4-H Foundation Interim Executive Director Named

Cheryl Howell has been named interim executive director of the Michigan 4-H Foundation, effective June 1. For the past 14 years, Cheryl has served as communications manager for MSU Extension 4-H and Children, Youth and Family programs and communications director for the Michigan 4-H Foundation. In her new role, she will be responsible for overall management of the foundation, which includes solicitation, management and distribution of private support for 4-H, donor stewardship and oversight of the management of the foundation's business operations including, Kettunen Center, which the foundation owns and operates. Congratulations Cheryl.

Michigan Sea Grant received a bronze award in the newsletter category for “Upwellings.” It also won a publication excellence award for “Life of the Lakes,” a guide for K-12 educators written by Shari Dann, MSUE specialist, and Brandon Schroeder, Michigan Sea Grant Extension agent. The publication was edited, designed and produced by a collaborative Michigan Sea Grant team, made up of Dave Brenner, Joyce Daniels, Elizabeth LaPorte and Carol Swinehart, all with Michigan Sea Grant.

Robin Millsap, communications manager for emerald ash borer (EAB) education efforts, received a bronze award for a poster she developed to build public awareness about the EAB problem. Millsap will also present a session at ACE national conference this June in Lake Tahoe, Nev., on coordinating communication efforts involving state agencies, the land-grant university and county Extension offices.

The National Food Safety and Toxicology Center (NFSTC), which receives support from MSUE, won a bronze award in the promotional writing category for a booklet developed to promote its online professional master of science in food safety program (the first program of its kind). The NFSTC production and writing team comprised Kirsten Khire, Pattie McNiel, Ed Mather and Annika Storey. Mather and Trent Wakenight edited the booklet, and Jamie Harris, Khire and Storey were the designers.

In This Issue

New interim 4-H Foundation director

MSUE publications win in competition

Junior Citizen Planner

New School of Planning, Design and Construction

MSU EAP program available

Kovacic to lead steering committee

Program evaluation sessions

New federal report

Merit awards suspended

Upcoming events

Other Extension News

Programs partner to launch Junior Citizen Planner

MSU Extension’s Citizen Planner and 4-H Youth Development programs have teamed up to launch a Junior Citizen Planner program designed to introduce young people to land use decision making and the technology-based tools to help them explore land management and planning situations.

This new program is designed to involve adult Citizen Planners as volunteers working with youth through three delivery models: third-and fourth-grade classroom-based learning using the new “This Land is Your Land” curriculum; 4-H club-ased learning using the national 4-H “Going Places, Making Choices” curriculum and an intensive-three day technology experience around land use issues during the June 2004 4-H Exploration Days on campus.

If you are interested in piloting and helping to shape the new MSU Extension Junior Citizen Planner initiative in your county, contact Kendra Wills at willsk@msue.msu.edu or Rob Keith at keithr@msue.msu.edu for more information.

The MSU Board of Trustees approved the establishment of the School of Planning, Design and Construction, effective July 1.

The School of Planning, Design and Construction will include the Construction Management, Urban and Regional Planning, Landscape Architecture, Interior Design and Facilities Management programs. The newschool will be administered jointly by the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the College of Social Science.

Bringing these disciplines together into the School of Planning, Design and Construction will position MSU to become the nation's leading institution dealing with issues of land use, community development and the built environment. With faculty members involved in virtually every aspect of housing, landscape, design, land use, project management, growth management, the technological aspects of community development, infrastructure and public policy, the SPDC will serve as the foremost resource for systemwide approaches to designing livable communities.

Bob von Bernuth, current director of the Construction Management Program, will serve as the first director of the School of Planning, Design and Construction.

MSU Employee Assistance Program (EAP) assists University employees in working through personal, work-related and/or family problems that interfere with work and/or daily life. The EAP provides voluntary, confidential services, including professional assessment, short-term counseling and referral services.Some of the concerns that MSU employees and members of their immediate families bring to EAP are:

• Personal and job stress.
• Anxiety and depression.
• Management of life changes/transitions.
• Communication with co-workers and family members.
• Alcohol and substance abuse issues.
• Marital and partner concerns.
• Parenting and caregiver skills.
• Grief and loss.

Call 517/355-4506 or e-mail Pat.Sorg@ht.msu.edu for more information or an appointment. Telephone consultations are available.Supervisors of employees seeking EAP assistance are expected to provide reasonable release time and/or a private space for telephone contact.

East Central regional director, Mike Kovacic, will take an 18-month leave of absence from his duties as regional director to continue work on a leadership project with the dean's office. He will provide coordination for a planning grant partially funded by the Kellogg Foundation and supported by other partner organizations. Mike assisted the dean’s office in drafting the planning grant and framing the leadership program proposal. The project will begin July 1.

Leadership development is a high priority for the agriculture, natural resources and environmental communities and has been a topic of keen interest in the college since Dean Armstrong joined us. Mike will be leading a six- to eight-member steering committee examining leadership development programs around the country, some of which are patterned after the successful Kellogg Young Farmers Study Program and the Michigan Agricultural Leadership Program (MALP). The goal of this effort is to create a conceptual framework for a much broader and more diverse program that will train and develop the next generation of community, agricultural, natural resources and environmental leaders. The team will also explore leadership development opportunities that would affect the graduate and undergraduate curricula on campus along with research and Extension programming. Mike will also meet with stakeholders across the state to gather feedback about the feasibility of a new leadership education framework and encourage initial buy-in and support from potential program partners.

Mike will continue to provide leadership for the MSUE marketing effort during his leave.

The East Central regional director position will be filled on an interim basis during Mike’s leave. If you are interested in exploring this 18-month opportunity, please send Margaret Bethel an e-mail at bethel@msue.msu.edu outlining your credentials and interest in the position by May 21. Candidates will be screened and a direct appointment made by the middle of June.

The Program Evaluation Institute for Agriculture, Environmental and Natural Resource Professionals is offering a summer session June 28-30. It will give employees opportunity to learn evaluation theories and develop an evaluation plan for a project pertaining to your interest areas. Scholarships are available to support participants. For more information, contact Murari Suvedi at (517) 355-6580, ext. 214, or by e-mail at suvedi@msu.edu.

Each year a federal report on Extension accomplishments is compiled using information from the EIS reporting system. Information gleaned for this report comes from a combination of sources including individual and team success stories and AoE team reports. Thanks to Roger Betz, Dan Bolinger, Gayle Coleman, Dawn Contreras, Caton Gauthier, Kevin Gould, Charles Gould, Mary Hausbeck, James Hilker, Linda Huyck, Amy Irish-Brown, David Ivan, Phil Kaatz, Tom Kalchik, Ira Krupp, Richard Ledebuhr, Katherine Lee, Cynthia Mark, Joan Miller, Julie Moberg, Norm Myers, Robyn Oliver, Brenda Reau, Natalie Rector, William Robb, Marilyn Rudzinski, Philip Schwallier, Darci Seamon, George Silva, Marilyn Thelen, Mark Thomas, Dave Thomas, Cynthia Warren, Mary Wilson and Paul Wylie for contributing to the 2004 Federal Annual Report. This list reflects authorship of individuals or AoE teams from which information was obtained but not necessarily reflects who did the work being reported on. The complete report can be found at: http://www.msue.msu.edu/eis/20022003report.pdf.

Merit awards for off-campus academic and on-campus administrative and program staff members are suspended for 2004. Central administration has informed MSU Extension that raise levels will be below the threshold established as a trigger for conducting the merit committee review process in regions and with campus units. The EDS guidelines established a threshold of 2.5 percent as the trigger for regional awards. When the raise pool is less than 2.5 percent the money is entirely allocated to across-the-board raises.

Ag Expo

Mark your calendars for Ag Expo, July 20-22 on campus. For more information about the 2004 Ag Expo, go to www.agexpo.msu.edu/.

Fall Extension Conference

The 2004 Fall Conference will be held Oct. 12-14 at the MSU Kellogg Center.

Other Extension News:

FCS Newsletter

Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) has developed an electronic newsletter to update the MSU Extension community. FCS provides educational programming in family resource management; food, nutrition and health; food safety; and human development. The newsletter is available at: http://www.msue.msu.edu/msue/cyf/family/FCS-Resources.html.