Edited by Tom Blaine

CD Colleagues:

Welcome to the November issue of the CD Newsletter!  Fall is almost set to turn to winter, as you probably noticed by checking the weather recently.  This is another reminder that we are getting closer to Annual Conference this year with the title “Now is our Time.” Speaking of Annual Conference and climate issues, I want to take this opportunity to remind you that a number of us in Extension have put together a workshop on global climate change that we will unveil called “Extension Outreach and Global Climate Change.”  Of course, there are going to be a lot of interesting presentations and workshops at Annual Conference, but if you are curious about seeking programming on this topic, this workshop represents an excellent opportunity for you to find out about the many resources Extension has available. 

The workshop will be on December 18, with Part 1 going from 9:15 to 10:30 a.m. and then Part II from 10:45 till Noon.  John Conglose will moderate the workshop, which features everything from summaries of the history of global climate to how this topic fits in with signature programs like "Why Trees Matter." We have presenters from all program areas in Extension.  If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact John Conglose or me. 

Please also remember there are always a lot of great posters at Annual Conference. I hope that all of you will take some time to look at all the posters displayed. A couple of these will include:

1) Ohio Tourism Partnership for Economic Development - A statewide collaborative to improve the economic impact of local tourism development and,
2) Marketing Connections - Direct Marketing Trends & Resources.
For more information about these two posters, please contact Julie Fox at  fox.264@osu.edu

Also, please note that the Community Development professional association (NACDEP) session will be held on the first day of the annual conference (December 17th at 11:00 a.m.  In the afternoon of that first day of the conference, John Conglose as Interim AD will be providing a Community Development program update.  These two sessions will provide opportunities for dialogue for Community Development Educators and Specialists.  Attendance is encouraged.

OSU Extension's Leadership for Tomorrow Conference: Exploring New Approaches

This conference, scheduled for April 28-30, 2009, will explore in-depth new approaches to leadership from Extension professionals, scholars, educators, business, law, military, and community practitioners.
 
Proposals are due November 30, 2008. Some of the topics include:
Next Generation of Leadership · Changing Definitions of Leadership · New Leadership Models
Leading in Times of Change · Changing Demographics · the Future of Leadership
 
For more information about the conference, or to submit a proposal, please click on the link below:
http://ag.osu.edu/Redirect/leadershipfortomorrow.osu.edu./  or contact:
 
 Cheryl A. Buck
Telephone: 614-292-4880
Fax: 614-688-3807
E-Mail: buck.19@osu.edu

News from Sea Grant

Sea Grant Reauthorized

On Monday October 13, 2008, President Bush signed the National Sea Grant College Program Amendments Act of 2008. This action reauthorizes the Sea Grant Program from 2009 through 2014.  The bill had passed both houses of Congress without opposition.  The Act promotes further integration among Sea Grant state programs, partners, and stakeholders; enhances regional and national collaboration; redefines the role of the National Sea Grant Review Panel and changes it into a National Sea Grant Advisory Board; and authorizes increased funding for the program over the next six years.  Congratulations to our Sea Grant partners.

Reports from Two Recent Sea Grant Workshops:

OH Sea Grant - GLFLI workshop

Seventeen participants learned more about Lake Erie fisheries management and Lake Erie issues at the Third Great Lakes Fishery Leadership Institute conducted at OhioStateUniversity’s F. T. Stone Laboratory October 10-12, 2008.  Highlights of the workshop were the two-hour science cruise and the plankton and fish biology laboratory work. Participants lived on Gibraltar Island and went to class and laboratories at Stone Lab located at Put-In-Bay in Lake Erie’s western basin.    All of the participants plan to share what they learned at GLFLI. Fifteen of the participants are already thinking about ideas to use the information learned to do a service project.  One participant wrote, “The Great Lakes Fishery Leadership Institute was a wonderful opportunity to learn about the issues facing Lake Erie…”  VHS and Climate change were two new topics included in this latest iteration of GLFLI.  Post program evaluations were very high. “I learned more about fisheries management” and “I learned more about Lake Erie issues” both scored 4.8 on a scale of 1 equal to Strongly Disagree to 5 equal to Strongly Agree.  Evaluation scores of 4.9 on the same scale indicated that participants strongly agreed that the educational materials presented at the workshop will help them better understand the issues surrounding fisheries management in Lake Erie.

OH Sea Grant- Workshop on Fish-Sampling Techniques of Ohio's State Agencies
Stone Laboratory, Put-in-Bay, OH  October 4-5, 2008

This workshop featured an introduction to the fish-sampling techniques used by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR)-Division of Wildlife and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA). It was designed especially for college students considering internships or technician positions. Demonstrated equipment included trawls, gill nets, fyke nets, and various electrofishing gears. Instructors: Marc Smith, OEPA, Eric Weimer, ODNR- Division of Wildlife, Ben Rich, OEPA, Eugene Braig, F.T. Stone Laboratory/Ohio Sea Grant

National Tourism Conference

National Tourism Conference

The National Extension Tourism (NET) Conference is going to be held June 14-17, 2009 in Park City, Utah at the Yarrow Resort and Conference Center.

The 2009 National Extension Tourism (NET) Conference Program Committee invites proposals for the 2009 NET Conference, the theme of which is "The Tourism Connection: Sustaining People, Places, and Communities." Based on this theme, the Conference Program Committee is seeking proposals for oral presentations, poster presentations, and panel presentations/workshops in the following eight broad topical areas:

1. Rural Tourism Development/Agritourism                                                                       
2. Community and Regional Planning and Development                                                         
3. Economic, Environmental, and Social Impacts of Tourism and Recreation
4. Heritage and Cultural Tourism                                                                                       
5. Nature-Based Tourism: Ecotourism, Wildlife Enterprises, Adventure Tourism
6. Marketing and Promotion                                                                                               
7. Tourism Research and Evaluation                                                                                   
8. Tourism Education and Training

The Program Committee encourages all proposal submitters to "connect" their work in tourism and recreation to the conference's sustainability theme with respect to sustainable development and use involving people, places, and communities; and, also encourages both the presentation of case study approaches and international tourism activities.  The deadline for proposal submission is January 23, 2009, with notification of submission status by February 20, 2009.

http://ag.osu.edu/Redirect/sail2.ext.usu.edu/net/

http://ag.osu.edu/Redirect/www.rpts.tamu.edu/tce/NET/Conference.html

If you have questions, want to do a joint proposal, or have other ideas for
OSU Extension’s involvement, please contact Julie Fox at fox.264@osu.edu

Economic Development Update from Greg Davis

In September, Governor Strickland announced a projected FY 2009 state budget shortfall of $540 million.  This is in addition to the $733 million already cut since January 2008 and combined amounts to slightly more than 2.4% of the total state biennial budget.  A shortfall of this magnitude will most likely spell a reduction in state revenue sharing with county, municipal, township and other local governments which are already feeling the effects of declining sales, income, and property tax collections resulting from the recent economic downturn.  Marked drops in state revenue sharing and these local government income sources will impact the degree to which services, infrastructure, and programs (including Extension) can be supported at the state and local levels

How can we help?  Research (Kraybill, 1999) shows that 78% of all new jobs in Ohio are created by Ohio’s existing businesses.  In Ohio’s rural counties, the proportion is even higher (86%).  Since 1986, OSU Extension has partnered with communities throughout Ohio to better understand their local economy by engaging with them in business retention and expansion programming.  The pursuit of such applied research is one way to help stabilize your local economy and strengthen Extension’s ties with local development officials, elected officials, and key community leaders.

A degree in business and/or economics is not required, nor is an economic development background.  Instead, the key qualification is the desire to teach others.  The focus of instruction in the case of the BR&E program centers on teaching community leaders how to engage in an ongoing dialogue with their businesses.  The overall goal of the program is to improve the community via a stable or growing employment base. 

The program offers ready-made retrospective pretest/post-test evaluation instruments to document changes in knowledge, attitude, skills, and aspirations resulting from workshops designed to teach folks how to identify and address the needs of their businesses.  An annual summative evaluation instrument is also available to document changes in behavior and practice, jobs created and/or retained, volunteer hours donated, etc.

If you are interested in learning more, you have several options: 

1. Plan to attend the program overview to be shared at the Extension Annual Conference from 10:45-noon on December 18^th.

2. Review the material shared at http://ag.osu.edu/Redirect/localecon.osu.edu/BRnE/  (contact Greg Davis to gain password access to the ‘members only’ materials)

3. Talk to county educators who have recent program experience such as Nancy Bowen, Greg LaBarge, or Rose Fisher-Merkowitz

4. Or contact Greg Davis at 614-292-6356 or davis.1081@osu.edu