ELT Minutes, June 3, 2015

June 3, 2015 ELT Minutes

Extension Leadership Team
June 3, 2015
Rm 102B, Orono

Present: John Rebar, Fran Sulinski, Jon Prichard, Dennis Harrington and Lisa Phelps

Maine 4-H Foundation Update: The annual meeting very went well. There were 14 scholarships given out and the UMaine President and Provost attended. Also Karen Hatch Gagne and Norma Hardison were recognized by the Foundation for their years of service to the Maine 4-H program. Both Karen and Norma are retiring within the next few months. There was also a well-received presentation given by staff from the 4-H Camp and Learning Centers.

Provost Visit with ELT: The ELT invited Provost Hecker to a future ELT meeting and he has agreed to meet with the ELT on July 29^th. The meeting with the Provost will include questions from the ELT and a chance for the Provost to share his thoughts about the vision for UMaine and Cooperative Extension’s role.

Budgeting Road Show: There have been many proposed changes within the UMaine System regarding finances and budgeting, including the intention not to allow carry-over funds from one year to the next. The UMaine Administration has expressed their intention to implement the carry-forward policy beginning in FY17 (starting July 1 2016), yet they will be requiring more intensive budgeting for FY16. This has resulted in multiple questions from staff. To help staff to better understand the changing nature of budgeting we will offering an opportunity to meet with everyone in the near future. Our budget road show will take place this summer and will be a chance for Dennis and John to share information with staff and help to answer questions. Sandy Vaillancourt will be contacting each office to set up dates and times for meetings that will include Dennis and the PA from the respective counties. It will be our intention to meet at County office locations and may be asking multiple offices to meet together. We recognize that the summer is a busy time for everyone with work and vacations but it will be very important that staff attend one of these meetings.

PCard Issues: The UMaine business office has identified numerous Extension staff who have not complied with the requirements to provide appropriate documentation for their PCard expenses. These issues will affect the end of the University’s fiscal year ending on June 30^th and we are being required to clear them up. Dennis will be following up with individuals letting them know they need to follow through on getting these outstanding transactions taken care of and supervisors will be copied.

Travel Cards: UMaine Procurement is asking that people need to authorize their travel cards as soon as they get them. To activate them people need to use the last four numbers of their employee ID numbers and the mailing zip code that the card was sent to.

Announcements:

Congratulations to Kathy Hopkins on being selected as the National Winner of the Search for Excellence in the category of Forestry & Natural Resources. She will be recognized at the National Association of County Agricultural Agents (NACAA) annual meeting and professional development conference in July 2015. Kathy is being recognized for program “Maple Grading” and will present her program during the conference.

Congratulations to UMaine Extension retiree Glenn Wilde who was recently named the Barbara Hikel award winner for his contributions as a UMaine Retiree. The award is given each year by the president to a University of Maine retiree who, after retirement, provides extraordinary voluntary service to the University of Maine. Glenn used to be a regional Dairy specialist and now continues to volunteer as a York County Master Gardener. Congratulations Glenn and thank you Frank Wertheim for nominating Glenn.

Announcement Invitation:

The ELT invites you to submit items to be included in the minutes/announcements of the next regularly scheduled ELT meeting. This is an opportunity to share with the ELT and the rest of the organization any of the following:

Notable programmatic accomplishments
Development or fundraising success
Significant new partnerships and/or opportunities
Important transitions

We hope you’ll take the opportunity to share your good works through this avenue. Keep it brief… approximately two to four sentences would be appreciated. To submit an announcement, please contact your PA or appropriate member of the ELT. Also, remember to visit University of Maine’s news site for additional University of Maine Cooperative Extension highlight.

Search Update:

Sustainable Ag Asst Ext Prof & Asst Prof – Presque Isle – Accepting applications

Administrative Specialist CL2 – Franklin Cty – Accepting applications

4-H Youth Development Professional – 4-H Office Orono – Interviewing

4-H Youth Development Professional – Kennebec – Accepting applications

Research Associate in Vegetable Production – Highmoor Farm – Accepting applications

Community Education Assistant CL2 – Penobscot County – Accepting applications

Community Education Assistant CL2 – Piscataquis County – Accepting applications

4-H Youth Development Professional – Franklin County – Accepting applications

4-H Youth Development Professional – York County – Accepting applications

CEA CL2 4-H – Community Central grant – Androscoggin County – Accepting applications

CEA CL2 4-H – Community Central grant –Cumberland County – Accepting applications

CEA CL2 4-H – Community Central grant – Penobscot County – Accepting applications

Administrative Specialist CL2 – Cumberland County – Pending approval

ELT Meeting Dates –2015 – Meetings are from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm – unless otherwise noted

Dates	Facilitator	Notes	Location
June 29	Phelps	Rebar	Augusta – 218 Richard Randall Student Center
July 29	Rebar	Prichard	Orono – 102B
August 20	Prichard	Harrington	Orono – 102B
September 16	Harrington	Sulinski	Augusta – TBA
October 6	Sulinski	Phelps	Orono – 102B
October 20	Phelps	Rebar	Orono – 102B
November 12	Rebar	Prichard	Augusta – TBA
December 2	Prichard	Harrington	Orono – 102B
December 21	Harrington	Sulinski	Orono – 102B