Extension Service2014-15 Cohort
Rebecca Badger
Assistant Director – Marketing, Extended Campus
Project Title: Exploring Workplace Culture and Inspiring Creativity
Mentor: Sandy Neubaum, Director, Austin Entrepreneurship Program, College of Business
For my LDPE project, I was interested in exploring workplace culture and ways to inspire creativity. My project ended up being a mix of working with a mentor and exploring the topic through readings and professional development.
I was matched up with Sandy Neubaum as my mentor. She is director of the Austin Entrepreneurship Program in the College of Business. I have always admired the way that Sandy is able to work with a small staff and a team of students to do some amazing work. This project gave me the chance to get a behind-the-scenes look at how she operates.
Key takeaways from my mentor experience:
- Sandy is a “multiplier.” She is able to amplify the energy and the talents of those around her by creating a culture of mutual respect and trust.
- How you show up (your energy) greatly affects those around you.
- An open door policy allows for some great organic conversations.
- Being able to zoom in and zoom out is a skill that is difficult to achieve, but one that allows for innovation and getting things done.
In order to dig more into this topic, I read and journaled about the following books: Creative Confidence, Multipliers, Tribal Leadership. And to tie it all together, I sought out professional development opportunities that would give me an opportunity to hear from others on these topics. Over the year, I attended a Collaborative Leadership in Higher Education workshop and the Delight Conference.
Max Bennett
Extension Agent
Project title: Development of Guidelines for Working with County Advisory Committees
Mentor: Derek Godwin, Regional Administrator
Project Summary: Advisory councils are widely used in Extension to help identify community needs, plan and evaluate programs. They can also contribute to Extension marketing and fundraising efforts and provide political support to the organization. As a new county leader working in Jackson County, I was interested in learning how to more effectively lead and work with our advisory council, which had recently gone through some significant changes as we developed a Service District for the Southern Oregon Research and Extension Center. Derek had worked with several advisory groups in his counties and was interested in formalizing a set of guidelines for advisory council work. My project consisted of assisting Derek in developing a document: Guidelines for Establishing and Managing Countywide Extension Advisory Committees. Derek wrote the initial draft and I added content based on my research and experience. The experience of co-leading an advisory council as a county leader was enlightening, and having the opportunity to consider county advisory committee operations from this wider perspective via my mentor project enriched that experience.
Jamie M. Davis
4-H Program/FCD Coordinator
Project Title: Government Relations at Oregon State University
Mentor: Jock Mills, Director of Government Relations at Oregon State University
Project Summary: I had the amazing opportunity to complete my LDPE leadership project with Jock Mills, Director of Government Relations at OSU, during the Oregon 2015 Legislative Session. Over the course of several months (January – April, 2015), I shadowed Jock at the State Capital in hearings, committee meetings, and individual meetings with Representatives and Senators. With House Bill 178 (increase in support of the OSU Statewides by $16 million) under consideration, this was a very meaningful time for me, as an OSU Extension Agent, to complete this project.
In March, I attended the Extension Community Advisory Network (ECAN) meeting. The focus of this meeting was preparing participants to meet with Representatives and Senators to garner their support of HB 178 at the first OSU Statewides Day at the Capitol. I had the opportunity to develop the instrument to evaluate the ECAN meeting and the OSU Statewides Day at the Capitol and prepare a report, which will be utilized to plan future OSU Statewides Government Relations efforts. In April, I attended the OSU Day at the Capitol and coordinated the youth component (Honorary Page).
This process provided me with a wonderful overview of OSU Government Relations, strategies for connecting with elected officials, and knowledge of best practices for testifying. Jock is skilled at preparing people to testify and I was able to glean some very useful. This gave me the confidence to coordinate a Field Hearing in Klamath Falls, which involved four people testifying on behalf of OSU Statewides (HB 178).
Ana Lu Fonesca
4-H Latino Outreach Coordinator
Project Title: International Student Recruitment
Mentor: Robert Pabst, Senior Faculty Researcher in the College of Forestry
Project Summary: The LDPE project was the “perfect excuse” to explore a side of my personality and professional interests that I have always felt passionate about but never had the time or the “frame” to develop. This area is sales and marketing in the form of international student recruitment, specifically Latin American students.
I am excited for this opportunity, as I truly believe that lots of young, talented and eager Latin American students would benefit a lot from learning about and actually being a part of the OSU experience! At the same time, I think that the presence of diverse Latin American students will bring richness and understanding to the OSU community and programming (specifically to Outreach and Engagement). As a former international student, Mexican federal government employee, and current O&E faculty that works in the community engaging OSU students, I feel like I have always had "one foot in each side.” I have an understanding of the dynamics of Mexican and Latin American institutions as well as the dynamics of our local community needs and I am convinced that amazing synergies can be created with the expansion of perspective and collaboration.
During the past year, I had the privilege and opportunity of representing INTO and OSU at two international recruitment trips to Brazil and Mexico. Those recruitment trips, besides resulting in good applicant numbers, also resulted in my deep understanding that at the end of the day, we are all promoting a “product”: we promote our work, our ideas, and ultimately education. And I´m deeply passionate about what I am promoting. This winter I will represent OSU again in an international recruitment effort with the aim to create lasting connections, publicize OSU´s academic offerings and enhance academic collaborations.
I continue to stay in touch with my mentor, Robert Pabst, for mentoring sessions.
Gail Langellotto
Associate Professor, Urban and Community Horticulture Extension, Statewide Master Gardener Program Coordinator
Project Title: Creating the Consumer Horticulture Advisory Panel (CHAP)
Mentor: Garry Stephenson, Small Farms Specialist
Project Summary: The Home Horticulture Working Group consists of every OSU Extension faculty and staff member who has a position description that includes the Master Gardener Program. Since 2007, this work group has met at least annually to consider and make decisions on issues related to the Extension Master Gardener Program. However, the group’s large size (approximately 30 people) and consensus decision-making process has made it difficult to make forward progress on many issues. Thus, for my LDPE project, I decided to work with Garry Stephenson (and others) to learn more about how to create a functional working group. As a result, and with the blessing of the current Home Horticulture Working group, I formed the Consumer Horticulture Advisory Panel, a group of about five people who will study an issue intensively and make recommendations to the larger working group. The larger working group will then vote on the issues after considering the recommendations from CHAP. Although in its early stages, this new working group model has already resulted in positive changes to the administration of the Master Gardener Program.
Pamela Rose
4-H Youth Development Program Leader
Project Title: Sharpening Budgetary and Financial Oversight Skills
Mentor: Dee Wendler, Manager, University Administrative Business Center
Project Summary: My project focused on sharpening my budgetary and financial oversight skills. I was privileged to work with Dee Wendler, UABC, whom I see as an ongoing mentor. The project was carried out primarily through discussion, which focused on three major topics: 1) program planning and visioning; 2) building a mentor base; and 3) assessing items which need constant attention.
Program planning and visioning is critical to any budgeting as budgetary decisions should support one’s vision and strategic plan and not the other way around. This project reinforced my ongoing efforts, focus, and resource allocations (hiring, etc.) in support of the Oregon 4-H Program Vision and Strategic Plan. I actively broadened by mentor base throughout the project, which provides me with diverse opinions and experience to draw upon in budgetary forecasting and decision-making. Finally, I gained key insight on items which need ongoing assessment in the oversight of budgets to best address misalignments in processes, vision and forecasting. This included insight in capitalizing on and/or seeking out opportunities for growth in resources and partnerships. Throughout the project, I was reminded of the importance of communication, vision, accountability, flexibility and decision-making skills. As a leader, these important assets and skills apply to budget and financial oversight.
As a result of this project, I feel I have gained new insights, new skills and a new appreciation for the tools I already bring to the process of administrating programmatic budget and financial needs.
Jenny Rudolph, MPA
Associate Professor of Practice, Extension Family & Community Health and SNAP-Ed Programs
Project Title: Whole Grain Heroes Video Campaign & Exploring Public – Private Partnerships
Mentors: Renee Carr, Moore Family Center Endowed Outreach Coordinator, and Emily Ho, PhD, Endowed Director of Moore Family Center for Whole Grain Foods, Nutrition and Preventive Health. College Of Health
Project Summary: The Healthy Communities Outreach Project is a partnership between the OSU Moore Family Center, and the OSU Extension Family and Community Health and 4-H Youth Development Programs of the College of Health. Jenny provided leadership on a regional project that involved writing a grant application to the Moore Family Center for $50,000 to create a series of short videos that feature local families making whole grain healthy recipes together. The video format was fully backed by the Food Hero.org healthy recipe website and social marketing campaign that is funded through the OSU SNAP-Ed program. Each video is of high quality production designed to meet the project goals of empowering low income families to prepare healthy meals together, demonstrate easy, fun ways for kids to help in the kitchen, promote the use of low-cost whole grains in family meals, and to increase awareness of the Foodhero.org website as a resource for healthy recipes and tips. Eight families from six different Oregon counties (totaling 28 adults and kids) came together to be filmed by our partners in the OSU Interactive Communications department.
The final creative products included six videos that feature a FoodHero.org recipe being made. In addition, a 30 second commercial for Food Hero in English and a 30 second commercial for Food Hero in Spanish were created. The English commercial was distributed in a media buy campaign along the North Coast and Southwest regions (Columbia, Clatsop, Tillamook, Lincoln, Coos, Curry, Douglas and Lane Counties) that resulted in 537,000 impressions via local movie theaters in the region and 524,690 online digital impressions. In addition, the results of the online media buy were very positive. The pre-roll video had a completion rate of 81%, meaning that 81% of viewers watched the video all the way through rather than skipping the content. This is above the industry completion benchmark of 70%. The results of the project were also recently presented at the Oregon Public Health Association Conference on October 13, 2015. You can view the videos by visiting the Food Hero Media Page.
Karen Watté
Faculty & Course Development Specialist, OSU Extended Campus
Project Title: Analysis and Recommendations for the OSUGo Online Outbound Student Orientation
Mentor: Julie Walkin, International Program Consultant, Office of Global Opportunities
Project Summary: The purpose of my project was to perform an analysis of the current OSUGo online outbound orientation and apply Ecampus best practices in recommending possible improvements to both design and delivery of this course. In the course of the analysis, I had the opportunity to explore and learn about leadership strategies that this unit was using as it approached a number of massive changes. The impacts of these changes were rippling across everyone in the unit and nearly all of the work done there. Some of these changes included decentralization of the unit, a major change in the software platform used to track outbound students, and changing audience needs. This was coupled with managing significant growth over the next several years. Leadership lessons included learning about how strategy and structure drive an organization, the importance of communicating a clear mission and values, and techniques for influencing others to achieve genuine commitment and investment in partnerships.