CLICK on news

March 2001, Volume 1, Number 1

 WHAT'S NEW
* Welcome to CLICK on news!
* Summer distance education listings on Web
* Extension Software Service discontinues some programs
* Marketing unit moves to ASB
* National writing workshop set
* ISU introductory courses are on Web, available to high school students

UPDATES
* New network developments
* E-answers update
* Postcards available for your program marketing
* Plain or fancy? Both folders available

QUICK TIPS
* Web workshop day is April 4
* New Web classes added to IT training schedule
* Search the ISU Extension staff database online
* ITC spring workshop catalog is on-line
* Get a list of e-mail lists

What's old ... but still useful? Check the archive and index. lt red dotted line

 WHAT'S NEW

* Welcome to CLICK on news!
CLICK on news is a new newsletter for ISU Extension staff that will bring you news, updates and tips from Continuing Education and Communication Services (CECS). It replaces the Communication Systems News, the electronic newsletter of the former Extension Communication Systems.

Continuing Education and Communication Services was created in October 2000 by the merger of Extended and Continuing Education with Extension Communication Systems. Ann Hill Duin is director of the merged unit. A division of ISU Extension, CECS has six sub-units: Courses, Conferences and Institutes; Educational Materials and Marketing Services; Distribution; Information Technology; Information Development -- Expanding Awareness (IDEA); and Finance. Find out more about us.

* Summer distance education listings on Web
Summer 2001 distance education courses and programs are now available at http://www.lifelearner.iastate.edu. All the current listings are only a click away! To stay current with all the college offerings, a print catalog no longer is being published. Please call (800) 262-0015 to talk directly with CECS staff about your needs.

* Extension Software Service discontinues some programs
Extension Software Service conducted an evaluation of our software offerings. Based on the results, we have discontinued sales and support for several spreadsheet programs and Windows-based programs. An e-mail message was sent to area directors, livestock and farm management specialists, county office assistants and CEEDs earlier this month announcing the change. Please discard any MCS-SD1 brochures you have in stock and use the new pamphlet that can be printed from the Web site. If you have any questions, please contact Jeanne Wiebke at jwiebke@iastate.edu.

* Marketing unit moves to ASB
The four CECS marketing staff members formerly located in the Scheman building (Catherine Adams, Lynette Spicer, Micki Nelson and Tami Willmann) recently moved to the Administrative Services Building (ASB) joining the CECS Communication Services staff located there. (Doug Cooper remains in Heady Hall.) The resulting group is Educational Materials and Marketing Services.

* National writing workshop set
CECS and ISU Agricultural Communication Service are hosting a national writing workshop for members of ACE, Agricultural Communicators in Education. They'll be sharpening their pencils and charging up their laptops for "Mystery, Mastery and The Muse: An ACE Writing Workshop," April 22-24, in Ames at the Gateway Center, a hotel/conference facility, and on the ISU campus. More than 100 participants are expected. To learn more, visit http://www.idea.iastate.edu/ace/.

* ISU introductory courses are on Web, available to high school students
ISU has introductory college courses offered online via the Web. Summer course lists are already posted and fall 2001 courses will be posted by the end of March at http://www.lifelearner.iastate.edu.

High school students can take these courses under Iowa's Postsecondary Enrollment Options Act (PSEOA) if their school offers no comparable course. Under PSEOA, the high school pays for the course. Not all high schools offer the PSEOA option during the summer. High school students are eligible to take the courses if they are in the upper half of their class, are Iowa students and in the eleventh or twelfth grade. Ninth and tenth grade students are eligible if identified as gifted and talented according to their school district's criteria and procedures. Credits earned appear on ISU transcripts.

 

UPDATES

* New network developments
Take note of this change in the ISU Extension network: DHCP (dynamic IP addresses) have been implemented in all the field offices. We also were able to allocate additional IP numbers to each of the field offices.

We are looking at implementing additional upgrades to the network. One of the big changes we're researching would put network attached storage devices in the field offices. These devices would give offices about 30 GB of storage space, at about one-fourth the cost of putting new file servers in the field offices. We will test these devices in six locations -- ISU Learning Connection, Families Extension, Story, Dubuque, East Central Area and Southwest Area. We are hoping to roll out more of these devices this summer.

* E-answers update
We've recently been notified of a problem with a Web site called E-answers, a national extension site that contained information about most states' publications. The company that is responsible for the domain name registration did not credit the renewal payment, and instead, gave the name to a site that contains adult content. You can still get to the extension E-answers site by using/linking to the IP address (http://128.227.242.197/).

Many field offices included a link to E-answers from their Web sites. We've contacted the ones we know about to inform them of this situation.

* Postcards available for your program marketing
Extension Distribution Center has postcards in stock for you to use when marketing your programs:
- PDO 31, first class, three up (three cards per sheet)
- EDC 212, first class, two up (two cards per sheet)
Both of these cards are set up on 8 1/2 x 11 sheets so they will feed through your copier or printer. Cost is 6 cents per sheet.

* Plain or fancy? Both folders available
An ISU Extension folder (EDC 29) is available to you for 50 cents for those times when you want a little fancier packaging for your materials. It's been updated with the current slogan (Helping you become your best) and includes die-cut slots for your business card.

Another ISU Extension folder (EC 933c) is available to you free. It has a simpler design, but still is a nice way to package materials.

 

QUICK TIPS

* Web workshop day is April 4
We are offering a Web page workshop day on April 4 (and again on May 24). This workshop is for anyone who has already taken any of ISU Extension's Web page classes and desires dedicated work time. Since there is no formal teaching agenda, participants have the opportunity to work solely on their ISU Extension Web pages. An instructor will be available to consult with you about ideas and processes. To sign up, visit the training Web site.

* New Web classes added to IT training schedule
Several Web-related classes have recently been added to ISU Extension's IT training schedule. You are invited to sign up for "Designing county and department Web pages" (a two-day class offered May 15 and 16), "Making your Web site client focused" (offered April 3 and May 22), as well as the "Web page workshop" day (offered April 4 and May 24). Visit the training Web site to find more information and to register electronically.

* Search the ISU Extension staff database online
Remember when you could search the ISU Extension staff database online, and find someone by first name only, county only, program area or whatever, and not get the response "too many entries to print"? You still can! Search the database online.

* ITC spring workshop catalog is on-line
Check out the on-line workshop catalog for ISU's Instructional Technology Center. Learn about preparing digital images for the Web, what learners need from Web sites and more.

* Get a list of e-mail lists
Looking for an e-mail list? Then check this Web site that keeps a list of mailing lists for ISU Extension: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/listsearch. The site also is linked from the technology Web page at http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Comp.

This site has information about who owns the mailing list and how to subscribe or unsubscribe. It also has a link to add a new list to this Web site, so as new lists are created, the owners of the lists can add them to this site. You can use this Web site when you think Extension may have a mailing list for some group, but you can't remember the name of the list.  

Back to CLICK on news current issue.

Continuing Education and Communication Services is the result of the merger of Extended and Continuing Education and Extension Communication Systems. Our new Web site will be available soon. Also visit the ISU Extension Web site. Send your comments or questions about this newsletter to Laura Sternweis (lsternwe@iastate.edu).


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