L&D - Clientele relationship, R for data science, stats resources, foreign engagement

ANR LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT  
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Do you have a webinar to present in any of these four learning strategies?
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Extension Methods & Delivery
Building Support
Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
Office, Team, & Personal Management

Cocreating Value through Customer Relationship Management: A Basic Overview of Social CRM. (Extension Skills – Connect Extension)
Sept. 8, 2022
12–1 p.m. PDT 

Click here to read more and register.
Are you tired of using spreadsheets to keep track of your clients? Do you wish that you could find an easier way to manage your contacts, send targeted communications, create social media content, integrate event registration, and better understand the lifecycle of engagement with your audience? Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems afford the opportunity to easily integrate this critical infrastructure under one roof. In this Extension Skills session, we will go over the key features of CRM systems and look at real-world applications of how these systems can play a role in helping Cooperative Extension professionals cocreate value between their programs and their clients and improve customer service experiences.

Gateway to Innovation (Impact Collaborative Extension Foundation - Virtual)
Sept. 13 & 20, 2022
11 a.m.-1 p.m. PDT 

Click here to read more and register.
This two-session series will focus on increasing innovative practices in your life and work. The first session is unleashing the innovator within you through examples, self-reflection, tools, techniques and discussion. The second session expands your learning into ways to innovate in the "real world” with additional tools, reflection and examples.

Dynamic Discussions 
Sept. 22, 2022
11 a.m.-12 p.m. PDT

Click here to read more and register. 
Each fourth Thursday of the month, the Impact Collaborative will host professionals from across Cooperative Extension and beyond to address hot topics of interest to Cooperative Extension. Each month, we will update the information below for what the Dynamic Discussion for the month will be! 

Program Center Stage  
Sept. 26, 2022
12-1 p.m. PDT

Click here to read more and register. 
The Program Center Stage will highlight programs from across the system including current and past new technologies from ag extension projects, Impact Collaborative projects, national programs like EXCITE, and more on the fourth Monday of each month at 11 a.m. PT. We will update the information for which program we will be putting center stage each month!

Learning R (LinkedIn Learning) 

Click here to read more.  
If you want to participate in the data revolution, you need the right tools and skills. R is a free, open-source language for data science that is among the most popular platforms for professional analysts. Learn the basics of R and get started finding insights from your own data in this course with professor and data scientist Barton Poulson. For your LinkedIn Learning account, contact ANR IT at help@ucanr.edu. 

Spring ANR Stats Workshop – recordings and tools available

The public version (Canvas) of our Spring 2022 Stats Workshop. This read-only Canvas page houses recordings from our course as well as other resources which provided a refresh and update statistical skills for CE Advisors and other UC ANR researchers. Topics include:

• The theory and application of basic statistical tests, including ANOVA, GLMs, mixed models,and regression 
• What to do when the normal assumptions for statistical tests have not been met 
• Newish methods like mixed models and bootstrapping that take advantage of modern computing power, which may not have been available when you took that undergraduate statistics class 25 years ago 
• What you need to know when designing experiments and planning data collection 
• How to use the extremely popular and powerful statistical programming language R
  

In Case You Missed IT  (ICYMI)
Qualitative Research and Data Analysis in Program Evaluation

August 11 focused on “Qualitative Research and Data Analysis in Program Evaluation” led by Paulina Velez. We learned about misconceptions in qualitative research and even had an introduction to coding on qualitative data! Here is a list of tools/resources that were discussed, as well as future workshops to register for today!

Tools/Resources:

• The Essential Guide to Coding Qualitative Data; 
• Coding Conversation Template; 
• Paulina's email: paulinavelez@extension.org;  
• A link to the recording is available here; 
• A link to the slide deck is available here

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Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay

 

 

Foreign Engagement: Disclosures to ANR and Research Sponsors 
Sept. 28, 2022 
9:30 -10:30 a.m.

Information and guidance on how to comply with UC, ANR, and federal grant policies in areas related to foreign engagement. Presenter is Kathleen Nolan.

Zoom webinar: https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/751701428?pwd=Q1ZrbUtoQVJwMXJVRkQydUlwNytJQT0 
Password: 4Learning |?+1 669 900 6833 | Webinar ID: 751 701 428

Open Forum/Questions for Office of Contracts and Grants 
Oct. 26, 2022 
9:30-10:30 a.m.

The world of contracts and grants can sometimes seem complicated. Let us help you alleviate your concerns. Please join our team for an open forum to answer your most compelling questions. If possible, please send us questions in advance (not required) for an informative discussion. Presenters are Kathleen Nolan, Kim Lamar and Office of Contracts and Grants Team. Email questions to kdlamar@ucanr.edu 

Zoom webinar: https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/751701428?pwd=Q1ZrbUtoQVJwMXJVRkQydUlwNytJQT0
Password: 4Learning | +1 669 900 6833 | Webinar ID: 751 701 428

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Hispanic Heritage Month 2022
Sept. 21, 2022
Noon-1:30 p.m.

We start Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with a kick!

Click here to register.
On Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, from 12 to 1:30 p.m.. The UC ANR Latinx & Friends Affinity Group will have its first meeting, and everyone is invited. What is an affinity group? Click here to learn about it.

From 12 to 12:45 p.m., come and learn about our plans, goals and dreams. Our one safe space to share our cultural identities. Whether it is a discussion in Spanish of the book of the month or showcasing the most important and unique places of your country of origin, we will start creating solid bonds. Be part of the committees and share your ideas with all of us. This is our stage to showcase and educate our peers about who we are and what makes us unique.

Then, from 12:45 to 1:30 PM, we will show "First Time Home," a short film created by American children of Triqui farmworkers. It offers an unscripted, authentic glimpse into life for farmworker families and why people choose to sacrifice their lives in Mexico for opportunity up North. A Q&A will follow the short film with the film creators.

Culturally Inclusive Language (UC Davis, Virtual)
Nov. 17, 2022 
8:30 a.m.-noon

Click here to read more and register. 
Language plays an important role in determining how well members of our community feel respected and included. It is important to choose what we say, whether that be verbally, non-verbally, or over e-mail, to ensure that we are communicating mutual respect and understanding for the diverse perspectives and backgrounds in our community.?This session includes an exploration of how the pandemic has impacted this area of DEI.

Becoming an Inclusive Leader: Cultural Intelligence - Because Not Everyone Sees the World Through the Same Cultural Lens (UC Davis Organizational Excellence, Virtual)
Sept. 14, 2022 
1–2 p.m.

Click here to register
Inclusive leaders are confident and effective in cross-cultural interactions. They see the benefit of learning about different cultures, seek relevant knowledge to operate cross culturally, and embrace any necessary adaptations. In this session, you will examine what cultural intelligence means in your environment and how you can gain both the knowledge and adaptability to lead effectively. Please join us virtually for the sessions your schedule allows as your participation is valued. To learn more about the series, view previous slides and recordings, and sign up for other sessions click on this link. If you have any questions, email the Organizational Excellence team at oeconnect@ucdavis.edu.

UC Managing Implicit Bias Series (UC Learning Center – click on links below to access each module)

The UC Managing Implicit Bias Series is a six-course eLearning series designed to increase awareness of implicit bias and reduce its impact at the university. The series reinforces the UC diversity, equity and inclusion values that enable the university to attract and retain a top talent workforce, and it further supports the UC commitment to developing effective leaders and managers of people. It is intended to supplement existing location programs and resources.

• Common Forms of Bias
• The Impact of Implicit Bias
• Managing Implicit Bias in the Hiring Process
• Managing the Influence of Implicit Bias: Awareness 
• Managing the Influence of Implicit Bias: Mindfulness and Conscious De-biasing
• What is Implicit Bias?

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 Skills Development Certificate Series (UC Davis - Virtual) 
Check out the Fall 2022 schedule!  
Click here to read more and register.

Through a combination of lecture and skill-building exercises, each session in the series focuses on a key component of analytical skill development. Develop core analytical abilities and learn how to manage analytical work assignments using the techniques covered in the Analytical Skills Development series. Note: Participants are expected to attend all five sessions in the series.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness: Do's, Updates and an October 31 Deadline (Connect Extension) 
Sept. 8 
10–11 a.m. PDT

Click here to read more and click here to register. 
This webinar is to provide reliable information to Extension personnel to use for themselves or to take back for their communities on the criteria to qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Most, if not all Extension personnel are government employees and therefore could themselves qualify for student loan forgiveness and could take advantage of the benefits.

Navigating Your ANR LinkedIn Learning Account
Sept. 15, 2022 
Noon-12:30 PM

Join our LinkedIn Learning relations team, which will guide you on content and navigation including:

• Home page overview – how to get the most out of the home page user interface and how it relates to LinkedIn 
• Finding and accessing content – course player overview and demonstration of course functionality 
• Learning history – how to access your personal learning history 
• Q&A
  

Zoom Meeting: https://linkedin.zoom.us/j/93883814323?pwd=aHo5Zzc1SWpNb3ExbjBPWlIrUmFKUT09&from=addon | Meeting ID: 938 8381 4323 | Password: 010970 

PowerPoint: Eight Easy Ways to Make Your Presentation Stand Out (LinkedIn Learning) 
Click here to read more. 
Making your PowerPoint slides more polished and engaging is easier than you think. In this short course, presentation guru Jole Simmons shares some helpful tricks to take your PowerPoint game to a new level. First, Jole teaches how to take both the presenter and the audience into account in your design approach. Next, learn to identify the main points of the story you're trying to tell in PowerPoint. Find out how to go the extra mile in making design calls. Explore some ways to convey your information without forcing everybody to read what's on the slide. For your LinkedIn Learning account, contact ANR IT at help@ucanr.edu

Welcome to Connect Extension - A resource for Cooperative Extension Professionals

As a UC ANR employee, you are a member of the Extension Foundation, whose mission is to help Cooperative Extension generate a more visible, measurable, local impact. They achieve this through nationally funded programs made possible by member dollars (yes, UC ANR dollars, too) and cooperative agreements with federal agencies, and through partnering on state, regional and national initiatives with Cooperative Extension and the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP). 
 
You can explore your member benefits including professional development through the Impact Collaborative, Leadership Development and Member Solutions on their website under "Member Services." You can also join Connect Extension to stay up-to-date with the foundation and its member offerings and connect with other Cooperative Extension professionals nationally. Learn more about all Extension Foundation programs, tools and services at extension.org/start. 

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Everyone can learn something new.

ANR Learning & Development
Find webinar announcements and recordings here.

 

Banner with text "Office & Team Management"

Banner with text "Office & Team Management"

Banner with text "Extension and Delivery"

Banner with text "Extension and Delivery"

PAC meets virtually, thanks President Napolitano for her service

The President's Advisory Commission on Agriculture and Natural Resources met via Zoom April 9 as everyone was sheltering in place during the coronavirus pandemic. Jean-Mari Peltier, PAC chair, welcomed the PAC members for their last meeting with President Janet Napolitano. Last September, Napolitano announced that she will step down as UC's leader Aug. 1.

President Napolitano commended ANR for its flexibility in response to the COVID-19 crisis. ANR is “the University of California for large parts of the state and we're proud that you are,” she told VP Glenda Humiston, adding that ANR is performing well under her leadership.

Napolitano thanked the PAC members for contributing their time and advice during her seven years at the UC helm, calling ANR “essential to UC identity as land grant university.” The commissioners thanked the president for her support for ANR. In response to questions about building support for ANR with her successor, Napolitano recommended taking the new president out of Oakland for site visits to learn about ANR. She described her visits to Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Humboldt County and other ANR sites as “eye opening.”

In her update about ANR, Humiston reported that despite the coronavirus pandemic's disruption to public gatherings, all ANR programs are still serving communities. “I'm really impressed with the innovative ways they are finding to deliver outreach,” she said, adding that advisors are adapting, for example, doing ranch visits via phone. Humiston also described the UC ANR Governing Council's tour of the South Coast Research and Extension Center in February to see how ANR engages urban Californians. She noted that a regents tour of South Coast REC planned for April 23 has been postponed until after the pandemic passes.

Karen Ross, secretary of California Department of Food and Agriculture, joined the group to discuss how CDFA is responding to food system disruption resulting from the COVID-19 crisis. “I am optimistic about agriculture; we are so innovative and resilient,” Ross said, adding that she is concerned about funding for UC ANR and UCCE. She recommended seizing the moment while consumers are thinking about the food system to educate people about UC ANR's role.

Building on their December meeting, the PAC members continued their discussion of the future of the commission. They discussed recommendations to ensure the success and sustainability of ANR as well as the PAC. 

They recommended the role of PAC members include

• Communication & advocacy
• Engaging as a strategic tool for problem solving
• Being a connector to industry leaders
• Supporting fund development
• Advising on strategy and mission priorities

To make their membership meaningful, the commissioners said they would like

• Greater active involvement
• Knowing they add value
• Feeling connected with ANR and other PAC members
• Sharing critical information

Although the PAC usually meets twice a year – in the spring and fall – the PAC agreed to meet again via videoconference in May or June to discuss and approve the new PAC charter.

 

Names in the News

Soule named assistant vice provost for CE

Katherine Soule will serve as ANR's new Assistant Vice Provost for Cooperative Extension. She will start her new duties on July 1, 2020, and continue to serve as UCCE director for San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties and as UCCE youth, families and communities advisor. The role was previously held by Lynn Schmitt-McQuitty until she assumed the role of Statewide 4-H Youth Development Program director.

“We are excited to have Katherine on the Cooperative Extension administrative team! She brings a breadth of Cooperative Extension experiences and leadership skills,” said Mark Lagrimini, vice provost for research and extension. “Katherine is known for her innovative, collaborative, and strengths-based leadership. She cares deeply about improving lives and working environments for her unit, her community and ANR.”

Soule earned her Ph.D. from the University of Georgia, Athens in 2013 and became the UCCE youth, families and communities advisor for San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. In 2017, she accepted an additional appointment as UCCE director for these counties. She was elected as UC ANR's Academic Assembly Council president for a two-year term ending in June 2020.

"As the assistant vice provost of Cooperative Extension, I look forward to supporting the development and successes of new and existing county directors,” Soule said. “I hope to promote collaborative, cross-county communication, while focusing on identifying and meeting the needs of county directors across the division. We are all most effective when we learn from and support one another, so I look forward to connecting with academics, county directors, ANR leadership and other UC ANR personnel in this new role."

Choe, Dara and IPM team honored by Pacific Branch of ESA

UC ANR scientists Dong-Hwan Choe, Surendra Dara, David Haviland and Jhalendra Rijal received awards for their exemplary work from the Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America. The PBESA presented its annual awards on April 20, at a virtual ceremony due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Choe, UCCE specialist in the UC Riverside Department of Entomology, won the Medical, Urban, and Veterinary Entomology Award.

“Since joining the faculty at UC Riverside in 2011, [Choe] has developed an outstanding research and extension program dealing with the major urban structural pests and related issues in the western United States,” wrote Mike Rust, UC Riverside entomology professor, in his nomination letter.

His research includes exploiting the role of semiochemicals and behavior to control social insects and developing novel ant baits.

“Dr. Choe has been at the forefront of developing hydrogels as carriers of baits to control ants and yellowjackets. Developing cost-effective and environmentally safe delivery strategies has always been a major problem facing the use of ant baits in agriculture and urban setting. His pioneering biodegradable alginate beads promise to be a major advancement,” Rust wrote.

Choe also participates in workshops for agricultural pest control advisers, UC Master Gardeners and urban pest control operators.

Dara, UC Cooperative Extension entomology and biologicals advisor for San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties, won the Award for Excellence in Integrated Pest Management.

This annual award recognizes individuals who made outstanding contributions in research and outreach in the area of IPM. Dara's new IPM model has been well-received and its impact has been documented in a UC Delivers story. Dara is the first UC ANR scientist to receive this award and fourth from UC since the Pacific Branch began offering awards in this category in 2009.

The UC IPM Almond Pest Management Alliance Team won the Entomology Team Work Award. The team consists of UC IPM advisors David Haviland and Jhalendra Rijal, former UCCE advisor Emily Symmes, UCCE Kern County staff research associate Stephanie Rill, industry researcher Bradly Higbee of Trécé, USDA scientist Charles Burkes and Bob Curtis of the Almond Board of California.

The team encouraged the adoption of mating disruption for managing navel orangeworm, a major pest in almond orchards, especially in the San Joaquin Valley. After they began demonstrating that mating disruption proved to be an economical pest control method in orchards, they saw a rapid rise in growers adopting the technology. Based on a survey of pest control advisers and growers conducted in the early 2019, the anticipated use of navel orangeworm mating disruption for the 2019 season in San Joaquin Valley was 32%, as opposed to the 7% adoption in 2017. Kern County data showed a 26% countywide increase in the adoption of mating disruption from 2017-2018.

For more than a decade, the team conducted research on navel orangeworm, spider mites, leaffooted bug and ants that laid the groundwork for IPM adoption. For the past three years, the team put these IPM practices on display using nine demonstration orchards across the San Joaquin Valley as part of CDPR Pest Management Alliance and Almond Board of California grants.

The UC IPM Almond Pest Management Alliance Team received an award in February from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation and California Environmental Protection Agency

Three UC Davis faculty members were also selected for prestigious awards: Lynn Kimsey, Walter Leal and Robert Kimsey.

The Pacific Branch covers provinces/states in Canada, U.S. and Mexico on the Pacific Coast. 

Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network applications due June 23

USDA NIFA requests applications to the 2020 Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network funding opportunity.

The purpose of the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN) Program is to establish a network that connects individuals who are engaged in farming, ranching and other agriculture-related occupations to stress assistance programs. The establishment of a network that assists farmers and ranchers in time of stress can offer a conduit to improving behavioral health awareness, literacy and outcomes for agricultural producers, workers and their families.

The FRSAN program will accept applications for Regional Networks. In FY20, NIFA is seeking applications from regional partnerships and collaborations that are led by or include nongovernmental organizations (NGO), state departments of agriculture (SDA), Cooperative Extension Services (CES), and Indian tribes with expertise in providing professional agricultural behavioral health awareness, counseling as appropriate, education, training and referral for other forms of assistance as necessary. NIFA is soliciting applications that align with, build upon, and/or complement the projects funded in FY19. In 2019, the FRSAN program launched with four awards corresponding to U.S. regions in the Northeast, North Central, South and West. In 2020, funding has increased fivefold to support regional frameworks offering stress assistance programs, training, services, and referral.

The long-term goal of the FRSAN projects is to establish a Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network that provides stress assistance programs to individuals who are engaged in farming, ranching, and other agriculture-related occupations on a regional basis. Network members must initiate, expand or sustain programs that provide professional agricultural behavioral health counseling and referral for other forms of assistance as necessary through the following:

• Farm telephone helplines and websites
• Training, including training programs and workshops, for the following:
• Advocates for individuals who are engaged in farming, ranching, and other occupations relating to agriculture
• Other individuals and entities that may assist individuals who-
• are engaged in farming, ranching, and other occupations relating to agriculture
• are in crisis
• Support groups
• Outreach services and activities, including the dissemination of information and materials

Applicant organizations must have demonstrable prior experience working in the agricultural stress assistance space. For purposes of implementing FRSAN, a network is an organizational arrangement among three or more separately operated domestic public or private entities, including the applicant organization, with established working histories in the targeted region. Regional lead entities must have the capacity to make state-level sub-awards, to include monitoring the performance of specific projects and active participation within the larger regional network. Providing training and/or offering direct services in every state/territory in the targeted region is not required in FY 2020. However, the applicant must clearly articulate where and why training and services are being offered, as well as any rationale for areas not served and how all states (and territories, as appropriate), will be added to the network in FYs 2021 and 2022, if the project intends to seek continuation funding in those years. If possible, a national, regionwide or subregional helpline and/or website that is available to all states should be implemented and publicized beginning in FY 2021.

Funds may be used to map resources in each region, provide a framework for how those resources can be/are connected, and train state-level people working with agricultural producers (train-the-trainer model) about how to identify farmers under stress, about the existence of a given regional network, availability of specific resources and how to access them, as well as how to make referrals to programs that are equipped to provide direct behavioral care assistance. Such maps must link with USDA programs such as Agriculture Mediation Program and Crop Insurance Mediation and state and county-level USDA field offices with which producers may engage if and when appropriate.

It is NIFA's intention to fund four grants to four separate FRSAN regional leads as a result of this FY 2020 competition: one each in the Northeast Region, North Central Region, Southern Region, and the Western Region. The maximum award for a standard grant is $7,187,000 for a three-year project.

For more information about the FRSAN program and to apply, please visit: https://nifa.usda.gov/funding-opportunity/farm-and-ranch-stress-assistance-network?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term=

To request a copy of the 2019 FRSAN webinar slide deck, please email webchanges@usda.gov.

Applications are due Tuesday, June 23, 2020.

 

SI Brief: Want video in your toolkit?

Now more than ever, the video format can help us expand our educational outreach.

Want to produce Oscar-winning videos?

Well, we can't quite promise that, but we can help you develop your own videos and video skills - producing something you can be proud of and something that can help the people of California.

So where are we in the series?

Part 3 is a self-learning step about Editing Video and Audio. Access and complete the editing tutorial here. This step builds on how you have planned your project with a storyboard or script (Part 1) and captured the video and audio (Part 2). Now, your next step is editing the project. This clinic gives you hands-on experience in both video and audio editing.

But what if I missed Parts 1 and 2?

No problem! The recording of the Part 2 webinar “How-to of How to videos” is available here.

And don't forget Part 1 – a self-learning opportunity where you prepare a rough draft video production storyboard.

1. Start by reading this factsheet about creating a storyboard and script for a video production by Petr Kosina from UC IPM 
2. Then capture and organize your ideas for a video project you have in mind

Training resources for continued learning and to support your video projects

• Visit our website: ucanr.edu/sites/howtovideo

For more on the SIs and their activities, contact

Jim Farrar: Pests EIPD

David Lile: Natural Ecosystems SNE

David Lewis: Water

Deanne Meyer: Food Systems SFS

Lynn Schmitt McQuitty: Families and Communities HFC

Mark Bell: Vice Provost SIs & SWPs

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