Community Development Committee
August 2000 - San Juan, Puerto Rico
August 27, 2000

Call to Order:

Ed Jones, Chair, called the meeting to order at 1:07 on August 28, 2000. He welcomed everyone and conducted old and new member introductions.

Present:

Charles Artis, South Carolina State University
Bo Beaulieu, Southern Rural Development Center
Kim Berry, USDA-NRCS / North Carolina A&T University
Velma Blackwell, Tuskegee University
Gae Broadwater, Kentucky State University
Hank Cothran, University of Florida
Michael Heard, Lincoln University
John McKissick, University of Georgia
Gerald Doeksen, Oklahoma State University
Sanford Dooley, Louisiana State University
Clark Garland, University of Tennessee
Mike Hedges, University of Arkansas
Ed Jones, North Carolina State University
Rick Maurer, University of Kentucky
Joe McGilberry, Mississippi State University
Chris Sieverdes, Clemson University
Harry Strawn, Auburn University
Greg Taylor, Texas A&M University
Bonnie Teater, Southern Rural Development Center
Ramon Torres, University of Puerto Rico
Alfred Wade, Prairie View A&M University
James Walton, West Virginia State College
Clyde Chesney, Tennessee State University (Advisor)
Steve Jones, University of Alabama (Advisor)
Sally Maggard, USDA-CSREES - ECS (Federal Liaison)

Appointment of a Nomination's Committee:

Ed Jones appointed Rick Maurer, Charles Artis, and Greg Taylor to the Nomination's Committee to select the sale of Committee officers and representatives to the PLC.

Administrative Advisor's Report:

Clyde Chesney reported that the issues facing the South are CRD issues. He encouraged the CRD Committee to take the initiative and provide leadership for programming efforts. In the strategic plans for 1862 and 1890 Extension, the concept of leadership development is imbedded in the programming effort. He warned members that the choice is to provide leadership or see extension fall behind as a force in rural development.

Steve Jones reported a strong interest to convey the interests of the CRD committee to the Extension Directors and Administrators. He expressed a willingness to be supportive as we address issues and concerns related to community development.

USDA - CSREES - Economic and Community Systems Report:

Sally Maggard, USDA-Economic and Community Systems, noted that the community development committee must be proactive as it addresses rural and community development. She announced that Dan Kugler has been appointed as CSREES Deputy Administrator for Economic and Community Systems. She sees a willingness at the federal level to have different program areas work more closely together to address rural and community development. Dr. Kugler appreciates the role of community development functioning by means of a holistic approach. The hope is that community development demonstration funds may become available for use by extension community development programs. She reported on CSREES efforts to obtain funding allocations for community and economic development programs. She noted that the Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C. is a resource for programs and resources. She also identified the urgent need for marketing of program successes to larger audiences. (See CSREES UPDATE, attached). Maggard noted that the North Central Region is working on programming to incorporate Hispanic audiences into extension activities.

Southern Program Leadership Committee Representative:

Charles Artis, Southern PLC representative, reported that the Southern Region Program Leadership Committee decided to stay with the same meeting time frame (tentatively August 26-29, 2001) at a location in Georgia (Atlanta or Savannah) to be announced. Rick Maurer, as a member, noted that the program next year should address community development issues and concerns. Discussion surrounded the terms of Artis and Maurer which expire August 2001. Agreement was reached that one of the two representatives extend his term by one year in order to have continuity of CRD representation on the Southern Extension Program Leadership Committee.

Extension Program Leadership Committee - ECOP:

Rick Maurer, reporting for the CSREES Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP), distributed a handout taken from the ECOP Web page. He noted distinctions between initiatives and base programs. The initiatives are Animal Waste Management, Food Safety and Quality, Healthy People, Healthy Communities, Child Care, and Workforce Preparation. The Southern region has taken a significant lead in a number of these areas with particular success in health and workforce preparation.

USDA - CSREES Base Program Strategic Teams:

A. Community Resource and Economic Development (CRED): Rick Maurer, member of he Community Resource and Economic Development, reported that the team is soliciting examples of "Programs of Excellence" related to the base program area. He encouraged the program leaders in the Southern region to be assertive about putting their programs into contention for selection to the CRED Base Program Team web site. He distributed a form requesting the name of the program, a brief description, goals, success criteria, and program impacts.


B.
Leadership and Volunteer Development (LVD): Chris Sieverdes, representing the Leadership and Volunteer Development Base Program Team, reported that approximately 70 programs are currently listed on the CSREES web page with a direct link to the Southern Rural Development Center web page. Additional "programs of excellence" are invited to place their program on the web site after being screened by the LVD team. He noted that four areas are overlapping between the CRED and LVD teams. (Community Leadership Development/Leadership Development, Local Government Education/Elected Officials, Public Policy Issues Education/Public Policy, Business Retention and Expansion).

Southern Rural Development Center Report:

A. Community Development Institute: Bo Beaulieu reported on the successful 2000 Southern Community Development Institute with 23 participants and 17 faculty presenters. Nine participants received graduate academic credit through Mississippi State University. Discussion ensued regarding continuation of the program on an annual basis. General consensus was to continue CDI, but considered base and advanced options during a given year. Location was considered an important factor determining attendance. This year marks the third year of the CDI's base program.

B. Sustainable Development Conference: Bo Beaulieu reported on the Sustainable Development: Building Quality Communities Conference scheduled for October 10-12, 2000 in Nashville. Topics include creating community, growing a sustainable economic, governing Sustainably, exploring smart growth, protecting natural resources, and living Sustainably. Over 200 participants could possibly attend the conference. States are encouraged to send six-person teams to the conference.

C. E-Business: A Southern region task force has been organized by SRDC, 23 members, met in April in Birmingham. A subset of the team met in July 2000 as part of a national team. They are conducting an assessment, examining the curriculum, and determining available resources. Another team will address research regarding e-commerce.

D. Rural-Urban Interface Conference: The SRDC is working with the Heartland Center to host a rural-urban interface workshop addressing youth issues. The states include Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. A mini-grant will be provided by a foundation.

E. National 4-H Council and SRDC Workforce Development effort. Funding from United Parcel Service has enabled a collaborative team to engage in workforce development efforts targeting youth. A conference is planned for February 2001.

F. The curriculum package includes on marketing, business planning, e-commerce, and related subjects in 22 chapters on a CD-ROM for $50. The program was developed and distributed nationally.

G. The SRDC web site has been completed. It has been upgraded and improved as a comprehensive system with a user-friendly format. Suggestions for improvement are requested on a continuing basis.

H. SRDC has published a 17 unit Rural Policy in the South Series. Thirteen reports are published; four are forthcoming. 1200 copies of each report have been printed. The authors have come primarily from the southern region and serve as the resource contact(s) for each report they authored.

I. Funding for the SRDC is approximately $250,000 from base funding and over $360,000 from extramural funding. These figures are considerably higher than in previous years and reflect the support for the SRDC by funding sources and successful leveraging by Center staff using existing funds. The center staff is commended for its continued effectiveness and value to extension and research programming in the Southern region. Printed materials prepared by the SRDC is occurring at an astounding rate when compared to the period prior to the current director's arrival.

J. Bo and Bonnie Teater displayed several of the e-business, e-commerce, and e-team web based resources. This is a fast-growing area of knowledge.

K. The SRDC conducted a survey to solicit input from clientele in the region regarding performance evaluation. A random follow-up survey was send to approximately one-quarter of the mailing list of constituents in the region.

L. Bo reported on a Building a Youth Community Development program. He noted that the program is being development by a committee and results should be forthcoming in month.

Community Development Institute:

Bo requested input regarding the next generation of the Community Development Institute. A total of 86 persons have graduated from the program. The scheduling of CDI program, the curriculum, the audience, the means of applying the material, topic areas were discussed.

Decisions must address the following items:
1. Offer the program each year or in alternate years
2. Offer an advanced course and decide the content of the curriculum
3. Who will prepare the materials
4. When and where the program will be offered
5. Identify the experiential learning model which contains practical applications

A committee was formed to determine the future of the CDI Planning Committee Greg Taylor, Joe McGilberry, Chris Sieverdes, Gae Broadwater, plus an extension middle manager and an agent.

Sustainable Communities:

The idea is that community and economic development principles are part of most extension programming. The processes and tools should be shared with all program areas with special emphasis in agriculture and natural resources. The conference is structured to be participatory. The program is linked with ANR as well as 4-H and Youth Development and Family Consumer Sciences.

Southern Extension Health Institute:

The Southern Extension Health Institute, scheduled for October 2-6, 2000 in Canton, MS, is designed to provide extension agents with health programming. Registration is limited to 40 participants. Nine faculty will present information on health statistics, health language, the organization of the health system in the U.S., helping decision-makers to maintain primary health care services in rural areas, health systems simulation, designing effective programs, strategies for promoting health and preventing injury and disease, and community health assessment. The SRDC sees this as a pilot program that is likely to be presented through the three other rural development centers throughout the US

Qualified Zone Academy Boards - (QZAB) / OCRE:

This initiative entails a process for school systems to obtain bonds from special funds to improve public school facilities. The SRDC serves as a conduit for selected states (North Carolina, Texas, Mississippi).

August 28, 2000

Joint Meeting with ANR:

The CRD Committee met with the ANR Committee. The Southern Region Extension Forester, Bill Hubbard, reported on a number of initiatives and successful programs. He reported on The Master Tree Farmer 2000 Program, the Urban Forestry Institute, the Animal Waste project, a GIS Conference, a conservation education effort, the work of the USDA-CSREES base program team for Natural Resources and Environmental Management regarding the fragmentation and partitioning of land tracts, and the new association, The Association of Natural Resources Extension Professionals ($25 membership fee). Steve Jones noted that a committee of extension directors launched the MOA to fund the Southern Region Extension Forestry position. This position has been in operation for 21 years. It is possible that the agreement needs to be updated.

Ed Jones and Curtis Absher (co-chairs of the committee) reported on the Sustainable Development Conference noted above. They pointed out that it is a "train-the-trainer" opportunity as well as a resource and planning conference to provide information for extension programming. It is a conference to create a vision of where extension needs to be in ANR, FCS, 4-H &YD, and CRD programming. The conference will be an opportunity to share resources and test ideas.

Business Retention and Expansion (BR&E) Program:

Chris Sieverdes presented an overview of BR&E programming. He noted that a number (N=19) of extension agents and specialists have become certified by BREI (Minnesota) in South Carolina. Clemson Extension has conducted two BR&E Visitation programs in the past year. Hank Cothran (Florida) is planning to offer BR&E programs in his state. Discussion about creating a different sort of BR&E program in the Southern Region ensued. Oklahoma State according to Gerald Doeksen offers its version under the name, the Business C.A.R.E. (Business: Create, Attract, Retain, Expand). A study committee was formed to develop this program area further.

Alan Barefield - University of Tennessee
Pam Brown - Texas A&M University
Hank Cothran - University of Florida (Chair)
Beth Duncan - Mississippi State University
Chris Sieverdes- Clemson University
Deborah Tootle - Louisiana State University
Carson Watt - Texas A&M University
Mike Woods - Oklahoma State University
Bo Beaulieu - Southern Rural Development Center
(David Hughes - West Virginia) - FYI

Nonprofit Education Initiative:

Chris Sieverdes distributed brochures describing the Nonprofit Education Initiative (DIRECTIONS). This is Nonprofit Organization Resource Assessment and Strategic Planning Program. The program positions extension agents to serve as program facilitators to convene representatives of local nonprofit and voluntary agencies, engage them in an resource assessment process, including mission review, organizational life cycle analysis, business plan, marketing plan, financial plan, public relations plan, staff evaluation, and other organizational assessments and audits. The second phase is training for boards, staff, and clientele to address identified needs of nonprofit organizations.

A Nonprofit Resource Committee was formed to assemble resources and develop regional support for state program needs.

Charles Artis - South Carolina State University
Gae Broadwater - Kentucky State University
Mike Hedges - University of Arkansas
Ernie Hughes - Southern University
Chris Sieverdes - Clemson University (Chair)
Claudette Smith - NC A&T University

It was noted that Teresa Hogue at Oregon State University has material on collaboration available through the CYFAR network. The web site is www.cyfar.org

Emergency Preparedness:

Ed Jones discussed his first love, Emergency Preparedness. This includes tornados, hurricanes, drought, flood, earthquake, nuclear crisis, and winter storms. Related issues are economic costs, reconstruction, animal disposal, impact assessment, food storage, contingency planning, volunteer management, traffic flow, and FEMA access. A possible benefit is that Extension has a better connection with local agencies than some national organizations. This may occur at three levels including preparedness, communications, and implementation. It was noted that this is a Southern Region issues since 9 of 13 (VA, NC, SC, GA, FL, AL, MS, LA, TX) are coastal states where hurricanes and floods constitute a major risk.

Extension Associates:

Chris Sieverdes noted the increased use of extension associates as part of Land-Grant University outreach and public service. Particular attention was given to the development of career tracks. Extension Associates are on "soft money" in some states or employed through contracts. The University of Georgia has Public Service Extension Associates, Texas A&M identifies extension associates as temporary employees. Other schools have extension associates in the areas of Information and Communications. Other states have "Professional Specialists"and "State Assistant Specialists." Pitfalls include (1) equivalency among research, teaching, and extension Associates and (2) recognition and evaluation of research and extension integration within the state system. In Alabama, Extension Associates have faculty rank without tenure with a four step career ladder. In Georgia, public service associates are reviewed by area of expertise similar to specialists.

Election:

Rick Maurer, Charles Artis, and Greg Taylor submitted the following slate for the year 2000-01: Ernie Hughes-Chair, Chris Sieverdes - Vice Chair, Gae Broadwater - Secretary. Charles Artis and Rick Maurer agreed to serve an additional year as PLC representatives. Rick will become the PLC representative for a two year term ending August 2002, Charles Artis will serve a one year term ending August 2001. All recommendations by the nomination committee passed unanimously.


Conference Call dates are last day of month, 9:00 central, 10:00 eastern time. Dates are Sept. 29, 2000; Nov. 30, 2000; Jan 31, 2001; Mar 30, 2001; May 31, 2001; July 31, 2001. Call duration is one hour maximum.

Adjourned at 4:05 p.m.

August 29, 2000

Joint session Community Development and 4-H and Youth Development:

Bo Beaulieu introduced the concept of a resource package which represents an interface between community development practice and youth development. He noted that the involvement of youth in community projects draws on community engagement and adult participation. The youth leadership in community curriculum addresses youth engagement in community and civic participation. Susan Halbert (National 4-H Council) reported on the Charting Community Connections (CCC). This program evolved from the "Bridging the Gap" program which targeted isolated communities. Charting Community Connections is a modified continuation of that activity. It promotes "strength-based" community development (as compared to "asset based"). The program includes a package of tools to "express your community gifts." CCC can help you create a structure for your community, improve group and process skills, facilitate the development of individuals and teams, and help create a vision and move to action. The program recognizes and builds on a group's past activity. One could use a history wall with key events. The process is designed to be sustained over time. Elements include building readiness, planning for the future, guiding implementation, and systems change.

The discussion which followed included an offer by Bo Beaulieu to coordinate an effort which enables 4-H Youth Development and Community Development program areas to communicate and make the program more operational. Chris Sieverdes indicated that designated specialist time is dedicated to an effective collaborative effort at Clemson. A committee to address this effort in the Southern region was formed which included Warren McCord (Auburn), Mike Davis (North Carolina State), Greg Taylor (Texas A&M), and Toni Pipkins (Clemson), Rick Maurer (Kentucky), and Bo Beaulieu (SRDC). The committee will communicate through conference calls. The CCC package is expected to become available in September 2000.

Rick Maurer gave an update on the PLC. He has been elected chair of PLC, Carolyn Nobles is Chair elect. There were no action items. Program Committee Reports are due to Bonnie by Sept. 30, 2000. Refer questions about formats to Bonnie Teater or the web site.

State Reports (Forthcoming):

Clemson University Extension State Report-prepared by Chris Sieverdes

Gerald Doeksen (Oklahoma State) noted that he has presented train-the-trainer workshops on health care systems and delivery. A large number of states have held these workshops. The workshops target health care and hospital access (critical access hospital care) in rural areas.

Joe McGilberry (MS State) reported that their state's enterprise and economic development effort has focused on rural water systems and related infrastructure. The state also received a grant from NASA to engage in remote sensing technology and the link to community development (GIS) technology to assist with land use planning, tax assessment, economic uses, etc.

John McKissick (Georgia) reported that extension formed a state rural economic development council, in part to address the tobacco settlement. The council is a vehicle for extension to become involved in rural economic development with focus on youth leadership, economic development, health care, and workforce preparation. The council encourages multi-county programming and activities. The governor's office has funded the program.

Recognition of Horace Hudson:

In closing the session, the Committee prepared a billboard of notes and memory makers to Horace Hudson expression appreciation to him for his many years of valued service to the Southern Community Development Program Leaders. Horace was recognized for his invaluable leadership, experience, and service to peers and citizens to improve the quality of life and economic well being of communities in Georgia and the region. He served as a role model for us all. We will miss him as a colleague and leader.

Committee Meetings during 2000-2001:

As noted above, conference calls have been scheduled for the last working day of the month: September 29, November 30, January 31, March 30, May 31, and July 31. Time is likely to be 10:00 Eastern Time. The call-in number at the SRDC is 662-325-8448.

A mid-year meeting of the committee is in the planning stage. Potential meeting date in January after the SAS Conference. Suggested date is Jan 31 (Wed). Fort Worth Texas. The exact time will be determined.

Ed Jones received a massive display of appreciation from the committee members for his term and a half of service as Committee Chair. Clark Garland led with comments and group applause.


Adjourned at 10:05 am, August 30, 2000.