The DCE Connection

Volume 8, Issue 5 July 2010

New DCE Staff

Erin Moore is the new Exam Administrator for Student and Faculty Services. Her duties include exam administration and proctor facilitation, along with several other student services. She is no stranger to the Division, having served as a Program Assistant for credit and noncredit programs from 2005 through 2009. Erin took an educational sabbatical to study abroad in Turkey for nine weeks during the Summer of 2009. She is a 2002 and 2009 graduate of K-State with bach- Coming Soon elor’s degrees in Journalism and Mass Communications, as well as Anthropology. During her free time, Erin enjoys spending time with her Newsletter Deadline family and pets, reading, traveling, and following her Boston Red Sox. Friday Stop by Room 131 and saayy hello to our “new” ememplom ployyeeee!! July 16

Snack Attack Tuesday July 20

DCE Summer Picnic Thursday July 29 Keats Park

New Conference Coordinated by DCE Over Memorial Day weekend, Conferences and Noncredit Programs had the privilege of coordinating the Association of Christians Ministering Among Inter- nationals (ACMI) conference. This was ACMI's ﬁ rst time holding the conference at Kansas State University, and they had 280 participants travel from across the country for their conference. Attendees participated in worship and prayer as well as a variety of workshops and plenaries. Attendees also were able to browse through an exhibit hall featuring book vendors and missionary programs. Several participants and ACMI staff commented on how much they enjoyed the conference and how impressed they were with K-State's friendly and helpful staff. Everyone agreed that this year's ACMI conference was a success! Page 2 July 2010

K-State, Technical University in Turkey to work on collaborative projects Faculty from Kansas State University and Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey, will soon have opportunities to work col- laboratively. K-State President Kirk Schulz has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Turkish technical university that creates opportunities for cross-cultural research between both institutions. "Middle East Technical University is recognized as one of the leading universities in Turkey," said R. Michael Philson, associate provost for international programs at K-State. "The agreement will help spread awareness of our quality K-State programs overseas, provide opportunities for direct interactions in person and online between faculty and students from both universities, and help facilitate an increasingly global perspective." K-State's affi liation with the technical university developed through the psychology departments at both institutions. Clive Fullagar, professor of psychology at K-State, and professors Nebi Sumer and Canan Sumer of Middle East Technical University initiated a proposal for a dual master's degree in psychology. The Sumers fi rst worked with Fullagar as doctoral students at K-State in the early 1990s. With K-State's existing Web-based master's degree in industrial/organizational psychology attracting students mainly within the United States since its inception in 2000, K-State faculty sought to expand the program overseas through international collaboration. "We really wanted to establish a cross-cultural sensitivity in industrial/organizational psychology with a country that had a very different cultural profi le from the United States," Fullagar said. "The signing with Middle East Technical University will play a very strong role in developing a broad academic exchange with Turkey. The joint degree will lay down a blueprint for similar ar- rangements with universities in all parts of the world." Curriculum development for the dual master's degree, including technological connectivity and support, bridging cultural barriers, meshing educational systems, and ensuring security and logistics of course delivery, will continue through the summer. The program includes both on-campus and online delivery methods.

Master of Agribusiness group tours Australian and New Zealand agribusinesses When thinking about agriculture in Australia and New Zealand, most picture sprawling cattle and dairy farms, fi elds of grains, and rolling hills fi lled with sheep. Twenty-six tour members saw all of that and much more during the fourth Master of Agribusiness (MAB) international agribusiness tour. The trip included stops in Auckland, Christchurch, and Queenstown, New Zealand and in Sydney, Canberra, and Brisbane, Australia. “I wanted to get a better perspective on Australian agriculture and the issues they face. The best way to get a ‘feel’ for their issues is to be on the ground talking face to face. That is the true value of these agribusiness trips such as the one we took to New Zealand and Australia. This helps add value to my company to better understand world markets,” Charlie Sauerwein, Grain Mer- chandiser with WindRiver Grain in Garden City, Kansas and MAB alum- nus, said. During the 13-day tour, stops included visits to cattle, sheep and deer farms, dairies, a seedling company, a tree and shrub nursery, a ship- ping port, cotton farm, crayfi sh farm, kiwi farm, meat lamb processing plant, local universities and research centers, and many others. Seeing a wide variety of operations gave travelers a good picture of how the industry is similar or different to U.S. operations. The group visited an organic kiwi grower in Cambridge, New Zealand. Page 3 July 2010

“Both Australian and New Zealand agriculture rely heavily on exports for their products. I did not real- ize that Fonterra in New Zealand was the largest exporter of dairy products worldwide. I was surprised at the extent of the pastoral-based agriculture in New Zealand, both in lamb and dairy production. They use more rotational grazing than U.S. producers and are less reliant on grain-based meat production. I be- lieve their producers are more attune to world market changes than U.S. producers,” Sauerwein said. “I enjoyed Australia, but it was a different agriculture as they seem to be adopting more U.S. methods. Their cattle feeding operations are closer to the customers in Japan and EU for example, but they don’t have the scale of operations we have in the U.S.” One topic that came up frequently during conversations with producers was water, or the lack of it. Aus- tralia has been suffering from drought for several years. Producers vie for irrigation water rights and look for ways to store or conserve water that is available. “I was surprised at the depth of concern over water, as one person even mentioned that the next world war would be fought over water issues. It would appear that irrigation is not going to grow much for food production, since Australia exports over 80% of their grain production,” Sauerwein said. The trip was not all business, as sightseeing was also worked into the schedule. The group visited a ther- mal area and participated in a traditional Maori Hangi, which is a feast with Polynesian entertainment, in New Zealand. In Australia, a Sydney Harbor cruise provided beautiful views of the Sydney skyline, Opera House, and Harbor Bridge. The landscape in both countries of- fered a scenic backdrop to the trip. “Both countries have amazing and diverse scenery; the trip exposed us to fascinating cultural and scenic aspects that an average tourist would not have the op- portunity to experience,” Leah Tsoodle, K-State Land Use Value Coordinator, said. “The trip dispelled the myth that Australia and New Zealand are very similar. The group at Lincoln University, The countries’ landscapes and, thus, agricultural prac- Christchurch, New Zealand. tices are quite different.” A highlight of the trip was spending the night with local farm families in Australia. During the farm stays, tour members spent time learning about their host’s farm, family, and life in Australia, while enjoying scenic locations and hospitality. “Our farm family showed us around their 15,000-acre quaint and rustic station. Graham and Diane, our hosts, were very welcoming and knowledgeable in answering our questions,” Tsoodle said. You can read more about the trip at http://mabanz.blogspot.com. Previous international trips hosted by the Master of Agribusiness program have been to South America, Russia, and Southeast Asia. The next trip will be in 2012, with the location being determined later this year. K-State’s Master of Agribusiness is an award- winning, distance-education degree program that focuses on food and agribusiness management. Students and alumni work in every sector of the food and agribusiness industry and are located in more than 35 states within the United States and in 25 Touring Sydney Harbor in Sydney, Australia. countries. yp p y g g page 4 July 2010

DCE Conference Calendar JULY 7-9 ...... NCA Cheer Camp ...... Manhattan, KS 7-12 ...... Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (JMIH) ...... Providence, RI 12 ...... Hazwoper 8-Hr Refresher ...... Manhattan, KS 12-15 ...... Microarray Workshop ...... Manhattan, KS 13-14 ...... Hazwoper 40-Hr Training ...... Manhattan, KS 19-20 ...... Real-time PCR Workshop ...... Manhattan, KS 20-23 ...... Association for Communication Excellence Conference (ACE) ...... Key West, FL 25-29 ...... Perspectives on the Consitution ...... Topeka, KS 31-8/3 .... American Society for Rickettsiology ...... Stevenson, WA

Birthdays July 6 ...... Jon Faustman, Web Team - MCS 8 ...... Cara Koerperich, Academic and Professional Programs 10 ..... Derek Kirchner, Duplicating/Mail Center - MCS 15 ..... Lynda Spire, Academic and Professional Programs 18 ..... Vicky Bell, SVS High School Spanish 23 ..... Ariel Nixon, Marketing and Communication Services 26 ..... Ron Jackson, Academic and Professional Programs 29 ..... Jamie Welsch, Finance Ofﬁce

If you would like to be added to the birthday list, please send an e-mail to [email protected]

The DCE Connection is published monthly by the Division of Continuing Education at Kansas State University. Send Archived newsletters can be found at: inquiries or submissions to: [email protected] www.dce.k-state.edu/intranet/pio/newsletter.html