New Option for Continuing Education Credit

In order to make more continuing education (CE) opportunities available to Master Gardener Volunteers we are now officially approving CE credit for reading approved research-based publications that relate to sustainable gardening. These publications will provide in-depth information on a variety of gardening topics that volunteers can draw on when working in the plant clinic or providing community education. In addition this process will encourage volunteers to read OSU and other research-based publications with the added benefit of familiarizing volunteers with up-to-date resources that can be shared with clients.

Each publication will qualify for one hour of CE.

Some publications may take more or less time to read but 60 minutes is a good average.

How to determine if a publication qualifies for CE.

Publications from the following sources are generally deemed appropriate: OSU Extension Catalog, other Extension Services, governmental organizations (i.e. Department of Agriculture, USDA, etc.).

Where possible, OSU publications should be given preference. Publications should relate to sustainable gardening, home horticulture, or backyard and local food production. Coordinators may want to provide a list of suggested and approved reading with web links. This will make it easy for volunteers to access the publications and should prevent them from finding out of date publications that have been archived.

Example of a suggested reading list for August from the OSU Extension Catalog

How to receive credit for reading research-based publications.

We want to ensure that you carefully and comprehensively read each publication, so that you are able to incorporate your new-found knowledge in your volunteer activities, as well as in your own garden. For each publication that you read, please report the following information in the Volunteer Reporting System (VRS), or turn in the following information to your Master Gardener coordinator.

  1. Author. Year. Title. Publication Number or other identifying information.
  2. Where you found or accessed the Publication
  3. What is the overall goal of the publication?
  4. List three things that you learned from reading this publication.
  5. List two ways you can use this information in your volunteer service and/or your own garden.
  6. Report 1 hour of CE per publication, in the VRS system (or the reporting system used in your county).

Example:

  1. Jones and Sells. 2004. Rufous hummingbird. EC 1570.
  2. I found it on the OSU Extension Catalog site. The direct link is https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/sites/catalog/files/project/pdf/ec1570.pdf
  3. This publication teaches people about rufous hummingbird life history, behavior, and habitat.
  4. I learned:
    • Rufous hummingbirds migrate to warmer climates in the fall, because there is no nectar in northern climates in fall and winter. In fact, they follow manzanita blooms as they migrate. I had thought that they migrate because they can’t tolerate cold weather (which is probably also true, but I had not considered the nectar connection).
    • Rufous hummingbirds use spider webs to ‘glue’ together their nest materials. So cool!
    • Hummingbirds can live up to 5+ years. I had thought that their small size and high metabolism would promote a shorter lifespan.
  5. I will use this information to:
    • Tell people what to plant for hummingbirds:  bleeding hearts, red-flowering currant, salmonberry, columbine, fushias, orange honeysuckle.
    • Encourage people to consider how their cat might be impacting hummingbird populations.

Selecting Prospective Master Gardener Volunteers

It’s volunteer recruitment season!

Every fall, most Extension Master Gardener Programs in Oregon open applications for their new class of volunteers. This might be a good time to take a look at the resources for Recruiting and Selecting new volunteers, on the national Extension Master Gardener Coordinators website.

In general, many Extension Master Gardener Coordinators report increased success with a training class, when they build in time to talk with or interview prospective volunteers. Taking the time to meet with and talk to prospective volunteers provides an opportunity to make sure that each individual understands the volunteer commitment part of the program, and also the general structure and goals of the program.

Our group has developed a list of suggested questions that you may want to ask prospective volunteers. Master Gardener Coordinators can also find the interview questions in the MG Recruitment Folder on Box.

If you have more applicants that you can accept into the program, you may find it helpful to rank each applicant’s answer.  This may help you choose among multiple applicants. 

The questions on the interview sheet are merely suggestions. You may modify these questions to meet the specific needs in your county. You may also want to ask prospective trainees to elaborate on their response to a particular question.

IMPORTANT:  You must not ask age, marital status, children, race, religion, or sexual orientation. Avoid any personal questions other than those on the interview sheet that are pertinent to the candidate’s gardening experience and ability to participate in the program.

If you are conducting group interviews, with multiple Master Gardener interviewers and multiple Master Gardener applicants, a warm-up activity may help to break the ice.  A few ideas for the warm-up:

  • Have the new people take five minutes by themselves and find three things they all have in common and one thing about each of them that’s unique. Similarities can be simple things like the same color hair, all wearing corrective lenses, or have dogs as pets, etc. They don’t have to be garden related. After five minutes have the group share what they found out about each other. While they are doing the activity, take the five minutes to discuss how your group will handle the interviews, such as who will go first, rotation of questions, etc.
  • Ask participants to share their first garden memory? (Grandmother’s flowers, first vegetable garden, etc.)

Wishing you the best for the 2020 training season!