News and Notes: April 22, 2022
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OUR VISION: Ohioans have the knowledge and resources they need to actively engage in creating conditions in which they thrive.
OUR MISSION: We create opportunities for people to explore how science-based knowledge can improve social, economic and environmental conditions.
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Leadership Notes
College Connections
Community Connections
Programming Perspectives
Award Opportunities/Reminders
Operations/Business of Extension
Celebrating Colleagues
Professional Development Opportunities
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
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Thoughts from Jackie
Friends,
With next week being Administrative Professionals Day (Wednesday, April 27), I wanted to take a moment to specifically highlight the work of all of our tremendous information assistants, office assistants, and office associates. The talent and dedication you all provide to OSU Extension is invaluable and cannot possibly be measured or appreciated enough. You are often the first and lasting impression our clientele have of our organization as you greet them and are an ambassador for our mission. You bring your vast talents and positive energy to every activity, each and every day. You go out of your way to answer questions, solve problems, proactively provide resources, and ensure that every interaction with those seeking something from Extension leave with information, solutions, and an excellent customer experience. You provide key support to the work of everyone in the office, whether it is customer engagement, handling travel and financial support, managing schedules, maintaining equipment and office supplies, keeping the office/building maintained and organized, assisting with communications and marketing, helping with program materials and sessions, supporting volunteers and committees, and a million other things that cannot possibly be captured in this note. I know it sounds quaint, but you are truly the glue that holds everything together – we would be lost without you, your commitment and dedication, and your individual contribution of time and talents that make coming to the office special for everyone. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!!
Best wishes, Jackie
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OSU Extension Director's Video Update
The next Director’s Video Update will be held on Tuesday, April 26 at 9am. Registration is required. You can register online at osu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_j-b9rlZhTLGdF1el5SyhFA. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with log-in information about joining the webinar on April 26. You may need to log into Zoom first, then click on the individualized link in your registration confirmation to access the webinar. The update will be recorded for those who cannot join us for the live presentation.
This event will be presented with automated closed captions. If you wish to request traditional CART services or other accommodations, please contact Cheryl Buck at buck.19@osu.edu or 614-292-4880. Requests made by 10 business days before the event will generally allow us to provide seamless access, but the university will make every effort to meet requests made after this date.
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Scarlet, Gray and Green Fair – April 23
The Scarlet Gray and Green Fair is back live for 2022. It will be held this Saturday at the Secrest Arboretum Center on the CFAES Wooster campus from 10 am-4 pm. Coinciding with the 52nd anniversary of the world-wide celebration of Earth Day, the fair celebrates, educates and demonstrates that “Green is for Life!” The fair will feature speakers in the morning, a green car cruise-in, exhibitors, tours, recycling drop-offs, food and entertainment. See the attached flyer for more information.
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New KX eFields Tool is now Available
The Knowledge Exchange recently expanded the eFields tool on its website. The new eFields page includes the reports database, a data visualization tool, and an eFields interactive tab. The “eFields Reports” tab directs users to the searchable database, with the recently published 2021 reports now included. On the “Explore Data” tab, users can generate a unique chart of corn and soybean trial data by changing filters for year, crop, trial type, county, and tillage type. Download a chart .png file to include in reports or other handouts. The “Interact” tab links to a new eFields experience with research partner profiles, initiatives, resources, and an interactive map of research reports, suitable for sharing with producers or community partners to learn more about eFields. Check out the new feature eFields page.
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CFAES Celebration of Research Week Follow-up
Thanks to all who participated in last week’s Celebration of Research Week festivities hosted by the CFAES Office for Research and Graduate Education. Congratulations to all winners who were honored during the 2022 Annual Research Conference Awards Ceremony. If you missed the ceremony, you can visit the 2021-2022 CFAES Award Recipients page to learn more about the winners and their bios, as well as the research poster competition winners.
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Beef Field Day and Tour – July 16
It has been several years since an Ohio Beef Field Day has been held, and the program will make a reappearance in Muskingum County on Saturday, July 16. Tour stops in the Adamsville area will include Michel Livestock, Shirer Brothers Processing, Hatfield Farms and Fencing, and Roger’s Auction Barn.
During lunch prepared by the Muskingum County Cattlemen, representatives from the Ohio Beef Council will highlight recent programming and share some insight into consumer trends. Dr. Justin Kieffer, clinical veterinarian in the Ohio State Department of Animal Science, will discuss herd health updates and anaplasmosis management. Pre-registration for the program is required and can be completed online at go.osu.edu/2022beefday by July 7. The program fee is $10 per person. Beef Quality Assurance certification, resource materials, lunch, and refreshments will be provided. Contact Garth Ruff, Extension field specialist, beef cattle, at ruff.72@osu.edu or 740-305-3201. See the attached flyer for more information.
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Grow the Future of Entomology: Give to Fundraising Campaign
-shared by Dr. Bruce A. McPheron, dean’s chair in CFAES International Programs, and professor of Entomology
The Department of Entomology is in the midst of a fundraising campaign to demonstrate its commitment to undergraduate education. “I’m an enthusiastic supporter of this effort, and Marilyn and I have already made our gift! At a time when the cost of a college degree is part of the national news and reducing the financial impact of an Ohio State experience is a priority of our president, there has never been a better moment to invest in our own future as a department.”
“I had substantial scholarship support during my undergraduate journey here at Ohio State … to help me succeed in my education. Knowing the impact that scholarships had on my academic career, I feel an obligation to pass that benefit on to the next generation. … When I graduated from our department in 1976, I had no idea of the myriad of opportunities that would present themselves in the years ahead. So, I’m asking you to join me in creating that same set of possibilities for tomorrow’s student in our Department of Entomology.” Click here to donate to the Entomology Undergraduate Scholarship Fund.
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Ohio Victory Gardens Program Kicks Off Third Year; Expands to 42 Counties
The Ohio Department of Agriculture and OSU Extension offices are kicking off the third year of the Ohio Victory Gardens program. Due to high demand, the program is expanding to include 42 counties, up from 25 counties last year. Thousands of seed sample kits will be available for free to the public to get people planting.
“In the third year of our Victory Gardens program, we are proud of the ground we have covered in reigniting Ohioans’ love for backyard gardening, while lifting people’s spirits and re-teaching an important life skill of growing your own food,” said Dorothy Pelanda, director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
“Whether it’s growing a large backyard garden, a few potted plants on a kitchen windowsill, or a smaller container garden on your porch, the Ohio Victory Gardens program has something to offer everyone,” said Cathann A. Kress, Ohio State’s vice president for agricultural administration and dean of The Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES). “We are excited to partner again with the Ohio Department of Agriculture to enrich Ohioans’ appreciation for growing food for their households.”
“We are thrilled to once again be part of the Ohio Victory Gardens program and help many of the citizens we reach become enthusiastic growers of their own food,” said Jackie Kirby Wilkins, associate dean in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, and director, OSU Extension.
Seeds will be available to pick up starting April 25 at OSU Extension county offices and new this year, ODA Soil and Water Conservation Districts. Specific days and times for each office are available on the Ohio Victory Gardens website, as well as planting resources and information about seed distribution. All Victory Gardens participants will be eligible to win a free starter gardening toolkit by completing a short online survey to enter.
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TSC Spring Paper Clover Campaign Runs April 27-May 8
The spring Tractor Supply Company (TSC) paper clover campaign will be held April 27-May 8. The campaign collects customer donations at the register to benefit local 4-H programs. For this campaign, 80% will go back to the county of the store of where it was sold. These funds are to be used on camp and leadership experiences. During the campaign, there will be posts of both the Ohio 4-H Facebook page and the Ohio 4-H Foundation Facebook page. Feel free to directly share from there. Marketing assets are available via national 4-H marketing or the Ohio 4-H Professionals Teams channel. Contact Crystal Ott, 4-H Foundation manager, at ott.109@osu.edu with questions. For more information, see the attached summary.
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Remember – Today is Earth Day!
In recognition of this important focus on our earth stewardship, six activities were developed and are available online atgo.osu.edu/4hearthday. All six activities were featured during a poster session and reception with the School of Environment and Natural Resources this week, where some of our 4-H members prepared talks about the experience of completing the activity.
Earth Day Activities:
- “Ice Cores: A Layer Cake of Snow” was written in collaboration with Ohio State’s own experts from the Byrd Polar Center. Youth make a model of an ice core, examine the layers, and make inferences about the weather at the time the snow fell, just like climatologists.
- “Choose to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle” features a deck of colorful household waste cards that have to be sorted into reduce, reuse, and recycle stacks.
- “Easy Bean Babies” involves the anatomy and sprouting of a lima bean. Learners use the simplest of materials—cotton balls and plastic bags—to make their own greenhouses.
- “Healthy Plants Are Our Bees-ness” asks youth to act like a bee and collect pollen from flowers made from candy and cheese puffs.
- In “Soil-ology: Do You Dig It,” youth make a compost jar and over time have their own window into the decomposition process.
- “Start with Reduce and Reuse” emphasizes the importance of simply consuming less. Math skills are put to work as they graph the tons of disposed waste in Ohio. The abstract becomes concrete when they are asked how they can reduce waste at home.
All of the activities are fully accessible online and in PDFs. They are appropriate for individual learners and groups. Each is also cross-referenced to national Next Generation Science Standards. Except for the ice core activity, the authors are 4-H educators (Erin Dailey, Rachael Fraley, Kristy Watters, Travis West, Jo Williams, and Tracy Winters). We plan for these activities to remain available beyond Earth Day. Remember to send us notes about how you celebrated Earth Day in your county (wilkins.201@osu.edu).
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Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague and Ohio State Recognize April as Financial Literacy Month
Ohio Treasurer and OSU Extension are recognizing Financial Literacy Month in April and celebrating our continued combined statewide efforts to promote Real Money Real World and other financial management programming. In addition, all 59 counties that currently deliver the Real Money Real World program will be honored as the Treasurer’s Compass Awardees for the month of April. See the list of counties and read the full press release here.
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Ohio Cropland Values and Cash Rents Survey – Complete by April 30
Ag professionals across the state of Ohio are being surveyed to help generate information for those interested in farmland. There are a couple of ways to participate:
- Complete the survey yourself. You are welcome to do so, because you have a good working knowledge of farmland markets and cash rental rates in your county.
- Forward the survey link and/or attached survey to trusted farmers, landowners, ag lenders, and other ag professionals in your county/region that have a working knowledge of cropland values and cash rents.
Complete the survey online at go.osu.edu/ohiocroplandvaluescashrents2122 by April 30. All survey data will be anonymous and distributed only in a summary format. Summary conclusions from the latest survey of agriculture professionals, the Western Ohio Cropland Values and Cash Rental Rates 2020-21, are available online at farmoffice.osu.edu/farm-management-tools/farm-management-publications/cash-rents. If you have questions, contact Barry Ward, director, Ohio State Income Tax School, and leader, Production Business Management, at ward.8@osu.edu.
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FCS All Healthy Teams Gathering – May 19
The FCS Healthy Teams Gathering will be held in-person on May 19, from 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. at the Nationwide & Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center. Complete the TKI assessment and register by May 13 at go.osu.edu/fcsallteams. A registration cost of $20 will include assessment, room, and food costs for the day; lunch will be provided by Qdoba. The attached agenda has more information about the program for the day. See the April 21 email message sent to FCS educators about parking and TKI prep, etc.
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JCEP Award Applications due by May 1
Ohio JCEP Professional Development Scholarships are available to any current Ohio JCEP member and are awarded three times annually. There is a maximum of $750 per individual available to support your professional development activities. This round of applications is due May 1. The direct link to the application is go.osu.edu/ojcepmay2022awards. Information on the scholarships is posted online at extension.osu.edu/about/ohio-joint-council-extension-professionals/ohio-jcep-committees/scholarships-grants-and/ohio.
First-Timer Fellowships support Extension professionals who are attending a national Extension conference for the first time. Individuals are only eligible to receive this once. If you have never attended a national Extension conference, don’t miss out on these funds to support your attendance. These applications are due May 1. The direct link to the application is go.osu.edu/firsttimeraward2022.
If there are any questions about either opportunity, email Misty Harmon, Ohio JCEP Scholarship Awards Sub-Committee chair, at harmon.416@osu.edu.
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Engagement Scholarship Consortium Grant Applications due by May 9
Conducting scholarship that is mutually beneficial for both university scholars and communities is the very foundation of engaged scholarship. Through the Engaged Scholarship Research/Creative Activities Grants Program for Faculty, the Engagement Scholarship Consortium is providing financial support that helps facilitate positive outcomes for both scholars and communities. Faculty at ESC member institutions may apply for up to $5,000 to fund a one-year project. More information and grant applications are available online at engagementscholarship.org/grants-and-awards/esc-grants-program.
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International Agricultural Education Fellowship Program Opportunity – Open until May 16
A FY2022 International Agricultural Education Fellowship Program opportunity for the Northern Triangle is now open. Working together across the U.S. land-grant college and university system can produce more comprehensive and robust proposals. The due date for proposals is May 16. The link to the announcement can be found at grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=338561. Questions can be submitted to Amy Uber (Amy.Uber@usda.gov) and Adam Carruthers (Adam.Carruthers@usda.gov), with Fellowship Programs, Global Programs.
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Report = Support Mandatory Training Must be Completed by April 29
Merit-eligible employees who do not complete the mandatory Report = Support! training by April 29 will not be eligible for annual merit increases that take effect in September 2022. Student employees, graduate associates, and other employees who are not classified as merit-eligible may be subject to unit-specific consequences for non-completion. Bargaining unit employees should follow their applicable collective bargaining agreements.
Don’t wait – complete your training today! To access the course: log into the BuckeyeLearn system at buckeyelearn.osu.edu with your Ohio State credentials. Select the “My Transcript” button on the homepage, and click the “Launch” button. When you have completed a course, it will move to your completed transcript in BuckeyeLearn, which you can view by changing the “Active” button on the top of your transcript to “Completed.”
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Travel Resources and Reminders
-Jesse Buxton, fiscal officer, OSU Extension Operations
As you begin to plan for out-of-state and overnight travel for conferences and professional development this year, here are some key resources and reminders for you.
Resources:
- Extension Operations Overnight Travel Job Aid: step-by-step instructions for requesting your travel spend authorization and submitting expenses for overnight travel.
- Ohio State Travel Office Travel Comparison Worksheet: required when adding personal time to a business trip, driving instead of flying, or using personal mileage instead of rental car (overnight/out-of-state). Quotes should be saved and attached along with this form to your spend authorization.
- Ohio State Administrative Resource Center (ARC) travel job aids.
- Ohio State Travel Office website.
Reminders:
- Travel Spend Authorizations are required in advance of traveling. Separate spend authorizations are needed for each overnight/out-of-state travel occurrence.
- Corporate Travel Planners (CTP/Concur) is required for airfare. Do not use a department PCard; CTP charges a university PCard, and the travel office will re-assign the charge to the traveler to be expensed.
- University contract (Enterprise, National, and Hertz) is required for rental cars.
- Travel PCard expenses are required to be submitted on an expense report within 7 days of the original transaction (including CTP/Concur airfare pre-paid by Ohio State). PCard manager must re-assign charge to traveler or create expense report on behalf of traveler.
- Personal travel expense must be submitted on an expense report within 60 days of the original transaction date, regardless of actual travel dates.
- Conference agenda should be attached with your travel spend authorization upon submission for approval.
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NACAA Announces Ohio Winners of 2022 Communications Awards
Congratulations to the winners of the state communications awards contest for the Ohio chapter of NACAA. All first-place winners from each category will automatically advance to the North Central regional contest. In total, Ohio contributed 52 creative works submissions, with entries in 12 of 13 categories. Special thanks to the 21 judges who volunteered their time to help judge this year. Scorecards will be compiled and distributed within the next month to those who entered materials. Certificates of Achievement will be distributed at the 2022 ANR retreat. See the attached summary of the winners.
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2022 Community Engagement Practitioner Awards Recognize Two Extension Educators
Two OSU Extension educators were recently recognized with Community Engaged Practitioner Awards from the Ohio State Office of Outreach and Engagement – Scott Hardy, educator with CFAES, OSU Extension, and Ohio Sea Grant; and Rebecca Wade-Mdivanian, director of LiFEsports with the College of Social Work and OSU Extension. This award “recognizes staff members who have demonstrated superior commitment to developing, coordinating, and/or sustaining projects, activities, or initiatives involving Ohio State and community partners that enhance engagement scholarship and community impacts.” Learn more at engage.osu.edu/2022-university-outreach-and-engagement-awards.
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OSU Leadership Center Offers May Workshops
Check out this list of workshops hosted by the Leadership Center in May. Learn more at leadershipcenter.osu.edu/events.
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- Communication and Conflict Management (online) – May 5 (click here for more info)
- Emotional Intelligence for Leaders (online) – May 12 (click here for more info)
- Problem-Solving, Teamwork and Creativity for Success (online) – May 13 (click here for more info)
- The Introverted Leader – May 19 (click here for more info)
- Why Can’t We All Just Get Along? – May 25 (click here for more info)
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Regional AgrAbility Workshop – June 28-30
This workshop is presented by Ohio AgrAbility and the National AgrAbility Project. The Tuesday and Wednesday workshop topics will include: prescription medication safety. urban agriculture, business planning, working with vocational rehabilitation, farming with developmental disability, assistive technology in agriculture, and work/life balance. The Thursday farm tour will include: STGenetics Ohio Heifer Center, OSU Extension – Franklin County office, accessible gardens tour, Franklinton Farms, and Freshtown Farms. Review session descriptions and register online. Registration is open until June 22.
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2022 National Conference on Diversity, Race, and Learning – May 2-3
This year’s conference theme is Forward Progress: Making Diversity, Equity and Inclusive Excellence a Priority. Participants will gain insights on current diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategies and best practices through sessions facilitated by experts in their field. This conference offers opportunities to network with other learners and those engaged in DEI work. There is still time to register; click here.
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CFAES Offers Diversity, Intercultural, and Community Engagement (DICE) Certificate
The CFAES Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion partnering with the Ohio State Multicultural Center to offer a customized DICE certificate. All CFAES staff, faculty, and students are eligible to participate. Earn credits toward the certificate by submitting a reflection about your experience participating in approved activities such as webinars, cultural events, service projects, and trainings. It’s a great opportunity to demonstrate a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. To receive the certificate, you must complete 10 credits by July 25. For more information and to register, visit cfaesdei.osu.edu/webinars-and-other-events/cfaes-dice-certificate-program.