Extension Leadership Team Minutes April 29, 2016
Facilitator: Fran Sulinski
Note taker: Lisa Phelps
Present: John Rebar, Fran Sulinski, Jon Prichard, Dennis Harrington (until noon), Dick Brzozowski
2015 UMaine Cooperative Extension Annual Report
Dennis shared the 2015 UMaine Cooperative Extension annual report which gives a cross-section of the remarkable work done by Extension across Maine, and beyond. This is the report that is submitted to NIFA to help secure our federal funding from USDA. The report will be placed on our website and shared with the organization. It will also appear on the Director’s page at https://extension.umaine.edu/about/director/ . The ELT encourages you to read the report, especially the Impact Statement selections for each POW Issue Area which are derived from the best of what was reported in the Maine Planning and Reporting System during 2015.
The annual Employee Recognition Event occurred on campus and we had multiple people honored. We would like to congratulate the following people for being recognized for their years of service at the recent event.
Pam Hickey 35 years
Jim Dill 35 years
Donna Coffin 35 years
Marjorie Peronto 25 years
John Jemison 25 years
Tracey Ferwerda 25 Years
Plant and Animal Diagnostic Lab update
Dennis shared that the sale of the building for the lab should be finalized by June 1st or sooner. Progress is moving along well so far and more information will be shared with the organization after the June 1st closing date.
Maine 4-H Foundation Updates
There are 18 scholarships that will be awarded at the upcoming Maine 4-H Foundation Annual Meeting. This is the the highest number that have ever been awarded and the ELT would like to thank Susan Jennings for her leadership as the Executive Director of the Foundation and the Maine 4-H Foundation Board members for their generous support. The annual meeting will be May 11th and they are expecting a large turnout. A huge note of appreciation is extended to our 4-H faculty, staff and volunteers for their support of youth who apply and are awarded these scholarships. Every scholarship recipient tells of the 4-H leader(s) and staff members that played a role in their success. Thanks everyone!
Updates on Extension Strategic Actions identified through the Extension Group Meetings
Item 2: On-line Staff Directory- Significant progress has been made and employees are encouraged to update their information in the staff directory if they have not already done that.
Item 5: Customer Service Training– Fran is working with Dana and Cindy to update the customer service training modules.
Item 6: More storage space for staff on the Orono campus – This is being explored and the ELT has recently addressed an immediate 4-H storage need for the 4-H Science tool kits that continue to grow in popularity.
Item 10: Ways for staff to come together and identify potential research topics/issues as well as explain/describe research currently underway – An opportunity to share research with colleagues will be encouraged during the poster session at the upcoming organizational meeting.
Accounting and Reporting Professional Position
Megan Tardif has resigned her position effective May 19th and has accepted a new position with the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. We wish Megan well in her new position and thank her for her work with Cooperative Extension. Dennis will begin a search to refill the Accounting and Reporting Professional position as soon as possible.
CONGRATULATIONS:
Emily Allisot
Emily Allisot, Student Administrative Aide V for Operations and formally Publications, has been named the winner of UMaine Student Employee of the Year 2016 during Student Employee Recognition Week. As winner at UMaine her nomination was then submitted to the Northeast Association of Student Employment Administrators for the state, regional and national competition. We are please to announce that Emily also won for the state!
David Handley & Patrick Gill
David was notified by the National Association of County Agricultural Agents that the YouTube video “How to Plant Raspberries” was selected as the national winner of their communications award for a video recording.
John Jemison
Potato Breeding and Variety Development for Improved Quality and Pest Resistance
Congratulations to John Jemison who has been awarded $1,250 from USDA NIFA to develop an array of attractive, highly productive, disease- and insect-resistant potato varieties that can be employed by small and large potato producers to enhance marketing opportunities, farm sustainability, and grower profits, under PI Andrei Aloykin and in collaboration with collaborators from UMaine, Florida, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
Greg Kranich
Congratulations to Greg on his recent graduation from the Masters of Science in Teaching program at the University of Maine.
Position Search Updates:
Extension Livestock Specialist – Orono – screening applicants
Extension Food Scientist – Orono – screening applicants
4-H STEM Program Professional – Bryant Pond – interviewing applicants
Administrative Specialist CL2 – Oxford County – screening applicants
Community Education Assistant CL1 – Somerset County – accepting applications
Program Coordinator – Bryant Pond – Nicolette Gagnon hired
Research Associate Vegetable Production – Highmoor Farm – accepting applications
ELT Meeting Dates –2016 – Meetings are from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm – unless otherwise noted.
Dates Facilitator Notes Location
| 2016 | |||
| May 26 | Rebar | Prichard | Augusta – Farm House 11 |
| Jun 30 | Prichard | Harrington | Orono |
| Jul14 | Harrington | Brzozowski | Augusta – Farm House 11 |
| Aug 23 | Brzozowski | Sulinski | Orono |
| Sep 15 | Sulinski | Phelps | Orono |
| Sep 29 | Phelps | Rebar | Augusta – Farm House 11 |
| Oct 18 | Rebar | Prichard | Orono |
| Nov 15 | Prichard | Harrington | Orono |
| Nov 30 | Harrington | Brzozowski | Augusta – Farm House 11 |
| Dec 15 | Brzozowski | Sulinski | Orono |