June 2013  

Other News & Articles

NEAFCS 2013 Slate of National Office Candidates

Amy Peterson (NE), Immediate Past President

Amy Peterson, Immediate Past President and Chair of the National Nominating Committee is please to present the following slate of officers for your consideration for NEAFCS.   Read more ...

It’s Open! Early Bird Registration for Galaxy IV!!

Sonja Koukel, PhD (NM), VP for Professional Development

The registration for attending Galaxy IV – Bridging the Centuries: A New Era for Extension is open and ready for business.  Read more ...

Galaxy IV Registration is Now Open

The Galaxy conference registration can be found at jcep.org under the Galaxy conference tab. This site contains detailed information and allows you to register for the conference. Read more ...

Team Building through Committee Participation

Sonja Koukel, PhD (NM), VP for Professional Development

What is your reaction to committee work? Do you recoil from engaging due to past negative experiences? Do you relish the opportunities committee work provides for working with others toward a common goal? Are you a committee member because it is part of what is expected of you as a professional? Read more ...

NEAFCS Webinars Coming to a Screen Near You!

Leif Albertson (AK), Chair Webinar Subcommittee

Following several very popular web-based presentations, the NEAFCS webinar committee has been working hard to arrange more exciting, peer reviewed, webinars.  Submitted proposal topics range from retirement planning to community-based exercise programs.  Read more ...

PILD Conference-Was It Worth the Time and Effort?

Debby Mathews (AL), VP Public Affairs

Getting someone to write about an experience provides evaluation information that is otherwise hard to glean. That is true of what PILD paragraphs written by our PILD “scholars” reveal to us in NEAFCS. Please take time to read your NEAFCS colleagues reports on the www.neafcs.org website to learn more about why YOU should take time for PILD 2014! Read more ...

Get Thinking about your Galaxy Auction Donations

Carol Miller (OH)

Cleaning closets this summer to prepare for a yard sale? Finding cool stuff that you forgot about? Donate one of those special items to the Galaxy Auctions. Galaxy IV will feature both a silent and live auction. All proceeds from the auction benefit the national association that you designate on your donation form.  Read more ...

Updated Member Resources – External Reviewers

Roxie Dinstel (AK)

Are you applying for promotion or tenure this year?  Maybe you need a publication reviewed or a program reviewed by an outside source.  If you don’t know who can serve as an outside reviewer in either of these cases, NEAFCS can provide an answer.  Read more  ...

Meet The Board

Debby Mathews (AL), VP Public Affairs

I’m so glad I was assigned the month of June to write this article! That is because it’s my Extension anniversary month. June 18 I will complete my twenty-ninth year with Extension. The good news is that I enjoy my work now more than ever, and I’m certain that many of you share that sentiment. I am the Extension coordinator and I have two nutrition agent assistants, an administrative associate and a bunch of regional agents who provide service to the 15,000 people living in our county.  Read more ...

President's Message

NEAFCS Colleagues,

Have you ever wondered why Extension holds a Galaxy conference every five years? The purpose and philosophy of the Galaxy Professional Development Conference is that the “Galaxy” Conference provides a unique opportunity to work together on a joint conference while celebrating the diversity of the individual organizations. Every five years the Joint Council of Extension Professionals sponsors and provides leadership for a Galaxy Conference for the entire Extension System. This conference invites participation from all JCEP organizations, ECOP and other partners critical to the Extension mission.

The Galaxy Conference:

• Allows the JCEP partner organizations to showcase their work as a unified group of extension professionals who are a viable and responsive force dealing with people's needs, opportunities and challenges
• Demonstrates Extension’s commitment to teamwork and synergy
• Provides an opportunity to foster a sense of common purpose and organizational unity through conference-wide participation by many association members and guests
• Provides Extension professionals an opportunity to attend professional development programs offered by all Extension professional associations
• Provides exceptional resources and speakers for general sessions that might otherwise not be possible for individual associations
• Provides a unique opportunity to collaborate across disciplines
• Provides opportunities to present peer-reviewed materials and participate in scholarly professional development in a national setting
• Enhances the visibility, stature and reputation of the Extension System
• Provides for effective use of limited resources of Extension professionals and their associations
• Focuses on a common mission as part of the Extension System and improves Extension’s visibility as the premier public educational provider
• Provides opportunities for participating organizations and associations to accomplish key annual association objectives while participating in a joint meeting, and
• Provides opportunities for professional networking within Extension.

Everything from registration right through the events of the conference will be different from what our members are accustomed to as “status quo” for our NEAFCS Annual Sessions. It’s not wrong, it’s just different.

My theme for this year has been “Attitude is the little thing that makes a BIG difference.” I chose that theme for myself as well as our organization. I often need a reminder to keep an open mind and find the benefits from doing something a different way, rather than to find fault with it.

The Galaxy Conference offers us the unique opportunity to experience our professional development conference in a whole new way. You’ll find that parts of it will be very familiar and other parts will be new. Often we come to these types of meetings with unrealistic expectations. Make an effort to come to the conference without any preconceived expectations and be open to a brand new experience this year.

 I encourage you to plan to attend and see for yourself the value of meeting with all of our Extension co-workers once every five years. Be prepared for a new adventure that includes exploring Extension in a whole new way.

Looking forward to seeing you in Pittsburgh in September!

Carol