FOCUS ON FACULTY:
- Congratulations to the following faculty who received promotions: Ruth Jackson & Monica Pastor (Maricopa County) and Randy Norton (Graham County) for continuing status and promotion to Associate Agent, Dawn Gouge (Maricopa Ag Center) for continuing status and promotion to Associate Specialist, Barron Orr (Arid Lands Studies) for continuing status and promotion to Associate Specialist, and Jim Walworth (SWES) for promotion to Specialist.
- The CALS 2007 Spring Awards Banquet took place last Friday, May 4 and I would like to recognize the following award recipients: Dean Fish (Early Achiever Award), Janice Shelton (Alumni Achievement Award), and Wayne & Bonnie Stuhr (Extensionists of the Year). Congratulations to all.
FOCUS ON PROGRAMS:
The Equine Sciences Program was awarded the Julep Cup for outstanding service to the Arizona Thoroughbred Industry by the Arizona Thoroughbred Breeders Association at their annual banquet, April 27, in Phoenix. Dr. William Schurg was there to accept the award on behalf of Dr. Mark Arns , Laura Walker and the rest of the staff and students in the program.
POLICY UPDATES & REMINDERS:
- Hiring Student Employees From Other Accredited Institutions . In recent months, a number of campus departments have contacted Human Resources to inquire about employment of non-UA students in student employee positions. As a result, Human Resources' has clarified student employment eligibility in the Student Employment Policy Manual. Section 3, paragraph (d) now states "students who are enrolled for a minimum of six credit units in an accredited two or four year institution of higher education, or students participating in the Visiting Student Scholar program who are students at an out-of-state or foreign university/college may be hired into a UA student employment position." Guidelines for employing non-UA matriculated students who are not part of a Visiting Student Scholar program are outlined in the Student Employment Policy Manual and covers areas such as employment during summer sessions, academic year, pay rates, student employment policies, and procedures. If you have any questions about student employment, contact UA Human Resources (520.621.3662). Questions regarding the employment of federal work study students should be directed to the Financial Aid Office (520.621.1858).
- Professional Dues . A reminder that effective July 1 and in accordance with University policy, faculty may charge Professional Association and Journal fees and dues to their appropriate account. Check with your department head or county director for guidelines.
- Background Checks . Payment for background checks are the responsibility of each county. It is up to each individual county to determine if they will pay for all volunteer background checks; if the county decides to pay for one, then it must be all inclusive. Payment of background checks for faculty and staff by the county is mandatory.
NEW NATIONAL AMERICAN INDIAN PROGRAMS WEBSITE:
There is a new national website hosted by CALS American Indian Programs at http://indiancountryextension.org/index.php. Inside you'll find information about extension programs in Indian Country across the U.S. Featured pages include the FRTEP (Federally Recognized Tribal Extension Programs) offices (six of them in Arizona), Tribal College extension programs, and extension programs operated by tribes. The site is presented as a clickable map that leads to information pages for individual extension offices who provide services exclusively to clientele on Indian reservations/communities. A searchable national directory and external links pages can be found on the home page. Contained on individual pages are brief summaries of ongoing programs, photo galleries and contact information. Each FRTEP office page is fully integrated with their 1862 land grant state extension system page as well. Content updates are scheduled every 90 days. A national committee is being formed to develop guidance and suggestions for continued enhancements to the site. For more information, contact Joe Hiller (520.621.7621).
HUMAN SUBJECTS TRAINING AVAILABLE:
The Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) is a modular based on-line system customized to meet the needs of both behavioral and biomedical researchers. You can log onto the system at www.citiprogram.org, register with a user name and password of your choosing, and select University of Arizona from the drop-down menu. This allows the Human Subjects' Office to get an electronic copy of your certificate. You can then log on as many times as needed to review all of the required modules, take the quizzes, and complete the training a little at a time or all at once. The program also allows for collaborators, not affiliated with the University of Arizona, to take the training on-line so they can be part of your research team. Requirements for research personnel: 1) as of May 15, 2006, research personnel who have never taken human subjects training are now required to take the CITI training; 2) all other researchers and research personnel whose training date is older than 2 years as of January 1, 2007 are required to update their training by completing the CITI Program modules prior to January 1, 2007; 3) research personnel will be required to update their training every two years using CITI refresher modules in order to meet continuing education requirements; 4) effective January 1, 2007, Verification of Human Subjects Training Forms submitted for new projects, continuing review of existing projects, or personnel changes may not contain training dates more than two years old; 5) personnel must score 85% on the test to pass; and 6) upon completion of the test, you can print your own certificate. It is not necessary to send a copy to the Human Subjects Office.
FELLOWSHIPS AVAILABLE:
Over the past two years strategic planning efforts in Extension have resulted in a number of ideas to encourage "vertical" collaboration; that is, connecting researchers, Extension faculty and stakeholders on initiatives targeting real needs in Arizona today. The ideas generated in these meetings have been assessed by the larger UA community, and one in particular is being introduced for the first time. Applications are now being invited for a "Translational Science Fellowship in Environmental, Water, Land and Natural Resource Sciences." The fellowship is designed to encourage research faculty outside the college to collaborate with Extension specialists and agents and their clientele on the preparation of a collaborative proposal focused on addressing a current need. A total of $15,000 may be used to encourage active collaboration on the part of the researcher through: 1) securing release time from teaching, 2) some portion of salary (not to exceed one month), 3) research assistant support, or 4) any other justifiable expense that might be encountered in the preparation of a proposal. This is a major opportunity for Extension within the larger university community. If you know of someone you would like to work with, encourage them to apply. Also, please give full consideration to inquiries which may come from faculty who have not worked with Extension in the past. For this first round, applications should be submitted on or before May 28 . Awards will be announced on June 4. The period of performance should end before December 31, 2007. Applications should be submitted to Teresa Woolfenden at the Institute for the Study of Planet Earth (ISPE). . Questions may be directed to Charles Hutchinson (621-8568), Sharon Megdal (792-9591), Deborah Young (621-5308) or Jonathan Overpeck (622-9065).
UPCOMING EVENTS & DEADLINES:
- Arizona Project Wet offers training in water education across the state. Workshops are FREE. Tucson workshops are scheduled for June 18 & 19 . Phoenix workshops are scheduled for May 12 , June 5 & 6 and June 13 & 14 . For specific information on each workshop and to register, go to www.ag.arizona.edu/azwater/wet.
- The 16th Annual Desert Horticulture Conference will be held on May 18 at the Tucson Convention Center. The conference presents information for green industry professionals and will focus on distributing timely, research-based information relevant to urban landscapes in the arid Southwest. Program and registration information can be found at http://ag.arizona.edu/deserthort/.
- Members of the Healthy Lifestyles Work Group invite anyone interested in increasing your knowledge of issues surrounding wellness to attend a training session on Wednesday, May 23 at the Pima County Cooperative Extension office from 11:30-3:00. If you are interested in joining the Healthy Lifestyles Work Group, planning begins at 8:30 a.m. that same day. Contact Joyce Alves (928.337.2267) or Sharon Hoelscher Day 602-470-8086 x332) for more details.
- A free Evaporative Cooling Workshop: Water Conservation Methods for Greenhouse and Outdoor Evaporative Cooling Systems is being offered by the Controlled Environment Agriculture Center (CEAC), in conjunction with Cooperative Extension's WaterSmart Program, May 30 from 9:00-11:00am at CEAC (1951 E. Roger Road). Learn how evaporative cooling affects water use and learn strategies for conserving water and improving cooling. Topics to be discussed are fan and ventilation methods, wet walls and cooling pads, fog and mist systems, and operation and control methods for conserving water. The workshop is ideal for commercial greenhouse and nursery growers, residential horticulturalists, educators with greenhouses, and users of greenhouse/outdoor evaporative cooling systems. For further information and to register online, go to http://ag.arizona.edu/ceac/mayworkshop.htm.