Extension Updates

To assure that all of you are kept up to date on a regular basis, the three regional directors and the state Extension Administration Office provides bi-weekly Extension Updates. This forum is for all Extension announcements, so if you have something to distribute, please forward it to Lori Bates with FOR EXTENSION UPDATE noted.

August 15, 2013

On Behalf of CJ Mucklow:


4-H History

As a few of you know I'm a bit of a US history buff. I just happen to have a collection of Life magazines from the 1940’s and WWII. Click here to see the 4-H ad from 1946. Read the first two sentences in the fifth paragraph. The more things change the more they stay the same. Same goal then as now!


Fairs

I know it’s fair season so I wish all of you the best for the one(s) you're involved with. It’s been very educational to attend different fairs the last two years. In the past I was always so busy with my own I didn’t get to attend others and walk around and see how they are run. I’m going to start compiling a few simple tips and ideas on fair management and particular on Extension's role. If you have seen or practice some items you think improve the fair send me an email. I will publish a list of tips in a year or so. Your tip will be credited to you. A few ideas I’ve seen are water misters in the barn to keep livestock and parents cooled off, painted 4-H clovers to show a pathway, and an opening session/BBQ for 4-H participants to remind people of the rules and to build camaraderie. These ideas are from Mesa, Moffat and Garfield Counties. Let me know yours!

Perceived Value Questionnaire

I want to thank all of you that helped me with my perceived value questionnaire. It was my attempt to get some quantitative data on how people that use Extension perceive our worth. It’s still not finished and I’m trying to work with someone at CSU to do further analysis. I hope to actually add more surveys yet this year. Please keep them coming. It’s been too long since I took statistics, so this is just some raw data to chew on. If you provided me with information I can give it back to you by county, work team or individual program.

  • 450 Responses from 14 counties, representing 27 programs and 10 different work teams. All across the state. In our region I have data from Gunnison, Delta, Eagle, La Plata, Mesa, Routt, Archuleta, Montrose and Summit Counties. There might be some good information to share with local stakeholders.
  • 96% of respondents said the Extension program they attended resulted in positive behavioral change. These range from “more use of science in gardening” to “I will embrace temperature control safety and continue to follow the procedures of keeping food safe”.
  • 97.6% and 418 respondents said they supported the use of their tax dollars to put on the Extension program they attended.
  • People that replied to the question about what savings if any they might save from the information presented at the program averaged $449/person responding.
  • Respondents that attended food safety programs had the highest average perceived value of any workshops we collected data on. I’m guessing people value preventing a food borne illness and that’s very valuable to them!!

I need to further investigate the data before it is used publicly. Some values seem too high to me and honestly a few high responders are skewing it in my opinion. None the less, it is positive and we begin to show CSU Extension’s value to stakeholders. I will continue to work on how we might use this data and hopefully engage someone at CSU to help with it. It might make a good masters paper. Please keep sending me questionnaires and let me work on this some more before we use or publish any of these results.

It does show some very good perceived value of the educational programming we do. Way to go and thank you to all who helped pass them out at your workshop or event.

Western Region Vacancies

  • Eagle/Pitkin Horticulture Agent - Jeff Pieper accepted the position and will start October 1. Jeff is from Fort Collins and just completed his master’s degree from the University of Rhode Island.
  • Dolores County Director and Agriculture/Community Development Agent. The position is now being advertised and closes September 11.

Small Acreage Rural Living Publications

Small Acreage Specialist from the Western Region, John Rizza, with help from several agents recently completed articles for small acreage publications. The articles have been rewritten, updated and proofed. They are available to all of you and can be found on the Western Region website on the Western Region Strategic Plans page at: http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/WR/strategicplans.shtml. Click on Guide to Rural Living (Publisher Format).

Please feel free to use it. They are geared towards western slope counties but take a look, they may work elsewhere in the state.

PLT and DAC

PLT and DAC meetings are being held on August 20. If you have items you want discussed please give them to your regional representative or your regional director. We all want items of concern brought up, discussed and solved where possible.

Extension’s New Landing Page – Joanne Littlefield

Extension has a new ‘landing page’ from the Office of Engagement’s page. See it here: http://outreach.colostate.edu/landingpage.html

We need your help to keep this site fresh and relevant. Please send your county program photographs, 650 pixel width minimum, but larger is preferable. We like to keep the page seasonally appropriate but also include the people in local communities who make Extension a part of their daily lives.

Please send the photographs to me as an email attachment (Joanne.Littlefield@colostate.edu). If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!

Updated