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College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

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Communiqué February 20, 2012

Video Communiqué Available Online

The latest edition of the Video Communiqué is now available online: http://go.osu.edu/VideoCommuniqueFeb2012.

Thoughts on The Speed of Trust

 -Keith Smith, associate vice president, Agricultural Administration and director, OSU Extension

Trust is “confidence born of the character and the competence of a person or an organization” (per Stephen M.R. Covey in his book The Speed of Trust).

As I mentioned during my update at Annual Conference in December, trust is a topic that should be of utmost importance to all of us in this organization. We’ve talked about trust at length in Administrative Cabinet, and I’d like to focus on this topic throughout 2012. We purchased The Speed of Trust for everyone in the organization using funds from the Gist Chair in Extension Education and Leadership. If you did not get your copy of the book at Annual Conference, you can request a copy via Cindy Buxton (buxton.65@osu.edu) in the Business Office.

Covey’s explanations and examples are terrific, and I don’t want to get too in-depth here and take away from what you’ll read in the book; but I am planning to include articles in Communiqué this year that review the four cores of credibility and the 13 high-trust behaviors that Covey discusses in the book.

I believe trust is SO important to discuss because as Covey says, “…relationships of all kinds are built on and sustained by trust. They can also be broken and destroyed by a lack of trust.”

A significant part of trust is being clear about expectations, and I want to be really clear about my expectations of each person in this organization. Administrative Cabinet has been charged to model these behaviors, and I expect all OSU Extension employees to do so as well. I know and expect that all of our Extension professionals will be totally professional on the job, think in terms of how something might affect or benefit the whole organization, and act accordingly.

I intend – and I hope you do too – for OSU Extension to be a world-class organization, providing top-notch education and responding effectively to the needs of Ohioans. To do this well, we need to trust each other and our clientele need to trust us.

I see our work as a continual process of refining as we move forward, and I’m always looking for constructive input. One of my personal goals is to have a good idea of what’s going on across the state, and I expect all of our administrative decision makers to do the same.

To start with, Extension Administrative Cabinet does understand what happens at the county level. We have a wide range of previous personal experience in county offices (including some other state Extension services). However we do not want to lose touch, so we are and will be in continuous communication with educators, program leaders, Director’s Internal Advisory Committee members, and others in our entire organization as well as stakeholders and other investors.  

The four Cores of Credibility (Integrity, Intent, Capabilities, and Results) are just that – central tenets to a good foundation for organizational trust. We’ll take a look at the four Cores in our next issue.

Annual Conference Sessions Posted Online

Those that missed the conference in December or would like to review a session can view the presentations on the OSUE Human Resources website.

2011 Extension Annual Report Available Online

The 2011 OSU Extension Annual Report is now posted online via Communication and Technology's Resources page.

The report is also posted in an interactive PDF format on the OSU Extension home page (Publications section in right column)

Legislative Luncheon - March 21

Save the date March 21, on your calendar for the 2012 Legislative Luncheon in the atrium of the Ohio State House. The host assignments made by the regional directors for the 2012 Legislative Luncheon have been sent to the county directors. For further information contact Gwen H. Wolford, director, Government Relations, OARDC and OSU Extension (Wolford.1@osu.edu; 614-563-1307).

Signature Program Guidelines

The recently approved Signature Program Guidelines are attached. If you are planning on developing and submitting a proposal for a new Signature Program, review the guidelines and note the timeline we will be following this year for the submission and approval process.

Related Documents

Outreach and Engagement Grant RFP is Now Available

The latest RFP is available for Outreach and Engagement grants. The RFP and application form are attached. Up to $75,000 is available per application, and a 2:1 match is required. Consider putting a proposal together with your team, program area, and community partner(s). The deadline to apply is March 9.

If you have concerns about the matching funds provision and the required 25% cash match, contact Ken Martin (martin.1540@osu.edu), chair and associate director, programs, about ideas on how to identify matching funds.

Related Documents

Private Pesticide Applicator Recertification Training

Licensed private pesticide applicators have more than 90 local training opportunities to attend throughout the state to receive their required recertification credits. The dates, locations and registration information for these meetings are available at http://pested.osu.edu/privaterecert.html.

North Central Leadership Conference April 30-May 2

Registration is now open for the North Central Leadership Conference to be held April 30-May 2 in Oakbrook, Illinois. The registration deadline is April 6.

The theme of the conference is "Leadership - Moving at the Speed of Change." Extension professionals will have the opportunity to refine their leadership skills, share best practices, and build networks with our colleagues. OSU Extension professionals are encouraged to attend the conference.

OSU Extension is providing 30 $250 registration scholarships for the conference for any OSU Extension employee. The Gist Chair in Extension Education and Leadership will sponsor 20 of the scholarships, and ESP will sponsor 10 of the scholarships. The scholarships are available on a first come, first-served basis. As soon as the 30 scholarships have been awarded to attendees, the OSUE system will be notified that the scholarships are no longer available.

Administration is looking into the possibility of group travel such as: traveling by bus vs individual flights. If you are interested in possibly traveling by bus contact Amy Fovargue (fovargue.1@osu.edu) before March 5 so she can get a head count of those interested. The bus trip would leave from Columbus and include the whole conference by leaving early on April 30 and returning the evening of May 2.

Application process – register for the conference online using your own chart field, and the scholarship funding will be transferred by the Business Office after you have attended the conference and submitted your expense report for the conference. When you register for the conference, also send an e-mail to Cheryl Buck (buck.19@osu.edu) with your chart field information and T number (if available) so we can track how many scholarships are being used. Please mention “North Central Leadership Conference” in the subject of your e-mail.

The conference will be hosted by University of Illinois Extension, and sponsorship is being provided by Ohio State University Extension, Michigan State University Extension, and Purdue Extension. Schedule, registration and hotel information are posted online at http://web.extension.illinois.edu/nclc/.

Diversity Leadership Symposium - April 20

Registration is now open to attend the 2012 Diversity Leadership Symposium: Transforming Campuses to become Authentically Inclusive Communities. The event will be held on April 20 from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. at the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center located on the OSU campus.

The symposium will be a day of interactive presentations and panel discussions addressing a wide array of topics related to enhancing the experience of all faculty, staff and students on Ohio college campuses.  Topics will be focused on moving beyond simply appreciating diversity or differences to understanding power dynamics and history.

The speakers will include: Keynote Dr. Terrell Strayhorn, associate professor, Higher Education College of Education and Human Ecology; Joseph Maiorano, OSU Extension Family and Consumer Sciences educator, Harrison and Jefferson counties; Dr. Jackie Davis, O.D., M.P.H., F.A.A.O. and assistant professor, College of Optometry; Dr. Renay Scales, Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine Director of Faculty Development and assistant professor, Family Medicine. There is a $25 registration fee for all faculty and staff who wish to attend. Registration includes continental breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack.

The Diversity Symposium is brought to you on behalf of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, OSU Extension, College of Optometry, College of Nursing, OSU Multicultural Center Office of Student Life, the National Coalition Building Institute, and Towers Agricultural Honorary. Special support from Collegiate 4-H. If you are interested in learning more about the symposium, speakers and agenda, visit the website at: http://extensionhr.osu.edu/diversity/Symposium/symposiuminformation2.html

Visit the website or click the following link to register: http://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?EventID=870732