FOCUS ON FACULTY:
- Monica Pastor has been named the new County Extension Director for Maricopa County (pending official approval by the Provost's Office). Her official start date is September 24 and she will serve as Interim CED until that time. We appreciate the quality of candidates for this search and thank Mike Proctor and the search team for their help in this process. We feel we had some excellent candidates.
- We would also like to welcome Bill Brandau who started today as the new County Extension Director in Graham County . Welcome on board.
2007 OUTSTANDING STAFF IN COOPERATIVE EXTENSION AWARD NOMINATIONS:
This Friday, September 7 , is the deadline to submit nominations for the 2007 Outstanding Staff in Cooperative Extension Award which will be presented during the noontime lunch at the CALS Staff In-Service (October 11-12, Tanque Verde Ranch & Hilton Tucson East ). Please read through the nomination criteria (http://cals.arizona.edu/awards/extstaffawd.html ) and be aware of the strength of peer-to-peer nominations and support letters and the need to follow and address the areas noted in the nomination criteria. Nominations can be sent to Steven Crofts, University of Arizona Cooperative Extension , PO Box 210036 , Tucson , AZ , 85721 . If you have any questions, contact Steve (520.621.7145). Since the nomination deadline is close, we suggest you send your nominations electronically or drop them off in person in Forbes 307 at this time.
WESTERN REGION TEACHING SYMPOSIUM:
CALS Office of Academic Programs is sponsoring the Western Region Teaching Symposium (Educational Excellence: Rooted in Research), September 21-22 , at the UA Memorial Student Union. I encourage Extension faculty to explore participation in this teaching program. Dr. Dave Cox will cover the registration fee. Session topics at the symposium will be “Teaching With Flair,” “Applications for Effective Teaching & Learning,” Brain-Based Research: Messages for Teaching,” “Preferences in the Classroom: The Contribution of Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligences to Student Learning,” “Creative Learning,” and “Problem Solving.” For more information, registration and a downloadable pamphlet, go to http://cals.arizona.edu/aed/wrts/ or contact the Office of Academic Programs (520.621.3612).
NEW CORPORATE SPONSORS PROGRAM:
Eighteen months ago, the Arizona 4–H Youth Foundation initiated a new Corporate Sponsors Program. This program has grown rapidly and now involves 28 sponsors. These corporations have agreed to donate $1,000 per year of unrestricted income for three years. These funds are used to support Foundation operations and 4-H programs throughout Arizona . In turn, the corporations are recognized in the Foundation's newsletter, promotional materials, meetings and web site. Please contact Foundation Executive Director Lee Dueringer (520.626.7995) if you have potential corporate sponsors.
NATIONAL GRANTS AND EVENT SCHOLARSHIPS:
- The Western Rural Development Center is pleased has announced their new "Rural Development and Natural Resources Research Mini-Grant Program." This program is designed to support innovative social sciences research that advances our knowledge and understanding of rural development and natural resource issues in the West. The RFP provides detailed information on the grant structure, topics, themes and timeline and can be accessed at http://cals.arizona.edu/extension/download/Mini-Grant_Program_RFp.pdf . Deadline for proposal submission is November 1 . The maximum amount available for this program is $20,000 with the expectation that 1-3 proposals will be funded. Priority will be given to multi-institutional and multi-state research projects with focus on rural economic development, energy, entrepreneurship opportunities, green technologies, land/water and the economic interface with rural communities as well as forest resources. Please share the RFP with other faculty and interested researchers. If you have any questions, contact WRDC (435.797.9732).
- The next National Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) conference will be held in Kansas City in March 2008 and the Western SARE office is providing travel scholarships to extension educators to encourage attendance. For details on the conference, go to the SARE National website . To apply for the travel scholarship, go to http://cals.arizona.edu/extension/download/SARE_Travel_Scholarship_Application.doc . Applications are due no later than December 6, 2007 . In addition, there are SARE Professional Development Program grants available and the application deadline is November 1 . Single state grants are for up to $60,000 and multi state applications are considered up to $100,000. In recent years, 30-35% of the applications have been funded. For details on the Western SARE grants, go to http://wsare.usu.edu .
TRAVEL POLICY REMINDER:
A reminder that partial day per diem meal allowances require an overnight stay per recent changes in UA Travel Policy. Allowances for individual meals for travel that are less than a full 24 hour day will be based on the following: 1) Breakfast - travelers are eligible for the breakfast per diem if in overnight travel status on or before 6:00 a.m.; 2) Lunch - travelers are eligible for the lunch per diem when in overnight travel status for at least six hours and travel commences at or before 11:00 a.m. and ends at or after 2:00 p.m.; 3) Dinner - travelers are eligible for the dinner per diem if they are in overnight travel status after 8:00 p.m. and are extending the normal work day by three hours, or they leave for overnight travel at or before 6:00 p.m.
UPCOMING EVENTS & DEADLINES:
- Demo About Basic Web Style Sheet Rules - an important skill if you are creating web pages is understanding how to create and edit style sheet rules. Style sheet rules are used to control the appearance of elements on a web page and its layout. Linda Ffolliott will be giving a demonstration (available face-to-face in Forbes 124 or through a Breeze Internet connection) on Friday, September 7 , from 9-11:30, in which she will show creating and editing the four types of rules commonly used. Details and a link to a registration form are at http://cals.arizona.edu/ecat/classes/ .
- The Arizona Pecan Growers Association will have their annual meeting on September 21 at the Palo Verde Holiday Inn in Tucson . Registration will be from 8:00-9:00am with the educational program beginning at 9:00am. Topics include labor issues, pecan promotion program, weed management, orchard floor management, salinity management, insecticide and harmful insect issues, tree dormancy problems and pruning techniques. For more information concerning the meeting, contact Dr. Michael Kilby (520.403.4613).
- The Eighth Annual Arizona Highlands Garden Conference will be held October 11-12 at the Apache Gold Casino, five miles east of Globe. The conference is open to the public and will offer three concurrent sessions both days on high-country gardening and landscaping, including hands-on workshops. This year's conference theme is “The Go Native, How-To Gardening Conference!” Registration fees are $50 for one day, $90 for both days; after September 10, it will be $65 for one day or $125 for two days. Registration forms and other details are available at www.cals.arizona.edu/gila/horticulture .
- The Annual Arizona Nursery Association (ANA) EXPO will be November 8 at the UOP Stadium. ANA sent invitations to many of the UA departments and programs to have a booth at the EXPO. Kai Umeda, ANR/Turfgrass Agent, Maricopa County ) has proposed to ANA to have a designated area that will be an "island" or "row" of all UA exhibits/booths. This will show the industry that the UA is one unified entity instead of a bunch of individual programs and/or departments with varying names that confuse the clientele and
the public in general. Kai is willing to work with ANA to coordinate all requests. Contact Kai (602.470.8086, ext. 314) with any questions and/or requests.