Plugged In: For UMaine Extension Staff and Volunteers

Extension Leadership Team Meeting Minutes June 25, 2020

Extension Leadership Team Meeting Minutes
June 25, 2020
Virtual Meeting (11:00 AM – 2:30 PM)

Facilitator: Hannah Carter
Note taker: Jon Prichard
*D. Brzozowski was not able to participate in this meeting due to annual leave.
Guests: Home Hort Team members –  Pamela Hargest, Rebecca Long, Kate Garland, and Frank Wertheim

Please note: Due to the confidentiality and sensitivity of some agenda items, these ELT minutes do not represent the full content of each meeting.

Supporting Micro-Credentialing Development in Extension

The ELT is exploring various ways to support Micro-Credentialing Development as a component of how we structure some of our programming.

Restarting Extension (returning from remote)

We are reminding staff that there is a process for restarting programs, and it needs to be followed accordingly. If you have questions please ask. We are asking staff to continue to work remotely until invited to return to offices and regular program activities.  Please don’t go rogue!

Review of the Volunteer Travel Form

Members of the Home Hort Team joined the ELT to discuss the new Volunteer Travel Form.  HH Team members included Kate Garland, Rebecca Long, Frank Wertheim, and Pamela Hargest.  Key points from the conversation included:

• The Volunteer Form has been rolled out. Remember, this is a form that needs approval, and approval is not automatic.
• There are cases where volunteers wear hats with different organizations. So they might be volunteering on behalf of another organization, and not Extension.
• If there are projects that need to get done sooner rather than later, Hannah will do what she can to push them along.
• We need to treat this volunteer form as being only for “travel”, e.g. delivering supplies, point A to point B, etc., but not actually volunteering at a location once they arrive. We may need to revise the form to use different examples to make this clear.
• The Home Hort team agrees that they don’t need to roll out this new form with their volunteers.

Welcoming our new Provost John Volin

We discussed some ways that Extension might welcome Dr. John Volin as our new Provost. He will be coming on board in mid-August.  Some ideas about how we might welcome him:

• Gift basket (Maine and/or Extension theme)
• Extension 1-2 page reference document “quick facts about Extension”
• Invite him to a couple of our virtual programs

Announcements & Congratulations

Mari Glatter recently earned her master’s degree in Education from the University of Maine with a 4.0 GPA and induction into Phi Kappa Phi. Congratulations, Mari!

 Search Updates

Assistant Financial and Operations Manager – Paused
4-H Youth Development Professional (Community Central) – Offer made and accepted
Crops Entomology Educator – Paused
Extension Crops Specialist – Virtual Interviews have taken place
Sustainable Agriculture Professional – Aroostook County – Paused
4-H Science Professional (PT) – Approved
Research Associate – Highmoor Farm – Paused

2020 ELT Meeting Dates

Meetings are from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm, unless otherwise noted