Contents
- 10 Inclusionist Behaviors in Leadership
- Action Needed: Nepotism and Conflict of Interest and Work Outside the University Policies
- New CFAES Dean
- Annual Conference Keynote Speaker to Hold a Breakout Sessoin
- Updated Field Specialist Brochure is Online
- Director's Internal Advisory Committee
- Strengths Finder Workshop - November 6
- New Photo Library Available
- Excellence in Community Development Award
10 Inclusionist Behaviors in Leadership
Inclusionist Behavior #9 - Inclusionist leaders take responsibility, and hold managers accountable for their employees’ ability to articulate the organization’s mission, values and culture, and practice behaviors that demonstrate commitment to inclusion.
I certainly agree with the statement that a leader needs to take responsibility for the above statement. Taking responsibility means that I need to be held accountable for articulating the mission, values and culture of our organization. I try to do this in every presentation I make by including the mission, vision and talking about the values of our organization. One of the values we espouse in our organization is that we demonstrate our commitment to inclusion. We are reminded of this in almost every piece of information we send out through Extension. The statement at the bottom of every fact sheet includes, "Ohio State University Extension embraces human diversity and is committed to ensuring that all research and related educational programs are available to clientele on a non-discriminatory basis."
My commitment as the director of Extension to inclusive behavior is also to ensure that each member of our administrative team is espousing that position as well. This has been encouraged through workshops, discussions in Cabinet, encouraging our people to attend the excellent programs that have been put together by our diversity team (led by Kathy Lechman), and to attend national meetings involving diversity. I have also encouraged all of our administrative cabinet to attend the Tri-State Diversity Conference each year. But beyond these obvious efforts, it is our responsibility in our actions and in our everyday conversation to make sure we are inclusive. Kathy Lechman recently gave me the book Micromessaging: Why Great Leadership is Beyond Words by Stephen Young. I have read this book eagerly and pondered the message of the book, which has been a little bit of a wakeup call to me, on how we influence others or include others by little micro messages that we send to people through our tone of voice, through our gestures, through eye contact, through our enthusiasm, and our listening skills. This is an excellent book that I would recommend for all to read. Again, I state my commitment to inclusion and hopefully I will be caught demonstrating this commitment.
-Keith Smith, associate vice president, Agricultural Administration and director, OSU Extension
*This article/story covers activity that took place before June 27, 2025, when Ohio Senate Bill 1 took effect. CFAES has discontinued diversity, equity, and inclusion activities in compliance with the law.
Action Needed: Nepotism and Conflict of Interest and Work Outside the University Policies
Two HR university-wide policies were revised significantly, effective July 1, 2012:
- Nepotism, Policy 1.25 (applies to faculty, staff, GAs, student employees, and applicants)
- Conflict of Interest and Work Outside the University, Policy 1.30 (applies to staff and applicants)
Because of the changes, you may now find your individual situation is in conflict with the updated policies. Please familiarize yourself with the updated policies, and disclose any conflicts by December 7.
The nepotism policy states that all current faculty, staff, graduate associates, and student employees are required to self-disclose if they are in a situation of nepotism (e.g., if they report to, supervise, or influence the employment decisions for a family member and do not have an alternative agreement approved by the Office of Human Resources on file). The definition of family member has been expanded to include first cousin, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, and corresponding step-relatives. The full definition of family member is available online. This definition is more expansive than “immediate family member” used in other policies. This expanded definition applies to the nepotism policy only.
If this change creates a conflict for you, you will need to contact your supervisor and Extension Human Resources to report this conflict by December 7. Your supervisor and Extension Human Resources will work with you to develop an Alternative Arrangement Agreement, which will need to be approved by the Office of Human Resources, or make alternative arrangements.
As a part of the revised "Conflict of Interest and Work Outside the University" policy, staff must disclose if they are currently engaged in external work that has not been approved in writing by their supervisor or unit. This disclosure must be made in writing by December 7, to your supervisor and Extension HR. All staff are required to seek approval for any external work using the Staff External Work Approval Request form.
If you have questions or concerns, contact Garee Earnest (earnest.1@osu.edu; 614-292-2968) or Marge Hall (hall.38@osu.edu; 614-292-3863).
New CFAES Dean
Dr. Bruce McPheron will become the dean of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences on November 1. If you have a request for Dr. McPheron to attend an Extension function, please e-mail Dr. Smith (smith.150@osu.edu), use the subject line “Dean McPheron event request,” and explain what you would like him to attend. Dr. Smith will discuss this event with Bruce and also forward the event requests to the Dean’s executive assistant, Joan Lieb, who will then coordinate Dr. McPheron’s schedule with the appropriate event contact person.
Annual Conference Keynote Speaker to hold a Breakout Session
December 5 will be here soon! See the attached flier for the latest updates.
Updated Field Specialist Brochure is Online
The field specialist brochure has been updated and is posted on the Extension home page, publications section at https://extension.osu.edu
Director's Internal Advisory Committee
The Director’s Internal Advisory Committee met September 28 with excellent attendance; a number of topics were discussed.
Keith Smith acknowledged the excellent Family and Consumer Sciences national meeting. He was very proud of our FCS educators and how well the program was put together. Information was then shared by each member present and varied from topics such as signature programs, energy development, participation in eXtension conference, Real Money, Real World, new 4-H family guide coming out, annual conference, Dining with Diabetes, Annie’s Project, new positions being filled, 4-H camps and fairs, to working on the drought, military camp, in-school science enrichment, agronomy schools, beef and sheep schools, and new teams in 4-H. A variety of wonderful programs and activities are going on throughout the state.
After the sharing, the group discussed the budget situation for Extension, the new vice president, the upcoming biennial budget process which will require everyone’s help, and the Gordon Gee tours this summer. Another topic of discussion was “new models” for Extension organizations throughout the country. Good discussion took place and more discussion in the future will result from this dialogue with the internal advisory committee.
The next meeting of the Director's Internal Advisory Committee is December 21, 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Strengths Finder Workshop - November 6
"You get what you focus on." - Vannoy & Ross, 2008
As a leader, it is important to know what talents you possess. Do you know what strengths you possess? Every leader possesses her/his own unique set of talents. According to the Gallup Organization, "we spend too much time focusing on our weaknesses, trying to make them stronger rather than recognizing our strengths." When you focus on your weaknesses, you miss out on utilizing what you do best for your organization.
Participants in this workshop will take the Clifton StrengthsFinder inventory to learn their five strongest talents. By focusing on your strengths you increase your effectiveness as a leader.
What is the Clifton StrengthsFinder inventory? "Marcus Buckingham, coauthor of the national bestseller First, Break All the Rules, and Donald O. Clifton, Chair of the Gallup International Research & Education Center, have created a revolutionary program to help readers identify their talents, build them into strengths, and enjoy consistent, near-perfect performance. At the heart of the book is the Internet-based StrengthsFinder® Profile, the product of a 25-year, multimillion-dollar effort to identify the most prevalent human strengths. The program introduces 34 dominant "themes" with thousands of possible combinations, and reveals how they can best be translated into personal and career success." http://www.strengthstest.com/.
- Gain a better understanding of yourself
- Identify your top five strengths
- Learn how to maximize your strengths to increase your effectiveness as a leader
Beth Flynn is facilitating this workshop 9 a.m. to noon. The registration fee is $60 per participant. https://regonline.com/seriesleadership.
New Photo Library Available
The photo library of CFAES images is now available to all college employees at http://photolib.cfaes.ohio-state.edu.
This library contains thousands of searchable, high-resolution photos available for download to your computer. You will need a unique name and password to download any content. To obtain your username and password, simply email the IT Help desk at ithelp@cfaes.osu.edu.
Choose pictures to make sure they represent your intended use. Look at what people are wearing, what is in the background, and make a determination if the picture is recent and representative of the target population.
The search box is located on the front page near the upper left hand corner. Type in your search criteria or casually browse the photos in all of the albums. Once you find a photo you would like to use, click and hold the pulldown box under the photo and choose the download resolution you need.
We will continue to add photos. Check back often! General questions about the photo library may be directed to Dave Scardena (scardena.1@osu.edu).
Excellence in Community Development Award
OSU Extension Community Development is announcing a call for nominations for the first OSU Extension Excellence in Community Development Award. This $1,000 cash award recognizes a CD Extension professional for significant programmatic strengths, major contributions, and innovative approaches achieved over the course of their Extension career. Submission deadline for nominations is November 2. The award will be presented at the OSU Extension Annual Conference on December 5. The application packet is attached.