A special thanks and best wishes to Carol Willis who officially retires November 30, 2006. Cheers!
POLICY INFO:
The University of Arizona mileage, lodging and per diem rates have been
increased to reflect those approved for the State of Arizona. Therefore,
travel expenses incurred on or after November 15th will be reimbursed
at the new rates. The Travel Expense Report eForm has been updated to
reflect the new mileage rate of 44.5 cents per mile and the Travel sections
of the FRS Departmental Manual have been updated to point to the new lodging
and per diem rates at:
http://www.gao.state.az.us/publications/SAAM/SAAM-2d06-20061115.pdf
Please contact Jose Montante, Financial Services Office, at (520-621-7697)
if you have any questions.
Each Extension Agent is responsible for developing a "program advisory
committee" for their assigned area. If your program advisory committee is
not up to date, or hasn't met in a while, now is a good time to get it
re-activated. The members of this committee serve a specific program area
(instead of the overall county program, which is advised by the County
Extension Board). Their input is essential for developing the section on
your APR called "program identification and planning". Members can be
self-selected (open to anyone with an interest), selected by the county
agent/county director, or nominated by clientele groups, organizations, or
agencies. Agents are encouraged to include and/or invite an Extension
Specialist (in the appropriate expertise) as a member of the program
advisory committee. This committee is responsible for assisting the Agent in
the development of the Annual Plan of Work, for marketing the Extension
program, and serving as an advocate for funding with the County Board of
Supervisors and others. We also will use this input for our federal reports.
FOCUS ON FACULTY:
Congratulations to Travis Bean, who works with many of our Extension offices
on noxious weeds. At its November 1-3 annual conference in Casa Grande, the
Southwest Vegetation Management Association recognized Bean's contributions
to the buffelgrass effort and named him "Weed Manager of the Year."
O'BRIEN ENDOWMENT AWARD CALL FOR PROPOSALS:
The 2007 O'Brien Endowment Award deadline for proposals was extended to
Friday, January 5, 2007. If you are interested in or plan to submit a
proposal, submission guidelines and instructions are available at
http://cals.arizona.edu/extension/download/Revised_Endowment_Proposal_Guidel
ines_2007.pdf (just enter the username of "cals" and the password of "ua" to
access this document). Information on the endowment gift agreement can be
found at http://ag.arizona.edu/agdiv/obrien_gift_agreement.pdf . If you
would like to view examples of previous award proposals, the 2005 proposals
and reports can be found at http://www.ag.arizona.edu/agdiv/OBrien.html .
Please note that this award differs from the "Shirley O'Brien Diversity
Award" that was designed to honor individuals who have contributed
significantly to the advancement of diversity within the CALS. If you have
any questions, contact Jim Christenson (520-621-7205) or Steven Crofts
(520-621-7145).
UPCOMING EVENTS & DEADLINES:
- The National Livestock Emergency Response Conference will be held on
December 7 at the Crowne Plaza Phoenix Airport Hotel. Topics will include
biosecurity, surveillance, protection of the U.S. beef supply, diagnosis of
animals, and key issues for each area of livestock emergency response. All
livestock emergency personnel, state agency leaders, law enforcement,
livestock producers, public health officials and local elected officials are
encouraged to attend. For further information, contact Laura Rittenbach
(520.626.9382).
- The 2006 Cotton Insect Losses Workshops are scheduled for December 12 at
Maricopa Ag Center, RSVP to Pat Clay, and December 13 at the Yuma County
Extension office auditorium, RSVP to Kurt Nolte. Both workshops are
scheduled from 11:30 - 2:30, lunch will be provided.