Tag: COVID-19

Creating a volunteering culture

sternweis

John Lawrence’s email message from April 27, 2020

Today, Gov. Reynolds announced that the State Public Health Emergency Declaration would continue until May 27, 2020. The Governor’s proclamation loosens social distancing measures in 77 Iowa counties effective Friday, May 1 and continues other restrictions until 11:50 p.m. on Friday, May 15, 2020. We will be reviewing the proclamation and determining what it means for ISU Extension and Outreach.

One thing the COVID-19 pandemic did not stop is the need for volunteers in Iowa communities. 4-H members, families and friends are making masks. Master Gardeners are planting donation gardens. County offices are helping connect volunteers to local food pantries. As they volunteer their time to help others in whatever way they can, Iowans are stepping up to the challenge.

People volunteer when they feel attached to and supported by their community. This is one of the key findings reported in “Volunteering in Iowa Small Towns: Fostering participation in local projects.” David Peters, extension rural sociologist, reviewed data from the 91 communities in the 2014 Iowa Small Towns Project and from other sources. He says a community that has a comprehensive volunteering plan, which identifies and addresses barriers to participation, has a better chance of getting more people involved in local projects. Did you know?

  • The top cited reasons people had for not volunteering were that no one asked them to volunteer, they didn’t have time to participate, they thought volunteers weren’t needed, and they weren’t interested in getting involved.
  • People are more likely to volunteer when they feel confident about their community’s future and when there are strong community expectations that everyone needs to volunteer.
  • Volunteering is not driven by population size, wealth and local economic conditions. Instead, what matters more are positive community social interactions and quality of life.
  • Small towns have the power to create a volunteering culture by investing in the social infrastructure of their community.

More notes

  • Extension IT has released the new Extension Staff Directory. It replaces the previous directory and the URL remains the same, https://www.extension.iastate.edu/staffdir/. The new directory pulls in information from Workday and ADIN, and if your staff photo is in SmugMug, it is included in your profile. It’s possible to edit some of the information in your profile. Learn more about the new directory and what you can and can’t change on the Extension Staff Directory page in MyExtension.
  • The County Benefits Conversation with Councils archive recording from April 18 is available on the University Human Resources website.
  • Jane Walter, with University Human Resources, will host an ISU-Paid Employee Retirement session on Wednesday, May 6 at 3 p.m. To participate, go to https://connect.extension.iastate.edu/benefits. The session will be recorded.
  • Advancement will offer a webinar for all staff at 10 a.m., May 1 on Did You Know? Tips to Improve Your Virtual Meetings. The link for the webinar is https://iastate.zoom.us/j/94890021945.
  • Congratulations to Donna Donald and Barb Wollan, Human Sciences Extension and Outreach, who received 2019 Professional and Scientific Council CYtation Awards. Due to COVID-19 precautions, the annual CYtation Awards breakfast ceremony, originally scheduled for this spring, has been postponed until September.
  • Help shower Terry Maloy with retirement cards. Terry is retiring as Iowa Extension Council Association executive director effective April 30. Show your appreciation and celebrate Terry’s work by sending a card to Terry Maloy, Monroe County Extension Office, 219 B Ave. W, Albia, IA 52531.
  • The North Central Cooperative Extension Association is offering three online speed meetings about mental/behavioral health (April 30), entrepreneurship (May 1), and rural community development (May 6). All speed meetings begin at 12 noon Central time. For more information and to pre-register for each session visit the NCCEA speed meeting series webpage.

— John D. Lawrence
Iowa State University Vice President for Extension and Outreach

Partnerships ,

Animal U for youth-directed learning

sternweis

John Lawrence’s message from March 16, 2020

COVID-19 updates

  • Continue to check the campus safety page for updated information about the COVID-19 outbreak and Iowa State’s response. We’ve also added the link to our Disaster Recovery page, accessible from the ISU Extension and Outreach homepage.
  • Our Annual Conference will be virtual on April 1. See my message from March 11. Also, please remember to cancel your hotel reservations. Council members and staff who haven’t previously registered: Do consider registering for the virtual conference. Information will be added to the conference website as details are confirmed.
  • My recent COVID-19 updates for all staff, faculty and council members have been archived on the Office of the Vice President website. Topics include ISU student use of Wi-Fi, employee leave, instate travel and cancellations. Continue watching for updates from me.

Did you know?

Whether at home, in the barn or even out in the pasture, 4-H youth can log on to Animal U and become better caretakers for animals. Through this online gaming platform, youth direct their own learning to gain knowledge and skills that apply to their livestock projects. Did you know?

  • ISU Extension and Outreach and the Department of Animal Science developed Animal U, a program that is intended for use nationwide. Amy Powell, extension youth animal science specialist, manages the project, which is a collaboration of extension subject matter experts, faculty members, commodity groups and industry partners.
  • Animal U is designed to connect more young people to animal agriculture, whether they have or don’t have an animal of their own. They learn about the relationship between animal agriculture and the science and technology that supports it in everyday life. In addition, they learn about potential careers associated with food production.
  • Animal U is open to everyone now. After May 1 it will be available to Iowa 4-H at no cost and to other states by subscription. The long-term goal is to extend it nationwide to 4-H partners and schools across the country. For more information, contact Amy Powell, ampowell@iastate.edu.

Internal Communications update

In 2019, our Internal Communications Task Force recommended that we develop a method for crisis communications. In addition, Iowa State did an internal audit of our processes, which recommended we establish a social media crisis communications plan. (Our previous crisis communications plan – yes, we did have one – was established in 2017 but did not reference social media.)

No two situations are alike, and it would be impossible for us to anticipate every situation. However, our new crisis communications plan will help staff recognize a crisis situation or event, take the first steps in the process and bring together the appropriate people as the crisis management team. The plan leaves room to investigate the individual crisis and determine the best course of action. You can find the plan on MyExtension under the Advancement tab, then navigate to “Guidelines and How-Tos.”

More notes

  • Please review the March program update from the leadership team for current examples of what is happening across our programs.
  • Goodbye … and welcome, February 2020: Please review this list of individuals who left ISU Extension and Outreach in the past month, as well as those who have joined our organization.
  • The March 9 Second Monday Live archive is available. The session covered Annual Conference, our new crisis communication plan, a webinar on Human Sciences’ new block map and Animal U.
  • If you want to be the first county to transition to the new website platform, enter the contest by March 27. (EIT has extended the deadline.) The winner will be announced at our virtual Annual Conference, April 1. Featured publications will feed into specific pages in the new platform and county content editors will be able to choose which publications to feature on their own sites. The new platform also will make it easier to share news articles between counties and the ISU Extension and Outreach homepage.

— John D. Lawrence
Iowa State University Vice President for Extension and Outreach

Announcements ,

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.