On behalf of JoAnn Powell:

• Important Guidelines to Use for the Newest Performance Appraisal Document
• Spring Regional Meeting Dates
• Congratulations To
• Robotics Event in Clear Creek County
• Open Positions
• Condolences To
• Director’s Administrative Council Meeting Minutes – Yvonne Bridgeman
• Statistics on Yuma Hosted Websites – Ruth Willson

Greetings all,

Performance appraisals are underway and will continue through April. As part of a review yesterday, the staffer indicated the new document took less time to complete, was more straightforward, and had a better flow to it. Based on this subset of one – that’s good news. I hope your experience with the new document will be as good. In late January, Travis Hoesli, Jennifer Wells, and I walked county directors through the new document at their annual meeting. They suggested that once the appraisal period is completed, that we ask staff and supervisors about their experience and suggestions for improving the document and process. We will do that. Look for an invitation sometime in May or June to share your thoughts.

Suggestions for completing your review:

• Use the narrative spaces to make sure your program, opportunities, achievements, and challenges are visible. This narrative information can further support or elaborate on the brief narratives or bullet points you can provide for each of the skills for success.
• Keep in mind that everything you provide in Sections II-IV will be considered in determining an overall rating.
• When you look at the individual, program and administrative skills for success, the descriptors under each key skill describe Extension expectations at the “fully achieves expectations” rating. Fully achieves means that you are meeting the duties described in your job description. This is one of the reasons you find an annual review of the job description as part of the PAS process.
• Although you may not be a county or area director, you may have supervisory responsibilities for a support staff, AmeriCorps member, or program staffer. You can elect to report out and receive feedback on how you are doing. This also documents supervisory experience should you want to highlight it in the future. Incorporate that responsibility in your job description as well.

Best wishes to each of you as you move through the process.

Important Guidelines to Use for the Newest Performance Appraisal Document

A couple staff have reported problems saving the PAS document. Remember that help is just a phone call away: Sonjia Graham is available to talk you through the process. She can be reached at (970) 491-2806.

In the interim, here are some important guidelines to remember:

• Download the file and then “save as” under a new file name to your desktop.
  • Keeping the renamed file on your desktop will provide you quick and easy access as you continue to work on it.
  • How the file downloads, opens, and saves depends on how your browser and computer are set up.
    • Adobe Acrobat Reader may not be the default PDF reader.
      • A fail proof way is to open Acrobat first, then open your renamed file from the Acrobat menu options.
    • The download may save to a mystery location. This may cause it to look like the file is lost.
      • Did you save to your desktop? Is the renamed file on your desktop?
        • If yes, open Acrobat then open your renamed file from Acrobat menu options.
        • If no, repeat Step 1 and be sure to designate your desktop as the location you want the file saved to.
      • Before you start filling out the document (renamed file that is saved to your desktop), do a small test run.
        • Enter data only in the first field then save and close the file.
        • Reopen the file and see if your test run was successful. Is the data still there after you closed and re-opened the file?
          • If yes, then you are on the road to successfully completing the remainder of the document.
          • If no, confirm that you are using Acrobat.
            • If you are using Acrobat but your changes are not saved, call Sonjia.
          • The PAS document will work in Adobe Acrobat Reader, Adobe Pro, and Adobe DC. It will not work well with Preview (macOS) or Edge, so please stay with Acrobat.

Spring Regional Meeting Dates

• Front Range Spring Meeting: April 13, 2017 at Balistreri Vineyards in Denver.
• Peaks & Plains Spring Meeting: May 9-11 in Burlington.
• Western Region Spring Meeting: April 24-26 in Crested Butte.

Congratulations To

…Shelly Morrell Gritten, who started her new job as the Jefferson County Extension Colorado Master Gardener coordinator on January 6.
…Lacey Mann, who started her new job as the Adams 4-H youth development agent on January 23.
…Taylor McKinney, who started her new job as Arapahoe County Extension program coordinator on January 23.
…Kim Morrison, who started her new job as the Broomfield Extension director on February 1.

Robotics Event in Clear Creek County

Clear Creek High School (CCHS)—with the help of Chris Crouse, Clear Creek County Extension Director—hosted its first ever robotics competition. Nearly 200 students from 16 schools across the state participated in the qualifier. CCHS did not compete but is guaranteed a spot in the state competition. Congratulations to CCHS and Chris for coordinating a successful event.

Open Positions

Please help us promote two upcoming opportunities to your contacts and colleagues:

• Douglas County Extension, 4-H Youth Development – Livestock Agent. This position closes 02/14/2017. Special thanks to the search committee: Mary Baldwin, Sam Lowry, Lara Mooney, Annette Shipley, Vicky Starkey (Douglas County Government). I am chairing the search.
• Douglas County Extension, Horticulture / Small Acreage Agent. This position closes 02/21/2017. Special thanks to the search committee: Deryn Davidson, Andy Hough (community partner), Lara Mooney (Douglas County Government), Annette Shipley, Vicky Starkey (Douglas County Government). I am chairing.

Condolences To

…Megan Blaser, Larimer County 4-H Agent, and family, on the passing of her father.
…Frank Silici, Douglas County Extension Advisory Committee Chair, and family on the passing of his son.

Picture 1: JoAnn Powell & Pokey at C/AD.
Picture 2: Newest addition to the Front Range Region office.

Director’s Administrative Council Meeting Minutes – Yvonne Bridgeman

DAC meeting minutes are now available online so anyone who is interested can review the topics discussed and actions taken at these meetings. The next DAC meeting is scheduled for March 2 on campus. Look for notices in future Extension Update emails letting you know when new minutes have been posted.

The DAC webpage link is on the Staff Resources page, under Organizational Information & Resources heading: http://extension.colostate.edu/staff-resources/directors-administrative-council-dac/

Statistics on Yuma Hosted Websites – Ruth Willson

As many of you know, the websites that were hosted on Yuma have moved to another server called lamphost1.  Statistics were pulled using a very old script that a previous employee in Jan’s position wrote.  With the move, the statistics program no longer works. There is a stats directory that you can view the information for your site, but it doesn’t break it down completely by all pages visited and shows only the top 30 pages.  In order to gather more statistical data for your website, you will need to set up Google Analytics.  Jeff Wood has trainings on how to set Analytics up at:

• Generating Code for Google Analytics; Adding Code to Your Website (7:14)
• Google Analytics: Main Dashboard (6:20)
• Creating Custom Dashboards for Google Analytics (8:04)
• Google Analytics – Webinar

If you have questions about setting up Google Analytics, please contact Jeff Wood at jeffrey.wood@colostate.edu or 719-242-1986.  If you need help finding the stats directory on your site, please let me know.