Hi friends...
It’s hard to believe that we are already moving into August! It seems like this year is going faster than just about any other I can remember. I want to take a moment and thank you for the various efforts you are making as we transition even more fully toward being physically in the statewide offices with expanded office hours open to the public, returning to more in-person programming, and attempting to identify and support more options for flexibility so everyone has a chance to both incorporate work/life balance as well as meet the needs of the unit and community. I recognize it is a bit of a dance at times, especially as peak programming occurs for various program areas across the year and there are still important considerations regarding accommodation factors such as childcare access, local fall school approaches by district, and health concerns for those with immune system issues. I have been extremely proud of the way we have all been working together to meet these continuing needs during the ongoing pandemic, as well as approaching our commitment to the stakeholders and organization we serve. You are all to be applauded!
I know that we have not put the issues related to COVID-19 in the review mirror yet and have many challenges remaining as we move forward and are intentional in how we envision and implement our co-created future for Extension. I am excited about the forthcoming listening sessions (see details below), our re-engagement of our state-level internal and external Extension advisory councils, and our follow-up on our Return-to-Office (RtO) survey as we continue to address culture and work/life balance. I hope that you will sign up for some of the additional opportunities for sharing your perspectives and your ideas for creating a future that remains bright for our employees, our partners, and our communities during our strategic-futuring initiative. An organization is successful when it gets it right for those it serves – the employees and the customers. You all have proven year after year and decade after decade that we attract and hire the best and we give the best of ourselves in service to the mission. Let’s keep working together to accomplish what distinguishes us as we plan our future and design support for our Extension professionals and Ohioans.
Thank you for all you do!