This month’s
First Monday Update is a preview of the important conversations that will take place during the November 15* Quarterly Conversation, which include:
Budget conversations (analysis, rebasing and priority staffing process)
Restructuring of the Division’s leadership teams
Strategy for the Extension Citizen Advisory Network (ECAN)
Anita also emphasizes Ed Ray and Ed Feser’s view that, as the University’s primary outreach mechanism, Extension is essential to OSU’s success. Stay tuned until the very end, which is where Anita shares breaking news about the Division’s new name and title for the leader of the Division. You’ll want to attend in person or Zoom in starting at 9:00 a.m. in Kidder 202 (check your calendar invite for details). The Quarterly Conversation will be devoted to the above topic areas allowing lots of time for your questions.
*Ann Marie Murphy apologizes for sharing with
Anita the incorrect date for the Quarterly Conversation. The correct day is November
15.
Community vitality and whiteboarding—yes, it is a real verb—come together in the February First Monday Video. Lindsey Shirley, associate provost of University Outreach and Engagement and associate director of OSU Extension Service, and Jeff Sherman, assistant director of University Outreach and Engagement, demonstrate their collective innovation and problem-solving process. They want your input into their community vitality process and outcome.
Share the projects and ideas you are whiteboarding, or invite Jeff and Lindsey to join you in a whiteboard session, in the comment section below.
After months of work and input from more than 300 people within the Division of University Outreach and Engagement, the 2016-2021 Strategic Plan is written, packaged and will be delivered the week of August 8 to all locations within the Division. Next step? Prioritizing resources and areas of focus, identifying the measurable metrics of progress, and beginning the implementation phase.
This month’s First Monday Video introduces Jeff Sherman who is charged with coordinating the next phase of the plan.
A team will be formed around each of the Division’s five goals. Would you like to add your voice to one of the teams? Contact Jeff.Serman@oregonstate.edu. We welcome – and encourage – your participation!
Tune in to the August 19 Quarterly Conversation and ask the questions that are on your mind, or ask questions using the comment section of the O&E Blog.
New marketing initiatives are underway in the Division. Hear about them in this month’s First Monday—which actually is being released on Tuesday—video. Benny the Beaver will be appearing at 31 county fairs to create awareness of OSU and support OSU Extension community engagement efforts. Benny, who is a very engaging beaver, met with Vice Provost Scott Reed and Lindsey Shirley, Associate Provost and Associate Director of OSU Extension.
Use the blog’s comment section to share your ideas on how we can reach more Oregonians through OSU Extension.
Thanks to Steven Ward and Lynn Ketchum from EESC who did this month’s video under the direction of Jill Wells. Promotional videos are being produced for use by each Extension office where Benny will appear (also Jill’s idea!).
Stay tuned for information about the recent changes in the Division.
In the meantime, learn more about the Division and its work and people with this month’s O&E Blog posts.
In 2007, the OSU Extension Service and Educational Outreach, which includes Ecampus, PACE and EESC, joined forces and created the Division of University Outreach and Engagement. Provost Sabah Randhawa wanted to know what new initiatives are taking place as a result of the reorganization. After compiling a survey of 36 county Extension offices, Vice Provost Scott Reed reports on new initiatives in April’s First Monday Video. Hint: Extension offices are proctoring online exams, have established new community partnerships and programs, and are directing thousands of inquiring parents and students to OSU resources, filling the pipeline for new OSU Beavers. There’s more, too, but you’ll have to watch the video
Tell Scott what Extension innovations you see in the “Leave a Reply” section below. He looks forward to reading your comments.
Charles Robinson and Liddy Detar join Scott to talk about Dr. Timothy K. Eatman, our keynote presenter at the April 12 Outreach and Engagement Colloquium. The Colloquium celebrates and explores different pathways to community engagement. Click here for event details and to register.
And let Scott know what your favorite day is in March by using the comment section of the blog (his is Employee Appreciation Day).
You won’t want to miss the April 12 Colloquium awards celebration; fast-paced Ignite-style presentations by Nicole Strong (Forestry and Natural Resources Extension), Mark Farley (Hatfield Marine Science Center Cyberlab), Chinweike Eseonu (Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering), and Mike Miller and Mark Stiffler (Ecampus Course Development and Training); keynote “Beware Shrinking Imagination”; and poster session.
Help OSU Open Campus to expand the Juntos program to more school districts throughout Oregon with the second annual Create fundraising campaign. Funds from the campaign are dedicated to providing needed resources for Juntos programming in the state, resources like transportation for college visits, meals, childcare, and hosting the 2017 Juntos Family Day. Share the fundraising campaign with friends and family, or consider making your own tax-deductible contribution.
University Outreach and Engagement enters the world of social media! Join us at #OSUengage before, during and after the Colloquium on Twitter (@OSU_O&E) and on Facebook: OSUOutreachandEngagement.
Video produced and edited by Jill Wells, University Outreach and Engagement Administration
Out of more than 300 universities, OSU ranked in the top 10 for online baccalaureate programs for the second year in a row. We were ranked number three for land grant universities.
OSU’s Ecampus, part of the Division of Outreach and Engagement and Educational Outreach, is growing. Did you know that the number of Ecampus learners has grown to 19,000?
Learn more about why Lisa Templeton, director of Ecampus, believes OSU is continuing to rank highly by watching the video.
Opportunities Exist to Collaborate on Educational Modules
Collaborating with Extension and on-campus faculty to develop learning modules and open textbooks is at the core of Open Oregon State’s activities. Open Oregon State was formed in 2013 to create online educational resources that can be accessed freely by students and teachers in digital media collections around the world. It is part of the Division of University Outreach and Engagement and falls under the umbrella of OSU Extended Campus.
[Note: Open Oregon State is different than OSU Open Campus, which is also part of the Division of Outreach and Engagement.]
Photo: startupphotos.com
Learning Modules
Open Oregon State enhances learning experiences by incorporating emerging technologies.
“Early on, our multimedia developers and instructional designers created open modules in the agricultural sciences and STEM fields, some with dual-language functionality,” said Dianna Fisher, director of the unit. “Now we’re branching out and doing work with other colleges on campus and we are also working on projects with Oregon Community Colleges. We’re proud of the quality and creativity we bring to making knowledge accessible and learning engaging and effective.”
New Spanish language modules will help women start businesses, and a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) is being developed in collaboration with the department of Horticulture and Professional and Continuing Education (PACE), also part of the Division.
To experience the educational possibilities, check out this featured module:
This module explores water-related issues, current and future work to supply the water necessary for society, and offers an opportunity to hear from OSU experts.
Open Textbooks
Research shows a direct relationship between textbook costs and student success. Why? Textbooks can cost up to $1,200 a year for a full-time student, sometimes forcing students to choose between paying rent or buying food and buying a textbook.
The university’s open textbook initiative is a collaboration between OSU Libraries, OSU Press and Open Oregon State. It provides financial, technical and editorial support for faculty members to create texts that will be freely accessible online to any student in the world.
Open Oregon State has made impressive headway in developing free online textbooks. (Online textbooks are also available in low-cost print versions for essentially the cost of printing.) The inaugural textbook, “Living with Earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest,” is by Robert S. Yeats, a professor emeritus in OSU’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences. At least four more open textbooks are scheduled to be published by the end of 2016.
“Online textbooks do more than save students money,” said Dianna. “As new information and science emerges, online textbooks can be updated immediately. Multimedia elements can also be added to enhance the learning experience.”
To learn more about module and open textbook opportunities and requirements, click here. Open Oregon State offers funding of up to $2,000 to foster faculty participation in providing content and working with the development team to design and produce modules and short courses. Proposals are accepted and evaluated for funding once per term.
Funding for the unit comes from grants, the Division of Outreach and Engagement, Oregon State Ecampus and student fees. For more information about existing online educational resources or new opportunities with Open Oregon State, please contact:
David Hansen accepted the role of Interim Associate Provost of the Division and Associate Director of the OSU Extension Service effective January 1, 2016, on a 0.6 FTE basis. He will retain a 0.4 FTE role as Outreach and Engagement Lead for the Oregon Sea Grant Program.
“This is an opportunity for me to see the Division from a different perspective,” said Dave. “I am looking forward to viewing and interacting with the Division outside of a program perspective. I have worked with Extension’s Regional Administrators as a member of the Program Council, but look forward to expanding my geographic boundaries. The interim position also provides an opportunity for me to interact with more programs within the Division and Extension.”
Dave is veteran of Extension outreach and engagement work. He was an associate professor of soil and environmental quality and Extension Program Leader for the Agriculture and Natural Resources program at the University of Delaware before coming to OSU in 2010.
He is a member of Oregon Sea Grant’s leadership team and oversees a large and diverse outreach and public engagement team, including Sea Grant Extension faculty on the coast and on campus with expertise in a wide range of matters related to Oregon’s ocean and coastal resources, natural and human. In addition, he manages Sea Grant’s small team of professional science communicators who serve the program’s needs for print, web, video and other media to inform and educate the public.
Quarterly Conversations are designed to share what is happening within the Division. This month’s conversation featured a presentation about Outdoor School by Susan Sahnow, director of Oregon Natural Resources Education Program.
View the video of the November 20 Quarterly Conversation.
With the passage of Measure 5 in 1990, Oregon’s property tax and public school funding systems were fundamentally changed. Outdoor school for 5th and 6th graders in Oregon was cut in many communities; in some areas, parents and communities raised the money needed to keep it operating.
According to the website Outdoor School for All, “In spring 2015, the Oregon Legislature overwhelmingly passed the historic Outdoor School Bill, establishing for the first time a statewide commitment to Outdoor School programs. The Oregon Outdoor Education Coalition is now focused on securing permanent public funding for every Oregon student to experience a full week of Outdoor School or similar programming.”
Susan noted that OSU started outdoor school in 1958, and that the Oregon Legislature believes OSU Extension is the preferred home for the program. Outdoor School requires approximately $22 million in funding annually in order to offer a week-long, live-in experience to every child in Oregon. If you want to stay abreast of its progress, Outdoor School for All will send email updates. You can sign up here.
Melody Mitchell, acting director of Professional and Continuing Education (PACE) told the group that PACE developed and delivered a program to the College of Pharmacy in a record 26 days! Stay tuned for more about PACE in a future blog post.
The Division has closed on 2 of the 17 approved positions planned for the Division (an Open Campus and 4-H position in Grant County and an Open Campus Outreach Program Coordinator in Yamhill County), and is close to closing on a third position.
Scott (along with representatives from Agriculture Experiment Station and Forest Research Laboratory) met with the Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) to help them understand the scope and value of Extension activities in advance of budget proposals reaching them for review. He noted that two areas were of particular interest to the commissioners: Juntos (Open Campus) with its 100% graduation rate and 100% progression to college; and that of the more than 700,000 adult Oregonians that have some college credit but no degree, one-third expressed an interest in completing a degree.
The concern and fear expressed at the Student Speakout on Monday, November 16, is a reminder that all of us need to consciously create positive and welcoming environments for our learners.
Jeff Sherman, OSU Open Campus and Special Initiatives Leader announced the 2015-16 Cohort for the Leadership Development Program for Executives. Dave King, Associate Provost of Outreach and Engagement, Educational Outreach, said to the audience, “It’s not too early to be thinking about joining next year’s cohort.” The application for the 2016-17 group will be available July 1.
The next Quarterly Conversation is scheduled for February 19, starting at 8:30 a.m. in Kidder 202 and via streaming. Contact Ann Marie Murphy to share topics you would like to hear discussed (AnnMarie.Murphy@oregonstate.edu or 541-737-1327)
