Extension Update: July 2003 Archives
On Wednesday, July 23 the Governor met once again with the House and Senate Joint Budget Advisory Group and they now appear to be moving in the same direction. The current continuing resolution/budget USNH is operating under provides "flat funding". The Governor had been advocating for a 5% cut ($8.7 million). There was no discussion at Wednesday's meeting about further cuts below flat funding and we all hope that is the eventual outcome for USNH. The next meeting to discuss further budget details is scheduled for Thursday, August 7.
If the University receives flat funding the projected deficit for Cooperative Extension will be $780,000. It is important to note that flat funding or a 5% cut will have a dramatic impact on our budgets. Under either scenario Cooperative Extension will need to implement the budget reduction strategies. I will provide you with the latest information in the next update on Friday, August 8.
The International Community Development Society presented Judith Bush with the New Professional Award at a ceremony Wednesday at Cornell University. The award recognizes a Community Development Society member for superior contribution to the field of community development. Though Judy has worked in Extension since 1979, her formal entry into Community Development work occurred when UNH Cooperative Extension launched the Strengthening New Hampshire Communities Initiative in 1995. The award for the "New Professional" is for a professional with less than 10 years in the field of Community Development. The International Community Development Society held its annual conference at Cornell University July 20-23. The New Hampshire delegation included Nancy Franz, Charlene Baxter, Charlie French and Judy Bush. Congratulations, Judy!
The Natural Resources Outreach Coalition (NROC) is a collaborative among 10 state, regional and non-profit organizations. NROC provides natural resources planning assistance to communities in coastal watersheds. Support comes from participating organizations and funding from the NH Estuaries Project and NH Office of State Planning's Coastal Program. UNH Cooperative Extension's Amanda Stone is the NROC Coordinator. Other UNH Cooperative Extension staff directly involved in NROC are Phil Auger, Frank Mitchell, Julia Peterson and Jeff Schloss. Charlie French also has been involved.
The NROC team provides guidance and technical assistance to help communities deal with the impacts of growth. This includes technical support, educational workshops, help developing action plans, and directing the community to sources of financial and other assistance. NROC support is tailored to each community's specific needs. Community participation in the NROC program is by application. There is no fee for participating communities. The cornerstone of the NROC program is an educational presentation called Dealing with Growth. All municipal board members and staff, and interested residents are invited to the Dealing with Growth presentation. Dealing with Growth reviews the status of a community's natural resources and introduces various techniques for managing them. Within two weeks of the presentation, the NROC team meets with interested community members to help focus their natural resource protection goals, develop an implementation strategy, and locate the technical and financial assistance they need to accomplish them.
NROC has assisted 10 communities during the past few years. Client groups conducted educational outreach campaigns, developed open space plans, created natural resources inventories, developed criteria for their conservation priorities, raised funds for conservation and protected land. See the UNHCE web site, http://ceinfo.unh.edu/cragin/common/documents/CCAPhome.htm, for additional information and a link to the NROC web site.
I have invited John Porter, Catherine Violette, Darrell Covell, Lauren Bressett, Brian Doyle, Seth Wilner and Lisa Townson to serve as a newly formed Program Development and Evaluation (PD&E) Council under the direction of Nancy Franz. The group begins its work later this summer on the following goals:
* Serve as a think tank for organizational change around PD&E, including plan of work and reporting processes
* Provide technical assistance to UNH Cooperative Extension colleagues on Plan of Work development, logic modeling, program development and program evaluation
* Create a systematic method for conducting PD&E within and across program areas
* Serve as a voice for co-workers with Extension administration on PD&E issues
* Provide organization-wide instruction/professional development on PD&E
* Map organizational PD&E assets, determine gaps, and work towards filling those gaps, and
* Conduct an in-depth Cooperative Extension evaluation across program areas.
I am pleased this group is willing to move our organization to a new level of excellence around program development and evaluation. The Council's work will continue through Sept. 30, 2004.
Congratulations to Amy Ouellette, the new Belknap County Office Administrator as of July 1. Thanks also go to Sumner Dole, who finished his second, two-year term as COA.
UNH Cooperative Extension's Strategic Plan (2001) established Extension Graduate Assistantships to increase faculty and student involvement in engagement and outreach. The assistantships also promote increased collaboration between university faculty and extension staff. The attached document outlines the details for these assistantships.
Charlie French, Judy Bush, Charlene Baxter and Nancy Franz will attend the Community Development Society Conference at Cornell University July 20 - 23. Co-sponsors are the Community Development Society and Cornell University's Community and Rural Development Institute.
The conference is part of the continuing effort by the Community Development Society to provide leadership to professionals and citizens across the spectrum of community development. The conference theme is "Community as Place." 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 areas such as 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. Reports back to Extension staff will follow from the four participants from New Hampshire.
The Extension Management Team is seeking a new Extension Specialist representative from the Natural Resources programs. Thanks go to Sarah Smith, who has served well in this role for the past two years. The current guidelines for EMT membership include two specialists, one from Family, Community and Youth Development and one from Natural Resources, who serve two-year, alternating terms.
The current Family, Community & Youth Development campus representative, Paula Gregory, will continue for the second year of her term. The new representative's 2-year term will begin in September. If you would like to nominate a specialist from the Natural Resources area or nominate yourself, contact Paul Bonaparte-Krogh at paul.bk@unh.edu
You can now add a sidebar of helpful "links" to UNH Cooperative Extension on your computer's web page. Attached are directions to create this sidebar for the UNH Cooperative Extension "Intranet," which helps you link directly to such items as TERS, general staff information, documents from the Business Service Center you may use on a regular basis, and other items. Click on this link to learn how to set up your own UNH Cooperative Extension "Intranet" sidebar.
UNH Cooperative Extension 4-H Youth Development received a grant this spring from the Office of State Planning's Coastal Program to develop and pilot a 4-H marine education program. Work has begun on the development of curriculum and supporting activities.
4-H Youth Development staff is working with Sea Grant and Water Resources staff to develop a hands-on, experiential-based curriculum to educate youth and volunteers about the richness and diversity of New Hampshire's coastal resources. Zach Powers, a recent UNH graduate in environmental education, serves as program coordinator for the project. Working from the Kingman Farm, he will develop activities, write curriculum and create resource kits for volunteers.
The program focuses on developing curriculum that "immerses" youth in coastal and estuarine environments, illustrating the connections the sea has to freshwater ecosystems. While not all 4-H members live near the ocean, the project allows them to explore the wonders of the sea and to appreciate their local watershed. Interested volunteers and staff are needed to review materials at a meeting on July 30 and participate in a "training cruise" to the Isle of Shoals Aug. 22. Future activities include tide pooling, a coastal cleanup day, and volunteer training opportunities in marine science.
The curriculum should be finished by the spring of 2004 with the intent of submitting it for a juried peer review by the National Cooperative Curriculum System for potential national distribution.