Plugged In: For UMaine Extension Staff and Volunteers

Extension Leadership Team Minutes December 15, 2016

Extension Leadership Team Minutes

102B Libby Hall – Orono

Facilitator: Richard Brzozowski
Note taker: Fran Sulinski

Extension Vehicle Use Policy
After discussion, the ELT agreed to adhere to the campus policy that requires the use of rental vehicles versus campus vehicles when traveling out of New England due to wear and tear on vehicles. This is a radius of approximately 250 one-way driving miles as calculated by google maps. As with other out-of-state travel, the cost of the rental vehicle should be paid for with available grant or program funds, or through a source approved by your supervisor. Enterprise Rent-A-Car is an established University vendor.

UMaine Extension Administration Meeting with UNH Extension Administration
Both administrative teams decided to meet in Falmouth on February 9^th and share ideas in areas of multi-state programming, diversity and recruitment, professional development, advocacy for funding as well as share information about both administrative structures.

Extension Support Staff Committee Conference
The ELT approved a budget of $2,500 for a one-day support staff conference to take place in 2017. Upon the request of the ELT, the committee postponed their plan for a 2016 conference to have their conference take place in a year the organization was not holding an all-staff conference. In the future, all employee groups should bring their budget request to the ELT in the summer before their conference. That will allow the budget for the event to be “built in” to the next fiscal year.

Search Committee Composition
Given the number of searches soon to be underway, the ELT reviewed the search committee composition entries in the policy manual. The following reflects the search committee composition desired for each employee type.

Faculty: For each faculty position to be filled, the PAC will select the faculty search committee members that will be considered the “appropriate unit faculty” for the appointment process. The rest of the committee will be appointed by the Extension administration as follows:

For faculty positions, the search committee will be comprised of four faculty total (one as chair or two serving as co-chairs), one professional staff member, one hourly staff member, and one stakeholder. If the faculty member being hired has a split appointment there would be one faculty member from the partnering unit. The total composition of the search committee must be gender diverse. This is the ideal composition and may vary slightly due to the unique circumstances of the position.

Professionals: The supervisor or hiring administrator will establish the search committee to include two professional staff, one faculty member, one hourly staff member and one stakeholder. The committee must be gender diverse. This is the ideal composition of the search committee and could vary slightly due to the unique circumstances of the position.

Hourly Staff: The hiring supervisor forms a search committee comprised of two hourly staff, one professional or one faculty member and one stakeholder. The committee must be gender diverse. This is the ideal composition of the search committee and may vary slightly due to the unique circumstances of the position.

Non-represented Career Ladder Approved
Non-rep career ladder has been approved by the Provost and is available at the following link https://extension.umaine.edu/plugged-in/hr/extension-professional-employees/non-represented-professional-employee-promotion-process-information/The process will normally follow the same timeline as the represented professionals, however, this year, since the process was approved after the start of the professional process, we will entertain off-cycle applications this year. The due date for packets will be March 1, 2017. John will send a message to the individuals who are eligible. Fran will research who is eligible.   Eligible personnel will be notified ASAP.

Future Agenda Items:

Tori Jackson and BJ Kitchin from University College will be joining the ELT on January 24^th from 11-12. BJ will be providing an orientation to University College in an initial effort to determine whether there are opportunities for collaboration with Cooperative Extension.

Announcements:

The Employee Benefits Center will now process Family Medical Leave Requests. If your significant illness or the illness of an immediate family member requires you to be out of work for 10 days or more (continuously or intermittently) please complete a Family Medical Leave Request and send it to the Employee Benefits Center. You may also send the form to Sheila Vaillancourt and she will send it to the Benefits Center. The request does not include medical information. That information is sent directly to the benefits center by the medical provider.

CONGRATULATIONS

Congratulations to Wesley Neff who has been awarded $383,840 from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services for the 2^rd year to provide home visits as primary service delivery to mothers, fathers, families, pregnant women, infants, and children to age 5. Home Visiting seeks to improve maternal and child health; prevent child injuries, abuse, or maltreatment; reduce emergency room visits; improve school readiness; improve family economic self-sufficiency, and improve coordination and referrals for other community resources and supports.

Search Updates

Accounting Support Specialist CL2 (Orono) – pending approval to advertise
Administrative Specialist CL1 (Cumberland County) – accepting applications
Assistant Extension Professor and Livestock Educator – Dr. Colt Knight to start on January 9
Assistant Extension Professor and Plant Pathologist – pending approval to advertise
Community Education Assistant CL1 Horticulture (Oxford County) – accepting applications
Education Director Bryant Pond – tentative offer made
Maine Families Parent Education Professional – screening applicants
Research Associate in Vegetable Production – offer made and accepted/conducting background checks

ELT Meeting Dates –2016/17 – Meetings are from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm – unless otherwise noted.