Present:
Nina Boston, Information Technology, University of Arkansas
Mike Bratcher, Information Technology, North Carolina A&T
Beverly Howell, Family and Consumer Sciences, Mississippi State University
Frankie Gould, Communications, Louisiana State University
Ed Jones, Chair of PLN-EC, North Carolina State University
Daniel Lyons, Middle Management, North Carolina A&T
Gloria Mosby, Program Director, Communications Prairie View A&M
Louie Rivers, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Kentucky State University
Thelma Sanders-Hunter, PLC Chair, Family & Consumer Sciences, Tennessee State University
Joe Schaefer, Middle Management, University of Florida
Larry Turner, Advisor, Associate Dean for Extension, University of Kentucky
Dorothy Wilson, 4-H/Youth Development, FCS, CRD, Langston University
Tony Windham, Community Development, University of Arkansas
Ex-Officio:
Ron Brown, ASRED
Lorenzo Lyons, AEA
Kathy Ibendahl, SRDC
Absent:
Gae Broadwater, Community Development, Kentucky State University
Paul Mask, Ag and Natural Resources, Auburn University
Lamar Nichols, 4-H Youth Development, Auburn University
Jon Ort, Assistant Vice Chancellor & Dir., North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service
Mitch Owen, Program & Staff Dev., North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service
Noland Williams, Associate Administrator, Kentucky State University
Welcome
Thelma Sanders-Hunter, PLC chair, welcomed everyone. There were no changes or additions to the minutes of the winter meeting held in Atlanta on November 30 and December 1, 2005. The minutes will be posted on the website as they stand.
Advisors' report
Lorenzo Lyons reported that the 1890 Extension Administrators held their winter meeting February 1- 3, 2006. One of the discussion items was 1890 participation in EFNEP. Funding was provided for 1890 institutions to participate; however, funding was limited and varied by institution. AEA is pushing to increase the amount to $100,000 for each institution participating in EFNEP next year. A planning meeting with program team chairs and vice chairs will be held in April 17 – 19 in Memphis. The group will be discussing multi-state and regional programming. President Bush’s budget has been released and is available on the NASCULGC website.
Ron Brown said that the University of Kentucky hosted a competitive grants workshop with CSREES a few weeks ago and had excellent participation.
Larry Turner reported on several key items. The ECOP meeting was held last week. With Larry Cody as chair, the committee has several goals. First, the committee wants to improve, increase and have more effective communications in marketing. For example, they are working with Land-Grant university presidents more closely to educate them about the role of Extension. The committee’s second goal is funding. The president’s budget has proposed shifts in multi-state funding so ECOP is looking into new funding opportunities/avenues. For example, in the area of animal health funding, there is the possibility of shifting integrated programs into NRI for their management.
There are good things for Extension in the president’s budget. For example, he wishes to double the $1.5 million for eXtension to nearly $3 million.
There is a new proposed funding mechanism for programming at the USDA level that would bring together CSREES, ERS, and ARS under an umbrella. Preliminary discussions have taken place. NASCULG has adopted this in principle and a committee has been working on it since then. This is connected with plans for the new farm bill.
Another goal of ECOP is effective programming and staff development. New partnerships are being developed with the Department of Energy and the National Association of Counties (NACo).
Dr. Turner gave an update of what happened at the national Extension directors meeting last week in Albuquerque. They were told that a 10% increase is proposed for all Formula Funds, including Smith Lever funds. However, much more dialog is needed about changes and allocations of Formula Funds.
PLN Logo
Gloria Mosby told the committee that she shared our Winter Meeting discussion and logo selection with the Communications Committee. We will begin to use the new logo in both printed materials and on the SRPLN website. These changes will be made this spring.
eXtension – Ron Brown said the second call for engagement was distributed recently and is available on the eXtension website. They anticipate increased institutional participation in this round. If you are not aware of the teams at your universities, please investigate. Teams are in the process of formulating frequently asked questions.
This year, $2.97 million was designated for eXtension. If you know your institution’s CARET delegates, encourage them to support this increase in eXtension when they go to Washington next week.
Committee Reports
| ANR | Louie Rivers told the group that USDA CSREES sponsored a national water conference in San Antonio in early February and had 450 registrants. ANR plans to hold its next teleconference in the near future. He reported on the USDA-sponsored Outlook conference. It focused on rural development and over 2,500 were in attendance. They were pleased that some of the producers they work with made a presentation at the conference. There is a need to increase diversity at future Outlook conferences. |
| COMM | Frankie Gould said the Communications Committee held a teleconference last week. During the meeting, Gloria Mosby reported on the new PLN logo. Communications is thinking about adapting the IT Committee’s state report tool. Virginia Morgan gave a brief update on the ACE conference to be held in Canada. Terry Meisenbach, eXtension’s Communications and Marketing Leader, is participating in COMM teleconferences to help with PLN marketing. Communication’s Plan of Work has been updated. Five CECP modules are in progress and should be complete by August. Gloria Mosby asked PLC members to make sure Terry Meisenbach has their communication heads’ e-mail addresses so Terry can communicate with all. |
| CRD | Tony Windham reported that CRD held its most recent conference call on January 31st. The minutes are available on the PLN website. Sally Maggard at CSREES gave an update about hiring a program specialist to work in community and economic development. Also, in its meeting, CRD discussed details of the national program leaders meeting in Washington, DC May 23 – 25. Tony gave updates on the CECP modules that are in progress. The National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals (NACDEP) conference was held last week in San Antonio. About 330 were in attendance. During the conference, the SR-CRD group met and Bo Beaulieu discussed the SRDC strategic planning process and the state focus group meetings that will be held to glean information for this process and help with in-state program planning. The Southern Institute for Rural Development (SIRD) will be held in Monroe, LA, April 24 – 26. |
| FCS | Beverly Howell and Thelma Sanders-Hunter said that FCS held its quarterly conference call in January and the next one is in April. Module development efforts are going well. Our FCS program leaders are working on EFNEP programs and are preparing letters of intent that are due in April. The national EFNEP meeting and the Board of Human Sciences are meeting in Washington at the same time—March 6 – 9. The southern region program leaders will be meeting on March 5th to discuss module development and other issues. The 2006 National Priester Health Conference will be held |
| 4-H Youth Development | The committee’s next conference call will be held January 6th, said Dorothy Wilson. They are on track with their CECP module development plans. The 4-H Youth Development national program leaders meeting will be held March 16 in Washington, DC. The Southern region group will have an opportunity to meet during this meeting. The Biennial conference will be held in Tula, OK in April. The National 4-H Conference will be held in DC in late March. |
| IT | Nina Boston reported that Greg Crosby presented an update on the One Solutions project during the last IT Committee Centra meeting. They are a good ways from having a product, but they had a very good exchange and are committed to work with IT in all the states to help coordinate the reporting system. See Nina if you would like a recording of that presentation. |
| MM | There is no new information to report, said Joe Schaefer. We hope to hold a conference call in the near future. Kathy Ibendahl reminded Joe that the committee’s plan of work should be updated. |
| PSD | Lorenza Lyons will follow up with AEA to name an 1890 representative to the Personnel and Staff Development Committee. |
The 2006 National Priester Health Conference will be held
April 25-27, 2006 in Louisville, Kentucky.
http://www.ca.uky.edu/fcs/priester/
4-H Youth Development The committee’s next conference call will be held January 6th, said Dorothy Wilson. They are on track with their CECP module development plans.
The 4-H Youth Development national program leaders meeting will be held March 16 in Washington, DC. The Southern region group will have an opportunity to meet during this meeting. The Biennial conference will be held in Tula, OK in April. The National 4-H Conference will be held in DC in late March.
IT Nina Boston reported that Greg Crosby presented an update on the One Solutions project during the last IT Committee Centra meeting. They are a good ways from having a product, but they had a very good exchange and are committed to work with IT in all the states to help coordinate the reporting system. See Nina if you would like a recording of that presentation.
MM There is no new information to report, said Joe Schaefer. We hope to hold a conference call in the near future. Kathy Ibendahl reminded Joe that the committee’s plan of work should be updated.
PSD Lorenza Lyons will follow up with AEA to name an 1890 representative to the Personnel and Staff Development Committee.
Annual Meeting Update
The annual meeting in San Juan will be held at the beautiful Ritz Carlton hotel. This is where PLN was held several years ago and the hotel served us well at that time. We received a good room rate compared to the few other hotels of this size. The guest room rate is $139 per night plus tax and resort fees. We are doing our best to keep the PLN registration fee at or below $250.
The Puerto Rico group is working hard to make this a special meeting. They are planning a cultural event for Tuesday evening, August 29th. PLN/AEA/ASRED attendees will be invited to the city of Old San Juan for an authentic Puerto Rican dinner and a casual evening of cultural entertainment. Plans are still being formulated, but it looks like the individual cost of the event will be minimal. The event is optional and the fee will be separate from the meeting registration fee.
Several committees are organizing field trips during the meeting. Please have your committees share these details with Kathy.
The meeting adjourned at 9:50 a.m.
Submitted by Kathy Ibendahl