Plugged In: For UMaine Extension Staff and Volunteers

Extension Leadership Team Minutes January 24, 2017

Extension Leadership Team Minutes

102B Libby Hall – Orono

Facilitator: Fran Sulinski
Note taker: Lisa Phelps

TCard use reminder
You should not use your TCards for any university transactions including purchases for food in the Memorial Union and event registration. If you need to make a university purchase, please contact Amanda Miles to determine the best way for that to happen.

Centralized Database Management System update for 2016:

• Stats showed 3,287 users to-date
• A total of $125,105 in revenue was processed through the CDMS, and transferred to appropriate chartfields.
• The CDMS facilitated registration and revenue collection for 155 workshops and programs, many of which required customizing.

Diagnostic Lab update
Interior construction has started on our new Plant, Animal, and Insect Lab (PAIL) near the UMaine campus, a process that will take approximately one year to complete. Also, the UMaine System Board of Trustees recently approved additional spending to build a fish research lab within the PAIL using recently awarded State of Maine bond financing for aquaculture. The fish lab will be administered by the UMaine Aquaculture Research Institute as an important partner of Cooperative Extension. The addition of the aquaculture research lab will add to the capacity of this world-class, one-of-a-kind diagnostic and research facility

Announcements:
In October 2016, Jane Haskell became one of 600 International Association of Facilitators’ (IAF) Certified™ Professional Facilitators (CPF) worldwide and one of two north of New York. The credential indicates the facilitator is competent in each of six core competencies that form the basic set of skills, knowledge and behaviors they must have to be successful facilitating in a wide variety of environments. The IAF is the worldwide professional body established to promote, support and advance the art and practice of professional facilitation through methods exchange, professional growth, practical research and collegial networking.

Congratulations
Congratulations to James Dill who has been awarded $21,100 from Cornell University and USDA-NIFA for the continued support of the Northeast Plant Diagnostic Network (NPDN).  The NPDN acts as a resource for first detectors of suspicious samples, provides resources and training to facilitate the use of the Network’s data collection network, expands that data collection, and develops protocols for participating diagnostic laboratories to ensure the accuracy of diagnostics.

Congratulations to PI Griffin Dill and Co-PI James Dwyer who have been awarded $97,792 from the Maine Department of Agriculture and the USDA for the 1^st year of the “Maine Potato Integrated Pest Management 2017-2019” grant.  To ensure an adequate response to the pest-related hazards confronting potato growers, the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Potato Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Program will provide support through field monitoring, disease forecasting, and distribution of educational materials.

Congratulations to PI David Handley and Co-PIs Jason Bolton, Mark Hutton, and James Dill who have been awarded $10,558 from the Maine Department of Agriculture for the Year 3 of the “Building a Hops Industry in Maine” grant.  This project will determine which hops varieties will be best suited for Maine brewers and educate interested growers in sustainable hops production

Congratulations to Keri Kaczor who has been awarded $175,499 from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection for the Maine Healthy Beaches (2017) program.  The Maine Healthy Beaches (MHB) Program provides a unified coastal water quality monitoring program to ensure safe coastal swimming experiences.
Program elements include monitoring, assessment, and notification of water quality conditions on Maine’s coastal beaches.

Congratulations to Mark Hutton who has been awarded $20,366 from Cornell University and the USDA/NIFA for the 1^st year (of a 2-year project) for Developing an Eastern Broccoli Industry.  This project provides Extension support to Maine broccoli growers and will work to determine broccoli variety adaptation to the East and the subsequent marketable yield of those adapted varieties.

Congratulations to Susan Jennings and the staff of the Tanglewood and Blueberry Cove 4-H Learning Center on the award of a $100,000 grant from the Taylor Mudge and the Mudge Foundation to support the Center’s new Healthy Food and Gardens program. The grant will support FoodCorps members, new garden initiatives, and health and wellness connected to the Centers’ dining hall and summer and school based programs.

Congratulations to Tanglewood 4-H Camp and Learning Center on the receipt of a $100,000 charitable gift from the family of Cindy and Jim Dunham. The gift will be allocated to the Dunham Scholarship Endowment Fund that provides scholarships for youth to attend Tanglewood 4-H Camp.

Congratulations to Jessica Decke and Ryan Leshane on the award of a $121,800 sub grant from Purdue University to fund their 2017 Teen Military Adventure Camp at Tanglewood and Blueberry Cove.  Each site will offer two 2-week residential adventure programs for a total of eight weeks this summer.  The program will serve 56 youth of military families.  Tanglewood also has received a $24,741 grant from a partnership of NIFA, National 4-H, and U.S. Navy Child and Youth Programs, for a 2-week long Navy Youth STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) Camp. The camp will serve 20 teens.

Congratulations to PI Mark Hutchinson on his award of $44,001 from the University of California: Davis for the “OREI: Multi-Regional risk analysis of farm manure use: Balancing soil health and food safety for organic fresh produce production” project.  This award is the 1^st year of a 4-year Project ($167,245 total).

Search Updates
4-H Youth Development Professional – Franklin County – Advertising
4-H Youth Development Professional – Knox/Lincoln Counties –Advertising
Accounting Support Specialist CL2 – Orono– Advertising
Administrative Specialist CL1 – Cumberland County – Reviewing Applicants
Assistant Extension Professor & Extension Plant Pathologist – Orono – Advertising
Community Education Assistant CL2 (Food System Aide) – Penobscot County – Advertising
Integrated Pest Management Technician – Aroostook –Job description being reviewing by HR
Ornamental Horticulture Specialist – Orono– Advertising

ELT Meeting Dates –2017– Meetings are from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm – unless otherwise noted.