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Posts Tagged ‘extension educators’
Will Rural America be left behind?
December 3rd, 2009
It’s common for bloggers to capture provocative quotes from newspapers and use them to start a little controversy. At ReImagine Rural, we’re not about controversy, but I couldn’t let the following quote from Dr. Frank Fear go by without comment:
“Will rural America be left behind?” he asked. “Will small towns, farms and places that have spawned so many things that have made this country great be left behind?” (source: “Michigan State University prepares to dismantle extension,” Capital Press.)
Dr. Fear, senior associate dean of agriculture and natural resources at Michigan State, made this statement at the National Grange Annual Convention in response to budgetary cuts that could cause the termination of Michigan’s Extension program.
The article, from which the above quote appears, goes on to note that agriculture in Michigan is currently doing pretty well while the rest of the state’s economy is in shambles. In doing so, it raises the question, “Does Michigan need to divert the resources from supporting agriculture to other economic development activities?”
I obviously don’t know the intimate details about Michigan, so I can’t offer definitive answers on what they should be doing.
I hope that we never see the end of Michigan’s extension program, or any states’ for that matter. From what I know about the goings on in Van Buren County, MI, Extension is a key player in their entrepreneurship initiative. Removing the funding from Extension to recreate it someplace else would seem a senseless waste of resources.
As for Fear’s question? In my opinion, Rural America has been left behind for a long time – at least in our part of the country.
Other resources
“Dismantling Extension in Michigan” Timothy J. Shaffer (blog) -
Press Release: “Sustain the Legacy. Keep Agriculture and Rural America Vital,” The National Grange
Tags: entrepreneurship, extension educators, Michigan, The Grange
Posted in Community Development, Economic Development, In the News, Rural | Comments (1)
Facebook: Friend and Fan policies
October 16th, 2009
On Wednesday, Lindsey and I talked to SDSU Extension Educators about the use of social media in their work. There were a lot of good questions about Facebook, most of which revolved around “managing the process” of its use. Questions like:
- How do I rid of those stupid games & quizzes?
- How do we manage the amount of time we spend on-line?
- How do I prevent unwanted individuals from seeing what’s posted on Facebook.
Invariably my responses connected to the idea that individuals should develop a “friend policy” that connects to their purpose for being on Facebook — and that it’s ok not to “friend” everyone. (I explained that I had created my Facebook page to connect with family, personal friends, and lost friends (i.e. – high school classmates), and that I wasn’t really interested in having other’s be a part of my friend group.)
Throughout the morning we also talked about using Facebook Fan Pages, which were developed for businesses and organizations. But after reading this blog post, however, I realized that I was not making a distinction between a “personal friend policy” and a “professional friend policy.”
Here’s a short overview of how this expert manages his friend policy. (Keep in mind he uses his Facebook “Profile” for personal use and a Facebook “Fan Page” for professional use.)
- First, he created a Facebook Profile for personal use, and a Fan Page for professional contacts.
- When he receives a friend request (on his personal account), he determines which group they fit into.
- If the person meets his “friend definition,” he friends them.
- If not, he sends a message, recommending that they become a fan of his Facebook Page. (This means he no longer clicks the “ignore” button for those friend requests he doesn’t want.)
I love it, and would highly encourage anyone wanting to use Facebook for professional purposes to follow this practice. But there is one down-side: it does require that you be willing to create another presence (i.e. – a Fan page) on Facebook and manage it. And that leads to another issue: How do people manage their time effectively?
Other resources
- “Teachers face dilemma with Facebook,” The Houston Chronicle.
- “Friend and Let Friend,” The Internet Geek Girl.
- “The Facebook Debate: Pages vs. Profiles,” Click News.
Photo Credit: HikingArtist.com – Flickr
Tags: extension educators, Facebook, social media
Posted in Rural | Comments (3)