April 11, 2008

Topics in today's issue of Extension Update:

• ALL EXTENSION CONFERENCE MARCH 2 – 5, 2009
  - VANCOUVER R&E UNIT CHANGES HANDS AND VISION
  - CLIMATE PRTECTION: WHAT IS WASHINGTON'S PLAN?
  - IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT USING WSU PHONE BRIDGE
  - SCHEDULE

ALL EXTENSION CONFERENCE MARCH 2 – 5, 2009
Save the Dates for the All Extension Conference, March 2 - 5, 2009.  The conference will take place on the Pullman campus.  The theme of the conference is “Fostering Health for our Planet, Communities, and Individuals.”  Plans are quickly moving along with a major theme event for Tuesday that will include the larger WSU community, the University of Idaho Extension faculty and staff, and the public.  Be watching for conference updates.

VANCOUVER R&E UNIT CHANGES HANDS AND VISION
WSU's historic 78th St. Agricultural Research and Extension Center has new owners as of today, along with a new mission and a new plan for the future, all based on a decades-long partnership. Clark County commissioners today announced they will assume ownership of the 79-acre property from WSU. They also outlined a new vision of what activities will take place there.“Our goal is to preserve the site as part of the county’s agricultural heritage with a specific focus on sustainability and to make it available to the public,” said Mark McCauley, director of Clark County General Services. “Our principal partner will be WSU.”       

CLIMATE PROTECTION: WHAT IS WASHINGTON'S PLAN?
What challenges and opportunities face Washington State around climate change? Governor Gregoire’s Climate Advisory Team recently released their plan that aims to "reduce the pollution that leads to climate change, grow our clean energy economy and move toward energy independence". How exactly do they plan to accomplish these ambitious goals? Do all the stakeholders agree with their tactics? Join us for a lively discussion of state-level initiatives to address warming and bring your own questions to pose to our expert panel! 

The event will be Friday, April 25, 2008, Washington Athletic Club, 1325 Sixth Avenue Seattle.  Registration: 11:30 a.m.; lunch served: 12:00-12:15 p.m.; program: 12:15 1:30 p.m.  $35/CityClub Members, $40 Guests and members of co-presenting organizations and $45/General public.  Register at www.seattlecityclub.org!

Panel includes:  Kimberly Harris, Executive Vice President and Chief Resource Officer, Puget Sound Energy;  Jay Manning, Director, Washington State Department of Ecology; Alex Steffen, Co-Founder and Executive Editor, WorldChanging.com; John Stuhlmiller, Director of State Affairs, Washington Farm Bureau; Moderator: KC Golden, Policy Director, Climate Solutions; Event Chairs: Michael Beneke and Michael McGinn

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT USING WSU PHONE BRIDGE
WSU is implementing a new version of Meeting Place, the system used to set up phone bridges.  This new change will be in effect for ALL new phone bridges set up starting April 21, 2008.  In addition to the contact information below, please feel free to contact Kathy Stilwell at extension@wsu.edu or 509-335-2933 if you have questions.

The new version of Meeting Place will become available on Monday, April 21st at 7:00am.  The new web conferencing page can be accessed via the following URL:  https://mpweb.it.wsu.edu/mpweb/scripts/mpx.dll.  Please add this new bookmark and delete the old URL.

You will be required to use a new phone number to dial into the system (509-335-4700).  However, you will still be able to use the ‘old’ phone number (509 335-1700) for the immediate future as it will be forwarded to the new system. 

All meetings and accounts will have been uploaded to the new version by 12:01am Monday, April 21st.  Please take some time to review your scheduled meetings to ensure they are all there.

This new version will once again send e-mail notifications of the date, time and meeting id as you schedule additional meetings.  All features that you have worked with previously are still intact.  Some of the new features are:

Calendaring:  For those using Microsoft Outlook, the meeting should be automatically scheduled on your calendar.

Meeting Template
  Collaborative
  Presentation
  Webinar
  Search Committee

Password – not new – this is only used if you want a password attached to the meeting id

Reserve audio + web conferencing – check or uncheck:
Used for document attachments, etc for attendees to review during the meeting

We encourage all to listen to the tutorial which you can find on the new web page.  The new web page is available now for only the tutorial.  You will not be able to sign on until Monday, April 21, 2008. 

SCHEDULE
Linda and John will be in Pullman all week.

Linda Kirk Fox, PhD
Dean and Director
Washington State University Extension
411 Hulbert Hall, PO Box 646248
Pullman, WA 99164-6248
509-335-2933 Office
509-335-9223 Desk/Voicemail
509-335-2926 FAX
lkfox@wsu.edu
ext.wsu.edu

WSU Extension programs are available to all without discrimination.