Calling to Order

Bob Reynolds called the telephone meeting to order at 2 p.m. Central Time. Attending were Virginia Morgan, Carol Whatley, Debbie Archer, Ashley Wood, Haven Miller, Dee Shore, Don Stotts, Bob Reynolds, Anne Young, Frank Wolak, Advisor, and Terry Meisenbach, representing eXtension.

Costs, Royalties, and Permissions

Carol Whatley stated that the Alabama Cooperative Extension System had begun charging more than printing and mailing costs for for-sale publications. Their new CFO, who was formerly an auditor, has requested a policy and reasoning behind this new practice. The CFO has met with representatives from USDA, who are working on new policies for fee-based programs. These policies will be guidelines, not ironclad rules, but there must be good reasons to deviate from them. Meanwhile, she and others in Alabama would like to see if Southern Region communications heads can agree on a few broad guidelines to use in determining costs, royalties, and permissions to use materials. As a starting point, she asked which states are charging more than the cost of printing and mailing. Debbie Archer of Arkansas stated that they charge more, but the cost depends on the customer and cost recovery in order for the printing and mailing services to be self-sustaining. Their printing costs include the cost of supplies, staff and utilities. If a client seeks outside sources for printing, the unit increases the cost of design. For external clients, the cost is $35 per hour for layout, design and editing. They are considering increasing the cost to $45 per hour. They also charge $1000 per finished minute on video production, including travel and all related costs. Dee Shore reported that North Carolina charges for its services. Graphic design costs $20 per hour. For printing, the charges are for the cost of materials. Larger publications re sent to outside vendors. There are no charges for publications printed on site. Fran Wolak said that Clemson conducted a market analysis and determined that gardening publications reached the largest audiences. Clemson charges for gardening publications; most other publications are free. Ashley Wood stated that Florida provides all publications for free on line. For 15 years, Florida packaged and sold publications. A policy was developed for internal marketing and pricing. The biggest quest is certification programs. Orders may be placed online through the college bookstore. Ashley will provide a PowerPoint presentation at the PLN meeting. The mission is to provide free information. Carol thanked everyone for their information.

San Juan Agenda

A disaster response panel will be held on Monday of the PLN meeting. Everyone is encouraged to bring samples of their materials. The group will work on the CECP marketing plan and modules while at the meeting. Each state is asked to bring a 1-page statement, which can include 8 - 12 items. Questions will be asked of the participants at breaks and lunches. It is possible that the group may leave with a rough product in hand for marketing and eXtension. Everyone will be asked to participate in a group to work on the modules. Bob will email and ask for participants to work together before the PLN meeting. Everyone may sign up to work on the modules during the conference. It was suggested that one person take over a project; i.e. Ashley and Frankie will work on exhibit design and production. The will prepare a first draft, which will be edited and reviewed during PLN and made ready for submission as a CECP module. It was noted that there appears to be very little progress on the modules. Each state will report on its progress; then teams will be developed to work on ideas and concepts on how to arrange and outline the modules. Terry Meisenbach said that eXtension has a lot of collaborative work space. The PLN group might consider building the modules in that work space. eXtension would be willing to offer space on Wiki for this process.

Marketing CECP Courses eXtension

Terry Meisenbach reported that eXtension to take a look at it and note the way impacts are highlighted.

The Meeting Adjourned