ASRED Meeting
August 24-28, 2015
Florida Hotel and Conference Center
Orlando, FL
Agenda
Monday, August 24
1:00 pm
Registration Opens
1 – 2:30 pm
Program Leadership Committee Meeting w/ Committee Chairs
Followed By PLN Executive Committee Meeting
2:45 – 5:15 pm
Pre-conference: National Impact System: Are You There?
5:30 – 6:00 pm
Newcomer Orientation
6:00 pm
Dinner On Your Own
Tuesday, August 25
7:00 am
Breakfast
8:00 – Noon
General Session
8:00
Welcome and Introductions – Rhonda Conlon, PLC Chair
8:15
Charge – Tony Windham, University of Arkansas and Chair, ASRED
and Mark Latimore, Fort Valley State University and Chair, AEA
8:30
Keynote: Nancy Franz, Iowa State University
9:15
Keynote: Robin Adams
10 – 10:15
Break
10:15
Roundtables on Emerging Issues
Noon
Lunch
1:30 pm
PLC Committee Meetings (with Administrative Advisors)
 Agriculture & Natural Resources
 Communications
 Community Development
 Family & Consumer Sciences
 4-H Youth Development
 Information Technology
 Middle Management
 Program & Staff Development
3:00 pm
Break
3:30 pm
PLC Committee Meetings (with Administrative Advisors)
Evening
State Night Out (Optional)
Wednesday, August 26
7:00 am
Breakfast
8:00 - Noon
ASRED Session
Call to Order; Charge Committees; Review Agenda; Approve April
Minutes – Tony Windham, Chair
Attendees: Ed Jones, Jimmy Henning, Karen Ramage, Jennifer
Sirangelo, Paul Brown, Christine Geith, Brian Callahan, Tom
Dobbins, Gary Lemme, Rogers Leonard, Bill Hubbard, Nick Place,
Tim Cross, Tony Windham, Gary Jackson, Eric Young, Jim Trapp,
Doug Steele, Tom Obreza, Travis Burke, Tom Melton, and Ron
Brown
8:00
1
The group unanimously approved the minutes from the spring 2015
ASRED meeting. Tony Windham reminded each committee about
the tasks they were assigned.
The 2016 ASRED meeting location was discussed. The Sheraton in
downtown Nashville is booked; we are looking at the Music City
Sheraton (near the Nashville airport) but one cannot walk to
restaurants from that location. The hotel will provide a bus to
downtown one night and additional nights can be added for a
reasonable fee. This was agreeable to Directors. The meeting is
scheduled for the last full week of August, 2016.
Nominating Committee - Jimmy Henning, Nick Place, and Laura
Perry Johnson. Positions identified to be filled include these.
Resolutions Committee - Doug Steele and Karen Ramage
State Updates
Print all State Updates in one document: HERE
Individual documents: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia,
Kentucky (and Strategic Initiatives), Louisiana, Mississippi, North
Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee,
Texas, Virginia, Virgin Islands
Highlights of state updates:
VA: Virginia Tech has a new provost, does not have a LGU history;
Ray McKinney is now at Virginia State University; money for raises
came this year but it is very specific on who gets what; Extension did
not get the same raise as tenured faculty (2% vs. 3.5%).
TX – Received $15 million in pass-through funds; Extension has
developed a school gardens curriculum and Dr. Steele is willing to
share it; A new president (Michael Young) is in place… does not
have a LGU history.
TN – Faculty handbook now includes Extension job titles; Relying on
fewer permanent positions; Using Zoom for distance programming;
Acquired funding for a new 4-H center.
8:15
2
SC – Received $1.5 million of new funding; Received
raises/bonuses; Involved with some reorganization; Implementing a
new strategic plan; Hired 18 new faculty members.
OK – Tom Coon as Dean has been easy to work with; Ross Love
retired; Cutting agent numbers by county, but will share agents
across county lines.
NC – Travis Burke, interim Director, following Joe Zublena,
introduced himself to the group; Searching for a new Extension
director; Recently had great success in fund-raising; Implementing
new strategic plan that focuses on food, 4-H, and agriculture;
Restructuring personnel in counties.
MS – Received a 5% increase in state appropriations… most went
to a pay raise, but four new specialist positions are being created;
Working on tenure for Extension faculty; MS is the featured state at
Sunbelt Ag Expo this year.
LA – Tough time in the legislature this year; Narrowly avoided a
large budget cut… ended up with a standstill budget but looking at
future cuts; Extension was able to make a couple of hires.
KY – Involved in developing and implementing a strategic plan;
Tuition-based budget model is dead for now; Hourly wages were
increased after budgets were set – cost more than $100K; Looking
at increasing county taxes to support local Extension offices.
GA – Mark McCann is the new ANR Program Leader and Assistant
Dean… starts in October; Looking to hire three economists;
Ramping up attention to urban programs… hiring an urban
coordinator; Dean Scott Angle is leaving for IFDC; Office of Learning
and Organizational Development has been created.
FL – UF hired a new President (Kent Fuchs)… he understands the
LGU mission very well; UF is in the process of setting university
goals, and outreach will be included; IFAS received additional
recurring funding of $5.5 million, which will enable hiring 40 to 45
new faculty; IFAS is requesting $3.5 million more in recurring funds
next year for Extension positions and $1.8 million for IT
improvements; Funding for IFAS Invasive Species Lab was cut;
Developing new 4-H camp to replace a closed one; Working to
improve professional development for faculty.
AR – No great successes on the budgetary front; Trying to increase
funding from counties; Downsizing may result from balancing the
budget.
AL – Hired two new Program Leaders; 4-H program is growing
dramatically; Received a small increase (0.6%) in budget, 3.5%
raise coming as well; Hiring new faculty positions at outlying
research centers; Talked about the “Sow” app for gardeners.
Regional Forester’s Report – Bill Hubbard
9:30
3
Bill reviewed the origin and mission of the Southern Region
Extension Forestry program, along with a historical perspective and
summary. Bill has recently relocated to UF from Georgia. He talked
about overall program topics and areas, products, deliverables, staff,
website, and current projects. He discussed the climate change
work they are doing, plus Pinemap, eXtension, bioenergy, forest
management and products, fire, urban forestry, professional
development, and mobile apps.
Tim Cross asked if we are using all the information that the Regional
Forestry group provides. Paul Brown asked how consultants are
interacting with the regional forestry group… can we do a better job?
Gary Jackson suggested that Bill should make a connection to
EDEN and be more aggressive in creating a relationship. Tom
Dobbins asked a question about wood pellets.
See Bill’s presentation slides HERE.
10:00 – 10:30 am
Joint Break
10:30 – 12:00 am
ASRED Meeting
The New eXtension – Christine Geith, CEO
10:30
4
Christine provided her vision for the new eXtension. She asked us to
send her names of our most innovative faculty members (i.e.,
identify talent) to tell their stories. eXtension should empower faculty
to use technology to spread messages and information. eXtension
will be focusing on two or three issues starting in the fall. They want
measurable differences and measurable impact. Potential issues
include food systems and climate. Christine used Bill Hubbard's
group as an example. She will work to achieve a cohort of 200
people from across the country to contribute to the two or three big
issues that are chosen, and then gather in the spring. (She wants
2000 people by 2017.) It is "up to the people in this room" to find
those people. Paul Brown asked if extension directors across the
country should help decide what these three big issues are.
Christine said they will pick low hanging fruit. States need to see a
value and return on investment from eXtension. Need new capacity
building and new applications of our work. Nick Place suggested
that EDEN be put on eXtension’s radar screen.
Pollinator Programming – Jim Trapp
President Obama announced a Joint USDA/EPA national strategy to
promote the health of honey bees and other pollinators. The
National Association of State Departments of Agriculture is active in
this and it provides an opportunity for CES to partner. There is a
possibility of 4-H making it their “Science on the Hill” focus.
11:00
5
All states are involved in developing a “pollinator plan.” (Typically the
state Department of Ag does this.) Major changes in pesticide
training are coming from EPA, primarily for private applicators.
Worker training is also increasing. How much fee to charge? Fees
are likely to increase. Gary Lemme suggested that we need good
communication between our universities and our Commissioners of
Agriculture. The proposed new rules are likely to face a lot of
resistance, particularly from applicators.
Rogers Leonard reported that a committee is being formed to advise
EPA. There are 16 nominees from the southern region coming from
a variety of places, e.g., LGUs, state agencies, producers, private
industry, and politicians. Rogers is one of the nominees. The group
was advised to look at the candidates and their profiles.
National Impacts Database
a. National Impacts Database Update – Tim Cross
11:20
6
The database is coming along well and it is taking on a life of its
own. (Monday's pre-conference was all about the database.) The
team led by Scott Cummings is doing a great job. It is time to mine
the huge database and then weave some success stories at the
national level to show national impact. A discussion ensued about
funding from ECOP and ESCOP. K-Global is using some
information from this database. Jim Trapp indicated that the
database was not designed to create a national summary. Doug
Steele suggested that it is very hard to aggregate data from
individual states. A discussion ensued about typical federal reports
vs. using the national impacts database as our report. As usual, we
need common indicators… such as how many soil samples each
state runs. Some committees are coming up with common
indicators.
b. National Impacts Training Proposal, Impacts Database
Writing Project, and SR Cover Crops Conference, July 16-18,
2016 (aggregating parameters) – Jimmy Henning
The proposal for training on impacts was discussed and Dr. Henning
called attention to the 2016 Cover Crop Conference
(http://www.cefs.ncsu.edu/newsevents/2016-cover-cropconference.html) and noted that this might be a good opportunity to
develop some common indicators.
SAAESD Report – Eric Young, Executive Director
11:40
7
Eric provided a Gulf Hypoxia Task Force and related SERA-46
update. Anyone can join the SERA. The core group includes the
Mississippi River basin border states. This group is doing well and
they have good leadership… they settled on priorities for action last
spring. (For more details of what Eric spoke about, see his written
report.)
Joint Lunch / Recognitions
12:00 – 1:30 pm
Following lunch, ASRED recognized Dr. Joe Outlaw, TX, and Dr.
Derrell Peel, OK as winners of the Southern Region Excellence in
Extension Award. Dr. Outlaw was also nominated and selected as
the National Excellence in Extension Awardee. Both of these
professionals were recognized with a plaque and a cash award at
the regional level and will also be recognized nationally at the
annual APLU meeting in November, 2015.
See TX photo HERE
See OK photo HERE
1:30 pm
PLC Committee Meetings (with Administrative Advisors)
3:15 – 3:30 pm
Break
3:30 – 5:00 pm
Continuation of Round Table Breakouts
Evening
Committee Night Out
Thursday, August 27
6:30 am
Breakfast
6:45 am
Program Leadership Committee (PLC) Meeting (Current,
Incoming, and Outgoing PLC Members)
8:00 – 10:00 am
8:00
J1
First Joint General Session of AEA and ASRED
Rural Poverty in the South: A Coordinated Strategy – USDA/RD,
USDA/NIFA and CES/SRDC
National 4-H Marketing Strategy – Ed Jones and Artis Stevens
9:00
J2
See Unified Marketing document HERE
4-H Council Update – Jennifer Sirangelo, CEO
9:30
J3
See Update documents HERE and HERE
10:00 – 10:30 am
10:30 - Noon
Break
Second Joint Session of AEA and ASRED (Includes Program
Leadership Committee)
PLC Action Items
10:30
J4
See Action and Information Items HERE
PLC Information Items
11:15
J5
See Action and Information Items HERE
Publishing on Demand Overview by Office Depot
11:45
J6
Noon
Office Depot officials provided an overview of their print on demand
options and invited all participants to a sponsored reception.
Lunch AEA and ASRED
1:00 – 5:00
ASRED Session
NIFA POW/AR Study Update – Scott Cummings, Texas A&M
AgriLife Extension
8
Scott reviewed the recommendations that the Study team provided
to NIFA, as follows: One system with multiple elements, a stable
platform, query and search capability, elimination of the current
POW/AR system, and invest new resources.
The National Impacts Database could feed data to the Extension
Capacity and Research Capacity components of a new reporting
system. Scott described what goes in each of the following in a new
proposed model (Institutional Profile, Extension Capacity, and
Research Capacity).
General recommendations included: Knowledge Areas and Subject
of Investigation should be expanded or modified; States/institutions
should have flexibility to report individually or combined; Reporting
deadlines should remain unchanged until a new system is
operational. Need to strengthen State Liaison program to ensure
consistency. This effort is still in its infancy.
Appointments of State Extension Specialists – Nick Place
Nick discussed typical levels of appointments (across research,
teaching, and extension), connections to academic units, and 12versus 9-month appointments.
9
UF/IFAS leadership considered changing from 12-month to 9-month
appointments. Leaders received substantial pushback from
Extension, and some from teaching. GA, NC, and VA have "a few"
to "many" 9-month appointments. VA has the most, but it works out.
Specialists pay for themselves during the summer. SC has 9 months
for researchers but 12 months for Extension… this causes some
animosity between the two. OK has an 11-month program; can
negotiate down to 9 or up to 13 months. AR has not been able to
make 9-month appointments work.
ECOP Actions and Discussions – Jimmy Henning, Jim Trapp and
Tim Cross
10
a. ECOP budget and possible assessment increase The cost of the CMC project/K-Global contract has increased;
we are dipping into operating reserves to cover all costs of
the Extension section. Operating reserves are decreasing so
we may need to increase assessments. Tim Cross presented
three options to stay solvent… he used UT as an example for
assessment change scenarios. One scenario showed a
$2,500 increase for UT. Another scenario showed a $5,000
increase per year. The ECOP Executive Committee is
considering the options put forth, which ultimately will be
decided by vote of Extension Directors. The ASRED group
felt we should question the value of K-Global… are we getting
our money’s worth? Many in the room said we are not. We
could continue to be a partner but set the amount we want to
pay.
b. Working as a CE System/Branding Proposal
One representative from each region will form a think tank on
this issue. More to come at a later date. Doug Steele is
representing our region.
c. Changing our World Fundraising update The consultant group is not done yet, but have presented
some options. Where should the “extension fund” be placed?
We could add it to ourselves, or add it to somebody else, or
create a new organization. The final report is due in a few
weeks.
d. Social Media Project
The social media contract was stopped by ECOP vote.
e. Follow up on NIFA CES Retreat (Notes)
"Laundry" was laid out at this retreat, but no answers came.
Each party stated their expectations of the other. CES and
NIFA do not understand each other very well. CES values
capacity funding, but NIFA does not. (That could be an OMB
problem.) NIFA people are grants managers (i.e., not national
program leaders) who don’t understand Extension. Talks are
continuing.
f. NIFA Water discussion and next steps (Notes)
The "water" presentation to NIFA was rejected because NIFA
says they are already spending $100 million on water and
asked what more will this bring. NIFA rejected the capacity
funding part outright. (But, the capacity structure is not dead
yet.) NIFA wants to know what Extension will deliver.
g. National IPM dialogue (Notes) We would like to return to the previous model with no IDC.
h. NEDA 2015
Meeting to focus on innovation in the next century.
i.
Urban Extension
ECOP has endorsed the concept.
j.
Replacing Galaxy with issues conference
k. Fair Labor Standards Act
A discussion ensued about how to deal with proposed
changes. May end up having “overtime” eligible hourly
employees restricted to 40 hrs/week. We have the ability to
comment on FSLA website. Ron Brown will draft a statement
on behalf of ASRED. A suggestion was made regarding how
the individual Directors could do their own. It is important for
all of us to provide individual comments with numbers
customized to the institution. Tim Cross indicated there is an
exemption for “educators.” We should emphasize that
extension folks are educators and hence they should not be
covered by this exemption. There are people in this fight that
are much bigger than us. Ron Brown will respond on our
behalf and he will give us a prompt.
l.
An infographic on the Farm Bill was discussed. Gary Lemme
indicated that Tom Vilsack supports what was done and it
should happen again.
m. 4-H Marketing (Engagement)
The ASRED group discussed the cost of the marketing
program and contribution from the states (i.e., state
investments). Various models exist to do so. We should think
about adding NIFA as a contributor. The southern region
proposed seeking funding from Congress for this effort, with
states providing in-kind support. We should use the SmithLever allocations to determine state contributions.
The following motion was made: ASRED supports the 4-H
marketing campaign. We recognize there will be contributions
from each institution. We propose seeking funding including
$1.5 million in-kind (from the states) plus $1.5 million from
Congress. This motion was seconded, discussed, and voted
on… it passed. We need to approach the Congressional 4-H
Caucus so they can put it on their plate. This idea will be
carried to other regions very soon.
Best Practices in Extension Scholarship/Publishing - Dr. Ed
Jones/Dr. Jimmy Henning
11
This is an update from the April 2015 meeting where this topic was
assigned to the Communications Committee. This committee just
started on working on this, thus they have nothing to report.
Tony Windham asked: At what level of publication does the “federal
funding support” notation apply? All the way to a fact sheet? We
need some guidance on that issue. It was decided to ask Bob
Holland this question.
NRCS Training Initiatives/Soil Health – All
SERA 46 had identified a problem with the NRCS Soil Health
Initiative and the chair has written a letter to NRCS headquarters,
but no response has been received. Additionally, NRCS is hiring soil
health specialists to do “extension on steroids.”
12
At the recent SERA-6 meeting in June, Dr. Bianca Moebius-Clune of
NRCS in Washington, DC presented the agency’s plans to
implement the Soil Health Initiative. She said nothing to allay the
fears of the SERA-6 membership about NRCS running a nonscience based educational program on soil health.
Robert Burns reported that the ANR group will set up two
conference calls per year with NRCS leadership. We need to
develop better relationships with NRCS. The ASRED group agreed
that we should send a letter to Cathy Wotecki indicating our concern
about this. Who sends the letter? ECOP? Send it to Cathy and copy
Sonny? Ron will work with Robert Burns and Tom Obreza to draft a
letter to ECOP regarding NRCS and the value of our partnership
with them. We need to look up our previous letters and add to it.
Regional SARE Hosting – Jimmy Henning
13
Jimmy Henning talked about the Professional Development Plan
role. It is an open and competitive process. Money is coming to
states for training.
Administrative Advisor Reports
14
15
a. PLN-IT -- Jimmy Henning
b. 2015 SERA041 Report -- Jimmy Henning
Other
a. Future Meetings – All
1. NEDA - Oct 12-14, 2015, St. Louis
2. ASRED (w/retirees)/SAAESD/AHS/CARET, April 2528, 2016, St. Thomas, VI
3. Joint AEA/ASRED/PLN - Aug 22-26, 2016, Nashville
4. NEDA/ESS 2016 – September 18-22(?), 2016,
Jackson Hole, WY
Friday, August 28
7:00 am
Breakfast, AEA and ASRED
8:00 – 11:00 am
ASRED Business Meeting
Nominating Committee Report
These positions have been identified as needed to be filled.
16
17
SERA-18: Rogers Leonard
ASRED Chair-elect for 2016: Gary Jackson
Secretary: Tom Obreza
ECOP Representative: Tony Windham
ECOP Budget and Legislative Committee: Doug Steele
So. Region Aquaculture: Gary Lemme, Tony Windham
Journal of Extension Board: Gary Jackson
SRDC Technical Adviser: Laura Stevenson
Administrative Adviser, PLC Communications Comm: Tom Dobbins
Administrative Adviser, PLC IT Committee: Jimmy Henning
So. Region PLC Rep and PLN Executive Committee: Ed Jones
Resolutions Committee Report
Doug Steele provided the resolutions: The first one goes to the Univ.
of Florida for helping with the arrangements of this meeting. The
second one goes to Ross Love of Oklahoma State for all the support
and contributions he has made to ASRED.
SERA Recommendations – Tim Cross and Jimmy Henning
18
The SERA review committee met and offers this recommendation.
A motion was made to approve the recommendation; it was
seconded and voted on, and it carried unanimously.
Webinar Host Selections
In August 2014, ASRED members agreed to hold three webinars
per year and determine the topics and hosts during the August
meeting each year. Hosts and topics are needed for webinars in
December 2015 and February and June 2016.
19
Volunteers and topics were:
 December 2015 – Gary Lemme, Apps Useful to Extension
 February 2016 – Ed Jones and Nick Place, National 4-H
Update
 June 2016 – Doug Steele, Update on Health Initiative
Evaluation of PLN – All
PLN was evaluated a few years ago, but questions have arisen as to
its value, length of combined meetings, etc. Does it need to be
evaluated again?
20
This meeting has value, but we make too much work for ourselves
at these meetings. The meeting is of especially high value for
Program Leaders. Do we need the general session? Some say yes,
others say no. The meeting could probably be reduced by half a
day. We could have the keynote speaker at lunch. Robert Burns
indicated that they were short on committee time this year. Nick
Place indicated that our format is highly valuable and is envied by
other regions… we can tighten our belts but we should keep what
we have. Some program areas need more time than others at PLN.
Many ideas for meeting modifications were put forth for
consideration and discussion. The value of the meeting is
determined by what happens between the meetings, e.g.,
conference calls. Those activities are up to the administrative
advisers.
Regional Forester Budget – Laura Johnson
21
Laura provided the figures in last year’s budget. $254,000 total
budget between ASRED and the US Forest Service ($214,000 from
ASRED). $627,213 generated to support regional forestry. Budget
request this year totals $196,000 in salaries; this number has
decreased due to restructuring of positions. $255,000 total budget
for next year; $210,000 comes from ASRED. We need to keep an
eye on Bill Hubbard’s travel. A motion to accept this budget was put
forth and seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
22
11:00 am
NIFA Talking Points – Bob Holland (no oral report)
Adjourn