FOCUS ON FACULTY:
- Congratulations to Sharon Hoelscher Day who has been appointed by the Joint Council for Extension Professionals (JCEP) Board to become their representative to the ECOP Budget and Legislative Committee for 2008- 2010. The board was very impressed with her application and credentials.
- Kevin Fitzsimmons and his aquaculture team in SWES received a $484,000 grant for Sustainable Tilapia and Shrimp Aquaculture from the Aquaculture-Fisheries Collaborative Research Support Program (Aqua-Fish CRSP). The research will support joint research with universities in Guyana, Mexico, Egypt and Korea as well as here in Arizona. Congratulations to all involved.
FOCUS ON PROGRAMS:
The 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development is the first-ever longitudinal study to measure the characteristics of positive youth development (PYD). Led by Richard M. Lerner, Ph.D., professor at Tufts University, the study was sponsored by National 4-H Council. It involves more than 4,000 youth and 2,000 parents from 25 states and measures the impact personal and social factors have on a young persons development. Study findings show that the quality and quantity of structured, out-of-school-time programs that youth are involved with matters. The more often youth are involved in high-quality youth development programs, the more they and their communities benefit.
Wave 6 participation is being recruited. On Tuesday, November 13 at 9:00am, on the AZ 4-H Connections Breeze call, Dr. Jo Turner, University of Missouri, will explain how Arizona Cooperative Extension can be engaged in the study. This call is open to all CES faculty who work with youth and adults. The focus for this next year is 10th graders, but a range of ages can be surveyed. Learn more about strategies in implementation and the benefits related to the study for the 4-H Youth Development Program. Dr. Lynne Borden, University of Arizona Extension Specialist, serves as a science advisor for the study.
The 4-H Study of PYD (sponsored by National 4-H Council) shows that in addition to sustained adult interaction and mentoring, communities, families and schools need to provide access to youth development programs such as 4-H for youth to experience success. With The 4-H Study of PYD, the characteristics of a successful youth development program are being defined and measured for the first time. The studys key findings show that: 1) community youth development programs, like 4-H, are proven to affect youth success; 2) all youth can succeed - involvement in 4-H increases their potential of doing well; 3) all youth need positive youth development - no young person is immune to the risks and challenges present in todays society; and 4) involvement in youth development programs reduces the likelihood that young people will engage in risk behaviors (such as underage drinking, smoking, bullying).
CONTINUING STATUS AND PROMOTION WORKSHOP:
A Continuing Status and Promotion workshop for Extension faculty will be held Thursday, November 29 at the Campus Ag Center modular classroom from 10:00am-2:00pm. Interested faculty should contact pattiB by November 19 to register. Lunch will be provided; travel will be on your own.
NEW PUBLICATION:
A new CALS publication has been posted: 2006 Citrus Research Report by Glenn C. Wright , with contributors David L. Kerns , Marco Pea , and Glenn C. Wright .
CONVERTING OLDER WEB SITES:
There are numerous sites in the College which began many years ago and have pages that were created based on pages using what are called "embedded font codes" - that is, font coding next to the content and not in separate style sheet rules. Linda Ffolliott has created several videos illustrating common steps you might need to follow if you want to convert your older pages into pages using style sheet rules, templates, and layout with style sheet rules. How many steps you need to follow depends on the coding used on your site and whether you want to stop using tables for page layout. These videos are linked from http://cals.arizona.edu/ecat/web/videos/cleanup/. If you have any questions, contact Linda (520.621.7179).
UPCOMING EVENTS & DEADLINES:
- The Maricopa County Ag Literacy Program is hosting the 2007 Ag Literacy Days event on November 19-21 and encourage support of those working in the agricultural industry to volunteer to read a book to a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade classroom in a local elementary school and expand on the experience by talking a little about what they do related to agriculture. All it takes is contacting teachers in elementary schools of your choice and offer about 20 minutes of your time to visit a classroom and read the book, "If It Weren't For Farmers." Once you have scheduled the opportunity to read in the classroom of an interested teacher, contact Elizabeth Schnoll for a packet of materials. Each classroom teacher will have the added bonus of receiving the gift of a copy of the book from you for their classroom library as well as expanded materials and AIMS modeled comprehension questions to expand the activity. To sign up to volunteer or for more information, contact Elizabeth Schnoll (602.470.8086, ext 324) no later than November 12.