Contents
- Cultivating Gratitude - a Message from the Director
- Featuring the Work of OSUE Field Specialists
- OSUE Annual Conference - December 4
- Extension Promotion Workshops – December 18 or January 14
- OSU CARES Grant RFP Now Available - Important Changes this Year
- The Full Monty: Advanced Strengths Development Workshop - December 12
- Mission Possible: Positive Leadership Workshop – December 17
Cultivating Gratitude – a Message from the Director
Gratitude is the quality of being grateful or thankful. It is also a readiness to show appreciation and to return kindness that you have been shown. As we celebrate Thanksgiving and begin to appreciate all of the things we are provided, I encourage you to consider your blessings.
I am grateful for my family, friends, coworkers and the abundant and safe food that our farmers provide. We work for a university that provides education to all Ohioans. Our mission in Extension is to engage people to strengthen their lives and communities through research-based educational programming. What can be more purposeful than that?
I know you appreciate your coworkers and your clients for who they are and recognize their good qualities. However, we are sometimes like the old Scottish gentleman my mother told me about when I was young and she was lecturing me on being grateful. He is purported to have said to a friend at his wife’s funeral, “She was a good wife and I loved her. I almost told her so once.” Try expressing your appreciation toward others and see what happens. I am willing to bet you will see a positive reaction; you might even receive a compliment back.
Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. - Mother Teresa
The opposite of gratitude would be complaints, what are your complaints? Do you enjoy listening to others complain? Do you think they enjoy listening to you complain? Have you ever made an effort not to complain? What if you did? I encourage you to take a “complaint fast” from now until Thanksgiving. That’s one week without complaining. Can you do it? Gratitude gives you joy in the present. Choose joy!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Keith
Featuring the Work of OSUE Field Specialists
Throughout the year we will be spotlighting the work of our field specialists. In this issue, we feature Linnette Goard (food safety, selection and management)
It is hard to believe that I have been in a field specialist position for nearly two years. Everyday there is a new headline regarding food safety. Much of my time is spent answering food safety questions either by phone or through e-mail. From 2012 to 2013, I had a 70 percent increase in phone calls on food safety issues. Many of the calls this year were questions about home food preservation, from how to can tomatoes to how to make sauerkraut. The requests for home food preservation classes have increased as well. The emphasis on home food preservation was not something that I expected to consume so much of my time.
I am excited that our state home food preservation team, which includes Melinda Hill and Kate Shumaker is able to provide a hands-on inservice for our family and consumer sciences professionals so that we have trained educators statewide. We have state-based curriculum and resources available to our professionals. For class schedules, visit http://fcs.osu.edu/food-safety. We are currently analyzing the evaluations of our summer programming.
Using (new to me) technology, I was also able to provide online training this year. I worked with Ohio Farm Bureau to hold a Google Hangout on food preservation for its members. Also, working with the CFAES Communications unit, I was involved with the creation of two videos: “How to Can Tomatoes in a Water Bath Canner” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_6BUwS9iQQ#t=24 and “Be Safe, Not Sorry When Grilling” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNt_Vw15Ozw.
Another area of my programming focuses on food safety training for food service workers. In April, I was appointed to the Ohio Retail Food Safety Advisory Council. The council is charged with providing recommendations on retail food safety issues to the director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the director of the Ohio Department of Health on the administration of Ohio retail food laws as required by chapter 3717 of the Ohio Revised Code. We have also partnered with the Ohio Restaurant Association to link our web sites so restaurants can find educators who are providing food safety training and certification.
In addition, I am working with the Local Foods team in developing educational materials, working closely with our new food safety state specialist, Sanja Ilic, and tackling new issues as they arise. My contact information is goard.1@osu.edu or 330-725-4911 x107.
OSUE Annual Conference - December 4
We look forward to seeing each of you at the Ohio Union. Remember to bring your name badge. There is still time to register at the regular rate on or before November 21. The late fee begins on November 22. Visit https://www.regonline.com/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=1322734.
Extension Promotion Workshops – December 18 or January 14
Has it been 10 years since you were tenured? Do you have an interest in applying for promotion? Want to better understand the role of review committees, the review process, and performance expectations? Want help getting your arms around the OSU Extension APT document or faculty and A&P promotion guidelines?
Plan to attend one of the upcoming Extension promotion workshops on December 18 or January 14 from 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. at the Agricultural Administration building auditorium.
We’ll focus on the items above, review the Department of Extension’s dossier outline, discuss curriculum and quality indicators, demonstrate the need to maintain documentation of your accomplishments, and more. Extension professionals with all levels of experience with the process are invited as we share and learn from each other. Registration fee is $25.
Click on only one of the following links to register:
To register to attend the Wednesday, December 18 promotion workshop, register online by 5 p.m. December 3 at http://go.osu.edu/PTWDec182013.
To register to attend the Tuesday, January 14, 2014 promotion workshop (repeat of December 18 session), register online by 5 p.m. December 31 at http://go.osu.edu/PTWJan142014.
Please note: These workshops are NOT Research in View (RiV) trainings, but techniques to effectively document your accomplishments in RiV will be discussed. For more information, contact: Promotion and Tenure Committee Chair Judy Villard-Overocker, Administrative and Professional Committee Chair Jeff McCutcheon or Department Chair Ken Martin. workshop agenda
OSU CARES Grant RFP Now Available - Important Changes this Year
Requests for proposals (RFP) are now available for the 2014 OSU CARES Seed Grants. The OSU CARES grants, under the leadership of OSU Extension, support partnerships between OSU Extension and other departments at Ohio State. These grants have provided seed dollars for a number of well-established programs throughout Ohio, and they provide great opportunities for many of our OSU Extension teams to strengthen programming. For more information about OSU CARES and to learn about past partnerships, visit http://osucares.osu.edu/grantsprogram.htm. Here are the big changes for 2014:
- We will be increasing the amount available for each partnership from $10,000 to $25,000, and will also have a larger pool of funds to award from this year.
- We will also be expanding our focus a bit from the Extension impact areas to also include the OSU Discovery Themes of food production and security, health and wellness, and energy and environment. Visit http://discovery.osu.edu/ to learn more.
Grant applications will be due February 28. There will also be information sessions scheduled for help along the way - visit http://outreachgrants.osu.edu/ for more details. For questions or information on partnering with other colleagues on campus, contact Karen Bruns (614-292-9613; bruns.1@osu.edu).
The Full Monty: Advanced Strengths Development Workshop - December 12
The "full monty" is a British slang phrase of uncertain origin. It is generally used to mean "everything which is necessary, appropriate, or possible;” ‘the works.’ - Wikipedia
Leading with your strengths will help your team and organization grow. – Gallup Strengths Center
Gaining a deeper understanding of your strengths and how to utilize them at work increases your chances of success. Each person has a unique combination of strengths. These strengths are utilized in helping you perform at your best, overcome obstacles and capitalize on the strengths of your teammates.
In this advanced strengths workshop, participants will have the opportunity to learn about their complete strengths profile. Awareness workshops provide you with your top five strengths/themes, and in this workshop you will receive your complete profile of your 34 strengths.
*To participate in this workshop, you must have attended a previous StrengthsFinder® awareness workshop. Beth Flynn is facilitating this workshop on December 12 from 9:15 a.m. to noon in room 105, Agricultural Administration building. The registration fee is $125 per participant. Register at https://regonline.com/seriesleadership.
Mission Possible: Positive Leadership Workshop – December 17
Who should attend?
Leaders, supervisors (current and aspiring), work team members, directors, board members, "front-line" staff.
Why should they attend?
- Learn new ideas for boosting your own attitude
- Develop strategies for creating a positive culture at work
- Discuss ways to increase productivity at work
- Improve working relationships
Are you a positive leader? Do you wonder how others think about your attitude as a leader? A quick test is to observe the way people react to you when you walk into a room. Are people happy to see you? Do they want to talk to you? Or do they quickly make themselves scarce? If they run when they see you, it's time for an attitude check.
Negativity in organizations is costing U.S. businesses $300 billion per year. It is imperative that leaders establish a culture of positive leadership. As a leader, others look to you to set the tone for your team/organization. Being engaged and committed to a positive culture is a priority for the leader, and also every employee in the organization.
Organizations that have a positive culture are more productive, have happier employees and most importantly, happy and satisfied customers. Every leader has a choice about his or her attitude - and no matter what the situation, you have a choice to make about how you are going to react. No matter what the current situation is, or who is causing the negativity in your organization/team, it is vital that you create positive strategies that keep the team/organization strong.
Beth Flynn is facilitating this workshop on December 17 from 9:15 a.m. – noon in room 105, Agricultural Administration building. The fee is $60 per participant. Register at https://regonline.com/seriesleadership.