Tag: July13

Information as of December 2021

General Details

• Employees who are at a higher risk for COVID-19 based on risk factors identified by the CDC should discuss their concerns with their supervisor. If additional accommodation is needed, they should discuss these concerns and possible accommodations with the University’s ADA coordinator.
• Whenever possible, meetings should continue to be virtual. When meetings must be in-person, designate a space for such purpose.
• Continue physical distancing and use of protective equipment.
• Continue closure of areas where people congregate.
• Face coverings are not required in University facilities, but remain strongly encouraged in instructional areas (classrooms, instructional labs) and research labs.
• Anyone who wants to wear a face-covering regardless of their vaccination status is welcome to do so.
• No quarantine following known exposure for fully vaccinated individuals.
• Current recommendations for physical distancing in University facilities remain in place.
  Events and large gatherings must continue to go through University protocols for approval.

Extension Offices

• Notify county government partners that the facility has reopened to the public.
• Transfer main office lines back to office phones.
• Post public health notices on all publicly accessible entrances.
• Prepare sampling areas to mitigate personal contact with the public.
• Create physical separation between all publicly accessible areas of the office and those intended to be accessed by staff only.
• Make hand sanitizer available at all entrances.
• Make supplies including, but not limited to, disinfectant wipes, disposable towels, disinfectant solution, etc. available in all commonly used areas of the office facility.
• Update sampling information on county websites and social media outlets only after the office has been deemed safely accessible to the public.
• Consider maintaining a long-term soil drop-off-only process that limits in-office interactions with the public.
• Consider delineating physical separation with marks on the floor in open spaces accessible to the public.

Extension Volunteers

Clemson Extension volunteers may return to in-person service in Stage – Yellow provided ALL the following conditions are met:

• The program-leading Extension Agent and any applicable third party or property have approved the volunteer activity.
• The volunteer follows appropriate CDC guidelines.
• Adults that have routine interaction with youth must abide by Clemson University Youth Protection Policy and Operating Standards.
• General guidance for returning to in-person volunteer service includes:
• Remain at home if you or anyone in your household is not feeling well or has a fever.
• High-risk individuals and those with significant underlying medical conditions are strongly encouraged to stay at home and take measures to limit exposure.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
• Try to work independently, keeping 6 feet or more apart from others.
• Frequently clean high‐touch surfaces including your cellphone/tablet, door handles, restroom surfaces, handrails, tools, etc.
• Refrain from using shared office equipment when possible. If it is necessary to use other’s equipment, sanitize between each user.

Guidance for Outdoor Service

• People should be spaced apart 6 feet or more.
• Individuals may work independently, keeping 6 feet or more apart from others in the garden.
• When possible, use your own gardening tools and equipment; shared tools and equipment should be cleaned after each use.

Communication Regarding Attendance at Educational Events

• Advise participants in advance that if they have any symptoms or feel unwell, they should not attend.

Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to people of all ages, regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or family status and is an equal opportunity employer.

My name is Kristi Bussell and I’m a mental health educator for student health services. My office recently started an online program called Wellness Wednesdays (WW). The purpose of WW is to provide students, faculty, and staff information on how to take care of their wellbeing during COVID-19. Additionally, it provides an opportunity for folks to come together – vital during this season of social distancing.

What: Weekly Wellness series where we’ll discuss how to take care of our well-being during COVID-19
When: Wednesdays, 10am – 10:30am
Where: https://clemson.zoom.us/j/345660746
Password: email Kristi Bussell at kbussel@clemson.edu to get the password!

Also, follow @TigersTogether_ and @clemsonhealthycampus on IG for regular updates!
—
Kristi E. Bussell, MPH
Assistant Director for Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Initiatives
Student Health Services
Clemson University
864-656-2038

EMERGENCY/IN CRISIS/AFTER-HOURS CARE
If you or someone you know is at immediate risk of harm to self or others, contact emergency services and get help – call 911 or the Clemson University Police Department at 864-656-2222.

To reach Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) during business hours, call 864-656-2451.

For after-hours psychological emergencies, a CAPS on-call counselor can be reached through CUPD at 864-656-2222.

For help that can be accessed anywhere, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Zoom Information

Zoom is now licensed for all Clemson employees.
To access a licensed account, login in through clemson.zoom.us

Learn more about Zoom meeting best practices and tips.
https://blogs.clemson.edu/online/2020/04/03/zoom-meeting-best-practices-and-tips/

List of IT Resources

Information about all of the tools for working remotely have been compiled for employees.
https://ccit.clemson.edu/working-remotely/

Scanning Tool

If you do not have access to a scanner, you can scan from home with the Adobe Scan app to share paper documents with others. The Adobe Scan app easily captures documents and converts them to PDF right in your phone. It is included with our Adobe license. Just download the app and sign in.

Option 1: Scan documents using Adobe Scan on your phone (easiest option)

1. Download Adobe Scan from your device’s app store.
2. Launch the application and at the bottom of the screen, click “Sign In or Sign Up”.
3. Type in Clemson email address and it should take you to Single Sign On for Clemson.
4. Allow access to your phone’s camera.
5. The software will begin to detect the edges of the page, which you can adjust with your finger.
6. Take picture when ready and then tap the image it saves.
   • To eliminate shadows, make sure your light source is in front of you and your phone, not directly above or behind (think of how the sun creates shadows).
7. You can crop, rotate, or make other visual adjustments.
8. Give the file a relevant name by clicking the pencil icon and then click save.
   • Adobe Scan automatically recognizes the text in the image to make it text searchable.

If you need any assistance with IT needs, please contact your statewide District IT consultant or the helpdesk: ithelp@clemson.edu, 864.656.3494.

The Agricultural Education Program Team with Clemson Extension continues to operate to support its teachers and students throughout South Carolina. Having recently completed a virtual FFA Convention to end the 2019-20 school year, the team turned its focus on providing in-service to the 150 Agricultural Education teachers across the state. Resources are currently being added to the Agricultural Education Program Team website. In addition, the team will provide in-services for both teachers and school administrators through the SC Department of Education’s Education and Business Summit, which will be held virtually July 21–23.

However, the highlight of the summer programs will be a virtual agricultural teacher conference to be held at the end of July. On July 23, agricultural teachers will have an opportunity to assemble with teachers in their area of the state for a virtual region meeting. Plans for the upcoming year will be discussed as well as providing opportunities for feedback from teachers on their needs and suggestions for how they might assist each other. In addition, the SC Association of Agricultural Educators will release a virtual awards presentation video on the evening of the 23rd, followed by a series of online workshops. Workshops will be held July 28–30 and will be conducted live by members of the Agricultural Education Program Team as well as South Carolina ETV, Piedmont Technical College, and agricultural teachers. The programs will range from resources for managing an FFA Chapter, to conducting an adult education program, to eLearning opportunities and resources. All teachers attending will receive professional development credit.

The pandemic has forced teachers out of their classroom, and, as a result, they have had to learn alternative ways of teaching. The Clemson Extension Agricultural Education Program Team understands the challenges that teachers and students are facing and are working to ensure that every available resource is provided to them to ensure that teachers can continue to teach and, more importantly, students can continue to learn.

Submitted: by William Keels, Director South Carolina Agricultural Education

South Carolina’s emerging farmers are continuing to receive vital support during the COVID-19 pandemic through the Clemson Extension Agribusiness South Carolina New and Beginning Farmer Program (SCNBFP). Launched in 2010, the SCNBFP focuses on enabling new and beginning farmers to be successful, productive, and innovative members of their local agricultural community by providing them with the tools, knowledge, and skills necessary to be successful entrepreneurs, sound business managers, exemplary stewards of the natural environment, and successful marketers of the unique products they create. The program includes a series of twelve core agribusiness workshops that are focused on farm business management, covering such topics as business concept/plan development, financial and risk management, legal and regulatory issues, marketing strategies, personal assessment, and an introduction to federal, state, and local agriculture resources. Core programming is complemented by regional workshops that are held throughout the state. These workshops offer important opportunities for local peer and resource networking, as well as provide additional instruction on production and advanced agribusiness topics tailored for each region.

The South Carolina New and Beginning Farmer Program convenes participants from all across the state of South Carolina. Traditionally, these farmers would have gathered in-person to attend the program’s core workshops, originally scheduled to begin in April. When COVID-19 restrictions were enacted, the program was pushed back two months while program administrators modified operations in order to deliver workshops remotely through an online platform. Although an untried approach for the SCNBFP, a record number of fifty-four participants chose to move forward with an online format, while the dozens of guest presenters came together in a great show of support for a new schedule and program delivery platform. Regional programming coordinators are also employing creative strategies to adjust supplemental training for remote delivery.

The Class of 2020 began on June 12, and while still in the early stages, Program Director Ben Boyles and Assistant Program Director Diana Vossbrinck shared positive feedback on the delivery method. “By delivering the program through Zoom, we now have the opportunity to bring in program presenters from all over the country that otherwise would not be able to travel to South Carolina,” says Boyles. Additionally, an online format has eliminated the need for participants to travel, sometimes hours, just to attend. “Attendance is at unprecedented levels, and we have seen a remarkable level of engagement with our participants and program presenters through our online interaction strategies,” says Vossbrinck.

Online or in-person, new farmer business planning and risk management education is now more important than ever as evidenced by the continuing impact of COVID-19 on our food and farming sectors. Through their participation in the South Carolina New and Beginning Farmer Program, graduates will have the tools and resources necessary to create a more resilient farm business for years to come.

You can learn more about the South Carolina New and Beginning Farmer Program by visiting our website.

Submitted by: Ben Boyles, Program Director, and Dianna Vossbrinck, Assistant Program Director, SC New and Beginning Farmer Program

We are now entering day 111 of the COVID-19 Modified Operating Procedure for Extension. Where has the summer gone? There are very few changes in the Extension Return to Work Framework plan. As the pandemic continues to spread across the United States and gain a stronger foothold in our communities, we will continue to monitor and adjust our reentry plan based on EOC feedback. I stated from the beginning that this would be a very fluid plan and the safety of our Extension family is our number one priority.

It is evaluation time and I know that the Extension Leadership team has put many hours into this process. Some people think this is a very worrisome situation, while others place little value on evaluations and think they are a popularity contest. I want to assure you that I place a high priority on the evaluation process and not for reasons you may think. I believe that evaluations should be used as a tool to help improve you as a professional. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, evaluation means “the process of judging or calculating, the quality, importance, amount, or value of something. This is how I define evaluation for Extension: the process of determining the value and quality of your program(s) through the measured impact (importance) your programs have demonstrated. It is a straightforward process that identifies whether behavior or situations have been changed because of the program(s) you delivered.

There are three levels to define, in a positive manner, of an Extension employee’s performance: Successful, Exceptional, and Top Performer. To me, Successful means that you are valued as a very productive Extension team member, and you have created a measurable impact. If you receive Exceptional, that means you have gone above all requirements. You have not only met every objective but have added more value to your objectives by going above and beyond the normal activities of an employee. To reach the Top Performer level, you are a professional working at the stature of greatness that makes you stand out from all others. Think of it as that you have performed at a ‘legendary’ level like Babe Ruth, Simone Biles, LeBron James, etc. You not only hit a home run for your dedication; you hit a grand slam. However, I want to warn anyone whose objective is to be a Top Performer every year. It is more likely than not that you will “burn out,” while possibly missing out on time with your family and personal interests outside of work. For if this is your mindset, to be a Top Performer continuously, it’s highly probable that you must be on task for long hours, seven days a week. This type of approach could very well chip away at your well-being and lead you to feel resentful, instead of fulfilled.

If you think you are a failure because you received Successful and did not achieve Exceptional or Top Performer, you are not. To address this, you need to sit down during your planning stage with your District Director and Program Team Director to set your objectives for Exceptional and Top Performer levels. These objectives should be measurable and obtainable but should not be easy to obtain without a focused approach beyond what you have previously done. When it is time for you to work on your planning stage, I encourage you to assess your professional situation and the programming path ahead of you by thinking back on our past way of life that has been ravaged by COVID-19. Acknowledge through your planning that communities, families, and the economy need our help more than ever before. Stand up to the challenge. Be creative, confident, and deliberate. People are paying more attention than ever to Extension because of their needs and the needs of those around them. Shape your programming to focus on guiding our stakeholders on a different path to higher ground. Your approach will be different than what you have done in the past. You will have to work harder for an undetermined amount of time – weeks, possibly months – but your work will have resounding effects. We will have the rest of our lives to remember these achievements.

Please do your part to keep yourself and those around you safe. I urge you not to waver in continuing to follow the recommended safety protocols to inhibit the possibility of additional COVID-19 cases. As always, please take good care of yourselves and your families, and thank you for what you do for Clemson Extension.