e-Directions: 07/20/2005

• Legislative Session Thanks
• New IROD Name Change
• FAQ Initiative to Begin This Month
• National 4-H Council Announces EYSC Three Grant Recipients
• Travel Policies and Procedures
• New Parish Chair Assignments
• USDA Signs Technical Service Provider Agreement with the American Forage and Grassland Council
• Challenge Camp Evaluation
• 4-H University

I would like to thank all faculty and staff for the personal contacts made with legislators and AgCenter clientele during the 2005 Legislative Session. The calls and visits you, staff and clientele made were crucial in helping us achieve an additional $1.85 million. I assure you this would not have resulted without our outstanding extension and research programs. On numerous occasions, legislators reminded me of staffing and programming needs in their districts and in the parishes they represent, along with the value they place on having an AgCenter presence within their communities. They support parish-based offices and branch research stations and highly respect what you do. Because of these clear priorities, they all worked hard to help us meet our budget challenges so we can maintain our strong extension and research programs.

It is important now to take the time to thank them for their support. I urge each and every one of you to write thank-you notes or letters to each legislator as well as attempt to make personal visits to their offices over the next few weeks to thank them. You may also want to report the positive results of the session to clientele who made personal calls or contacts so they, too, may thank legislators for their strong support. Over the next several months, I urge you to include your area legislators on extension and research programs in their respective districts so that they can see first hand the outstanding work that results largely from their continued support of and trust in the LSU AgCenter.

Again, we thank you for the great work during the session; I hope we can continue to communicate to all legislators the value of our programs and the need to continue to support the AgCenter’s budget next year and in the years ahead. Programming excellence and accountability will be crucial – but I know we are up to the task!

New IROD Name Change

The Institutional Research and Organization Development Unit (IROD) has been realigned as part of the ongoing restructuring of the AgCenter. Effective July 1, the unit was renamed the Organizational Development and Evaluation Unit (ODE) and reports directly to the Director of Cooperative Extension. The unit’s primary function is to assist Extension faculty with the planning and evaluation of educational programs. The unit will continue to coordinate parish program reviews, be responsible for the reporting of Extension programming efforts and contacts and work with Extension faculty to maintain professional competencies. It will assist with AgCenter-wide program evaluation as necessary.

Faculty associated with the unit are:

Robert Richard, Professor and Unit Head
Debra Davis, Professor
Earl Johnson, Professor
Krisanna Machtmes, Asst. Professor
Satish Verma, Professor Emeritus (retired July 1)

Please continue to support this important unit during this transition.

FAQ Initiative to Begin This Month

Please be aware that eXtension will launch a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) initiative this month, inviting content providers throughout the Cooperative Extension Service to submit their most frequently asked questions and related answers. The internally focused strategy will help identify potential Communities of Interest (CoIs), CoPs and content leaders. It will result in a working model to collect, categorize, publish and develop a collaborative model for responding to customer questions. The initiative will be organized and managed through support provided by institutional teams.

I will alert you when the FAQ is released.

National 4-H Council Announces EYSC Three Grant Recipients

Proposals by 20 states have been selected for funding under the Expanding Youth Serving Community Round 3 Rural Youth Development Grant Program funded by CSREES USDA and managed by National 4-H Council. Our LSU AgCenter 4-H Program will receive a $25,000 grant. I would like to congratulate Ms. Juanita Johnson from our 4-H faculty who led the team that prepared the proposal submission for the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service.

The Projects funded under this program expand on the successes of projects conducted under either EYSC 1 or EYSC 2 and are part of either the Youth in Governance (YIG) or 4-H Afterschool (4HAS) strategic initiatives. Projects may also be professional and volunteer development projects but must be related to one of the two strategic initiatives.

States receiving the awards of up to $25,000, and the initiative areas for their projects, include:

CSREES USDA and National 4-H Council are dedicated to improving the lives of rural youth in America through funding programs that support effective, high-quality youth development and demonstrate local impact. These projects engage youth as partners in addressing community issues and providing safe and inviting places for rural youth to experience positive youth development in out-of-school time.

For more information about Rural Youth Development programs, contact JoAnne Leatherman at jleatherman@fourhcouncil.edu or call 301-961-2870.

Travel Policies and Procedures

There have been key changes on the travel regulations for fiscal year 2005-2006. A Corporate Travel Card must be issued in an employee’s name to be used for official business travel expenses. These are individual liability cards, which must be paid in full each month by the cardholder. The policy regarding airfare penalties is the state will pay the penalty incurred for a change in plans or cancellation when the change or cancellation is required by the state or other unavoidable situations approved by the agency’s department head. The mileage reimbursement rate has increased from 34 to 36 cents per mile. For out-of-state travel in privately owned vehicles, the traveler will be reimbursed 36 cents per mile only. The total cost of mileage may not exceed the cost of travel by either state contract airfares or the lowest logical airfare obtained at least 14 days prior to the departure date.TQ3 Navigant has again been chosen to be the contracted travel agency. Use of Navigant is mandatory; however, purchase of state contract airfares is not mandatory. The new travel regulations can be found at: http://www.doa.louisiana.gov/osp/travel.

New Parish Chair Assignments

I am pleased to announce that Mimi Stoker is interim parish chair for Natchitoches Parish, effective immediately, until a parish chair is selected. We will be following a selection process in advertising for and naming a new parish chair soon.

Effective July 1, the following appointments became effective:

• Dr. Carlos Smith assumed parish chair responsibilities for Avoyelles Parish. Dr. Smith will serve in this capacity through June 30, 2007. He will assume new parish responsibilities in Avoyelles but continue providing multi-parish extension horticulture programming in the Central Region.
• Charles Griffin will assume parish chair responsibilities of DeSoto Parish and serve in this capacity through June 30, 2007.

Please give Mimi, Carlos and Charles your full support and cooperation as they assume these leadership positions.

USDA Signs Technical Service Provider Agreement with the American Forage and Grassland Council

On June 14, 2005, the U.S. Department of Agriculture signed an MOU with the American Forage and Grassland Council (AFGC), allowing conservation participants the option to obtain technical assistance for their privately owned grazing and tribal lands from certified technical service providers who also are certified grassland professionals. LSU AgCenter professor Dr. Ed Twidwell, president of AFGC, and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Chief Bruce Knight signed the three-year MOU at the 2005 AFGC Conference in Bloomington, Illinois.

The MOU allows AFGC to recommend its members, who must pass a test, to NRCS for certification to plan and implement conservation practices on pasture, hayland and grazed cropland. This MOU recognizes that a grassland professional completing AFGC’s Certified Grassland Professional Certification also meets USDA’s performance criteria for providing conservation assistance in grazing and forage. The grassland professional’s work must meet USDA’s standards and specifications for quality conservation technical assistance.

In addition to AFGC, USDA has signed MOUs with 12 organizations—American Society of Agronomy, Society for Range Management, Iowa State University, The Wildlife Society, Society of American Foresters, The Irrigation Association, University of Tennessee, National Alliance of Independent Crop Consultants, Environmental Management Solutions, American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists, Association of Consulting Foresters of America and American Fisheries Society.

Challenge Camp Evaluation

A recent evaluation of 4-H Challenge Camp indicates that youth participants not only enjoy the camp but appear to recognize the importance of communication and teamwork skills.

Melissa Cater, 4-H agent in Catahoula Parish, and Katherine Pace, 4-H agent in Caddo Parish, along with Robert Richard, director of IROD, conducted focus group interviews with 58 challenge camp participants this past spring. Campers were asked to respond to the question – what did you learn about yourself and others through your participation at this camp?

The methodology used for this evaluation was one which Melissa and Katherine learned about through their attendance at the 2004 annual conference of the American Evaluation Association. I strongly encourage all Extension faculty to explore opportunities for professional development that leads to the implementation of effective program evaluation models.

A complete copy of the evaluation is available at http://www.lsuagcenter.net/irod/progeval/challengecamp.htm

4-H University

This year, some 1,547 4-H members participated in 4-HU, with another 255 adults including volunteers and agents, for a total of 1,802. I was extremely pleased with the results of 4-H University. With your help, 4-H University was conducted with great precision and effectiveness.

To assure continued success with 4-H University, I’d like for you to send your recommendations and/or suggestions to the 4-H University Committee chair, Tina Goebel, tgoebel@agcenter.lsu.edu, by July 22. Tina is an Extension agent in Jefferson Davis Parish.

Chancellor Richardson and I have appointed the same committee to receive recommendations and finalize them for us by September 1. After reviewing and approving the recommendations from the 4-H University Committee, we will forward them to you.Those on the 4-H University Committee are:

Tina Goebel – Chair, Melissa Cater, Terril Faul, Janet Fox, Andrew Granger, Ann Gauthier, Kim Jones, Johnny Levasseur and Todd Tarifa.

Additionally, Please visit the link below to see photo galleries, event stories and winners’ list. The 4-H Technology Board was also on campus for a training and will be posting additional photos.

http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/kids_teens/4H/for+4h+members/4H+U/

Don’t forget to check out the Blog – a first for this year.

http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/kids_teens/4H/for+4h+members/4H+U/blog/