ELT Minutes, June 4, 2013
Extension Leadership Team Minutes
Wednesday, June 4, 2013
Location: Knox-Lincoln County Office, Waldoboro
9:00 – 3:30
Present: Fran Sulinski, John Rebar, Jon Prichard, Lisa Phelps, and Dennis Harrington
Minutes:
Centralized Database Management System Update
Michele Lodgek provided a written update regarding the status of the system. The program is being downloaded to a UMaine server and testing will be more rigorous from there. The goal remains to get the program to the point where “ownership” will reside with UMaine and not with the vendor or subcontractor. Progress continues and is behind schedule, however, it is absolutely necessary that the system be reliable when launched. Training and updates will be forthcoming as the system is deployed. The ELT thanks Michele for her leadership with this project.
Report to the Provost
Dennis discussed what is expected of Cooperative Extension in our Annual Report to the Provost. The emphasis will be on how the work of Extension relates to the Blue Sky Plan. There are several areas where the work of our program staff directly relates to the Blue Sky Plan. Highlighting the advancement of 4-H Science and the Pre-Vue grant should be included. Lisa will provide Dennis with information. The Organizational Meeting had an emphasis on the Blue Sky Plan and Fran will provide an overview. The ELT generated a list of ideas and will keep this issue on the agenda for future meetings. The Annual Report to the Provost is due August 1, 2013.
Water Quality Monitoring
Keri Kaczor of the Healthy Coastal Beaches program provided an overview of her work with water quality monitoring. The ELT visited the lab and Keri demonstrated the testing process. Keri explained how the information generated by the testing is used by local beach managers when deciding to issue beach advisories.
Annual Report of Accomplishments to the USDA-NIFA
UMaine Cooperative Extension continues to be challenged with effective reporting that generates a quality report that can be submitted to the USDA and the Provost. Submissions to the Planning and Reporting System usually require significant work to go from the initial report to a quality statement that can be used in our Annual Report. The hiring of a part-time reporting professional provided limited support to Dennis and didn’t reduce his workload or increase the quality of our reporting. Lisa has suggested that we utilize the resources with the UMaine Division of Marketing and Communications to make a report that can dovetail into marketing opportunities. This issue will remain on the ELT agenda as the group works toward a process that will yield higher quality reports.
The meeting concluded with the rest of the day spent with the wonderful employees of the Knox-Lincoln Counties Extension Office where the ELT was updated to program priorities and the impact of the work that is being done from this office.
Announcement Invitation:
The ELT invites you to submit items to be included in the minutes/announcements of the next regularly scheduled ELT meeting. This is an opportunity to share with the ELT and the rest of the organization any of the following:
- Notable programmatic accomplishments
- Development or fundraising success
- Significant new partnerships and/or opportunities
- Important transitions
Please take the opportunity to share your good works through this avenue. Keep it brief … approximately two to four sentences would be appreciated. To submit an announcement, please contact your PA or appropriate member of the ELT.
Please remember to visit University of Maine’s news site for additional University of Maine Cooperative Extension highlights.
ELT Meeting Dates — 2013
Meetings are from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., unless otherwise noted.
| Dates | Facilitator | Notes | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 26 | Rebar | Prichard | Orono — 102B Libby Hall |
| July 17 | Prichard | Harrington | Augusta, UMA — Room to be determined |
| August 7 | Harrington | Sulinski | Cumberland Office |
| August 27 | Sulinski | Phelps | Orono — 102B Libby Hall |
| September 19 | Phelps | Rebar | Orono — 102B Libby Hall |
| October 15 | Rebar | Prichard | Penobscot County Office |
| November 6 | Prichard | Harrington | TBD |
| November 25 | Harrington | Sulinski | Orono — 102B Libby Hall |
| December 18 | Sulinski | Phelps | Orono — 102B Libby Hall |