August/September 2002 Newsletter; Edition Number 89
Epsilon Sigma Phi The Cooperative Extension Professionals' Organization
Keith L. Smith, Ohio State University, has been selected to receive the 2002 National Distinguished Service Ruby Award. He will deliver the prestigious Ruby Lecture at this year's Epsilon Sigma Phi National Conference in Lexington, Kentucky.
The Distinguished Service Ruby Award is the highest and most prestigious award presented by Epsilon Sigma Phi and is designed to recognize truly outstanding thinking, performance and leadership in Cooperative Extension. His ESP colleagues in Ohio wrote, "Dr. Smith promotes innovation as he leads the University's Outreach and Engagement initiative which supports the Extension mission in our land-grant university. His support of applied research and professional development opportunities for all faculty fosters growth in the organization. Ohio's best practices in teaching and research are shared widely and is evidenced by Ohio professionals' selection to make more refereed presentations at National Association meetings than any other state."
As Director for Ohio State University Extension, he has consistently demonstrated innovative leadership and support for teamwork within the organization, as well as at state and national levels. His commitment to teams at all levels of the organization led to the administrative restructuring undertaken in July of '99. The OSU Extension Administrative Leadership Network was formed with three teams: Program; Personnel and Operations; and Training and Development. His attention to detail has allowed Ohio to be sound in a time of major budget reductions. Dr. Smith's proactive role in budget management has allowed Ohio State University to maintain a 5 percent carry over, hold the budget for personnel salaries to under 80% and look for other revenue streams. Since 1992, the Ohio Extension budget has gone from 36.7 million dollars to 66.2 million dollars. This budget increase has allowed the organization to grow from 900 employees in 1992 to 1400 employees today.
Dr. Smith has spent his 21-year Extension career in the state of Ohio. After serving as Associate Director for 3 years, in 1992 he was named Director, Ohio State University Extension and Associate Dean, College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. In 1996, he received the additional title of Associate Vice President for Agricultural Administration. Additionally, he holds the rank of Professor in the Department of Human and Community Resource Development. He holds a BS and MS in Agricultural Education from Utah State University and a Ph.D. in Agricultural Education from Iowa State University.
His national leadership positions include member of ECOP and the Board of Directors for the Journal of Extension. Because of his reputation as an innovative and effective teacher, he has been asked to teach graduate level courses at the Minnesota Extension Winter School and in 1988 he was awarded the Pomerene Teaching Achievement Award. Scholarly activities have included numerous articles in the Journal of Extension related to proactive accountability and innovation and creativity in Extension programming. Letters of congratulation can be sent to Keith L. Smith at 4420 Elliott Road, Hilliard, OH 43026.
This year we are asking each state to bring 2 or more items valued at over $20, and we encourage higher valued items ($50 and up) to help us reach our goal. The more items we have, the more fun and funds! Some suggested items: baskets of items from your state, wine, gift certificates (perhaps from local companies that have web sites), jewelry, donations from companies located in your state, and memorabilia from Extension programs (4-H, ESP, etc).
It would help if you could let us know what items you are bringing and their estimated potential value. Auction items can be sent ahead or brought with the participants to the National Meeting. Regardless of which you choose to do, please send Steve Kelly an email with information about the items and your name/state to stevek@uky.edu. If you want to ship items in advance you can send them Attn: Steve Kelly at 1384 Elizabeth RD, Flemington, KY 41041. Please do not send more than three weeks in advance of the conference.
These workshops are for chapter leadership teams. Nationally, ESP provides a $300/chapter stipend to help defray travel costs. The National Association of County Agricultural Agents is handling the arrangements and will announce further details in the near future.
It won't be long until it is time for the annual meeting in Lexington. If you haven't already registered, now is the time to do so! There will be some special tours to help you expand your horizons and what better place than in beautiful Kentucky in the fall. Tours will fill up fast so reserve your place soon.
The Professional Development Committee has planned an outstanding program that is sure to offer something of value to all those attending. Kentucky's own Phillip Van Hooser and Ron Crouch are two of the speakers and Trena Anastasia of Ft. Collins, Colorado, will round out our outstanding group of keynote speakers. Fifteen concurrent sessions featuring Extension's best offer a variety of subject matter presentations that will appeal to our diverse membership. Agriculture, natural resource, youth development and family and consumer science programs will be highlighted in the program.
There will also be plenty of fun for all who attend. We will spend an afternoon at the Keeneland Race Track where the horses will be fast and there will be fun for all. The annual fundraising auction accompanied by "A Taste of the South" is sure to be a hit.
The conference will conclude with the annual banquet, an opportunity for us to honor those who have served Extension with excellence.
So if you haven't already registered, do so soon. We want to see you there. Where? At the ESP National Conference, October 16-19, 2002, at Lexington, Kentucky. For more details check it out on the web - http://espnational.org or contact Linda Cook at the National Office, espoffice@espnational.org, or 352-378-6665.
The 2002 ESP Regional Award Recipients are as follows:
Regional Distinguished Service:
Regional Mid Career:
Regional International Service:
Regional Team:
These individuals will be installed at the 2002 meeting in Lexington, Kentucky, and serve a two-year term. Please join the Board in expressing appreciation to these individuals who are willing to go the extra mile to invest in ESP on the National level.
Jim Hovland, the candidate for the Epsilon Sigma Phi 2nd Vice President position, is an active member of the Wisconsin Chapter. Jim is a Community Resource Development Educator, having served the past 26 years in Fond du Lac County.
Jim has served as President, Board of Directors member, and Resource Development Committee member of his Wisconsin ESP Chapter. Nationally, Jim is currently serving as North Central Region Vice President and National Resource Development Chair. He has participated in PILD, Regional Leadership Workshops, served on a National ESP committee, and served on the host committee for the National ESP meeting held in Milwaukee. He has effectively demonstrated his commitment to Epsilon Sigma Phi.
Leadership in other professional and community activities includes the Wisconsin and National Association of County Agricultural Agents, the Wisconsin Community Development Association, the Fond du Lac American Red Cross Board of Directors Chairman, the Wisconsin Farm Progress Days 2000 Fundraising Co-Chair, President of his church council and involvement in many other organizations. Jim is married with two daughters. Edith Felts-Podoll, the Wisconsin ESP President, had this to say about Jim, "Jim is committed to ESP. He has provided service to our local chapter and shared his talents with the National Board as well. He is organized, has a great sense of humor and is respected by his colleagues."
In Extension offices across this nation, ESP members in county and campus offices are attempting to address the needs of our new more diverse audiences. Collectively, we are charting new territory, many of us inventing new ways of delivering educational programs to audiences that are very different than our traditional audiences.
In an effort to support these efforts and to move the work forward, the National ESP Board adopted a National Commitment to Diversity at their April meeting. Proposed by the Public Issues Committee, the diversity statement provides a definition of the organization's commitment and a framework for implementation. The Public Issues Committee will provide leadership for its implementation. This written commitment is seen as a position statement that defines, clarifies, and expands the organization's existing commitment to diversity of membership. The diversity commitment will be available on the web site, in the national handbook and on a card stock insert in the ESP Membership brochure.
With a commitment in place, the work of providing intercultural competency training through the professional development committee and recognition of successful educational efforts with diverse audiences through the member services committee takes on a greater significance. We may also want to examine our membership requirements to see if, indeed, we are aligned with our commitment to diversity.
Read the National Commitment to Diversity on the web at http://espnational.org. Send your comments and ideas about implementation of the ESP commitment to diversity to Ann Schauber, Public Issues Committee member, ann.schauber@orst.edu. We will include your ideas in the development of our implementation plan.
The National ESP Office needs your new address!
Send by FAX at (352) 375-0722
E-mail: espoffice@espnational.org
or hard copy to
PO Box 357340,
Gainesville, FL 32635-7340
We have all heard the old adage about "preaching to the choir" meaning we are selling our message to a group who already believes in our message. As an Epsilon Sigma Phi national committee member, I am pretty sure I am preaching to the choir…if you are reading this article. Those who do not belong to the choir (even if they are ESP members) have put the Epsilon Sigma Phi Connection in the to-be-read-when-things-slow-down pile. With the busy schedules all of us have, that particular pile never seems to get read.
So how do we get the word to our colleagues that Epsilon Sigma Phi is more than another set of dues to pay or another line on the vitae? I cannot find any cute acronyms to get the message across but here are a few tips that might work.
Membership and involvement in Epsilon Sigma Phi gives us a voice and a unity in Extension regardless of programming focus and career stages. We choir members need to get our message out. We need to sing loud and clear and joyfully.
Lloyd Strombeck, my Dad, would have been happy to be at the 2003 Galaxy Conference to celebrate ESP's 75th anniversary. He, however, will be with you all in spirit, as he passed on in late 1998.
Dad was proud of his membership; he began his Extension career seven years after ESP was founded. Dad and I have a common connection to ESP and to the mission of Cooperative Extension. In March of 1976, Dad was present at Lambda Chapter's induction of me into ESP...it was a great moment in time for the two of us. From 1970 to 1978, I was a Cooperative Extension Agent with the 4-H Program in Ulster County, New York. Dad was one of my mentors...he skillfully guided me through my challenging, rewarding and self-fulfilling times in making a positive difference in the lives of young people. As a 4-H Program Leader from 1934 to 1965, Dad "pioneered" innovative 4-H youth programs touching many lives of youth and adults in rural New York State counties.
My Mom, Helen Cotter Strombeck, was Dad's helpmate; she brought something special to his work...good, common-sense advice plus her first hand knowledge of Extension...a 1933 graduate home economist with field experience as an Extension Agent. Mom was my second mentor...she taught me how to cook and sew plus how to care about people. She passed on her reliable advice plus her subtle sense of humor. Dad and Mom by their living example showed me how to "make the mission of Extension happen" in day-to-day living.
May the work of "today's missionaries" never be extinguished.........
Associating with productive, creative people through Extension to "Educate People to Help Themselves" is rewarding. Taking this same mission to under-developed countries is "icing on the cake." I spent a year on the Polish American Extension project and have worked in Kazakhstan, Moldova, and Uzbekistan. Currently, I am involved in a three-year project to set up pilot Extension Centers in Uzbekistan to increase outreach from Universities to rural communities.
Occasionally, people ask why I participate in these projects. I idealistically respond that I believe the prosperity of our country obligates us to help people around the world, especially when I see the poverty of disenfranchised people. We can help make a difference and this is important in the turbulent world in which we live.
A practical reason I do international work is that it improves my skills to do Extension work in Maryland. When confronted with challenging problems of another country, I am dragged "out of the box" and forced to come up with new ideas. For example, I use sophisticated financial tools to help farmers analyze their businesses. I found these tools to be too cumbersome for farmers in other countries. I developed quick and easy tools for them, and realized that many farmers in Maryland would benefit from these simpler tools. I am a better Extension worker, for having worked overseas.
Another compelling reason to work overseas is that it is fun. The Islamic culture, the agriculture, the ancient silk-road cities, and the mountains of Uzbekistan are fascinating. I have made lifelong friends in international work. The highlight of a recent trip to Kazakhstan was to visit three friends that I worked with there six years ago.
There are many opportunities for international Extension work and I would encourage those with an interest to avidly pursue them.
"We can see history come alive and revisit our past in this unique story, our story," said Rosemary Stare, Wisconsin Epsilon Sigma Phi member. Stare, along with ESP members Mary Mennes and Vern Forest, were instrumental in working with Jerry Apps and Cooperative Extension employees to collect stories for the book and get it published.
To order your copy of "The People Came First," visit the University of Wisconsin-Extension Publication website at http://www1.uwex.edu/ces/pubs/order.cfm for the order form. Checks can be made payable to Epsilon Sigma Phi Foundation for $25.27, which includes $4 for shipping and sales tax. They can be mailed to ESP Book, Cooperative Extension Publications, 45 N. Charter St., Madison, WI, 53715.
Proceeds of book sales benefit the ESP Endowment Fund, which will provide grants to Wisconsin Cooperative Extension faculty and staff for professional development.
2002 ESP NATIONAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE
Call to the Post: Creating Strategies for the Future
October 16-19, 2002 Radisson Plaza Hotel Lexington
Lexington, Kentucky
In Cooperation with the University of Kentucky
Visit the ESP Web Site for additional information:
http://espnational.org
Early bird deadline is
September 1, 2002
Questions call/e-mail:
Linda D. Cook, ESP Executive Director
352-378-6665 or
espoffice@espnational.org
Galaxy II
September 21-25, 2003
Salt Lake City, UT
2004 National ESP Conference
September 14-19, 2004
Quad Cities, IL
2005 National ESP Conference
November 8-13, 2005
Broadmoor, Colorado Springs, CO