC program director.
One of 93 such centers around the country, APAC received a “highly acceptable” rating in its last inspection by DOD. The new contract provides nearly double the federal funding, which is matched by the Extension Service under their Cost Sharing Cooperative Agreement that was signed after six months of tough negotiations. The result is a total annual budget of $1,017,632.00, up from $620,733.00 per year for the past decade.
Over a five-year period, the return on investment has exceeded 160 to 1; that is, for every federal and state dollar put into running the Center, the businesses it helps have received public contracts worth 160 times that much, which resulted in thousands of jobs for Arkansans.
“The program really works,” says Coates, “and I’m honored to serve with such an awesome team.”
Coates has worked in the Procurement Technical Assistance Program for 12 years and has been in Arkansas for 5 years. She says, “It’s the best job in the world because we get paid to help people.” In addition to helping small business owners and managers navigate the difficult market of federal, state and local procurement, the program also helps agency personnel find qualified vendors and contractors. Many clients declare they could never have achieved success without APAC’s help.
Currently, APAC employs two procurement advisors, one procurement technical assistant and two professional secretaries, in addition to the program director. The new budget provides for an additional procurement advisor, an additional clerical support person and a new position as assistant program manager. The Center also enjoys the support of the senior agent in each of the 75 county Extension offices, where people can get information about the program and discuss their options.
Among its many services, APAC operates a very popular website full of information and resources at http://www.arcommunities.org/apac.htm, which has recently been upgraded with several new features.
As is typical of the Cooperative Extension Service, APAC’s educational offerings are “hands-on” and “on demand,” with a variety of topics available in a variety of formats. Classes are usually limited to 12 so everyone gets individual attention. The Center can respond to go almost anywhere in Arkansas with its mobile equipment for training in electronic commerce.
APAC is an economic development program of the Community and Economic Development program area at Extension. The Center can be reached at 501- 37-5355 or apac@uaex.edu and welcomes visitors at 127 West 5th St., Malvern.
– Sue Coates
Multi-State Marriage Education Grant
James Marshall and Wallace Goddard will be involved over the next five years in a national marriage project. They are part of a multi-state collaborative team recently awarded $1.2 million by the Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Children’s Bureau, to fund a five-year project. The project is called “Child Welfare Training: Curriculum Development and Evaluation for Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education.”
The project is headed up by the University of Missouri and includes collaborations with family life faculty from the University of Arkansas, the University of Georgia, Iowa State University, North Carolina State University, Auburn University, Kansas State University and the University of Illinois. The project will involve developing and pilot testing a marriage and relationship education curriculum as well as in-person and distance education training for child welfare professionals, graduate students and other professionals, including Cooperative Extension educators, working with or preparing to work with adults and families. This curriculum will address healthy marriage and relationship skills for populations underserved in the general population and over represented in the child welfare system.
Ultimately, the project will yield a research- and evidence-based national training resource and curriculum that will promote the development of healthy relationships and marriages across the country.
– James Marshall
SNAP-Ed Receives Contract From the Department of Human Services
The University of Arkansas CES Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – Education (SNAP-Ed), formerly known as the Food Stamp Nutrition Education (FSNE) program, received a $1,351,605 contract from the Arkansas Department of Human Services in October. The one-year contact will allow for the delivery of nutrition education to SNAP recipients and those eligible in all 75 counties throughout the state.
Arkansas SNAP-Ed helps thousands of low-income Arkansans put healthy food on the table every month. To achieve consistency with the federal program acronym SNAP-Ed, the Arkansas program will be called Smart Nutrition – Active People Education (SNAP-Ed).
– Amy McClelland
Program Technician Captures 1st Place in Poster Contest
Jon Trappe was recently selected as the winner of the Crop Science Society of America, Turfgrass Science Division (C-5), graduate student research poster contest.
Trappe is a program technician with the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service and a first-year graduate student at the University of Arkansas. He earned an award of $300 for his poster: “Successful Bermudagrass Overseeding Is Dependent on Species Selection and Pre-Plant Cultivation Technique.”
This poster summarized first-year research results from an applied research study. Overseeding cool-season turfgrasses into dormant warm-season turf is a practice implemented by turfgrass managers to improve aesthetics and provide an actively growing playing surface. This study was conducted to determine the effects of three pre-plant cultivation techniques (aerification, vertical mowing and an untreated control) on the establishment of five overseeding turfgrass species (annual ryegrass, intermediate ryegrass, meadow fescue, perennial ryegrass and tetraploid perennial ryegrass). Based on this first-year trial, overseeding was most successful when aerifying before overseeding dormant bermudagrass with perennial ryegrass. The experiment is being repeated this fall. These results will help as we refine management practices and train clientele on the use of new overseeding species for golf courses and athletic fields in Arkansas.
– Aaron Patton
UACES Online Courses Move to Moodle Platform in 2009
Starting July 2009, UACES online courses will be created and delivered via the Moodle platform instead of the current Educator platform. Moodle (which stands for Modular Object Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment) is a popular, cost-effective open source platform used by 25 million people in 193 countries. The national eXtension organization currently uses Moodle to deliver online courses for the public and internal Extension employees. You can check out the current courses at http://pdc.extension.org and http://courses.extension.org.
Beginning December 2008, Lisa Ferris, Program and Staff Development, will begin scheduling time to train and work with individuals and departments to prepare existing Educator courses for Moodle. Priority will be given to core curriculum courses and those supporting high-priority programs. Design standards and review processes will be established by January 2009 to ensure consistent, high-quality online learning courses for internal and external clientele. Questions or suggestions? Contact Lisa Ferris, instructional design and elearning specialist, lferris@uaex.edu, 501-671-2340.
– Lisa Ferris
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