Western
District Digest
February 2008
Colleagues: There’s lots of news and updates to
share with you. Feedback has indicated that you appreciated
the detailed e-mail sent in January and would like to continue
to receive information in this format. It is also helpful
for me to have a regular method of communicating. “District
Digest” was a term noted in the discussion
notes from our January district meeting…and so it is!
Kudos. The quote
at the bottom of our January teleconference agenda said, “We
are most effective as a team when we compliment each other without
embarrassment and disagree without fear.” This
is my opportunity to “compliment without embarrassment”…
- I received the following message from Greg Andrews in Pierce
County: “Congressman Ron Kind was traveling his
district today…. With the opportunity at hand prior
to the session, I invited Representative Kind in to our office
to meet everyone and he was genuinely interested in our Extension
programs, asked of us several good questions about issues affecting
our clientele. His questions focused on bioenergy, land use,
urban expansion and zoning concerns, CRP acreage loss, commodity
prices, escalating crop input costs, and he especially complimented
the good 4-H work done in Pierce County and the region. You
should know that Frank Ginther, Darien Simon, Barb Fritz-Mulhausen
rallied to greet his impromptu visit.” Congratulations
to the Pierce County staff for taking advantage of this “teachable” moment.
- We have several colleagues throughout the district who are
serving in new interim and longer-term department head roles. I
am excited about these new members of our district leadership
team: Annie Hobson and Mary Campbell Wood will be sharing leadership
with Carl Duley in Buffalo County; Maria Bendixen in Clark
County; Julie Keown-Bomar will be sharing leadership with Mahlon
Peterson in Eau Claire County; Luane Meyer in Jackson County;
Pete Kling will be joining the leadership team with Joan Sprain
and Lee Milligan in St. Croix County. Thanks to each
of you for your commitment to strong leadership in your county
offices!
- Thanks to Carl Duley, Mary Wood, Linda Heppner, and Liz Hilts
for their contributions to a very successful district 5 WACEC
meeting! Carl facilitated a process related to our strategic
planning process, Mary assisted with registration and brought
a display, Linda brought a display, and Rhonda made sure the “show
went on”! Thanks to all staff who participated
and thanks for promoting this meeting with your WACEC members.
Welcome new colleagues! Please
welcome Randy Mell who will begin his Extension career on Monday
February 11. Randy will be the new Basin Educator for the
Black-Buffalo-Trempealeau and LaCrosse-Bad Axe basins. (Try
fitting that on a business card!) Randy will work out of
the Jackson County Extension Office. Give him a welcome
call at 715-284-4257. On February 26, the new Agriculture
Agent will begin in Jackson County. We will make a public
announcement as soon as we have a signed contract.
District Communications. At
your request I will continue these communications and they will
be posted on the western district website. Due to limited
technology in our office, updating the district website is currently
a challenge and we are relying on Mary Lucas to do this for us. I
am hopeful that the move to high-speed internet will help us
stay more on top of the website…you have clearly expressed
the need to improve/update it. I will post these communications,
along with similar communications directed toward department
heads, on the website. We are adding a link on the home
page called “district communications”. On
it you will find links to all of these newsletters.
District Office Relocation Update. The
update is…that there is no update!! A slow process,
needless to say. It appeared that the DOA had approved
our space request, but recent developments related to state budget
issues have put a hold on new lease agreements, travel, etc. We
have “people” working to help us move through this,
and I remain hopeful that we will soon have some good news. (We’re
going to have a lot of new office furniture to find a home for
if we don’t move soon!) Please know that we will
inform you as soon as we know anything definite.
ECERT. Yes, many
of you are getting another request to certify your efforts! The
recent certification covered the period of January-June 2007. We
are now certifying the second half of the calendar year. Think
of the first certification as a sort of “catch-up”. From
here on out, those of you who need to certify twice per year
will be notified every six months.
District teleconference cancellations! Your
voice has been heard! J Due to scheduling conflicts on
February 25 and April 28, the monthly teleconferences have been
cancelled. We will rely on these written communications. With
the all-staff meeting on February 19, it does not seem necessary
to have a teleconference so soon after. I will be
attending the PILD conference on April 28. Let’s
really evaluate how best to use this time…feedback welcome!
Leave statements. Ah
yes…these things just won’t go away! Please
do your very best to have your leave statements into the district
office as close to the 5th of the month as possible. This
will make a “happy Rhonda”! These are important
documents in insuring you receive your benefits accurately.
District marketing efforts. I
have a hint of good news here. I think we are going to
be back on track to continue with the district marketing effort
that several of our colleagues worked so hard to get rolling
last year. These colleagues include Carl Duley, Amy Schanhofer,
Chuck Prissel, Frank Ginther, Jon Zander. I will be in
touch with this group as soon as I locate all of the materials. The
good news is that I found out where the hold-up was and I think
we can work through it. I’m willing to help move
this forward.
District Innovative Grants. Needless
to say we are way behind the “eight-ball” on this. As
far as I can tell (due to a lack of DRMT minutes), there has
not been a meeting of the team to talk about resource allocation. Rhonda
will be contacting each of the members of the team to set up
a meeting as soon as possible. I apologize for the delay…it’s
all part of the catch-up phase of starting a new position. You
have been very kind in understanding.
eXtension. http://www.extension.org/ Here
is the link to eXtension discussed during the February Dean’s
teleconference. Do some exploring of the site to determine
how you might use the resource to make your job easier.
Feedback welcome. Please
know that I need and value your feedback. I am trying hard
to respond to issues and concerns, but I need your help to know
if my support is helpful to you. I continue to refer to
the input you shared during the first-hour discussion at the
January district meeting and I hope you are beginning to see
some results of that input. I will try to always listen
with a sincere interest in “hearing”, and I will
provide you with straightforward and honest communication. I
thank you for your patience and for the kindness you have treated
me with since I began this position. I am glad to be serving
you!
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