Plugged In: For UMaine Extension Staff and Volunteers

Extension Leadership Team Minutes October 26, 2017

Extension Leadership Team Minutes
October 26, 2017
102B Libby Hall, Orono

Facilitator: John Rebar
Note-taker: Jon Prichard

Chancellor’s Open Forum
The ELT meeting was shortened so ELT members could attend the afternoon Open Forum by Chancellor James Page and his Leadership Team. The Chancellor and his senior leadership provided updates to the campus on the University of Maine System’s legislative agenda, budget, strategic resource allocation and academic transformation.

Professionals Meeting
Extension Professionals are holding a statewide meeting Wednesday, November 8 at Blueberry Cove. Thirty-five staff have registered, and Fran and John are on the agenda for a few agenda items.

Bryant Pond 4-H Camp and Learning Center’s 10 Year Celebration
On Tuesday, October 17, Bryant Pond staff, board and community members gathered to celebrate 10 years of successful operations and educational programming to thousands of Maine youth. John Rebar and several ELT members attended, and speakers included UMaine President Susan Hunter, and Provost Jeff Hecker. Prior to the evening celebration President Hunter and Provost Hecker toured the camp, and joined ELT members, staff and local school administrators in a small group discussion on the topic of innovative local and University educational programming. We congratulate Bryant Pond staff and community partners that have had such a positive impact on Maine youth and on a future that looks bright.

Supporting Relationships for Farm Success
As part of the Beginning Farmer Resource Network, Tori Jackson and Leslie Forstadt are providing leadership for an innovative program to support Maine farmers. This project focuses on improved farmer retention through education of service providers. While existing new farmer training materials have primarily focused on topics such as production, marketing, financing and land access, the SARE funded “Supporting Relationships for Farm Success” project will expand support to include interpersonal skills acquisition. Agricultural Service Providers will receive training and resources to assist farmers with the interpersonal needs that may arise on the farm. By addressing a known gap, this project will help service providers to support farmers to consider how interpersonal issues impact their farm viability.

Strategic Procurement Committee
Dennis Harrington will be serving on the steering committee for UMaine System’s Strategic Procurement. The committee is committed to continuous improvement, meets monthly, and reviews current and proposed procurement initiatives, and seeks candid feedback on what’s working, and not working for users of Procurement’s systems (Marketplace & CONCUR) and services. Extension staff should feel free to communicate their feedback to Dennis.

Dickeya and Pectobacteria Summit in Maine
Extension will play a major role in organizing the Dickeya Summit that is scheduled to be held Thursday, November 9 at the Cross Insurance Center, Bangor. There are currently 152 individuals who have registered, representing 19 states, 3 provinces, and 4 countries.

New January Meeting Date
The ELT agreed to change our January meeting date with the new date being Friday, January 19 in Orono.

CONGRATULATIONS

Congratulations to PI David Handley, Co-PI Tori Jackson and Program Manager Erin Roche who have been awarded $214,007 by the USDA Risk Management Agency for the “2017-2018 Crop Insurance Education in Maine” program, which will provide Maine farmers the most current and relevant information about crop insurance to help them make informed risk management decisions for their businesses.

Congratulations to PI Lisa Phelps who has been awarded $112,863 by the Maine Math and Science Alliance (MMSA) by way of the National Science Foundation for year 5 of the “Rural STEM Infrastructure” project.  This project allows for 4-H to provide regional staff in 4 Maine regions who serve as STEM Guides.  One major goal is to connect 10-18-year-old youth with local STEM programs and experts.

Congratulations to PI Jason Lilley and Co-PIs Frank Wertheim, Tori Jackson, and Cathy Kloetzli who have been awarded $47,107 by Northeast Sustainable Agriculture, Research and Education (NESARE) for the “Training the Trainers: Enhancing Cooperative Extension Resources for Beginning Farmers” project.  This project allows for training of Extension staff in whole farm planning, business and financial plan development, recordkeeping, marketing, and identifying other key providers.  Fourteen UMaine Extension staff will then collaborate to offer training to 125 beginning farmers and 175 ono-on-one consultations.

Congratulations to PI Richard Brzozowski and Maine AgrAbility Coordinator, Lani Carlson who has been awarded $178,274 by USDA-NIFA for Year 4 of the “Maine AgrAbility” project.  The primary goal of this project is to enhance each client’s ability to farm, live independently, and improve their quality of life.  In the next phase of growth, Maine AgrAbility has expanded its efforts to include clients with disabilities not only from land-based agriculture, but also forestry and aquaculture as well as clients who are veterans, immigrants and migrant workers.

Congratulations to PI Gregory Kranich who has been awarded various types of computer hardware by The National 4-H Council, in conjunction with Google, for the “Building Capacity for Computer Science Education in Maine” project.  The devices include 30 Chromebooks, 2 Tablets, 20 Smartphones, and 20 Google Cardboard devices (Virtual Reality hardware).  The estimated monetary value of this award is $15,000.  This device award enables the creation of 4-H Computer Science (CS) kits, providing grab-and-go resources which will be implemented through existing programs and will increase CS access statewide.

Search Updates
4-H Youth Development Professional – Hancock County – Carla Scocchi hired
Horticulture Professional – Cumberland County – Preparing job description
Ornamental Horticulture Specialist – Orono – Preparing to interview select candidates via Zoom
Wild Blueberry Specialist – Orono – Preparing to interview select candidates via Zoom
Administrative Specialist CL2 – Pest Management, Orono – Offered the job
Accounting Nutrition Education Professional – Advertising
Community Education Assistant CL2 – Lewiston – Advertising
Community Education Assistant CL2 – Andro/Sag – Advertising
Administrative Specialist CL2 – Cumberland – Tayla Mann hired
Support Specialist CL2– Orono – On Hold
Community Education Assistant CL1 (Horticulture) – Oxford County – On hold
Marine Extension Associate (Joint appt. with Sea Grant) –  On hold
Finance and Budget Professional (Orono Operations) – Advertising

ELT Meeting Dates –2017–18. Meetings are from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm – unless otherwise noted.