Extension Update: March 2003 Archives
As a follow-up to the biennial budget item in the last Biweekly Update, I'm sharing the Deficit Reduction Strategies approved last week by the Leadership Team. This plan was reviewed yesterday during the Extension Management Team meeting.
With Governor Benson's proposed 5% reduction in USNH FY04-05 biennial funding, Cooperative Extension faces a potential significant funding deficit on July 1. The Deficit Reduction Strategies describe actions we are taking to prepare for a funding reduction of some portion. I will also be sharing this information during a PictureTel meeting of the State Advisory Council on April 17, 6:30-8:30 p.m. to which all county advisory council members will be invited. It's important for advisory councils to be informed of these strategies and understand the potential impact on programs and staffing. Please contact any member of the Extension Leadership Team if you have questions about the strategies outlined. I will continue to keep you fully informed about the FY04-05 state budget as it is finalized by the state legislature over the next three months.
Volunteers from seven County Advisory Councils returned home Wednesday night from Washington, DC, concluding another successful trip to attend the National Leadership Seminar. This annual event is sponsored by the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges (NASULGC). The seminar included visits to Capitol Hill on Wednesday where our delegation met with Senator Judd Gregg and Congressman Jeb Bradley in their offices (see photo), and with legislative assistants in Senator Sununu and Congressman Bass' offices.
Attendees this year were Jack Potter, Belknap County; Maria Callahan and Tara Durgin, Cheshire County; Marcia Poulin, Hillsborough County; Jamie Robertson, Merrimack County; Carolyn Buskirk, Carroll County; Harmony Anderson, Strafford County; and Brian Jervis, Rockingham County. Holly Young was group leader. Paul Bonaparte-Krogh also attended and participated in a separate track on advocacy training.
The 2003-2004 Handbook of New Hampshire Elected Officials, commonly referred to as the "Blue Book," can be ordered by contacting Northeast Information Services, PO Box 842, Concord, NH, 03302 or by calling 603-880-5300. You can also email orders at neinfo@aol.com. The cost is $45. This useful reference book on state government and politics provides detailed biographical information on the NH legislature, Governor and Executive Council and more.
An exciting opportunity awaits interested staff working with communities. The Community Development Society's annual international conference will be held at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, on July 20 - 23. This meeting will provide a valuable opportunity to sharpen professional skills, discuss critical issues, learn from and interact with your community development colleagues.
The theme of the conference is Community as Place. Conference participants will collectively explore the relationship between community development and community sustainability. With a focus on "place", participants will explore different perspectives on the intersection of natural, built and cultural environments. Participants will discuss and learn about resources and approaches that foster community development. The conference features multiple tracks covering Community Vitality, Economic Development, Extension, Environment , Practice, Research and Graduate Studies, Social and International Issues, Urban Issues, Telecommunications, and Faith-based Community Development. Mobile workshops will go into the local community for first-hand experiences in community development. Visit the conference web site www.cds2003.org for registration, as well as full details about conference schedule, lodging, tours, Ithaca and much more.
The Extensióón en Españñol (EEE) clearinghouse for Spanish-language educational materials is ready to publicly open its doors. You're invited to participate in a live, national Internet conference about the clearinghouse, including a guided tour of the Web site, on April 9, 2-3 p.m. The conference is free and you can participate from your office or home computer. EEE contains hundreds of Extension-related documents in Spanish and English free of charge for users to view and download. It also contains:
* Bilingual news reports, columns and feature stories
* Links to other Extension Web sites with Spanish-language materials
* Resource guides, such as glossaries of Spanish-language translations for Extension and USDA agencies and institutions, and style guides for Spanish usage
* Educational materials to learn more about Hispanic communities and reaching out to Spanish-speaking audiences
* An online forum to consult with other specialists about Spanish-language materials
* Extensive contact lists to communicate individually with specialists on specific issues
Clearinghouse resources are drawn from throughout the Extension system nationwide. It's an ecumenical, grassroots initiative that spans the entire Extension system. All those needing Spanish-language materials can freely use EEE, and those with something to contribute can offer materials for posting and public use. In addition, EEE offers free translation services for those who have documents that would be of substantial use nationally, providing they meet a set of pre-established criteria.
The April 9 Internet conference will teach how to access these resources and services and how to contribute to clearinghouse expansion. The Internet conferencing system provides visuals and a two-way audio connection so you can ask questions and interact with other participants. You can log on from anywhere in the United States and Puerto Rico, or set up a viewing site for multiple participants.
To sign up, please request that you be registered in the Guided Tour of Extensióón en Españñol by sending e-mail to Sonja Jo Serna at sserna@nmsu.edu. Please include a contact name, your organization, your e-mail (the event info will be sent to this address) and a phone number.
An online survey shines a light on people's priorities in state spending. At http://nhpr.org/budget/ users can let their values be their guide and watch the slices of the budget pie fill in as they tinker with how much they think the state ought to spend on everything from schools to prisons to nursing homes. Every entry from users (it's anonymous) goes into this first-of-a-kind survey. No knowledge of the state budget is required - all users need to know is what's important to them. All users will see the survey results instantly.
The following resources are available through the UNH Library including a wide variety of databases and electronic journals directly related to our programs. You can access the on-line resources featured below at:
* http://www.library.unh.edu/tools/ (master list of all databases)
* http://www.library.unh.edu/onlinejournals/ (master list of online journals)
* http://grinnell.unh.edu/digibio.html (list of COLSA oriented resources)
* http://library.unh.edu/ (online catalog for UNH Dimond Library and branches)
This Update issue focuses on a couple of medical databases listed on the UNH Library's web pages above, but are also freely available to the general public.
PubMed is produced by the National Library of Medicine and indexes articles in medical research journals from 1966 on. Updated daily, PubMed (a version of MEDLINE) covers about 4,000 sources of biomedical literature in the broadest sense. The indexing, which uses standardized medical subject headings (MeSH), and searchable lists of journal titles as well as links to full text, if available, are important features. The public address is: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/
TOXLINE is also produced by the National Library of Medicine and indexes articles in medical research journals from 1966 on. Updated quarterly, TOXLINE indexes about 4,000 sources of biomedical literature that cover toxic effects of drugs and other chemicals. The Library uses a CSA version of the database. It is also available to the public as part of TOXNET web site which includes other searchable databases on toxicology, hazardous chemicals, and related areas. The address is: http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/
Please send questions, comments, and suggestions to David Lane, Biological Sciences Librarian, Biological Sciences Library, Kendall Hall, UNH or send email to david.lane@unh.edu.
With Governor Benson's proposed 5% reduction in the USNH FY04-05 biennial appropriation, Cooperative Extension faces a significant funding deficit beginning July 1. Full details were outlined in the February 7 Update: http://www.ceinfo.unh.edu/cragin/admin/secure/bw2703.htm . Although the final budget will not be approved by the legislature until late June, we are taking steps to prepare for an expected funding shortfall.
I'm working with the Leadership Team to create a deficit reduction plan that will be finalized next week. I'll review this plan with the Extension Management Team during their March 20 meeting, and will share it with all staff in the March 21 Biweekly Update. I have also scheduled an "open" State Advisory Council meeting via PictureTel on April 17 to which all county advisory council members will be invited. I want to provide them a comprehensive update on our funding situation and review the deficit reduction plan so council members fully understand the potential impact on programs and staffing.
We welcome Deb Russell who has joined us in the Dean and Director's office as a temporary administrative assistant during Sharon Ross's recovery period. Deb previously worked 12 years for the Whittemore School of Business and Economics.
UNH Cooperative Extension's FY02 Annual Report, including Key Theme impact reports, was submitted last week as required to CSREES (Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service). The document (66 pages) is posted in the protected area of our web page and can be accessed at: http://www.ceinfo.unh.edu/cragin/Common/Documents/FY02Report.pdf
All UNH faculty, including Extension Faculty, are eligible to apply for annual research and outreach grants. Applications for FY03 grants are due April 15. Proposed projects should be mutually beneficial collaborations between UNH and external partners for the purpose of generating and applying relevant knowledge to directly benefit the public. Awards will be announced by May 15 with funds available June 1. A total of $100K is available but awards do not exceed $7,000. Additional information and application materials are available at:
* Application Cover Sheet
* Application Guidelines
* Memo from Don Sunberg
The COA job description has been revised to reflect the role of the Assistant Director, County Operations. It's posted in the protected area of the web page. Select "General Staff Information" then "Job Descriptions":http://ceinfo.unh.edu/cragin/jobdscoa.htm
Project FRESH is the initiative to install and activate new finance and human resources systems. The Finance application went "live" on July 1, 2002, and the HR application will "go-live" on July 1, 2003. You'll be hearing more about this new system and changes in our reporting procedures. In the meantime, the Cooperative Extension BSC (Business Service Center) staff must undergo training later this spring. We ask your patience and understanding when BSC are unavailable for daily business due to this necessary training.
Please take a few minutes to submit evaluations for our administrative staff by March 28. See my February 10 memo for details and links to electronic forms: http://www.ceinfo.unh.edu/cragin/Common/Documents/PEFForm03.pdf
This feature describes resources available through the UNH Library, including a wide variety of databases and electronic journals directly related to our programs. You can access the on-line resources featured below at:
http://www.library.unh.edu/tools/ (master list of all databases)
http://www.library.unh.edu/onlinejournals/ (master list of online journals)
http://grinnell.unh.edu/digibio.html (list of COLSA oriented resources)
http://library.unh.edu/ (online catalog for UNH Dimond Library and branches)
This installment focuses on a set of databases that have a somewhat misleading name, which the database producers admit may be their biggest marketing mistake. The Web of Science accesses ISI citation databases, multi-disciplinary databases covering thousands of scholarly journals from the Sciences, Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities from 1977 to the present. After you perform a search, a list of the titles of the articles are returned. Click an article title to view the full record, which includes the title, author, bibliographic information, abstract and more.
From a full record, you can view lists of the article's references, articles that cite the article, or articles that are related. The three databases allow you to search forward in time to find articles that cite an article long after the article was published. Authors can use this unique searching capability to find out who is reading and citing the papers they have published. These databases are part of a larger suite of online services provided by ISI called the Web of Knowledge.
Please send questions, comments, and suggestions to David Lane, Biological Sciences Librarian, Biological Sciences Library, Kendall Hall, UNH or send email to david.lane@unh.edu.
Many small family farms in New Hampshire, like those in other Northeastern states, are interested in aquaculture to supplement farm income. As with any potential business endeavor, technical information isn't all that's needed. Making intelligent decisions requires information on inputs, associated costs, risk, the resulting product value, and marketing. Unfortunately, the majority of aquaculture businesses in this region are quite new and the necessary economic data not yet available.
One type of aquaculture business which appears to hold promise is rearing bait fish. Bait species are in high demand and most sell for quite a high price, relative to other markets for farm-raised fish. To answer some of the burning questions asked by both potential and existing bait farmers, the Northeastern Regional Aquaculture Center recently funded a study to gather information on the bait market throughout the 12-state Northeast region. UNH Cooperative Extension's Aquaculture Specialist, J-J Newman, is working with faculty in the Dept. of Food and Resource Economics at the University of Delaware to plan and coordinate the study.
Just last week, the first meeting was held of the study's Advisory Committee. Bait dealers, bait farmers and Extension personnel from across the region met to discuss the project's goals and how best to achieve them. Information needed by bait farmers, the nature of the Northeast bait industry, and possible survey designs were included in the discussion. It was a terrifically successful meeting, with the principal investigators learning a great deal about bait dealers, farmers and the industry, which will help enormously with putting together a survey that will obtain meaningful results.