Tuesday Morning Notes

August 22nd, 2000




The new voice you hear on the phone when calling the 4-H Youth Development office is Linda Roth who assumed the secretarial/receptionist duties on August 21. She replaces Sandra Saad who is still with us, assuming new duties as our Events Coordinator, Arizona 4-H Youth Development. Welcome to Arizona Cooperative Extension, Linda, and Congratulations, Sandra on your new position.

* Sheila Merrigan has returned from her one-year leave of absence. She will be resuming her role as Information Resources Program Coordinator and will be assisting with program development, grantsmanship, web development, and information instruction. Sheila^Òs new phone number is 520/626-6543, or you can reach her via e-mail at merrigan@cals.arizona.edu. Welcome Back Sheila!

* Professionals in the fields of ecology and range resources met last week at the Arizona Ecological Site Symposium. As noted by the first speaker, Fee Busby, Dean of the College of Natural Resources, Utah State University: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth ... and man has argued about the condition of rangeland ever since". The Symposium was hosted by the Society for Range Management, Arizona Section. Included on the program were Extension Specialists George Ruyle, Phil Ogden (retired), and Lamar Smith (retired).

* Congratulations to Michael Kilby who was awarded the National Association of County Agricultural Agents (NACAA) Distinguished Service Award in his native State of Mississippi. Also, Kim McReynolds received the Achievement Award. The National Association of County Agricultural Agents (NACAA) Annual Meeting and Professional Improvement Conference was held August 6-10, in Jackson, Mississippi. Three Arizona Cooperative Extension Agents were recognized at the Communication Awards Luncheon. Each received Certificate Plaques for their efforts as Western Region Finalists. Jeff Schalau won awards in three categories: Presentation/Slide Set; Personal Column; and Web Page. Kim McReynolds won in the category of Team Newsletter. Rob Call won in the category of Learning Module/Notebook. These awards are sponsored by AT&T. Also, Ed Martin serves as the NACAA Communications Committee Western Region Vice-Chair.

* Dave Cox and Shirley O'Brien will be conducting the annual sabbatic leave conference call which has been set for Tuesday, September 5 at 1:00 P.M. If you are interested in becoming a candidate for sabbatical leave in 2001, you will want to be "on-line" for this discussion. The purpose of the call is to offer suggestions for successful submissions, to discuss the requirements for eligibility, and to share information on any new policies. Contact Steven Crofts at 621-7145 or scrofts@cals.arizona.edu to sign up for the call. Teleconference dial-in information and an agenda will be sent out to participants prior to the call.

* INPUT ON POSSIBLE ELECTRONIC CLASSES THIS FALL AND WINTER. Linda Ffolliott and Sheila Merrigan are planning some electronic classes this fall and winter, and would like input on your priorities. They will not be able to give all of these classes. The form for ranking your priorities is found at: http://cals.arizona.edu/ecat/classes/rank-electronic.html. Briefly the possible topics are:
Using Library Online Databases
Introduction to Dreamweaver
Basic HTML for Creating Web Pages
Web Site Accessibility (features on a web site that can make pages inaccessible to various audiences, especially visually disabled users)
Forms on Your Web Site
Basic Web Design Principles
More details are at the indicated web page. If you are interested in taking an electronic class, please fill out the form by September 1.




James A. Christenson, Ph.D.
(jimc@cals.arizona.edu)
Associate Dean and Director
Arizona Cooperative Extension
Forbes, Room 301
Tucson, Arizona 85721
520/621-7209
520/621-1314 FAX