Cornell Cooperative Extension Community Horticulture

On Thursday December 4th from 9:00 -10:00 please participate in our conference call to share how programs approach:

Reward and recognition of volunteers.

We want to learn from each others success and mistakes to identify effective ways programs are thanking and showing appreciation for their Master Gardener Volunteers or other volunteers like Tree Stewards.

If you are not available during this time on Thursday feel free to send along in advance a brief description of the protocol you follow for checking applicants references. Include how your program established this approach (i.e. we work with our director/supervisor to establish this…).

In our last state conference call in October we talked about Master Gardener Volunteer reference checking so I can work to establish some guidelines based on what people are already having success with. Notes from that call are at this site.

I aim to schedule conference call monthly on subject matters most pressing to your needs. Go to this survey to share your preference on when we should schedule these calls. It is nearly impossible to find a time all are available so likely I’ll rotate around the best times.

So for Thursday December 4th from 9:00 -10:00 contact Lori (bushway@cornell.edu) for the number to call and access code. The call is free so you can call from any location.

We getting together a group of CCE educators to work through the process of becoming CVAs

(Doesn’t everyone want three initials after their name?

If you might be interested email lori (bushway@cornell.edu) and here a bit more about the certification…

Certified in Volunteer Administration (CVA) is the only international professional certification in the field of volunteer resources management. Originally developed by the Association for Volunteer Administration (AVA) several decades ago, the program is now sponsored by the Council for Certification in Volunteer Administration (CCVA). The CVA credential reflects mastery of the knowledge required of practitioners in this field as measured through an exam and peer assessment process. Full details at this website: http://www.cvacert.org

Presented by Bob Beyfuss, Cornell Cooperative Extension Specialist for American Ginseng Production
October 16, 2008, 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm.
Cost: $15 per farm/family- Includes The Practical Guide to Growing Ginseng, by Bob Beyfuss

At DCMO BOCES Norwich Campus

Ginseng is a native herb that has been used for centuries in Chinese medicine. This forest grown crop has been harvested and exported since the 1700’s and continues to be a cash crop today. Growing Ginseng in Central New York will review the process of cultivating ginseng, as well as site selection, harvesting and marketing cultivated ginseng, and the rules and regulations of harvesting wild ginseng. This workshop will not include medicinal uses of ginseng.

If you’re interested in growing ginseng in you woodlot for income or pleasure register today by calling 607-334-5841. Please register by October 15, 2008.

There is a field and a classroom portion of this class- rain or shine

J. Rebecca Hargrave
Community Horticulture and Natural Resources Extension Educator
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chenango County
99 N. Broad St.
Norwich, NY 13815
607-334-5841 x 16

Public Issues and Conflicts Management (Two 2-day sessions)

This workshop will be taught by experienced trainers from NOAA*s
Coastal Services Center.

There are two identical training opportunities, both at Norrie Point
Environmental Center.
ONLY Register for one.
1. Tuesday December 2 and Wednesday December 3 2008 from 9 to 5 pm
To register,copy the URL and paste into your browser:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=NSGJ_2fD3pYFtoXt92O8XPaA_3d_3d

2. Tuesday March 3 and Wednesday March 4 2009 from 9 to 5 pm
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Xo9eEC0Fprzn_2bzVuuqDm5g_3d_3d

This workshop will help you in the many projects you are involved in,
as it teaches you how to plan a meeting, build a team, deal with
difficult people, apply collaborative processes and deal with conflict.
The attached agenda gives more detail.  I have heard from many people
that they would like training in meeting facilitation and collaboration.
This gives you those skills, including the opportunity to apply
collaborative processes to an issue that you are working on.   This
training includes how to conduct a stakeholder analysis and how to
involve the public.  There is also a section on working effectively with
the media.
This workshop was held in August and was well received.

Collaboration and stakeholder involvement is a key component to
ecosystem-based management and many other projects that will help you
address the issues you work with.

This is a free workshop, funded by NOAA. You must commit to attend both
days.

For more information, see the attached agenda and this website
http://www.csc.noaa.gov/cms/cls/public_issues_conflict.html

For directions to Norrie Point: http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/4915.html

__________________________________
Leslie

Leslie Surprenant
Invasive Species Management Coordinator
NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation
Office of Invasive Species Coordination
625 Broadway, 5th Floor
Albany, NY  12233-4756
518-402-8980

The Hudson River Estuary Research Reserve is hosting two free workshops
that may be valuable to you.   Both workshops will be held in the Hudson
Valley (Dutchess Co).

*Understanding your Audience: Effectively Characterizing and Engaging Stakeholders*

Taught by Shorna R.Broussard, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Natural Resources
Cornell University

Workshop Information:
Thursday  October 23, 2008
9:00 am-12:00 noon (optional networking *bring your own* lunch
until 1 pm.)
NYSDEC Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve
Norrie Point Environmental Center in Mills-Norrie State Park
Staatsburg, NY  12580
Directions: http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/37889.html

Workshop Registration:
Register online:
Copy and paste this link into your browser:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=EHzbeWnanQYLvWObV5BJzA_3d_3d

Registration is limited, please register by Wednesday October 15, 2008

Click here for more information on who should attend and topics coveredClick here for more information on who should attend and topics covered.

Leslie

Leslie Surprenant
Invasive Species Management Coordinator
NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation
Office of Invasive Species Coordination
625 Broadway, 5th Floor
Albany, NY  12233-4756
518-402-8980

Greetings:

Seems as if there is a new word in the air these days.  Everyone isn’t just busy, they’re crazy busy.  I hear that word constantly from students at Cornell.  I hear it on the street, at the grocery store, in conversations, and from some of my colleagues, family members — even from children and elders in my community!

Question: are we best serving our audiences if we’re like hamsters on a treadmill?  How can we be committed to educating about healthy lifestyles, if we ourselves are all stressed out?  Can we genuinely foster mastery, belonging, generosity and independence if we’re hurrying young people through an activity, checking our watches and thinking about doing the next thing?  What about that “H” in 4-H that stands for heart?

Through the ages, in challenging times, people have turned to the garden in all its various forms for restoration.  It can offer profound rejuvenation, and can be an important foundation for garden-based learning (or any learning).  It does mean taking a little down time to get there!  We’re exploring the possibility of a retreat to Light on the Hill, a reflective retreat center about 1/2 hour outside of Ithaca, in early March (5 & 6).  We envision a day devoted to reflective activities and conversation that help us to take a deep breath and restore ourselves, and then, a day to consider how we extend this to our audiences.  We see this as an ideal time of the year, before the gardening season, the remainder of the school year, and other demands begin to press in.

At this point, we’re simply looking for a show of hands: does this interest you?  Unlike other “in-services” we wouldn’t need the commitment of a large group, and in fact, the lodge at Light on the Hill would only accommodate up to 40.

Unless you’re simply too…crazy busy to join us?

Best,
Marcia

Marcia Eames-Sheavly
Cornell Garden-Based Learning Institute
Department of Horticulture, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853
http://www.hort.cornell.edu/gbl
http://www.hort.cornell.edu/art

30 October 2008 at the Ramada Inn, Ithaca, NY.

Details (word doc)

Agenda (word doc)

This workshop is being held in Binghamton NY as a stand alone pre-conference workshop for the Association of Volunteer Resources Management organization.

If might be the  perfect 4hr ($45) professional development opportunity to help you advance the management of your program. It is on September 30 from 1pm to 5 pm and is being presented by a Cooperative Extension faculty from N.C.  who teaches numerous courses in volunteer management.

Workshop description:
It doesn’t take long for new administrators of volunteer programs to realize that to succeed at managing volunteers requires managers to wear a multitude of hats. Some days you’re the captain of the ship, then you’re asked to perform magic in your wizard’s hat, just before you pull on your garden hat to help grow new volunteers. Confusing,
overwhelming, rewarding, wonderful – mix all of this together and you have the reality of volunteer management. This session will feature a basic system for managing volunteer programs while focusing upon information and resources to help those new in the profession of volunteer resource management to adjust while finding the right fit for all their new hats!
By the end of the session, participants will be able to:
1) assess organizational needs to identify potential volunteer roles;
2) prepare consistent, accurate position descriptions for volunteers;
3) develop action plans to strengthen orientation and training programs for volunteers;
4) describe a system for overall volunteer program management; and
5) design formal and informal volunteer recognition strategies.

More details about register are at: http://avrm.org/

If you are interested or plan to goto this workshop or any portion of this conference Lori (bushway@cornell.edu) would like to hear from you.

October  22, 2008
8:30 am - 5:00pm

To be held at:
Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies
Millbrook, NY

Participants will learn techniques and methods for reintroducing native plants to areas that have been managed for the control of invasive plants and will also learn how to preserve existing native plant habitats.
Who should attend:
Land managers including local, state and national parks, land stewards, land trusts and preserves, large land owners such as corporations, religious institutions, historic mansions, colleges and residential schools, DEC foresters, landscape architects, horticulturists, growers, nurseries, soil and water conservation district employees, highway workers, NYS Turf and Landscape , EMC, CAC, and Master Gardeners.

Landscape Architecture CEU credits are pending approval.

Presented in cooperation with:  NYS DEC Estuary Training Program of the Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve, the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Lower Hudson, Capital-Mohawk, and CRISP PRISMs, The Nature Conservancy, NYC Department of Environmental Protection, Teatown Lake Reservation, NYS Office of Parks Recreation Historic Preservation, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Dutchess County, NYS DEC Hudson River Estuary Program and New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission

Please share this information with all lists.

For more information contact:
Meredith Taylor
845-889-4745 ext. 109
mjtaylor@gw.dec.state.ny.us
or
Emilie Hauser 845-889-4745 ext. 112
eehauser@gw.dec.state.ny.us

Registration and Agenda (pdf).

These Urban Horticulture MHS Assistantships in the Department of Horticultural Science at NC State include tuition, a stipend and a paid internship at Roanoke Island, NC at the Elizabethan Garden.

They are on going positions that will become available in January and refilled as students graduate.

Contact:

Lucy Bradley, Ph.D. Extension Specialist

Urban Horticulture North Carolina StateUniversity

Department of Horticultural Science

Lucy_Bradley@ncsu.edu

http://www4.ncsu.edu/~lkbradle/

Community Gardening

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/garden/CommunityGarden/

MHS Assistantship Available

http://www4.ncsu.edu/~lkbradle/assistantship.html