Learning & Development: Call for mentees, life in a pandemic, analyzing data, mitigating bias

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Upcoming webinars (what's in the pipeline?)
  Extension Delivery
  Building Support
  Office, Team, & Personal Development

Call for 2021 WebANR Presenters
Do you have a topic you would like to present or recommend for WebANR Cafe' Thursday (Third Thursdays @ Noon-12:30 pm)? Topics should cover one of these themes: Extension Delivery, Building Support, and Office & Team/Personal Management. Please fill out this survey with your proposal. We will add your recommendation to our WebANR planning process and let you know if we will proceed with it.

Call for Mentee Applicants: ANR Staff Mentorship Program (January-October 2021)
Mentee application due Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020, by 5 p.m.

ANR Learning & Development is delighted to announce a call for mentee applicants to ANR's THIRD annual staff mentorship program!

This program will pair staff mentees who seek professional development with mentors from across UC ANR. The program will provide a supportive structure in which mentees can cultivate contacts, better understand ANR, gather information, explore challenges and enhance effectiveness as they design their personal growth and career paths.

The 9-month mentorship program (January-October 2021) will consist of

• Regular monthly meetings (conference video/calls) with your mentor,
• CliftonGallop Strengthfinder survey for both mentors and mentees
• Three group sessions: Mentee orientation, CliftonGallop Strengthfinder ® Workshop, Completion & Debrief

ANR Learning & Development will cover the cost for your participation. The program will be limited to 10 people. If you are interested, please fill out the survey by Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020, by 5 p.m. to be considered.

In selecting mentees for the program, an ANR Staff Assembly Subcommittee will consider each applicant's survey responses, length of time with ANR, unit/location, and role. Our goal is to include a broad range of participants from across the division. For more information on mentoring relationships read more here.

Methods to Analyze Surveys: Part 1 Continuous Quantitative Data
Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020
10 a.m. – Noon
Register for virtual interactive trainings

Highlighting CE examples to build program planning and evaluation capacity. This 8-part series is being offered a la carte. Select whatever interests you! Participants will gain…

• Understanding of levels of quantitative data (e.g., nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio)
• Understanding of the different measures of central tendency and variability
• Hands-on experience analyzing and reporting frequency distribution in pre/post tests

Hands-on experience running a paired samples t-test in Excel, interpreting the results,
and reporting the findings (Planning and Evaluation Capacity Building)

The Benefits of Working with the California 4-H Foundation
Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020
10 a.m.-10:45 a.m.

An opportunity to learn more about the foundation's role and mission. Not just for 4-H advisors and staff, but also for CDs and others. With Mary Ciricillo. Zoom access: https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/751701428?pwd=Q1ZrbUtoQVJwMXJVRkQydUlwNytJQT09  - 1 669 900 6833 or +1 646 558 8656  - Webinar ID: 751 701 428

Claudia Rankine Reading and Lecture, Just Us: An American Conversation (UC Davis Campus Community Book Project)
Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020
4 p.m.
Register here

The Campus Community Book Project and the Vice Chancellor's Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are proud to support “Just Us: An American Conversation,” featuring award-winning writer Claudia Rankine. In a series of revelatory, funny and ingeniously written essays that mix text and visuals, Rankine questions what it means to interrogate white privilege, liberal politics, white male aggression and much more. Coming the day after the U.S. presidential election, this virtual event, like Rankine's intimate book, promises to bring us into a necessary conversation about what we don't know. As Rankine says, “It's all right to not know; it's what you do with your not-knowing.” Register here.

Life in a Pandemic: Finding Balance Between Personal and Professional Lives
Join Extension professionals in a 4-week webinar series
Register here

Parenting in Pandemic Times
Barbara Dunn Swanson & MacKenzie Johnson, Iowa State University
Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020
10 a.m.-11 a.m.

Help for the Helpers: Accepting Support and Adjusting Expectations
Lisa Washburn, University of Tennessee
Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020
10 a.m.-11 a.m.

Mindfully Maintaining Your Emotional Health
Kendra Lewis, University of New Hampshire (Yes, Kendra! A former UC ANR 4-H employee!)
Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020
10 a.m.-11 a.m.

Training and Development UC Davis - Fall Webinar Series: Forward, Together
Nov 5, 9, 13
Dec 2, 3  
Noon – 1 pm
Please register in advance

This free webinar series is open to all staff and will focus on providing positive support, tools and resources as we continue moving forward, together. Attend any or all sessions in the series, presented by our subject matter experts from various departments across the organization. 

• Thursday, Nov. 5: Stress Management & Self Care
• Monday, Nov. 9: Team Meetings that Work
• Friday, Nov. 13: How to Foster Open Dialogue with Crucial Conversations
• Wednesday, Dec. 2: Standing Out as an Internal Applicant
• Thursday, Dec. 3: Conflict Competence: Creative Problem Solving in the Workplace

How To Host Engaging Webinars (eXtension.org)
Monday, Nov. 9, 2020
10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Register Here

The COVID-19 crisis means that Extension professionals are using webinars even more frequently to extend knowledge and information. Creating engaging online learning experiences for our clientele and peers is critical to our success in this new virtual environment. While this webinar will focus on using the Zoom meeting platform, most of the content is applicable to other virtual meeting tools. In this virtual event, we'll be discussing how to:

• Plan a webinar by answering a few key questions about audience and objectives;
• Anticipate and troubleshoot technology issues (including security);
• Optimize video conference features to meet your learning objectives;
• Structure a meaningful online experience that meets participants needs;
• Use a range of tools and strategies to keep participants engaged (polls, surveys, chat, etc.);
• Use more advanced video conferencing features (e.g., rooms, settings);
• Use Zoom recordings on other platforms (YouTube, Facebook Live, Google Drive);
• Archive chat to create educational content for other platforms; and
• Refocus webinars as Learning Circles for more focused and engaged small group work.

In partnership with Delaware State University Cooperative Extension, eXtension Foundation staff will be guiding this discussion.

Food Resiliency Spotlight Series Webinar #9 Farm Labor During the Pandemic: Critical links between Essential Work, Farmworker Health and Food System Resiliency
Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020
10 a.m.-11 a.m. 
Register to attend here

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light the importance of society's most essential workers in maintaining food system resiliency while also exacerbating many of the pre-existing structural challenges and inequities they face. Farmworkers, in particular, have experienced unique challenges in maintaining healthy, safe and sustainable livelihoods during the pandemic given dense living and working conditions, vulnerable legal status, and lack of equal protection under labor law. In this webinar, participants will learn about key findings from the COVID-19 Farmworker Survey as well as other innovative efforts to adapt farmworker research, outreach and policy work to the COVID-19 context. Speakers include:

• Ildi Carlisle-Cummins, executive director, California Institute for Rural Studies
• Nayamin Martinez, executive director, Central California Environmental Justice Network
• Susana Matias, assistant Cooperative Extension specialist, UC Berkeley
• Erik Nicholson, founding partner, Pandion Strategy

Methods to Analyze Surveys: Part 2 Discrete Quantitative Data
Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020
10 a.m. - Noon
Register for virtual interactive trainings

Highlighting CE examples to build program planning and evaluation capacity. This 8-part series is being offered a la carte. Select whatever interests you! Participants will gain…

• Understanding of situations for using categorical data analysis
• Understanding of the types of analyses for measuring categorical evaluation data (e.g.: Chi-square, contingency tables and logistic regression) via an Excel demonstration

Experience identifying appropriate types analyses for large and small samples; Planning and Evaluation Capacity Building

Methods to Analyze Surveys: Part 3 Qualitative Data
Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020
10 a.m. - Noon
Register for virtual interactive trainings 

Highlighting CE examples to build program planning and evaluation capacity. This 8-part series is being offered a la carte. Select whatever interests you! Participants will gain…

• Understanding of types of qualitative analysis that can be done on open-ended survey data for program evaluation

Hands-on experience of coding qualitative data and extracting themes using Excel, and reporting the findings; Planning and Evaluation Capacity Building

Food Resiliency Spotlight Series Webinar #10: Reducing Food Costs and Improving Sustainability
Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2020
10 a.m.-11 am.
Register to attend here.

California produces over 400 commodities. Cattle help to make these industries sustainable while keeping your food costs low. Many commodities have byproducts and waste associated with them prior to consumer point of purchase. Ruminant animals have the digestive tract to upcycle these materials to high quality, nutritious foods and fiber. Join us for a discussion on commonly fed by-products in California and understand the value of public research to improve the quality of life for Californians.

Writing Strong Impact Statements
Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2020
10 a.m. – Noon
Register for virtual interactive trainings

Highlighting CE examples to build program planning and evaluation capacity. This 8-part series is being offered a la carte. Select whatever interests you! Participants will gain…

• Experience organizing your program activities into themes using condition changes
• Experience connecting your project/program outcomes to condition changes and public values

Understanding of how to write strong impact statements; Planning and Evaluation Capacity Building

Unconscious Conscious: Understanding and Mitigating Bias (UC Davis)
Jan. 27, 2021, 9 a.m. – Noon
April 29, 2021; 1 p.m.– 4 p.m.
Register here

Participants will be introduced to theory and language in understanding implicit and explicit bias. Using personal reflection, experiential exercises and case studies, participants will gain greater awareness when they engage in bias and gain essential knowledge and skills (tools) in how they recognize and mitigate biases in both personal and professional domains.

Master Excel for Data Science Course (LinkedIn Learning)

Data strategies are universal in ANR in both research, program development, outreach and in our business units, Excel will become even more popular as a bridge tool for non-data scientists doing more work, more often, with data. This learning path is the perfect entry point to the world of data-centric projects and skills.

Do you need a LinkedIn Learning account? Contact help@ucanr.edu to request one.

Is It YOUR Story To Tell? eXtension.org blog article
By Karl Bradley

In a meeting a few years ago, we were discussing the aspects of what we did that might be interesting to the general public. Pretty quickly it was suggested that we have a "rumor mill" button on our website. A little "behind the curtain" of what was going on. While this would probably peak visitors curiosity, the message it would send about our organization could be damaging. Is it your story to tell? Gossiping is one of, if not the most destructive actions anyone can take on another person. Read Story

Accessibility Tool Recommendations eXtension Foundation
Posted by Rose Hayden-Smith

Here are some terrific accessibility tool recommendations from @Ptreadwell:

"We've been working on accessibility for a while now and have compiled most of our resources online at: http://accessibility.cce.cornell.edu/. One source we found invaluable when getting started was the Office of Accessibility from the Minnesota IT Services site. They were generous in sharing, and allowing us to adapt, their Accessibility Quick Cards (pdf link), which we printed and distributed to our system. Recently, we've been working on re-framing the accessibility discussion, shifting to a broader effort at digital inclusion. This, of course, increases the challenge but is, I think, necessary as we move forward." (From the Digital Dialogue Series: Co-Learning to Build a Good Food System.)

credit: icons8.com

Everyone can learn something new.
ANR Learning & Development
jlazulai@ucanr.edu

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