Tuesday, Jan. 12 Organic Farming Financial Benchmarks
Thursday, Jan. 14 Enhancing Your Online Presence: Website Usability Testing
Friday, Jan. 15 Combining Manure Application and Cover Crops
Tuesday, Jan. 19 Horse Colic: Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention
Tuesday, Jan. 19 ABCs of Organic Certification
Adapt the news releases for your state and use them.
We rolled out a few new features and several miscellaneous bug fixes today in the Public Site and Ask an Expert application.
There’s a new “Don’t assign me questions” option in your AaE preferences. This feature does exactly what it says. When selected, AaE questions can not be assigned to you. We anticipate adding a separate “away” option in the near future (1Q 2010), but this feature can be used for that purpose in AaE until such time.
There’s a new feature in the Public Site Preview that highlights malformed links in an article. When you are previewing a page from the CoP wiki, any links that are incorrectly formatted will turn red. Those URLs need to be fixed before you publish the page.
There are cleaner mobile styles for the People application and the Ask Widget site (http://www.extension.org/aae/widgets). Mobile development is an ongoing process. If you’ve got comments or questions about how our apps are displaying on your device just comment here on this post or drop us an email to feedback@extension.org. thanks!
The eXtension Foundation Board of Directors has approved new sponsorship recognition levels designed to recognize and to express appreciation for annual financial donations in support of eXtension and the work of Communities of Practice. Such recognition is not intended to market or provide contractual consideration to partners, but provide information and recognition to our users about sponsor support. Each recognition level includes specific ways in which a sponsor will be recognized on eXtension resource pages, linkages to sponsor resources, on related news releases and marketing efforts, acknowledgement at appropriate eXtension educational events and activities, and more. Sponsor partners will be recognized according to the following recognition levels.
* Titanium – $500,000 and beyond
* Platinum – $250,000 – $499,999
* Gold – $100,000 – $249,999
* Silver – $50,000 – $99,999
* Bronze – $5,000 – $49,999
Gifts less than $5,000 will be recognized on the eXtension Foundation Page and in the eXtension Return on Investment publication. In order to be recognized as a Sponsor Partner by eXtension, funding must be provided to and managed by the eXtension Foundation. Should a member institution wish to acknowledge a sponsor or grantor through eXtension, a written agreement must be executed whereby funding, recognition and deliverables to and from eXtension Foundation are defined and included.
To access the entire policy please visit:
http://about.extension.org/wiki/Policies — eXtension Sponsorship Policy & Sponsorship Recognition Levels: Approved 12-24-2009 (PDF)
eXtension will conduct four National Web Conferences in 2010. The conferences run from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time at http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/teammeeting. The dates for 2010 are:
January 13
April 14
July 14
October 13
Mark your calendars!
At the November meeting of both the eXtension Governing Committee and eXtension Foundation Board of Directors, leadership and membership for the organizations changed. The new chair of the two groups is Keith Smith, Ohio State University, replacing Karen Hinton, University of Nevada-Reno. Hinton remains a member of both groups. Jimmy Henning, University of Kentucky, is Vice Chair; Dalton McAffee, Alcorn State University, is Treasurer; and Rick LeVitre, University of Vermont, is Secretary and replaces Paul Bonaparte-Krogh, University of New Hampshire. Bonaparte-Krogh’s term on the Committee and the Board of Directors ends this month. Ex-officio members of the Governing Committee are James Wade, APLU; Greg Crosby, NIFA/USDA; and Tom Coon, Michigan State University representing the ECOP Program Committee. Both the Governing Committee and the eXtension Foundation Board of Directors meet monthly. The Governing Committee is responsible for overall policy and direction of eXtension and delegates responsibility of day-to-day operations to the eXtension Director, staff and task forces.
On behalf of the eXtension staff, I would like to wish everyone a happy holiday season! As you know, 2009 was a year of many accomplishments including the launch of seven new Communities of Practice, the establishment of 14 additional Communities of Practice, continued incorporation of eXtension in various NIFA/USDA grant programs, nearly 12,000 eXtension IDs, steady increases in the number of people being served, the development of important new partnerships with other federal agencies and private sponsors, all topped by an outstanding National eXtension Conference in October. Thank you to all who contribute to eXtension and the many who will do so in the coming year. May we continue to work together to serve our audiences and add value to Cooperative Extension through eXtension.
Dan Cotton, Director
The eXtension Financial Security for All Community of Practice received the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chairman’s Award for Innovation in Financial Education December 3, 2009 in Washington, DC. FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair cited Debra Pankow, North Dakota State University, past Community of Practice chair; Patricia Swanson, Iowa State University, current chair; and Jane Schuchardt, USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, advisor, for leading the development of the financial security segment of www.extension.org. Extension was one of six organizations or individuals selected for the award, which culminates FDIC’s 75th anniversary observance.
As of December 1, 2009, nearly 11,775 of all approximately 15,000 Cooperative Extension Service professionals had eXtension IDs. We’re working to increase that number to 100 percent!
One of the first steps to being fully engaged with the eXtension initiative is to create this eXtension ID. BUT, if you’re reading this newsletter YOU ALREADY HAVE AN ID!!!
Share eXtension by asking your coworkers if they have an ID. Does all of your support staff have IDs? Signing them up will allow them to work in the eXtension collaborative space, they can become a member of one of nearly 50 Communities of Practice, and they’ll be registered to receive routine email updates on the initiative.
If people you know don’t have an ID yet, it’s a simple process! Send them to http://people.extension.org and they’ll begin the registration process.
Encourage your friends and colleagues in Cooperative Extension get an eXtension ID today!
This month eXtension’s top-viewed releases again include Ohio Issue 2, deer overpopulation, the pros and cons of television viewing for children, wooly worms, frost-free outdoor faucets, aronia berries, three-prong plugs, urinary tract infections, tax credits for first-time homebuyers and strategies for financial crisis. Some of eXtension’s news releases draw top views for several months or longer.
eXtension news releases that broke into the top 15 page views this month were:
After the Successful Hunt: Venison Butchering and Preservation (Penn State University, Oct. 14, 2009)
Put Safety First When Preparing Holiday Turkey (University of Wisconsin, Nov. 3, 2009)
Technology Changing Way Teens Think (Kansas State University, Nov. 19, 2008)
Pies, Other Foods Could be Dangerous at Room Temperature (Louisiana State University, Nov. 10, 2009)
Cook Your Turkey Properly to Avoid Illness (Louisiana State University, Nov. 12, 2009)
288 News Releases were Posted in November from 33 States
Sources and number of news releases by states:
24–University of Missouri
22–Kansas State University
19–North Dakota State University
18–Louisiana State University and Southern University
17–North Carolina Cooperative Extension
15–Mississippi State University, University of Arkansas
14–Oklahoma State University
13–Iowa State University, Ohio State University, University of Nebraska
12–University of Florida
11–University of Illinois
8–University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin
7–Texas AgriLife Extension
6–Purdue University, University of Kentucky, Utah State University
4–Oregon State University
3–Penn State University, Virginia Cooperative Extension
2–Alabama Cooperative Extension, Cornell University, Montana State University, Rutgers University, University of California, University of Maine, University of Nevada, Washington State University
1–Michigan State University, University of Georgia, University of New Hampshire
10–other sources
2–original releases
288 Total Releases
November news releases posted to communities of practice
46–Personal finance
36–Gardens, lawns and landscapes
36–Corn and soybean production
34–Families, food and fitness
20–Entrepreneurs and their communities
16–Family caregiving
14–Beef cattle
10–Food safety
9–Horses
9–Parenting
8–Ag energy (not yet public)
7–Dairy
5–Geospatial technologies
5–Swine (not yet public)
4–Agrosecurity and floods
4–Organic production
4–Urban integrated pest management
3–Wildlife damage management
3–Science, engineering, technology
2–Diversity across higher education
2–Cotton
2–Animal manure management
2–Bee health
2–Drinking water (not yet public)
2–Freshwater aquaculture (not yet public)
1–Imported fire ants
1–Goats
1–Small meat processors
288 Total Releases
In October 2009, we released an ongoing survey to capture and document the use of eXtension as a resource for Extension personnel and programs (see results to date below). We are interested in hearing from all Extension personnel on how they have put eXtension into use. We plan on using this information to help all Extension personnel discover the power of eXtension to enhance their programs. This survey will be left open, so please save the survey url and add additional information as you continue to use eXtension.
To complete the survey, go to:
http://tinyurl.com/Use-of-eXtension
Thus far, we have heard from 19 Extension personnel in 14 states and institutions. Here are some examples of how they are using eXtension in their own words:
–Actively answering FAQ/AaE, using widget on web site, active in Community of Practice, building a new Community, using Moodle to develop training modules.
–Posting news articles.
–Webinars as a training resource.
–I utilize the HorseQuest CoP for teaching equine pasture management short courses. I direct clientele to the website for additional resources and a place they can ask questions, etc.
–I use it to look up answers to questions that I get from the community, especially preserving food questions.
–Networking, publication resources – especially Spanish language publications, professional development.
–I use it for professional development and to share information on specific topics with consumers.
–I use it to share with the general public or I use it as a resource for my own education about Agriculture and related topics.
–We have a link on our web site “For resources focusing on managing money in tough times, please visit eXtension.org’s Financial Crisis home page http://www.extension.org/Financial_Crisis”
–Professional development especially on social media issues. Beginning some work in Second Life and LuAnn has been a phenomenal mentor. I chair the UGA I-Team and we publish an e-newsletter called Tech Tips for all Extension Faculty in which I write a regular column on eXtension resources. We most recently used the collaborate wiki to pull together a report for our Associate Dean with only a couple of days notice. Thank you for all that you are doing.
–Ask an Expert, searching for related websites/networking.
Do complete the survey and let us know how you are using eXtension!
For additional information, or questions, please contact Mike Lambur, eXtension Evaluation and Research Leader, at mike.lambur@extension.org