Extension Update: September 2004 Archives
Deb Cheever and Marilyn Sullivan are the new County Office Administrators for Merrimack County. Tim Fleury stepped down after over five years as COA. Deb and Marilyn will share the role with Debbie handling the external issues such as budget,government relations and the Advisory Council while Marilyn handles the internal issues such as office operations, staff meetings and working with support staff. Many thanks to Tim for his efforts as COA!
During the 2004 session, the N.H. Legislature approved Senate Bill 519, authorizing a committee to study establishment of a farm viability program modeled on similar programs in Maine and Massachusetts. The program would have three main components:
Agricultural Infrastructure
- minimize legal hindrances
- add support services
- strengthen UNH specialist core
Land Preservation
- provide capital to fund short-term (10-year) easements in exchange for commitment to farming
Producer education
- develop business plans
- study potential markets
- evolve marketing strategies
- organize advisory teams to provide educational/informational resources to producers
- help in assembling and integrating information for good decision-making
As the legislature study committee conducted listening sessions around the state, speakers consistently highlighted UNH Cooperative Extension as a critical factor in farm viability. Farmers repeatedly referred to the research and education they receive from UNH Cooperative Extension as key to their success and to ensuring the sustainability of agriculture in the state.
After studying the bill and the remarks of speakers at the listening sessions, Extension administrators and agricultural program staff concluded the producer education component of the program requires more in-depth work with producers than UNH Cooperative Extension traditionally provides. These conclusions were conveyed by Extension Specialist John Porter and me when we met with the SB 519 Legislative Study Committee September 21.
UNH Extension has the experience and expertise needed to carry out the educational component; in fact, producer education describes most of our current work. However, to carry out a comprehensive farm viability program that would reach a significant number of producers would require additional funding to contract/hire specialty areas of expertise.
Development of a New Hampshire farm viability program would bring Extension some exciting possibilities, such as using the goals of the farm viability program to focus our work, bringing in new funding to strengthen our specialist core, and leveraging grants to conduct more in-depth educational programming. The farm viability study committee will report by December 1, 2004, so keep an eye on these developments.
There's a new section filled with University of New Hampshire resources on the front page of our Intranet site. The UNH Resources link offers direct access to Campus Journal news, Human Resources, the UNH library, the Carsey Institute, Leitzel Center and more. Of particular note, the UNH Human Resources link is broken down into such categories as benefits, policies and procedures and information for operating staff (OS) and Professional, Technical and Administrative (PAT) staff.
Coos County legislators, commissioners and department heads participated in the fifth “County Conversation” Monday at the Coos County Office complex in Lancaster. The “Conversation” provided an opportunity for UNH President Ann Weaver Hart to learn more about how UNH can collaborate more effectively with New Hampshire ’s individual counties and to discover what emerging trends and issues specifically face Coos County.
The Monday afternoon program, which drew about 60 people, was followed by remarks from UNH President Ann Weaver Hart and a discussion designed to generate ideas for further collaborations between UNH and Coos County. Attendees included Cooperative Extension Advisory Council members, educators, legislators, county commissioners, business owners, and community members.
A highlight of the event was a visit to GrayMist Farm in Groveton. Nancy and Gordon Gray are both UNH alums, and frequently use the expertise of UNH and Cooperative Extension in their successful family farm operation. My thanks to the Coos County staff for their hard work on this event. They did an excellent job of showcasing their positive impact with county residents. The next "County Conversation" is scheduled in Cheshire County November 18.
Anne Deely, Geospatial Technology specialist with the Sea Grant Extension/Water Resources program area, recently celebrated the arrival of a new baby boy into her life. She has decided to make raising him a full time job and leaves Extension October 22. We wish her all the best in her new "career."
Mark Wiley replaces Sharon Meeker as the Marine Science Education Specialist within the Sea Grant Extension and Water Resources program area. Mark previously worked for Extension as a Sea Grant/Water Resources Recreational Fisheries specialist for two years in the late 1980s. He also has Extension experience with New York's Sea Grant Program as part of its Great Lakes staff and taught high school at Tilton Academy for a number of years. For the past 13 years he worked at Measured Progress, a national educational standards testing company located in Dover. Mark starts his new duties September 29.
Thom Linehan is the new Family & Consumer Resources Extension Educator in Merrimack County. Thom begins working in this new, 75 percent position October 4. He will finish his program commitments in Strafford County through December and likely add a 25 percent assignment for program coverage in Family & Consumer Resources in Belknap County beginning January 1.
Items for the Extension Update will now go up on the front page of our Intranet web site as they become "news." I will continue to send an announcement every two weeks with the titles of these new postings and the link to the page.
The Administrative Team approved a protocol for "one copy all staff" emails.
The “one-copy-all-staff” email listserv provides UNH Cooperative Extension staff with pertinent information relating to our work, critical and emerging issues, and news relating to Extension as an organization. Its intent is for business-related messages of interest to the entire organization.
For questions about email “content,” please contact your supervisor.
Thanks to the 26 staff who attended a recent inservice on Enhancing Team Effectiveness led by Nancy Franz from our staff and Dr. Vanessa Druskat from WSBE. Here is a tool you can use with teams to determine the group's level of emotional intelligence. Research shows this type of intelligence is critical for team effectiveness.
New Hampshire received over $130,000 in new federal funding under the Children, Youth and Families At-Risk project of CSREES. The “N.H. Promise with CLASS” project will demonstrate that two very different models for building communities of support can significantly enhance the healthy development of youth. Each project will use strategies designed to encourage the development of citizenship, leadership, life skills, achievement, aspirations and service to community. A critical program component is the creation of safe environments where youth in need of extra support can thrive.
One project funded under this grant is the 4-H Afterschool Program, located in the Hillsboro-Deering elementary and middle schools. The program is designed to provide a safe, inclusive and developmentally appropriate educational and recreational afterschool environment for rural youth. Community partners include the Hillsboro-Deering Area After School Program (grades 1-5), the Hillsboro-Deering Middle School 21st Century Community Learning Center & After School Program (grades 6-8), the Even Start Family Literacy program, and Hillsboro's Police Department, Office of Youth Services, and Parks and Recreation Department.
The second project, the Seacoast Youth Leadership, will reach youth from the Seacoast communities of Seabrook, Hampton, North Hampton and Hampton Falls. Middle school youth (ages 12-14), referred to the Seacoast Diversion Programs, will participate in an alternative leadership and life-skill development program. Desired outcomes include improvement in school attendance and behavior, reduction of involvement in court, a drug free lifestyle, an increase in positive decision making and resistance to negative peer pressure. Other aspects of the program include parent education and training, and community service by court involved youth.
Juli Brussell, the new Extension Program Leader, Agricultural Resources (75%) and Extension Specialist, Small Farms (25%) joins us October 4. Juli comes to us from Illinois with an impressive resume link.
We look forward to Juli assume this key position and providing leadership for our statewide agricultural resources programming as well as serving in the role of Extension Specialist for small farms. Please join me in welcoming Juli to New Hampshire.
Highlights of UNH Cooperative Extension's County Conversations, along with the NH Lakes Lay Monitoring Program, received accolades during UNH President Ann Weaver Hart's annual State of the University Address Thursday.
Her address included a review of recent university achievements as well as the goals for the year ahead.
Alice Mullen is the featured staff person on the front page of UNH's Human Resources web site.
With a redesign of the UNH Human Resources website this past January, one of the new features developed was profiling a UNH employee on a weekly basis, putting a human face on Human Resources and profiling the folks that make UNH an interesting place to work. Human Resources wanted to share stories of the people that make up the University community - what their role is, what are the skills needed to be successful in their positions and why they enjoy working at UNH. Congratulations to Alice for making the "front page!"
The latest issue of the Journal of Extension (JOE) continues to offer excellent resources. Click on the current issue of JOE to read the latest in Extension work, including "Creating Inclusive 4-H Environments for People with Disabilities" and "A Case Study on Marketing the Florida Cooperative Extension Service," to "Factors Contributing to Success of Small Farm Operations in Tennessee."
JOE expands and updates the research and knowledge base for Extension professionals and other adult educators to improve their effectiveness. In addition, JOE serves as a forum for emerging and contemporary issues affecting Extension education, and the latest issue is no exception!
The UNH Cooperative Extension Forestry and Wildlife Program prides itself on its close working relationships within the New Hampshire natural resources community. The New Hampshire conservation license plate program (with its “moose plate”) illustrates how working together with others toward a common goal brings good results.
UNH Cooperative Extension serves as a permanent representative to the NH Conservation Committee (SCC), an organization of state conservation agencies. When Jody Pellerin chaired the SCC, she envisioned a New Hampshire conservation license plate. Bob Edmonds and Wendy Scribner volunteered to work with Jody and others on the idea.
Extension encouraged the SCC to join with the NH Fish and Game Department, in need of external funding for its non-game program, as well as the Natural Heritage representative at the NH Division of Forests and Lands. People interested in cultural resource preservation joined in, bringing the political horsepower to get a bill into the legislature and through some tough committees.
Prior to one of the meetings, Bob outlined an idea for distribution of funds if a conservation license plate program were in place. Bob’s idea included UNH Cooperative Extension in the counties as one of the recipients. Specific conservation agencies, conservation districts and local groups also were included. The committee accepted the proposal and it is now the basic structure for the SCC component of the conservation license plate law. By working with conservation colleagues, UNH Cooperative Extension became a component of the law.
As a result, UNH Cooperative Extension receives conservation license plate funds. Grants so far were awarded to Phil Auger, Matt Tarr, Marshall Patmos, Mary Tebo and Don Black.
When you register your vehicle and buy a "moose" plate, you pay an additional $30 each year to support conservation and cultural heritage in New Hampshire. A portion of the fee comes back to UNH Cooperative Extension. It’s great to drive into a parking lot with Extension staff cars and note all the moose plates.