John Lawrence’s message from May 28, 2019
With my smartphone in my pocket and my computer on my lap, it’s hard to remember a time when I wasn’t so fully-connected as an extension professional. We’ve all come to rely on our ability to find what we need online as we serve Iowans every day. One of the tools that helps us do our work and maintain our connection is MyExtension. Did you know?
- MyExtension was developed about four years ago. It is our intranet, a place for our internal “stuff” – resources that we need to access, but that the public doesn’t have to see.
- MyExtension is for extension staff only; you must have a net ID and password to log in. (Resources that council members need are available through our public County Services site.)
- Sometimes you may receive an email message (like this message from me) or newsletter with a link to MyExtension resources. For the link to open, be sure you are logged in to MyExtension before clicking on the link.
- Our public ISU Extension and Outreach websites have red headers, while MyExtension pages have gold headers – so you can easily tell where you are.
- You can make some choices about what appears on your MyExtension homepage. Every employee has the ability to add widgets – such as a particular department or favorites or frequently viewed pages. (The photo gallery widget is a great way to share local photos with the rest of the state.)
Since technology keeps changing, our intranet is never “done.” We always are looking for ways to make MyExtension better. For example, a landing page for all eAccessibility resources and tutorials will be coming soon. If you have comments or suggestions, contact the MyExtension content editors.
More notes
- Four candidates will be interviewing for the 4-H Youth Development Program Leader position on May 29 and May 30. Information about the candidates and links to their webinars are available online.
- You can review the May 22 meeting summary notes and video from the Structured for Success committee, as well as an archive of summaries from previous meetings.
- Dates and locations for our first-quarter area-wide meetings have been set: Southwest, Aug. 28, Cass County Community Center, Atlantic; Northeast, Aug. 29, Waverly City Hall-Civic Center; Central, Aug 29 , Christy Hall, Story County ISU Extension Office, Nevada; Southeast, Sept. 10, Washington County Extension office, Washington; Northwest, Sept. 20, Clay County Event Center (Clay County Fairgrounds), Spencer. You can review the overall plans and expectations for these meetings.
- ISU Rural Development Symposium: Research, Practice and Success is Aug. 15 in Ames. Save the date for this opportunity to engage with the researchers who study the issues and the people who put the research into practice. Hear about current research and success for economic development and quality of life in rural America. Registration will be available soon. For more information, contact Gary Taylor, gtaylor@iastate.edu.
- From now through the end of June, the ISU Alumni Association is running a membership campaign tracking membership growth by county. They are telling Cyclones throughout the state how county extension offices are hard at work every day building even more Iowa State loyalty in our communities through programs and services that build a strong Iowa. This partnership with the ISU Alumni Association could help drive traffic to our county offices over the next few weeks, raising visibility for local programs and building our network of Cyclones everywhere.
— John D. Lawrence
Iowa State University Vice President for Extension and Outreach