Understanding Antibiotic resistance —How has antibiotic resistance developed in both human and veterinary medicine, and where does resistance exchange between them? Veterinary medicine isn’t just about food animals, there are also multiple documented resistance exchanges between people and their pets. This presentation will focus on the major resistance threats in human medicine as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2013 and how veterinary resistance challenges relate to that list. The question comes down to what is being done, and what should we be doing regarding antibiotic use in both human and veterinary medicine to slow the spread of antibiotic resistance. We will look at antibiotic stewardship programs in human and veterinary medicine and how antibiotic prescribing behavior is evolving across all types of patients. Mike Apley and his son are veterans of a battle with MRSA and the insights from that experience are shared in relation to challenges in our environment.

What do the five grand challenges of Global Food Systems, Water, Health, Community Vitality, and Developing Tomorrow's Leaders have in common? They are all complex challenges that require large-scale change and broad coordination across multiple sectors to make progress. Yet many efforts to address these challenges focus on the isolated intervention of individual organizations and programs. Today, no single organization is responsible for any major challenge, nor can any single organization be successful in tackling the issue on its own. There is a growing movement and interest around the concept of “collective impact”: the commitment of a group of important actors from different sectors to a common agenda for solving large-scale, complex challenges. Collaboration is nothing new, but collective impact initiatives are distinctly different. They involve a structured process that leads to a common agenda, shared measurement, continuous communication, and mutually reinforcing activities among all participants. Collective impact provides an opportunity for considering how we engage in and support collaborative efforts and structure that is critical to the success of such efforts.

Part I will provide an overview of the collective impact approach, along with an orientation to practical tips and tools for supporting collective impact efforts, presented by Christina Holt. It will also highlight three Kansas case studies: Susan Johnson will describe collective impact efforts in Douglas County, including efforts to improve access to healthy food and physical activity; Nozella Brown will discuss a multisector collective impact effort to improve Latino health through access to healthy foods, physical activity, and access to health services; and Robert Wilson, watershed planner, will describe an evolving effort at the state level to restore and protect water quality and ensure the long-term sustainability of the state’s water supplies.

In today's changing world, it is more important than ever to create learning experiences in which we employ a multicultural lens and adapt our programming accordingly to interact with our extension audiences in a more effective manner. Knowing our own biases can allow us to make the change to not just navigate difference but celebrate and become advocates for all. We will identify de-biasing strategies, where we are on the bicultural continuum, and make a plan to continue our bicultural journey to becoming more culturally competent professionals.

The session will provide an overview of the recommendations for the new screen time, including smartphones, tablets, and computers for families who have young children. While we will cover screen time recommendations across early, middle, and late childhood, including information about content; we will also focus on the adults' use of screens when supervising children. Both of these domains require our attention as we interface with our communities, and the individuals and families comprising the same. Suggestions for making modern screen time more engaging for families, managing appropriate screen use, and suggestions for educational apps for mobile devices and websites for computers will be included. The proposed session will be interactive, and attendees will be expected to bring a smartphone or tablet (preferred), or laptop computer to fully engage with the program. Resource lists and website recommendations will be distributed to attendees. The session will target research and evidence-based resources for maximizing the benefits of the new screen time, and minimizing the potential for deficits as a result of attending to our screens.

Poster presentations allow professionals to display their work and successes in extension programming to their colleagues and other extension personnel. The annual conference poster session is a great networking opportunity to share successful program ideas with professionals from across the state. These posters may then go on to represent our state at national extension meetings as well. This session will guide participants through the basics of making a professional poster and the benefits of becoming involved in poster sessions. Please bring your laptop. We will be using PowerPoint for this workshop-format session.

What is the current status of health and wellness programming offered by Family and Consumer Sciences Extension? What is the value of the programming offered? What can be learned to guide extension in the future? This session will discuss results from an independent study that assessed the value of FCS Extension and will guide extension professionals to be positioned for the future. A March 2014 white paper called attention to the need for a targeted health and wellness effort for extension. “The Extension model arose at a time when American agriculture was largely inefficient and only marginally productive. The consequences of the agricultural practices of the time were endangering our nation’s economic, environmental, and personal health. A century later, American agriculture is without equal in its contributing food to a growing world population. We, and others, believe that this same system of Extension can do for the nation’s health what it did for American agriculture.” Excerpt from “Cooperative Extension’s National Framework for Health and Wellness.”

The development of community or state health plans is an important step to obtaining funds for programs that improve the health of youth. Planning for adolescent health is especially important because funding streams are opening for communities and states with plans that align with Healthy People 2020. Extension’s participation in local health planning is fairly well known, but its role in leading state-level planning is unique. K-State Research and Extension has led Kansas’ development of its first adolescent health plan, and the results have been surprising. Through state-level population data, online surveys that had 854 responses and focus groups reaching 349 adolescents, K-State Research and Extension identified the health needs of adolescents, service gaps, barriers, and program recommendations. The result has been the state’s adolescent health plan and the inclusion of youth health in the 2015–2020 Title V Maternal and Child Health plan. Through this session, participants will learn strategies for extension-conducted state needs assessments that contribute to health planning. Most importantly, the health needs and opinions of adolescents and adult health leaders will be revealed, along with "next steps" to improve the health of Kansas adolescents.

A successful relationship between agents and local Program Development Committees (PDCs) is essential for implementing relevant and meaningful programs. This session will feature a panel discussion with agents who have worked with local PDCs to address program prioritization, local issue identification, and program evaluation. Panelists will share tips on how to maximize the PDC and agent relationship to establish, facilitate, and assess current and future programs. Participants will explore resources available to assist agents and PDCs with successful program implementation and evaluation.

Local food systems can improve the economic viability of large and small communities. Recent trends focus on increasing access to local foods by enhancing producers’ abilities to reach larger markets and develop direct relationships with consumers. Local food producers are creating their own solutions to larger market entry barriers by cooperatively packaging, marketing, and distributing products at centralized aggregation facilities, or food hubs, to better satisfy demands of larger buyers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture describes this approach as one that “offers strong and sound infrastructure support to producers across the country, which will also help build a stronger regional food system.” Food hubs can be designed in a number of ways. This session will explore two examples to increase awareness of how they positively impact farmer income, the local economy, and food security. Developing co-ops, community supported agriculture (CSA), and other direct to consumer sale options for rural communities is shown to increase food security, create opportunities for food policy development, and increase overall rural sustainability. As communities become more knowledgeable of these benefits, they will need assistance in exploring their options and putting thought into action. K-State Research and Extension can and should provide assistance to these communities. This presentation will introduce several unbiased resources that have been developed to help. Attending this session will increase awareness of this emerging trend in local food system development and help champion local efforts to establish food hubs for the benefit of producers, consumers, and the local economy.

Buffalograss is a low maintenance turfgrass that utilizes less water compared to other common turfgrass species. Because of its drought and cold tolerance, buffalograss is a good fit for managed turfgrass areas in Kansas. New varieties and developments in buffalograss have provided new technologies that can be utilized in managing buffalograss. Most recently, the Applied Turfgrass and Research Program at K-State has engaged in research trials to explore the use of minimal irrigated buffalograss in home lawns, golf courses, roadsides, parks, athletic fields, and more. Many of these projects are exploring new pest control options, obtaining year-round green color, traffic tolerance, fertility management, effective establishment, and recovery from injury all under minimal irrigation. Programs presented will be based upon research findings surrounding the use of buffalograss in Kansas. After attending this presentation, attendees will understand agronomic practices for buffalograss management in Kansas as well as how to communicate these practices to the end user.

Gallup has studied the behavioral traits of entrepreneurs since 1965. Over the last decade they have included other developing countries to identify the traits of entrepreneurs. Through their research, they have identified 10 quantifiable talents. The Entrepreneurial Profile 10 is an instrument that can help people identify and develop their own entrepreneurial talents. While the questionnaire was developed for entrepreneur business development, it is pertinent for any organizational efforts where creativity, scholarly accomplishments and the ability to influence change are organizational objectives. Conference participants who have taken the EP10 will learn more about interpreting their results and how to apply them.

The Veterinary Feed Directive will go into effect in 2016. The changes will have impacts for all segments of the livestock industry including 4-H livestock projects. For agents working with livestock, this session will help prepare for the questions producers will have about changing availability of products and alternatives. For agents working with consumers, this session will provide a better understanding of how antibiotics are used in food production and the assurances put in place to ensure wholesome food products and avoid resistance issues for human medicine.

Part II will be an interactive discussion and exploration of the various roles that K-State Research and Extension could play in engaging in and supporting collective impact initiatives around the five grand challenges. Participants will have an opportunity to complete a readiness assessment for an issue or challenge they are working to address and will learn how collective impact efforts are evaluated.

Changing forces and demographics that some are calling the “New America” provide new opportunities for programming. How do we as extension professionals tackle these new “adaptive” challenges? The Department of 4-H Youth Development, partnered with the Kansas 4-H Foundation and Kansas Leadership Center to develop a process to help local communities explore reaching new audiences, engaging more volunteers and marshalling additional resources needed to grow local 4-H programs. In this session, participants will explore the differences between adaptive and technical challenges. We’ll review the process that includes using the Kansas Leadership Center’s framework of four leadership competencies which includes: diagnose situation, manage self, energize others and intervene skillfully. Participants will learn how to replicate the process in their community. By offering Growing Kansas Leaders: 4-H Program Expansion grants, three cohorts of Extension professionals, one cohort starting each year since 2012, are working to create new high quality delivery methods that meet the needs of contemporary families and to recruit a new cadre of volunteers willing to share their time and interests. Each cohort is its own learning community where they share strategies to overcome local barriers and develop best management practices. As a first step in the grant process, a local Leadership Team was formed including community partners that have an interest in positive youth development. Some of the partners were unfamiliar with 4-H. At the Leadership team meeting, a Kansas Leadership Center faculty member facilitated the group in reviewing local statistics, exploring community barriers in engaging underserved youth, sharing ideas to overcome barriers, and helping develop a plan to recruit new volunteers. A subcommittee from the Leadership Team developed a business plan, which outlined a 3-year process of expanding the 4-H program.

Good health is good business. A healthy and productive workforce must be a core component of any company’s business strategy. Find out how WorkWellKS can help worksites in your county, as well as your own worksite, develop a comprehensive business strategy designed to: improve morale, increase productivity, improve health, decrease costs, reduce presenteeism, and reduce absenteeism. This initiative is funded by the Kansas Health Foundation and coordinated by the Wichita Business Coalition on Health Care, KU School of Medicine–Wichita, and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

What happens when you use social media and online learning modules to educate agriculturists about using new-media technology to advertise their business and advocate for the industry? Drawing upon research and evaluating worldwide YouTube statistics, this session will cover the following topics: appropriate video length, when to create a sequential series, using Google Trends to identify relevant and timely key words, and measuring (and defining) success. This session also will share research-based techniques and strategies for creating online educational material and share lessons we have learned along the way that are informing future tutorials. By the end of this workshop, you will have the necessary tools to get your video noticed through organic search and create videos that will have higher retention and engagement rates.

Water is one of the Grand Challenges faced by Kansas and across the United States. Water use in the home lawn and ornamental landscape is a critical piece of the water puzzle, including both water quality and water quantity. We will explore diverse issues related to water use in the home landscape. We will highlight science-based water solutions for the home landscape, including updates from K-State research projects. We will cover the interaction of irrigation and plant health as well as tips for water conservation and implications for water quality. We will also focus on implementation by featuring a panel with several state specialists and local agents who will share how they have taken K-State home landscape water information into their communities through diverse educational events. The session is organized by members of the Horticulture PFT, but it will be of interest to all individuals who deal with home landscape questions and programming.