How To

Registration is open now for the Rural Grocery Transition Specialist program! This self-paced, online course is designed to train resource providers to better support rural grocery business transitions. Students who successfully complete the course will earn a microcredential through K-State Global Campus. The course will be held September 9 through December 8, 2024. Register by August 30, 2024 at ruralgrocery.org/specialist.

Triangulating Your Skills, Abilities, and Interests to Find Your Future What do you enjoy doing? What are you good at (i.e., your natural gifts)? Where do you want to learn more? These three items, together, can powerfully steer you toward your desired future. Let’s talk about that today. Most people have multiple gifts. Many people can do a variety of jobs, and career paths are frequently not linear. Anecdotally, my friends and former students share that their journeys have been directed...

Agricultural fairs and exhibitions are in full swing across the U.S., and with the recent outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in dairy cows, it is important to know how to protect animals from diseases before, during, and after an event. A highly effective strategy for doing this is with biosecurity, the preventative practices that protect farm animals from getting sick and spreading diseases. An online series of learning modules is helping students discover what...

How do you want to be remembered? This is a rephrase of the classic Steven Covey question from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People . It is one of the most powerful questions one can ever ponder. In this blog series, I’m attempting to both challenge your thinking, but also encourage your progress. You may consider the question prompt in this post alone, or in conversation with a friend or mentor. Let’s begin. Look at the question below. Spend some time with it. It is a definite brain...

This blog series offers questions from my teaching and practice at The Ohio State University where I coach and mentor numerous faculty, staff, students, and organizational units to help them move toward mission and accomplish goals. If you are reading this blog (and discussing the question prompts with a mentor), your responses will reflect talking with another person. But if you are using this resource on your own for personal and professional development, you can still ask yourself these...

Imagine a point in the future where you have achieved your greatest professional goal. Invest a moment here. Try to visualize your career success—you are at the top of your game. Imagine you’ve worked hard and have earned this. Now consider this question: How might that success feel? I think most people will have some level of contentment or satisfaction. Others may feel a bit of pride in the accomplishment. Some may begin to ponder, “What’s next?” Those responses are all normal and valid.

The Extension Foundation and Dr. Raison are partnering to present this series offering self-study materials and advice for career growth. The series will focus on early, middle, and later career stages. We are proud to share this series with the Cooperative Extension System! The ideas shared in this series are extracted from Dr. Raison’s 2024 book, The Encouraging Mentor: Your Guide to 40 Conversations that Matter . This is a how-to manual for mentors, teachers, coaches, and anyone...

Individual Presentations Individual oral presentations on topics related to the conference theme or other topical areas of interest will be 15 minutes in duration. Each room will have a moderator to maintain time restrictions which will allow all presenters to use allotted time and enable attendees to attend multiple sessions. Presentations should be succinct, with well-developed concepts, applications, and results. Presentations will be grouped by topic for 60 minutes sessions. Panel...

The Oregon State University Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society in the College of Forestry is recruiting 2 full-time (1.0 FTE), 12-month, Assistant Professors of Practice in Urban Forestry. Forests in urban areas provide valuable ecosystem services. The expansion of urban areas coupled with growing recognition of the importance of forests, trees, and green infrastructure in these regions makes more critical than ever urban foresters who can help plan and maintain sustainable and...

Transitioning into 2024 marked a new year. Many of us saw the new year as an opportunity to start fresh, but financial hardships and losses can have a lasting impact on our mental health. This type of impact leads to unforeseen trauma. Often, we make resolutions to hit the ground running in the new year, but old habits die hard, mainly when these habits are deeply rooted in our psyche. Let us be realistic: We all plan to go to the gym on January first; we even go shopping over the holiday...

Interest in keeping backyard poultry for personal and family food security has steadily increased over the past decade. Many cities and municipalities require a certificate for residents to keep backyard poultry. Increased numbers of youth are raising chickens and turkeys for 4-H livestock projects. Maybe you just want to learn more about the keeping of a backyard flocks. Whatever your reason, OSU Extension has you covered with this Backyard Poultry Certification Course that discusses...

Job Post Here: https://ejobs.umd.edu/postings/113812 Colleagues and friends, I just want to float this job announcement to the top of your emails. The University of Maryland Extension (UME), within the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (AGNR) seeks a nationally recognized leader in Extension, outreach, and scholarship to serve as Assistant Director and Program Leader (AD/PL) for Family & Consumer Sciences (FCS) . This position provides leadership and direction for UME’s FCS...