Present:
Nina Boston, PLC Chair, Information Technology, University of Arkansas
Paul Coreil, ASRED Advisor, Louisiana State University
Nelson Daniels, PLC Chair-Elect, Ag and Natural Resources, Prairie View A&M University
Gina Eubanks, AEA Advisor, Southern University Cooperative Extension
Frankie Gould, Communications, Louisiana State University
Beverly Howell, Family and Consumer Sciences, Mississippi State University
Paul Mask, Ag and Natural Resources, Auburn University
Ray McKinnie, AEA Appointee, North Carolina A&T State University
Gloria Mosby, Communications, Prairie View A&M University
Lamar Nichols, 4-H Youth Development, Auburn University
Mitch Owen, Program & Staff Dev., North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service
Thelma Sanders-Hunter, PLC Chair, Family & Consumer Sciences, Tennessee State University
Joe Schaefer, Middle Management, University of Florida
Dorothy Wilson, 4-H Youth Development, FCS, CRD, Langston University
Tony Windham, Community Development, University of Arkansas
Ex-Officio:
Kathy Ibendahl, SRDC
L. Washington Lyons, AEA
Committee Chairs and Vice-Chairs Joining PLC:
Debbie Archer, Chair, Communications
Claude Bess, Chair, Middle Management
Mary Ellen Blackburn, Chair, Program and Staff Development
Herb Byrd, Vice-Chair, Program and Staff Development
Rhonda Conlon, Chair, Information Technology
Shirley Hastings, Vice-Chair, Family and Consumer Science
Dawn Mellion-Patin, Vice-Chair, Agriculture and Natural Resources
Dee Shore, Vice-Chair, Communications
Louis Whitesides, Vice-Chair, Community Development
Mike Woods, Chair, Community Development
Absent:
Mike Bratcher, Information Technology, North Carolina A&T State University
Gae Broadwater, Community Development, Kentucky State University
Ron Brown, ASRED, Ex Officio
Jon Ort, ASRED Appointee, North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service
Ellen Smoak, Middle Managers, North Carolina A&T University
The announcement was made that Gina Eubanks has been reappointed to PLC and the Executive Committee as the AEA representative.
Welcome
Nina Boston welcomed the committee to Louisville.
Last Minute Conference Information
Brief announcements concerning room changes and the Newcomers Orientation were made. She asked PLC members to remind their respective committees about tomorrow night's reception from 5 - 6 p.m. The reception is in response to comments from last year. People asked for a way to meet and network with other committees as well as to make dinner plans.
Service Terms and Committee Appointments of New PLC Members
Nina reviewed PLC service terms. Gloria Mosby, Gae Broadwater, Beverly Howell, Dorothy Wilson, and Michael Bratcher all have terms ending this year. Please work with your committees to either re-elect these folks or elect a new member. Beverly and Gloria serve on the Executive Committee as committee representatives and their terms to the EC expire this year as well. The Communications, IT, PSD, and Middle Management committees will need to either reappoint Gloria or appoint someone else and FCS, CD, 4-H Youth Development, and ANR will need to either reappoint Beverly or appoint someone else to represent them this coming year. Nina asked that representatives from these committees get together to make their selection during the meeting this week.
Conference Call Dates
Kathy Ibendahl distributed a list of PLC conference call dates and times. PLC usually meets quarterly on the third Thursday (October, February, April, June and July). The July meeting is for last minute meeting planning. The committee agreed to keep the same conference call schedule this year. Since many members are on the road during these meetings, it was decided to keep the conference call phone-in format in place for now rather than using an internet conference system like Centra for our regular meetings.
PLC Winter Meeting
The question is whether to hold this meeting in person or electronically. There are pluses and minuses to both. L. Washington Lyons said he prefers meeting face-to-face as the group doesn't have the opportunity to work through a lot of details online like we would if we were in a room together. Centra would allow us to stay at home and not spend the time and money traveling to a meeting; however, it is difficult to get people engaged and committed when we use Centra. Last year, we needed suggestions on meeting themes and speakers and were able to get some people to help us, but it took quite a while for the Planning Committee to meet and make these decisions. Nina stressed the importance of having firm deadlines for prospective speakers to respond to us and have back-up speaker options in case our first choices back out.
Nina suggested we determine a meeting theme and select speakers at the Winter Meeting this year. Also, during the meeting, we will take volunteers to contact these speakers with a timeframe for a response. In addition, we will have some initial planning (theme ideas) done before our Winter Meeting.
The committee decided it would hold its Winter Meeting face-to-face in Atlanta, Georgia on December 11 th and 12 th . This will be a 1 p.m. to noon meeting. The 2008 meeting theme, speakers, agenda, and other details will be the first priority. We will not move on to other topics until these decisions have been made. Kathy Ibendahl will find an appropriate hotel to hold the meeting and will communicate meeting logistics in the near future.
Committee Chairs Joined PLC at 4:00 p.m.
Nina asked everyone for introductions. Afterwards, she went through the list of PLC members whose terms expire this year. These are Gloria Mosby, Communications; Beverly Howell, FCS; Dorothy Wilson, 4-H Youth Development; and Gae Broadwater, Community Development. She asked the committee chairs to elect new representatives or reappoint these individuals.
Nina gave an overview of today's agenda. The Newcomers orientation will be held at 5 p.m. in the Filly Room. During this session, we will cover expectations of committee members and answer questions. We hope new members will get a lot out of this session.
Kathy Ibendahl distributed a packet to the current committee chairs. Nina asked them to pass this packet on to their in-coming chairs. It contains information about committee chairs' roles and responsibilities and a list of items Kathy needs to update committee membership lists and listservs. It is very important to keep the listservs up to date so everyone can participate in the quarterly conference calls and receive communication as it is distributed. Kathy asked chairs to notify her prior to distributing an important message so she can be sure to approve these messages in a timely manner. She receives dozens of spam messages to these listservs daily and it can be hard to spot legitimate messages in order to approve them. Also, if she is out of the office, there may not be someone to approve these messages. Please give her office a call prior to sending an important message.
Nina explained how we are handling action and information items this year. Please use the template we gave you. It is posted on the meeting website if you need to access it. She explained where to find the link. Please have your slides to Kathy by 3 p.m. on Wednesday. Keep them brief. This process will save Kathy the work of reformatting and writing.
Information items are things directors and administrators need to know. Not something they need to take action on. Action items are things that require approval from the entire bodies of AEA and ASRED. These are projects that will cost money or require a commitment of time and staff across the region.
Plans of Work
Please remember that committee plans of work need to be updated periodically and the new 2008 plans need to be posted as soon as they are determined. A link to the 2008 form can be found at http://srpln.msstate.edu/rc/awp/awp.htm . Use the online submission system and the SRDC will post it to the committee's website. Updates to prior years' plans need to be sent via regular e-mail to Kathy.
PLC Meeting on Thursday Morning
Nina reminded the committee about Thursday morning's meeting at 7 a.m. During this time, we will meet and review the information and action items before we make the formal presentation to AEA and ASRED at 10:30 a.m. PLC decided to change the time of its Thursday morning meeting to 7:15 to allow time for breakfast.
Joint Committee Meetings
Two joint committee meetings will take place this week. Program and Staff Development will meet with the Middle Managers on Wednesday morning. Information Technology will meet with Communications on Wednesday morning as well.
Committee Activities and Business That Will Be Addressed During This Meeting
Program and Staff Development . PSD is having its first professional conference. It will be held this coming October in Atlanta and will last three days. Mary Ellen Blackburn and Mitch Owen reported on this meeting. They plan to hold three tracks-Advisory Leadership System, Program Area and Evaluation, and Staff Development. Several individuals from outside of the southern region PSD committee submitted proposals.
ASRED . Paul Coreil said that ASRED has a group coming in this week to discuss formation of a bioenergy SERA. They will discuss how Extension should respond to significant changes in agriculture with the increasing importance of biofuels. This meeting will be held Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. It will be interesting to see the changing landscape in rural communities and business ventures. The meeting will have both a research and Extension focus.
eXtension continues to focus on its communities of practice and launch outstanding ones. Many of you contributed to content on those sites. You will be hearing from Dan Cotton in some of your committees. Dalton McAfee will be coming in as chair of the national governing committee this year. We have a good representation in the South. eXtension's national launch will take place in 2008. It will be marketed for public use at that time.
Federal budget and CREATE 21. L. Washington Lyons has been heavily involved. We have a lot of federal negotiations that needs to take place. We have good news about the Smith-Lever and Formula Funding categories, but earmarks continue to be controversial. It looks like earmarks may come back, but there is talk of continuing resolutions again. We have a lot to watch in the next few months.
ECOP. A study committee has gotten underway to review. Elbert Dicky (NE) is taking over as chair in November. It will be the southern region's turn next year. Paul Coreil is the chair-elect.
Louisiana will be celebrating the 4-H Centennial in 2008. Paul would like to share ideas with other states that have celebrated their centennials. Louisiana wishes to maximize the impact of that celebration. There will be some nice opportunities to raise funds for 4-H during the Centennial.
AEA. L. Washington Lyons reported that the House Bill looks fairly good in terms of CREATE 21. They are concerned about the money that will be available. He believes the Senate bill will look similar but with some additions to the House Bill. Jim Richards has been working with our lobbists.
USDA Undersecretary Dr. Gail Buchanan sent each region invitations to a September workshop aimed to help USDA develop the direction it needs to go to address the energy crisis.
AEA is planning an 1890 meeting June 8 - 11, 2008 in Memphis. The focus will be on the entire land-grant system and how to develop communication between research, Extension and Teaching. They are looking forward to great participation.
The Senate will soon begin discussion on the Farm Bill. We'll have to keep an ear to the ground. The Land-Grant system is very pleased with the House bill.
Extension Marketing . Frankie Gould said that she and Dr. McKinnie are on an ECOP marketing and communications committee to develop a plan to better market Extension. The survey they conducted of directors and communication heads yielded a 60% return rate. A request for proposals is going out for an assessment to do brand recognition and to give us some focus on where we go next. We hope to have that in the next 6 - 8 months.
Nina adjourned the meeting at 4:50 p.m.
Submitted by Kathy Ibendahl, SRDC
Present:
Debbie Archer, Communications, University of Arkansas Pine Bluff
Mary Ellen Blackburn, Chair, Program and Staff Development
Mike Bratcher, Information Technology, North Carolina A&T State University
Nina Boston, PLC Chair, Information Technology, University of Arkansas
Paul Coreil, ASRED Advisor, Louisiana State University
Nelson Daniels, PLC Chair-Elect, Ag and Natural Resources, Prairie View A&M University
Frankie Gould, Communications, Louisiana State University
Shirley Hastings, Vice-Chair, Family and Consumer Science
Paul Mask, Ag and Natural Resources, Auburn University
Lamar Nichols, 4-H Youth Development, Auburn University
Mitch Owen, Program & Staff Dev., North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service
Tony Roberts, Vice-Chair, Middle Management
Christopher Rogers, Information Technology, Southern University Ag Center
Thelma Sanders-Hunter, PLC Chair, Family & Consumer Sciences, Tennessee State University
Joe Schaefer, Middle Management, University of Florida
Dorothy Wilson, 4-H Youth Development, FCS, CRD, Langston University
Tony Windham, Community Development, University of Arkansas
Bill Woodrum, Community Development, West Virginia State University
Ex-Officio:
Ron Brown, ASRED
L. Washington Lyons, AEA
Kathy Ibendahl, SRDC
PLC Members Absent:
Gina Eubanks, AEA Advisor, Southern University Cooperative Extension
Ray McKinnie, AEA Appointee, North Carolina A&T State University
Jon Ort, ASRED Appointee, North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service
Ellen Smoak, Middle Managers, North Carolina A&T University
Welcome
Nina Boston called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone.
New Program Leadership Committee Representatives
The following new appointments to PLC were announced:
Communications Debbie Archer, University of Arkansas Pine Bluff 1890 representative replacing Gloria Mosby
Community Development Bill Woodrum, West Virginia State University 1890 representative replacing Gae Broadwater
Family & Consumer Science Shirley Hastings, University of Tennessee 1862 representative replacing Beverly Howell
Information Technology Christopher Rogers, Southern University Ag Center 1890 representative replacing Michael Bratcher
4-H Youth Development Dorothy Wilson, Langston University 1890 representative re-elected to serve another term
Program & Staff Development Mitch Owen said there is an 1890 representative vacancy on their committee, but no 1890 participation.
Frankie Gould (Communications) was selected to represent MM, PSD, IT, and COMM on the Executive Committee.
Nina reminded the other four committees, CD, 4-H Youth Development, ANR, and FCS, to select a representative in the near future. This person will replace Beverly Howell on the Executive Committee. Please tell your new chairs that this needs to be done. Kathy Ibendahl will also send a reminder. The Executive Committee will be meeting during the PLC Winter Meeting in December, and the new representative needs to be present.
Ron Brown announced that Gaines Smith (Auburn) has been selected to replace Paul Coreil as chair of ASRED next year.
Other Items of Business
New PLC Chair Elect - Nina, Thelma Sanders-Hunter, and Gloria Mosby formed a nominating committee and selected Mitch Owen as the new PLC chair-elect. He has agreed to serve. No other nominations came forward. Mitch was voted in as the new chair-elect. Nina congratulated Mitch.
Presentation of Information and Action Items - Dr. Brown reminded PLC that AEA and ASRED wish to have the Action Items presented first and, if there is adequate time, Information Items may be presented.
Nina went through the PowerPoint presentation slide by slide and each committee explained their action and information items. A discussion followed on what is an information item and what is an action item. Information items are programs/projects/meetings that AEA and ASRED need to be aware of, not items that require their approval. Action items are projects/programs/meeting that pertain to the region as a whole and require AEA and ASRED approval for staffing and/or budgetary reasons. Slides were explained and edited as needed.
Nina closed the meeting by explaining that she and Kathy will compile the Information Items for presentation to AEA and ASRED if there is time. However, most likely we will have time for just the Action Items and the Information Items will be submitted to the administrators and directors electronically after this meeting.
We will plan on conducting an in-service training for committee chairs and vice-chairs this coming year. Part of this training will include clarification on Information and Action Items.
The meeting adjourned at 8:25 a.m.
Submitted by Kathy Ibendahl, SRDC