Southern Region Program & Staff Development
August 24-27, 2003
 
August 24-27, 2003

 

Key Accomplishments

Discussion Items

MAP/EXCEL Training
There appears to be a renewed interest in conducting MAP/EXCEL training. Alabama and Kentucky are planning training in the next year. Kentucky is planning a session the last week of March 2004 and will offer the training to other SR states. Contact Richard Rohs for further information regarding MAP/EXCEL at frrohs@uga.edu.For information regarding the Kentucky training, contact Roger Rennekamp at rrenneka@uky.edu or Paul Warner at pwarner@uky.edu.


SEAL Conference
The second annual Strengthening Extension Advisory Leaders (SEAL) conference will be held October 29-31, 2003 in Atlanta at the Westin Atlanta Airport. Focus is on strengthening stakeholder involvement in educational programming. Newly-developed training modules will be reviewed and tested in the following three competency areas: Leadership (Facilitating Partnerships); Assessing Community Needs and Making Meetings Work; and Orientation to Cooperative Extension and Advisory Role. Register state teams at http://www.pware.com/2532.For further info, contact Ronnie White at ronniew@ext.msstate.edu or Judy Groff at judy_groff@ncsu.edu.


New Worker Orientation
Jerry Gibson (VT) reported that a Southern Region proposal for $50,000 was submitted to ADEC for the purpose of funding the development of a new worker orientation module for CECP. Virginia Tech has already developed a new worker orientation for their new employees as an interim tool. The VT module can be viewed at http://www.ext.vt.edu/vce/staffdev/orientation/. Jerry was hopeful that the ADEC project would be funded.



Sharing Coursework across Universities
A task force headed by Jerry Gibson (VT) was appointed to pursue a method for sharing formal courses across universities in the Southern Region. This concept was presented to graduate coordinators and deans attending the Southern Ag Scientists meeting.  Interest in this concept was expressed by the graduate school coordinators and endorsed by the PSDC, with the largest hurdle apparently being local politics.  Jerry reminded the group that he had compiled an inventory of distance and online extension courses being offered in the Southern Region. Contact Jerry gibsonj@vt.edu for a copy of the inventory spreadsheet. The task force has been charged with meeting with graduate coordinators to discuss this issue, identify obstacles, brainstorm solutions and update online course offerings inventory. Members of this task force are: Jerry Gibson, chair; Roger Rennekamp (KY), Howard Ladewig (FL), Richard Rohs (GA), Lynette Jones (MS), Nick Place (FL)



 CECP Module Development
Much of this meeting was spent discussing issues surrounding the CECP process and modules.  Discussion focused around the issues of granularity of modules, duplication and overlapping of work across program committees and taxonomies, the critical need for IT and instructional design staff on module design teams, the need for constant review and revision of taxonomies, the opportunities for collaboration across program committees, the need to expand work groups, identification of the target group for CECP modules and designing modules for multiple levels of competence. style="mso-spacerun: yes"> A copy of the original PSD taxonomy is included in the appendix of this reportt at PSD Taxonomy.The SR-PSDC met with the Middle Management Committee (MMPC) to review progress on the four Program and Staff Development modules, Southern Extension History, Writing Impact Statements, Presentation Skills and Group Facilitation and discuss opportunities for collaboration.
Following the meeting, the following middle managers volunteered to participate in module development with PSD:Presentation Skills - Kent Rorie, University of Arkansas; History of Ext in the Southern Region - Clarene Teague-Johnson, Alabama A&M; Writing Impact Statements - Joe Schaefer, University of Florida; and John Mowbray, University of Kentucky.

 Group Facilitation Skills - Pam Hodson, LSU
The status of each module is as follows: Southern Extension History is posted and will be further modified; Presentation Skills has been posted and will be further modified; learning outcomes and content descriptions have been prepared for Writing Impact Statements and Group Facilitation. It was determined that there was some overlap in these modules and those being developed by MMPC. Mitch Owen (NC) and Joyce Martin (OK) volunteered to review the PSDC taxonomy and the MMPC taxonomy for duplications and identify opportunities to collaborate. Facilitators of each of the four module work groups indicated that they thought their modules could be completed and posted by the 2004 PLC meeting. Mitch Owen (NC) clarified that the Texas system that is currently being used for module posting is an interim system and not the permanent system.
The following suggestions were made regarding CECP issues:
1. 
 All work groups should begin with core level competencies and work toward higher levels of competency.
2.
 Submit an information item to CECP Steering Committee recommending that they address the issue of IT and instructional
design support.
3.
 Submit an information item to CECP Steering Committee recommending that they closely review the taxonomies of each PC
to determine duplication and overlap.
4.
 Someone on the PSDC should be given the responsibility of revising and maintaining the PSD taxonomy. Mike Lambur volunteered
for this role.
5.
 Mitch Owen was selected as the PSDC representative to the CECP Steering Committee. Julie Sexton and Susan Seal were
appointed as at-large members of the steering committee.
6.
 Susan Seal (MS) will set up a video conference in January to assess progress on PSD modules.
7.
 Establish a web page of resources that states already have available related to items in the taxonomy. Mitch indicated that this could
easily be added to the page with links to SR PSD pages that already exists at http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/pods/main/profstaff_dev.htm
8.
 PSD taxonomy: Change the name of the competency Collaborations and Partnerships to Working with People on the PSD. Leave Group Facilitation under the new title. Consider changing Developing Plans of Work under Program Development to Program Design and Accountability to Organization Accountability. Mike Lambur will review, revise and send out a draft of the revised taxonomy.
 

Updating list serve
It was noted that the SR-PSD list serve needs to be updated.  Joe will send out a list of current members and ask that each institution review the list, send him the required modifications and send a TEST message to the list serve to be sure it is working for everyone.

New federal plan of work requirements
 There was a discussion of the proposed changes to the federal plan of work. A copy of the proposed changes can be viewed at http://frwebgate5.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID=102896513906+4+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve. Comments are due September 8, 2003.  PSD will host a video conference in October to discuss this topic. Michael Newman will chair the committee to plan the conference and Mike Lambur and Susan Seal will assist him. It was suggested that Cheryl Oros, head of the new Evaluation/Accountability Unit at CSREES be invited to participate in the video conference. 

Need for additional training for PSDC
A need was expressed for additional training opportunities for PSDC. The possibility of combining a training effort with the MMPC meeting in New Orleans in 2005 was discussed. Scott Cummings (TX) and Howard Ladewig (FL) volunteered to explore training possibilities and to compile a list of possible training topics for consideration by PSDC.

 Reports from advisors
PSDC received reports from its administrative advisors: Paul Warner (KY) and Leodrey Williams (LA). A common theme that was present in the comments of both was that the need for program and staff development was even more critical now than ever before. In times of short budgets, reductions in personnel and reorganization, the maintenance of a well-trained, high quality workforce is necessary for the survival of the organization.



Information Items for CECP Steering Committee
The following items will be forwarded to the CECP Steering Committee for consideration:

  1. RE: Staffing support for CECP
    The Southern Region possesses a wealth of subject matter expertise necessary for the development of learning modules within CECP. Yet, across the region there are too few individuals with expertise in instructional design, graphic design, multi-media programming, editing and evaluation. For CECP to reach its full potential, a plan must be put into place for increasing the number of staff in the SR with expertise in these areas. Options include regional staff, contracting and additional staff housed within states with special responsibilities for CECP module development. The program and staff development committee encourages the CECP Steering Committee to develop a strategy for addressing this imbalance of personnel needs.


    2.
  2. RE: Integration of taxonomies
    As program committees move from developing taxonomies of competencies to creating CECP courses and modules for placement online, the Program and Staff Development Committee has a concern regarding duplication of efforts among the program committees. The Program and Staff Development Committee recommends that a priority be placed by the CECP Steering Committee on reviewing the taxonomies developed by the seven program committees to identify common elements, reduce duplication and integrate, where necessary.
Goals for 2003-2004 and Annual Work Plan

1.    Complete CECP modules:
a.    Southern Extension History – Julie Sexton, Michael Newman
b.     Writing Impact Statements – Mike Lambur, Della Baker
c.     Presentation Skills – Allisen Penn, Rich Poling
d.     Facilitation – Debra Davis, Mitch Owen
e.     New Workers
2.   Conduct SEAL conference – Ronnie White, Judy Groff
3.   Conduct regional MAP program – Richard Rohs
4.      Develop website for program and staff development resources and organize by core competencies – Mitch Owen
5.   Update program and staff development core competencies taxonomy and compare with middle management
      taxonomy for commonalities – Mike Lambur
6.      Conduct distance meeting on federal planning and reporting – Michael Newman
7.      Explore possibility of future face-to-face program and staff development meeting – Scott Cummings
8.      Explore multi-state sharing of distance education courses across the region – Jerry Gibson

  Participants:

Della Baker (SC), Mary Ellen Blackburn (GA), Herb Byrd (TN), Lawrence Carter (FL), Scott Cummings (TX), Debra Davis (LA), Thelma Feaster (NC), Jerry Gibson (VT), Lynette Jones (MS), Howard Ladewig (FL), Mike Lambur (VT), Joyce Martin (OK), Michael Newman (MS), Mitch Owen (NC), Allisen Penn (AR), Rich Poling (AR), Gregory Price (GA), Roger Rennekamp (KY), Susan Seal (MS), Julie Sexton (MS), Joe Waldrum (AR), Paul Warner (KY), Ronnie White (MS), Leodrey Williams



Appendices


Southern Region Community Development
Educator Certification Program

 

Background

Land-grant universities in the Southern region of the United States have expanded their commitment and investment in Extension community development outreach programs in recent years.  This has included an expansion of educational programs addressing a variety of community development-related topics, as well as an intensified investment in Extension personnel who are engaged in the design, delivery, and evaluation of such programs.  More often than not, the individuals selected or recruited to serve in these new roles do not have extensive formal training in community development or related fields of study.
Five years ago, the Southern Rural Development Center -- a regional center whose mission is designed to advance the community development work of the region’s 29 land-grant institutions -- began working with a team of faculty in the region to organize and deliver an introductory course on community development.  The intent was to provide formal training to new Extension educators who were engaged, or planning to become more actively involved, in community development educational outreach activities.  The course proved to be a major success and with the help of a host of faculty from across the South, an additional set of in-depth training courses were developed and offered in the region.  With the full endorsement of the state Extension leaders in the South, in-service training programs for Extension educators in the community development arena are being continued and constantly expanded.

Certification:  Why Is It Needed?

Despite the increasing interest being devoted to community development programming by state Extension leaders in the South, the tight fiscal situation present in most states seriously limits the ability of these administrators to hire Extension educators with formal degrees in community development or in fields that offer the theoretical and practical grounding to function effectively in this area of work.  However, as Extension educators in other programmatic areas are accorded the opportunity to shift their work to community development, it is important to formally recognize the investment they have made in building and expanding their knowledge of community development via the Southern Rural Development Center’s array of training programs, or through other recognized training activities by organizations, agencies or educational institutions across the country.  By completing the Community Development Educator Certification Program, Extension representatives have a credential that helps legitimize the community-based efforts being undertaken by them in their home states and/or counties/parishes.

Requirements for Securing Certification

The Community Development Educator Certificate is closely aligned with the requirements associated with a completing a “minor” degree at many institutions of higher learning.  It involves completion of a cluster of training courses that would be equivalent to 18 credit hours of college work.  It also entails formal documentation of job-related experiences or activities associated with Extension community development programming.


The following outlines the course requirements:

Table 1.  Suggested Course Requirements for the Southern Region Community Development Educator Certificate

Core Courses (required by all applicants)

Credit Hours

Southern Region Community Development Institute (or comparable introductory course to community development)

3

Cluster A: Economic Development and Community Services/Infrastructure  (6 hours required from among this list)

Business Retention and Expansion

Value-Added Entrepreneurship

Economic Impact Analysis

Business Skills Training

E-Commerce for Small Businesses

Rural Health Institute

Tourism for Small Towns

 

Cluster B: Civic Engagement and Community Decision Making Tools (6 hours required from among this list)

Community Leadership Development

Public Issues Deliberation

Conflict Mediation/Managing Public Conflict

Improving Board and Organizational Effectiveness

Smart Growth Strategies

Vision to Action: Take Charge Too

Cluster C: Other Community Development-Relevant Electives (3 credit hours)

  Open to other courses or training programs that the applicant has participated in that address other relevant community development topics not listed in Clusters A or B.  Formal submission of the course agenda and support materials is required.

As noted in Table 1, an introductory course on community development is required (such as the Southern Region Community Development Institute, the University of Missouri Community Development Academy, or undergraduate/ graduate Introduction to Community and Economic Development).  Next, the individual must complete 6 credit hours of coursework in two major clusters.  Cluster A focuses on economic development and local infrastructure/services strategies, while Cluster B addresses the variety of tools for building the capacity of rural communities to examine and take action on issues of priority concern to these localities, including the strengthening of the civic health of these communities.  The courses listed under each cluster represent programs that are available through the Southern Rural Development Center or its sister regional centers.  Courses offered by other recognized entities, which address similar topics, might be acceptable if the applicant provides sufficient documentation of such coursework.  The final cluster (Cluster C) offers the applicant the opportunity to document other community development-relevant courses or training activities that he/she may have completed.  This could include coursework/training on workforce development, small farm programs, sustainable agriculture, and so forth. 



Work Relevant Experiences in Community Development
An important companion piece to the completion of formal courses or training in community development is the documentation of job-related experiences or activities in this field of work (see Table 2).  Persons wishing to secure the Community Development Educator Certification are required to submit evidence that they have completed activities in at least three of the following areas:

Table 2.  Work-Relevant Experiences Needed for Community Development Educator Certification

Community Development Relevant Activities Place a checkmark by each activity completed
One-year of experience as a community development educator (at least 51% of job devoted to this area of work) Two years of experience as a community development educator (25-49% of job related to this area of work)  
Membership in a nationally recognized professional organization that focuses on CD-related activities (i.e. CDS, RSS, AAEA)  
Author of curriculum being used to support Extension Community Development programming  
Lead presenter at three or more national or regional conferences/workshops that addressed community development–related topic(s)  
Coordinated and conducted CD-related workshops a minimum of four (4) times at the state or county/parish levels  

At least one Served as a member of a state or national committee dedicated to community development work

  

Recertification Process
In order to help Extension community development educators remain abreast of new programs and strategies associated with this area of work, persons who are certified Community Development Educators must accumulate 6 credit hours of training or coursework every four (4) years.  These courses can be in any community development-related area, such as economic development, workforce development, leadership development/civic engagement, local government training, community services, community decision making tools, etc.
 

Review of Certification/Recertification Materials

The Association of Southern Region Extension Directors and the Association of 1890 Extension Administrators are responsible for appointing five (5) Extension representatives to serve on the Community Development Educator Certification Review Team.  The Southern Rural Development Center Director or Associate Director serves in an ex officio capacity on this team.  The Southern Region Extension Community Development Program Leaders are invited to submit names of review team candidates for consideration by the Extension Directors/Administrators.

The Certification Review Team is responsible for examining each applicant’s portfolio and awards certification/recertification to those that meet or exceed all requirements.  The Community Development Educator Certificate is formally awarded by the Southern Rural Development Center located at Mississippi State University.



For Additional Information Contact: Southern Rural Development Center
Box 9656
Mississippi State University
Mississippi State, MS  39762-9656
662-325-3207 (voice)
662-325-8915 (fax)
bonniet@srdc.msstate.edu

Prepared by:  Bo Beaulieu, SRDC Director

State Reports

Alabama—No report

 Arkansas

Budget problems. Early out offered.

Faculty leadership program—January 2003 first seminar; 5th seminar in Sept., seminars are 3 days in length; 20 members, very diverse groups; distributed a summary sheet about the program and agenda for 1st seminar; using Web CT to post materials; participants sign a fellowship contract. Screening process for applicants. Budget $40,000-50,000. Participants pay for travel. Joe’s group pays for lodging, meals, etc. National study tour. No formalized set of expectations for graduates.

Arkansas Information Mgt. System (AIMS)—New planning and reporting system. Statewide training on getting plans into the system. Monthly reporting training. End of year reports. Hired 2 people on grant funds to help in this process. Tried to incorporate professional development and performance review (competency based).


Florida

    1.    MAP/EXCEL
      a.       4-hour assessment (down from 6 hours)
      b.     On-line/CD assessment available for post-test
      c.      License expanded to include Extension clientele

    2.       Standardized in-service training evaluation form

    3.      Integrate the extension function into the Department of Agricultural Education and Communication

      a.     Professional Development
        01.   Competencies (CECP)
        02.   Delivery methods
      b.     Leadership Development
      c.      Program Development
        01.  Planning
        02. Advisory Committees
        03. County Program Reviews

    4.       Program Evaluation and Organizational Accountability

    5.     Faculty Accomplishments System (FAS2)

      a.       Relational database planning and reporting system
      b.       Integrates accomplishments of teaching, research and extension
      c.       Builds reports as data are entered
        01.   County Commissioners
        02.  Tenure and Promotion
        03.  AREERA
        04.  CRIS
        05.  International
        06.  Publications
        07.   Grants and Contracts
        08.   Unit
      d.       User pull down menus and limits text entry boxes

Georgia

Kentucky


Louisiana

Parish Program Reviews

A comprehensive review of parish extension programs, both 1862 & 1890, was initiated by the Institutional Research and Organization Development Unit (IROD) in the fall of 2003. The reviews focus on program quality and accessibility, administrative and local support, and collaborative work. Eight parish Extension programs were peer reviewed in the fall of 2003 and the process has been formalized with the remaining 56 parish reviews scheduled through 2006.
Performance Appraisal
IROD coordinated the revision of the performance appraisal document for all AgCenter faculty (Extension and Research) and the subsequent development of an electronic process for submission of the performance appraisal portfolio to a database.  Performance appraisal information for each faculty member in the database was then made available, via a web based system, to the appropriate supervisors.

International Work
Dr. Satish Verma and Dr. Robert Richard have been working with the LSU AgCenter Ukraine project assisting with development of educational modules for improving Extension education skills of Ukrainian faculty as well as developing program evaluation methodology to assess program impact.  Dr. Verma will be lecturing in Ukraine in September, Dr. Richard in October.

Strategic Planning I
Futures Forums, involving stakeholder, were held in each parish in 1999 to assist the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service develop a four year strategic plan.  IROD is working with Extension administration to develop a methodology to allow Extension faculty to assess the impact of programming resulting from the FY2001-2004 strategic plan and initiate the development of planning for FY2005-2008 programming.
Strategic Planning II
It has been approximately 1 ½ years since the LSU AgCenter’s major reorganization. With most specialists merged into departments now and the reorganization of field faculty into multi-parish (cluster) positions, there has been a big demand for departmental and programmatic strategic planning to help refocus programming efforts.  IROD’s role in assisting with the planning, conduct and evaluation of these sessions has been extensive.
Advisory Leadership System (ALS)
Significant effort has been placed on increasing stakeholder involvement in both extension programming and the identification of research projects. A Regional Advisory Leadership Council has been formed in each of the eight geographic regions of the state to provide input to the Regional Directors regarding programming and research needs specific to the regions. An evaluation of the effectiveness of the local advisory leadership councils is included in the parish program reviews. A website has been developed to support the ALS and extensive training for faculty on this topic has been conducted via compressed video.

Agent Specialization

As of July 1, 2003, 127 LSU AgCenter Extension faculty members have completed 1517 hours of advanced coursework toward a specialization. A total of 71 agents have been specialization-certified, meaning that they have met all requirements for specialization and another 30 are actively pursuing their specialization (have taken a course in the last year). Of the faculty completing specialization, 61 have been assigned to specialization slots in their respective program areas and have received a salary compensation for the additional job responsibilities resulting from the specialization status.
Faculty Database
In order to assist clientele in locating faculty with certain program responsibilities following the reorganization, a faculty database has been published on the web. When accessing the web site and clicking on a parish on a Louisiana map or selecting from an alphabetized list of parish names, a client can find a list of all faculty assigned to the parish with their primary program responsibilities, hot links to faculty e-mail addresses, the office address, phone number and fax number, driving directions and a link to the parish web page. The faculty database can be accessed at: http://www.lsuagcenter.com/inst/extension/parish/lcesmap/lcesmap.asp. The database is linked to the HRM database and maintained by IROD. It is currently being expanded to include search capability by state, region and program areas to increase its usefulness, both internally and externally.
Electronic Course Request Process
The course request process for faculty members seeking advanced degrees is now completely electronic. Students requesting coursework receive approval electronically from supervisors to enroll in courses. At the end of the semester, the system triggers an e-mail to students reminding them to enter the grade received for the course into a web form. The data is then dumped into a database to allow IROD to track faculty members’ progress toward degrees. This process has greatly reduced the paper transactions involved in maintaining these files, significantly reduced the time necessary for the process and improved the accuracy and ease of maintenance of the associated data files. Degree projections can now be provided to the Director’s office for budgeting purposes with a much greater degree of accuracy and in a timely manner.

Southern University Agricultural Center is two years old now and has experienced some growing pains. A new youth development specialist and 2 joint 4-H positions with LSU AgCenter are now in place.

Mississippi

Alcorn has a new administrator who is conducting internal program reviews to determine whether the faculty and their jobs are properly matched. All in-service training has been suspended until a critical needs analysis has been completed. Alcorn is looking at the possibility of being able to share some training with MS State. An environmental scanning initiative is being implemented. Utilizing town meetings, focus groups and forming or reforming advisory groups, target audiences for the “Pockets of Poverty” project are being identified. Its focus is to develop an ICSP (individual client service plan) which takes a problem from diagnosis to follow-up.

MSU


North Carolina

Oklahoma

South Carolina


Tennessee

Virginia

Southern Region Taxonomy of Core Competencies
for Cooperative Extension Professionals


Knowledge of the Organization

Program Development

Personal and Organizational Effectiveness
 Collaborations and Partnerships

Communication