ELT Minutes, October 6, 2015
Extension Leadership Team Minutes
October 6, 2015
Facilitator: Fran Sulinski
Note taker: Jon Prichard
Extension Administrative CL2: This new position will be posted within the next week or so. The position will serve as support to Executive Director John Rebar’s office as well as to Fran Sulinski. They will also be involved with special projects.
New Staff Orientation: There are 12-14 people attending the new Extension staff orientation in Orono. Our organization continues to be vibrant, evolving and moving toward the future and it’s exciting to have new staff coming on board.
4-H PLT Success Stories Workshop: Our 4-H staff will be spending ½ a day in October in a workshop setting where they will be preparing success stories to be submitted in the MPRS and for the upcoming 2015 UMaine Extension annual report.
Diagnostic Lab: Work is ongoing, with current work focused on refining cost and design parameters.
4-H Foundation: Extension 4-H program annual program request is being submitted to the Foundation on October 21.
Civil Rights: Fran has been attending some county civil rights meetings where staff were not able to answer the question about audiences served from October 1, 2014 – September 30, 2015 because their report is not due in the reporting system until October 31. Some staff have asked us to reconcile the fact that we have different timing to produce the same information.
To address this issue and to align deadline dates to make reporting as easy as possible for staff, We will set October 31 as the due date for both MPRS reporting. So now the MPRS reporting date will be October 31. The civil rights meeting report will be due by the end of November. This will allow staff to use their MPRS reporting to inform their civil rights reporting.
CDMS Update: Michele met with the ELT to update us on CDMS. In the period from 1/1/15 to 9/30/15:
- 1,549 customers used the CDMS to register for programs/events;
- 418 customers requested they be added to Extension’s mailing list;
- $116,045 in revenue was collected;
- All but one county utilized the CDMS; and
- iPET has been reaching out to staff to offer coordinated support and guidance, and it’s making a difference.
The original intent was to develop a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. We are still working on getting the CDMS to meet all of our CRM needs and have explored a variety of ways to meet those needs. Michele continues to work closely with IT; IT currently doesn’t have solutions for all of our needs. Michele, Dennis, and Jon are working with UMaine legal counsel and camp staff to explore the continued use of the Camp Brain program.
Michele and the ELT thank staff for integrating the CDMS into program planning, and helping us get to 100% utilization. Adding workshops into the system provides clients with a convenient way to register for programs, simplifies planning, builds Extension’s mailing list, and helps track contacts, revenue, and demographics.
Extension’s Annual Report: The ELT is beginning to put together the UMaine Cooperative Extension Annual Report. Dennis does the lion’s share of preparing and submitting the report, with assistance from ELT members. Critical to a report that truly tells our story will be the information from staff who report on MPRS, including success stories. Staff are urged to do their reporting promptly and to prepare and submit at least one success story using the “3Rs” (Relevance, Response, Results).
Work at Home: Addressing a request to work from home when a spouse or family member is ill or recovering from surgery, we explored the question: “Does the policy allow some wiggle room?” Our answer is generally, no, it does not, and employees need to use sick time. Supervisors may consider special circumstances on a case-by-case basis in which case they should contact Fran and, via her, UMaine HR.
Concur: We reviewed how we as supervisors review Concur requests for approval.
Grants Update: Dennis shared an update of Extension’s FY15 grants activity. In the last three years our grants and contracts have risen and we are on a good trajectory:
- FY 13 – $1.92 million
- FY 14 – $2.67 million
- FY 15 – $3.04 million
Faculty meeting on October 13: The PAC has invited members of the ELT to attend a portion of the October 13 faculty meeting. John and Dennis will attend to give brief organizational updates and to be available engage with faculty.
“Your Employee Group’s Role in the Future of Extension”– The ELT is looking forward to engaging the organization at these upcoming meetings. There has been a very good response from all employee groups and very solid attendance numbers. If you have not already responded with your plans, please do so soon (and Fran will be sending a reminder.)
Upcoming ELT Meetings: Our next regular ELT meeting will be November 17 in Augusta.
Announcements:
CONGRATULATIONS!
Ellen Mallory
Innovative Sowing, Cultivation, and Rotation Strategies to Address Weed, Fertility, and Disease Challenges in Organic Food and Feed Grains
Congratulations to Ellen Mallory who has been awarded $998,120 from USDA to address the three critical factors that prevent expansion of organic grain production in our region: robust weed and disease management strategies, efficient legume green manure systems, and engaged end-users with strong social networks.
Ryder Scott
ELLMS Sewall 2015
Congratulations to Ryder Scott who has been awarded $70,000 from The Elmina B. Sewall Foundation to extend environmental education into public schools with significant populations of underprivileged children in a systematic and sustained way that promotes healthy people and communities.
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:
Administrative Specialist CL2 – Franklin County – Position filled – Tiffany Wing
Community Education Assistant CL2 4-H – Community Central grant (12hr) – Penobscot County –Screening applications
Community Education Assistant CL2 4-H – Community Central grant (20hr) – Penobscot County –Screening applications
Ag & Food Systems Professional – Oxford – Interviewing
Community Education Assistant CL2 4H – Washington – Accepting applications
Community Education Assistant CL2 4-H – Hancock – Accepting applications
Community Education Assistant CL2 – Somerset – HR Review
Administrative Specialist CL2 – Orono – HR Review
Sustainable Ag Professional – Cumberland – HR Review
ELT Meeting Dates –2015 – Meetings are from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm – unless otherwise noted
| Dates |
Facilitator |
Notes |
Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 17 | Rebar | Prichard | Augusta – 208 Randall Student Center |
| December 2 | Prichard | Harrington | Orono – 102B |
| December 21 | Harrington | Sulinski | Orono – 102B |