Tag Archives: I Team

by | June 21, 2012 · 12:51 pm

Award nominations deadlines approaching

It’s that time of year to recognize colleagues or friends of Michigan State University Extension who make our organization great. We can honor them by nominating them for various awards including the following awards from the MSUE Director: Meritorious Service, Educator; Meritorious Service, Program Instructor/Associate/Assistant; Meritorious Service, Specialist/Program Leader; and Meritorious Service, Support Staff. In addition, the I-Team (MSUE eXtension Institutional Team) gives the Ask an Expert, Community of Practice (CoP) and Technology in Programs Awards. Access the nomination form for these awards here.

The Key Partner award is designed to recognize individuals, organizations, media, special MSU programs and government officials who have made significant contributions to creating, improving or promoting MSU Extension programs. It is granted by the MSUE Director and is determined based on nominations from staff, faculty, retirees and volunteers. Access the nomination form for the Key Partner award here. MSU Extension employees should notify their institute directors of their nominations.

Submit all nominations for the above awards to Megghan Honke at honkemeg@msu.edu by July 31. The information will be combined and submitted to the administrative team for decisions by Aug. 31.

The John Hannah Award from the Michigan Council of Extension Associations is considered the most prestigious of the Extension awards as it recognizes superior Extension programs. All board-appointed Extension staff members are eligible. You may nominate programs conducted by a co-worker or yourself. Send nominations for the John Hannah award by July 15 to the current Epsilon Sigma Phi (ESP) president-elect Brenda Reau at reau@msu.edu. For additional information on the award and a list of previous winners, go to http://www.esp.msue.msu.edu/esp/john_hannah.

The State Friend of Extension Award from the Michigan Chapter of ESP recognizes individuals who truly have been friends of Extension. Their efforts may have been to help promote programs, represent us as lay leaders, serve as key program development persons, act as program collaborators or support MSU-Extension in other ways. Past recipients have come from organizations, media, MSU, local government and private business. To submit a nomination, follow directions here. Nominations must be received by July 15.

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by | August 18, 2011 · 9:38 am

eXtension selected for Google for Nonprofits program

The single nationwide Web presence for Cooperative Extension, eXtension, is another way U.S. land-grant universities provide objective and research-based information and learning opportunities that help people improve their lives.

Since the time our Michigan State University Extension eXtension Institutional Team (I-Team) was formed in Oct. 2009, we’ve made a lot of progress in the increased use and adoption of this Internet-based educational network by MSU Extension staff members and faculty. I’ve reported on that progress and even awards the I-Team has won for outstanding work with eXtension. Educators, specialists and faculty are answering questions on Ask An Expert, leading and participating in Communities of Practice (CoPs) and offering many professional webinars nationally through eXtension.

Recently, eXtension gained additional resources to further strengthen the interactive learning environment as our national “front door.” The eXtension Foundation, which exists to support the work of the national eXtension Initiative, has been selected to participate in the Google for Nonprofits program. Participating in the program gives eXtension access to a free or discounted version of Google Apps (applications). Through the Google grants program, eXtension will get free Adwords advertising and appear as an advertiser on Google search results pages, and have premium branding and increased uploads on YouTube as well as access to other applications. These products and resources will allow us to reach more potential donors or partners, raise awareness and improve business operations. Read about it here.

 The initial CoPs involved in the Google grants program will be DAIReXNET; Families, Food and Fitness; and Just in Time Parenting. Other CoPs will be included as knowledge and experience in participating in the nonprofits program is gained.

 Read more about the Google for Nonprofits Program: http://www.google.com/nonprofits/.

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by | July 7, 2011 · 2:19 pm

Michigan State eXtension shines nationally

Michigan State University Extension came off a winner at the 2011 National CoP (Communities of Practice) Workshop in Louisville, Ky., June 29, earning both a team award and an individual award for work with eXtension, the nationwide collaborative web presence for Cooperative Extension.

 The Institutional Teams from MSU and the University of Missouri received the first ever Be Grow Create awards for outstanding work in advocating for and integrating eXtension into their respective institutions. The award recognizes outstanding teams for planning, creativity, organized activities, web conference attendance, director interaction and institutional engagement.

 Team members are Wayne Beyea, Ruth Borger, Erica Ciupak, Kathe Hale, Michelle Rodgers, Chris Skelly, Lela Vandenberg and Liz Wells. Glenn Pape and Erica Tobe were also team members the first year the team was organized in 2009.

 The Institutional Team, known as the I-Team, has made significant strides in the two years since its inception. Most notable are the increases in eXtension IDs, Ask an Expert (AaE) resolved questions and CoP membership. An eXtension ID allows an educator or specialist to contribute to eXtension by answering questions or collaborating with CoPs. Given the strength and commitment of the team’s members and their ongoing effort to promote eXtension involvement, these increases should continue.

 Lela Vandenberg, senior MSU Extension specialist, was one of three recipients of eXtension’s first Be Grow Create Outstanding Institutional Team Member award. The award recognizes her responsiveness and engagement with MSU on behalf of eXtension, her role in institutional team development and sustainability, and eXtension advocacy.

 As chair, Lela has been the driving force behind the eXtension I-Team. She created a series of how-to handouts that have been shared widely. Her online AaE experiential training has dramatically increased staff involvement. More than 150 people have taken the hands-on course. After training, staff members feel competent and excited to answer questions on AaE.

 Lela has shown herself to be a tremendous advocate for eXtension. She’s presented at professional association meetings and statewide conferences to introduce eXtension to the MSUE community, encouraging participation. Lela has worked with the marketing and promoting subcommittee to recruit faculty and staff involvement. Through her leadership, MSU eXtension IDs have gone from 30 in 2008 to 223 in the first six months of 2011.

 The I-Team with Lela at the helm is helping to carry out two of the principles of our redesign – increasing responsiveness and adopting emerging technologies. Clearly, we are doing both with eXtension and winning awards in the process.

 Read more about the I-Team’s win here: http://about.extension.org/2011/07/03/michigan-state-missouri-honored-as-outstanding-institutional-teams/

 Read more about Lela’s win here: http://about.extension.org/2011/07/03/hunnings-hurt-vandenberg-honored-with-be-grow-create-awards/

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by | October 29, 2009 · 10:39 am

Meet the I Team

by Michelle Rodgers, MSUE associate director of operations

A few weeks ago eight Michigan State University Extension faculty members and educators attended Your Gateway to the Future of Cooperative eXtension. We’ve dubbed this group, the MSUE I Team. The “I” stands for institutional, and their job is to launch eXtension at MSUE.

Lela Vandenberg, Kathe Hale, Wayne Beyea, Liz Wells, Christine Skelly, Glenn Pape, Erica Tobe, Ruth Borger, Erica Ciupak and I came back excited about eXtension’s tools such as moodle, SecondLife, Flickr, Ask an Expert (AaE), Communities of Practice (CoP), social networking, widgets and knols.

If you have no idea what some of these terms mean, the team also learned that it is never too late learn. And the best way to do that is to get on board with eXtension. This welcoming community of colleagues is working to explore how we can use technology to meet the Extension mission. A 30-minute visit to the web site can introduce you to many of these tools. There are 42 Communities of Practice, to get involved in, and I encourage you to select one or two that are meaningful to you.

This week the MSUE eXtension institutional team met to develop a plan to integrate state participation in eXtension. Many ideas were shared and the group is currently using a wiki as a tool to work collectively on finalizing the planning process that began in our face to face meeting.

If you have used eXtension, we’d like to hear about your experience. Tell us about it in the comments section below. By networking in this way, we can help all of us get ideas of how we might be able to incorporate eXtension into our work. So go there to enter your experiences or to learn what your colleagues are doing!

If you missed the lunch and learn session about eXtension with Jerry Thomas from Ohio State, you can catch up by viewing the recorded session. And you can join the final session on Oct. 29 from noon to 1 p.m. by logging on to the Breeze site. (You’ll find all the log in information and phone numbers to call there.)

You can also explore eXtension on your own by visiting the eXtension main page.

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