March 11, 2010
Our state advisory council was in Lansing yesterday and today to learn more about the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station (MAES) and Michigan State University Extension (MSUE) programs and to share their support for MAES and MSUE with their state legislators. The timing of our spring council meeting couldn’t have been more opportune: the Senate Higher Education Subcommittee for Appropriations adopted their proposed budget for 2011 this afternoon and passed it out to the full Appropriations Committee. And the good news is that the Senate panel, like Governor Granholm, proposed funding MAES and MSUE as they did the other universities in the higher education budget. In other words, our budgets were treated the same as the rest of higher education.
The Senate subcommittee’s budget differs from the Governor’s in that the Senate budget would cut funding for all state-supported institutions of higher education by 3.1 percent of their FY 2010 budget (they also restore General Fund to our budget to replace the federal stimulus funds we were appropriated for FY 2010). This would represent a $924,800 reduction in MSUE’s funding and a $1,072,200 reduction in MAES’ budget. MSU would face a $9,149,200 reduction. Although a budget reduction is not something we would normally consider as a positive outcome, given the kinds of reductions other funding lines in the state budget are facing and that our colleagues in other states have experienced, our proposed budgets are quite favorable and reflect the widely held assessment that higher education is a key force for Michigan’s economic success. I think we’re fortunate to be considered on a par with the rest of higher education in the state budget planning process. And our internal budget planning process has accounted for a reduction of this magnitude.
This vote is just one in a series of votes that are needed before the budget is set for FY 2011. The full Senate Appropriations Committee still needs to act on this proposed budget, and then the full Senate will need to vote on it. Later this spring, the House budget process will come around to higher education, and then any differences between the House, Senate and Executive budgets need to be resolved by the conference committee representing all players (House, Senate and Governor).
March 11, 2010
Last week, I wrote about the new social media approach we’re taking to the statewide Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station (MAES) and Michigan State University Extension (MSUE) needs assessment project called AdvanceMichigan. You will be an important component of the AdvanceMichigan effort. One of the approaches for obtaining people’s ideas and suggestions (“content”) in social media is to prompt their interest in contributing to the dialogue by responding to “content” that we have provided. This is called “seeding” the dialogue and it’s a good thing that spring is around the corner because we’re going to need to plant a lot of “seeds.” The idea is to present some brief photo with a caption, a short audio or video clip, or a written impact/success story that illustrates issues that we have previously addressed, ways that we have addressed them, and/or impacts of the programs we’ve provided. If it’s interesting or provocative enough, it will prompt others visiting the site to share their ideas and insights into related issues that they feel we should address, or other ways of addressing the issues or the kinds of impacts that they would like to see. That in turn should prompt others to contribute their content, and before you know it, we will have a series of contributions that help us to better understand the issues we should be prioritizing and the impacts we should be achieving in our programs.
Over the next few weeks, we would like for you to consider providing content to seed the dialogue in an issue related to your work, and particularly the work we have envisioned in the priorities of our institute programs. You can approach this as an individual, as an AoE or county or regional or departmental team effort, or with a colleague in a neighboring county or affiliated department. If you start with a short impact statement, then you can think through the options of which medium would be optimal for telling the story, whether it’s a video, a voice-over PowerPoint presentation or a bulleted document. Whatever format you use, it should take the viewer LESS than two minutes to read, listen or watch the content. We are looking for a great diversity of programs and stories across all four institute areas to seed the discussion of our needs assessment. And if you need help in adapting to the right medium, our colleagues in the social media realm and in ANR Communications and Marketing can help make it quick and simple.
Early next week several samples of the type/format of information that we are seeking will be posted on the Spotlight blog along with the e-mail address to use in submitting your content or content ideas. We will provide funds for professional development to the individuals or teams which provide content that generates the greatest amount of discussion. This is a great way to tell our MSUE/MAES story and to engage others in discussing programs for Michigan for the future. Remember, you have to participate to win!
March 11, 2010
4-H TEAM ROCK competed March 5-6 in Traverse City at the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in Michigan robotic competition with the robot (TEAM ROCK 2000) that they created. The team was eliminated in the quarter finals, but was honored with the Industrial Design Award sponsored by General Motors. An Allegan County community-based 4-H group, the team is made up of 18 members who are high school students from several different schools and home-school youth.
The team members are led by administrative 4-H leader Sue Napier and mentor leaders and helpers Ben Napier, Celia Dykstra, Denise Price and Shera VanGoor with much support from parents. With the professional knowledge of the team of Josh Schaeffer of Electrocal Inc. and 4-H leader Jerry Williams of Williams Tooling and Manufacturing Inc. who opened up his shop at night to the team, the 4-H’ers were able to be a part of the process of designing, prototyping, machining and building. Mr. Williams was nominated for a Woodie Flowers Award, which celebrates effective communication in the art and science of engineering and design.
Support Team ROCK as they compete at West Michigan FIRST Robotics District Competition March 19–20 at Grand Valley State University, a free event to the public. I wish this 4-H club good luck in qualifying in this second attempt for the Michigan FIRST Robotics Competition State Championship.
4-H TEAM ROCK is part of SET (4-H Science, Engineering and Technology).
March 11, 2010
Webinars covering the restructuring of Michigan State University Extension (MSUE) are available on the MSUE portal. Staff must first log in to the portal. Then click on “Staff Resources.” Next, on the left side of the screen, click on “MSU Extension Redesign.” Scroll down to the section on “Restructuring Webinars.” At the bottom of the section, click on any of the URLs to view the MSUE Restructuring Webinar of your choice.
If you’ve forgotten how to log in to the portal, here are a few tips. Go to http://www.msue.msu.edu/portal/ and click on “My Extension” in the upper right corner of the Web page. Under “Screen Name,” type in your last name, a period, and then your first name (lastname.firstname) and then put in your password. If you’ve forgotten your password, click on “Retrieve your password,” put in your screen name and then hit enter. Your password will be e-mailed to you immediately. I’ve tried it and it works!
For further questions on logging in, contact Cindy Straus, Extension Specialist, at strausc@msu.edu. She will be happy to help you.
March 4, 2010
Every five years the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station (MAES) and Michigan State University Extension (MSUE) are charged with reviewing our priorities to ensure that we are best using our resources to address the issues that Michigan residents believe are important. Time has flown quickly and it feels to me like we just completed our last five-year review, but here we are again.
This time our needs assessment has a new twist that I think is going to help us reach new audiences and yield some very interesting information. Through a partnership with MSU’s College of Communication Arts and Sciences, we are working with a company called INgage Networks to develop a social media presence that will allow us to ask questions and build a dialogue with Michigan residents about the most important issues they believe we can help them address.
This year’s process is titled “AdvanceMichigan: Shaping Michigan’s Economic Future.” INgage is working with an MAES/MSUE team led by Marie Ruemenapp and a team of Comm Arts researchers led by assistant professor Cliff Lampe to create an interactive site that will allow people (that includes you!) to upload images, video clips and stories about how MSUE education and MAES research have made a positive difference in their lives. There will be discussion boards where people can share their ideas for how we can contribute to a brighter future for our state’s communities, families, businesses, young people, farms and natural resources.
Look for more information about the AdvanceMichigan work in weeks to come. We’ll launch the site in late March, and right off the bat we’ll be looking to you to help us kick things off by posting pictures, stories and other information about what you are doing and by sharing your ideas for moving our institutes forward. We’ll also be looking to our clients, partners and the broader MSU community to add their insights, and then to those who may not know about us to share their thoughts about how we can use our educational resources to advance Michigan. Please plan to be a regular contributor and to ask others to add their input as well. The site will be open for dialog and discussion through June. We’ll collect valuable data that will be analyzed over the summer and made available this fall.
This is a great example of how we are “walking the talk” and using new technology to do our work and serve the people of our state. We’ll also be contributing to the knowledge base on how people use social media networks and serving as a model for other state Extension systems.
March 4, 2010
I’ve attended the Northern Michigan Small Farms Conference three times since I became director in 2005, and I’ve been amazed at the strong support it receives from participants. This year was exceptional, boasting its highest attendance ever. The 11th annual conference took place Jan. 29-30 at the Grayling High School in Grayling. Farmers, educators and others who are curious about farming, food and communities listened to speakers, attended educational sessions, viewed demonstrations and networked with other attendees. Sixty-three percent of attendees stated that they plan to make changes in their farms or businesses as a result of what they learned at the conference. A majority of participants (60 percent) have attended past conferences, and of those, 77 percent have made at least one change in their farms or businesses as a result of the conference, and 48 percent have made three or more changes in their farms or businesses as a result of the conference. Whether you’re a farmer or a food lover, you may want to put the conference on your schedule next year. It’s always on Friday night and all day Saturday on the last weekend in January.
March 4, 2010
Lori Martin
Anne Brooks
On February 25, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) faculty and staff were recognized at a reception in Michigan State University’s Agriculture Hall atrium. Two MSU Extension staff members, Anne Brooks and Lori Martin, were honored with the Outstanding Staff Team Award. Anne and Lori provided invaluable contributions during the process of merging Family and Consumers Sciences and 4-H Youth Development to form Children, Youth, Families and Communities (CYFC). Anne provides administrative support; Lori is the office manager. Both multi-taskers have positive attitudes and excellent organizational skills. Dependable, hardworking and committed to supporting the needs of CYFC, they are valued members of the CYFC team and assets to MSUE. What they did really set the stage for further consolidation of administrative support that we’re implementing with the Redesign of MSUE. You can view photos of Anne and Lori and of the reception here. To see a list of all the award winners, the program and more photos from the reception, click here.
Jeffrey Armstrong, CANR dean; Tom Coon, MSUE director; Lori Martin; Faye Watson
March 4, 2010
I am pleased to pass on the news that Wesley Everman, Ph.D., assistant professor of crop and soil sciences and Michigan State University Extension weed specialist, received an Outstanding Reviewers Award from the Weed Science Society of America (WSSA). Scientists from academia, government and private industry who are making a significant mark on the profession were recognized for outstanding contributions to the field of weed science at the society’s 50th annual meeting. Dr. Everman’s award is presented for excellence in the review of articles for WSSA journals. Maybe if he has some spare time we can use Dr. Everman on the MSUE Spotlight staff.
March 4, 2010
Do you remember the old nursery rhyme that asks Mary (who is quite contrary) how her garden grows? I’m sure Mary never would have thought of answering, “On the computer,” but then again, she never had a chance to “walk” through a virtual garden, either. Teams of adults and youth from 20 Michigan schools will be the first to tiptoe through the virtual tomatoes, and last Friday, they got a peek at the online world that will house the virtual garden when it launches. I was lucky enough to explore this virtual planet alongside 40 youth – I even had my own avatar! However, I have to confess that the youth were much more facile in finding their way around the Web site than I was. I’m still a novice at figuring out how to use a Web site without a set of instructions and a “how-to” cheat sheet. The kids were running virtual circles around me as I struggled to keep my virtual cucumbers watered, well-lit and nourished with appropriate nutrients. The real killer was when I had to go to game sites to earn points that I could use to get those essential elements the plants need to survive. I’m still not sure what I was supposed to do on the game where I was battling threatening clouds – I’m just not an intuitive “gamer.” Needless to say, my cukes suffered from too many cloudy days.
These 20 schools were awarded Michigan Team Nutrition grants that will help them plant school gardens and harvest the produce for use in school kitchens. Michigan State University Extension (MSUE) associate program leader Becky Henne is heading up this partnership, which has MSUE contributing the MyGarden content for the virtual garden site being developed by Kidscom.com. The Indoor Michigan 4-H Children’s Garden hosted the all-day training on Friday, and 
Norm Lownds, curator of the gardens, was on hand to show how MyGarden schools will be able to participate in distance-learning programming with the 4-H Children’s Gardens. It was exciting to see how the latest technology will get youth engaged in the age-old practice of gardening even if I was overly dependent on Norm’s good-natured help. One thing I know is that we are very fortunate to have the support of the Michigan 4-H Foundation for the 4-H Children’s Garden. It was a treat to go through the teaching greenhouse and see some tropical papaya plants about ready to bloom in what was a gray and windy day in Michigan. Even better that kids from throughout Michigan can see the same thing through the Web cams stationed throughout the greenhouse.
