ELT Minutes, July 29, 2015

Extension Leadership Team Minutes
July 29, 2015
102B Libby Hall
Facilitator: John Rebar
Note taker: Jon Prichard

NE State Program Leaders Meeting – Lisa Phelps is hosting the NE State 4-H Program Leaders meeting in Maine in August.

Financial Management Meetings – The financial management visits led by Dennis and John are going well. They have been well received and appreciated by staff.

Where to Find UMS Policies and Procedures, APLs – As the members of the ELT are meeting with employees of Extension across the state to discuss the new financial management policy for the University of Maine System (UMS) we are referencing several policies and procedures.  An excellent question came up as to where staff can find all the rules, policies and guidelines that we are expected to follow as employees of the UMS?  The link below will bring you to the list of Administrative Practices Letters (APL) of the UMS.

http://www.maine.edu/about-the-system/system-office/finances/administrative-practice-letters/

While no one in the Extension Administration expects all employees to know each of these APL’s, there are some that are more relevant than others and staff should be familiar with them.  For example, the Travel APL, Accessibility APL and Workplace Wrongdoing APL ought to be familiar to everyone.  Others are specific to certain roles that employees will carry out such as the Purchasing APL, or only apply during a specific time in your career such as the Moving Expenses APL.

Should staff have questions about policies you can seek out information for yourself.  We strongly encourage anyone with questions about a UMS policy or APL to contact a member of the ELT.

Provost meeting – At our invitation Provost Hecker joined the ELT giving us the opportunity to share the good work that is being done in Extension, and to converse on the structural changes that are occurring within the University System, such as the reorganization into “One University.”

Employee Group Meetings – We discussed the structure of the employee group meetings in October and November. More information will be forthcoming on these meetings in September.

• October 28 – Support Staff
• November 4 – Faculty
• November 5 – Professionals
• November 10 – CEA & Technicians

Travel APL Update – The travel APL is being updated. Procurement is offering some clarity on meal reimbursements for in-state travel. The new APL will be published in August, and the current draft language on the question of meal reimbursements is as follows: “Extended work day:  Meals are allowable when travelers are on business and away from home for an extended work day.  Where appropriate, extended Day is defined as a day within which the total hours spent working, inclusive of travel time, exceeds the employee’s normal work day by two or more hours and otherwise does not require the employee to be away overnight.”

Information will be sent to employees to help them determine when to use a P-Card and when to use a T-Card.

Acknowledging Years of Service – Without regular organizational meetings or ample time at the meetings as well as a lack of regular employee group gatherings staff are sometimes at a loss for venues to be recognized for their years of service. Recently a staff member asked if their achievement could be acknowledged in the ELT minutes. The ELT decided we will announce years of service recognition in the announcement portion of our ELT minutes on a regular basis for staff as they achieve 5 year benchmarks: 15, 20, 25, 30, etc. We will begin to do so going back to January 2015.

Announcements:

Richard Brzozowski and Richard Kersbergen
Professional Development Project in Weed and Forage Identification
Congratulations to Richard Brzozowski and Richard Kersbergen who have been awarded $29,195 from USDA via University of Vermont to help Extension educators, USDA NRCS and non-profit personnel throughout New England better identify weed and forage species and study pasture and hay crop management strategies to optimize forage quality on livestock farms.

Anne Lichtenwalner
Detecting Emerging Threats to Maine Agriculture
Congratulations to Anne Lichtenwalner who has been awarded $500,000 from Maine Technology Institute to equip laboratories at University of Maine that will address emerging diseases in the animal, plant and human populations of Maine.

Steven Johnson
Reducing Losses to Potato and Tomato Late Blight by Enhanced Monitoring (yr. 5)
Congratulations to Steven Johnson who has been awarded $35,540 from USDA via UC Riverside to develop diagnostic methods and establish surveillance and information systems to help reduce losses caused by potato and tomato late blight.

James McConnon and Richard Kersbergen
Assessing Key Producer and Consumer Issues in Local Agriculture in Northern New England
Congratulations to James McConnon and Richard Kersbergen who have been awarded $124,955 from USDA via UNH to assist a multi-institution project team on a study examining factors affecting the supply of and demand for local foods in collaboration with PI Todd Gabe of the School of Economics.

Scott Olsen
2015 IFW Moose Scholarships
Congratulations to Scott Olsen who has been awarded $50,000 from ME IFW to provide Bryant Pond 4H Camp & Learning Center scholarships for campers to attend Basic Conservation Camps, Natural Explorer Camps, or 4H Shooting Sport Camps.

Scott Olsen
2015 Navy STEM Camp
Congratulations to Scott Olsen who has been awarded $25,032 from Kansas State University via U.S. Dept. of Defense to provide participants in Bryant Pond 4-H Camp’s Navy Youth Camp exposure to STEM activities as well as outdoor adventure experiences.

Mitch Mason
U.S. Cellular 4-H STEM
Congratulations to Mitch Mason who has been awarded $2,500 from U.S. Cellular to expand the 4-H Tech Wizards program within Cumberland County.

Scott Olsen
Oxford County 4-H Camp Scholarships
Congratulations to Scott Olsen who has been awarded $36,000 from The Betterment Fund to provide scholarship support to children in the Bethel area and surrounding Oxford County, Maine to attend the Bryant Pond 4-H Camp and Learning Center.

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

Please 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.

Please remember to visit University of Maine’s news site for additional University of Maine Cooperative Extension highlight.

Search Update:

4-H Youth Development Professional – 4-H Office Orono – Position filled
4-H Youth Development Professional – Kennebec County – Position filled
4-H Youth Development Professional – Franklin County – Position filled
4-H Youth Development Professional – York County – Interviewing
Administrative Specialist CL2 – Cumberland County – Accepting applications
Administrative Specialist CL2 – Franklin County – Accepting applications
Community Education Assistant CL2 4-H Clubs – And/Sag – Accepting applications
Community Education Assistant CL2 4-H – Community Central grant – Androscoggin County – Position filled
Community education assistant CL2 4-H – Community Central grant –Cumberland County – Position filled
Community education assistant CL2 4-H – Community Central grant – Penobscot County –Screening applications
Community education assistant CL2 Home Hort & Social Media – And/Sag – Offer pending
Parent Education Program Manager – Knox-Lincoln – Accepting applications
Research Associate in Vegetable Production – Highmoor Farm – Position filled
Sustainable Ag Asst Ext Prof & Asst Prof – Presque Isle – Interviewing
Telstar 4-H Professional – Bryant Pond – Offer pending

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

Dates	Facilitator	Notes	Location
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