Extension Update: January 2005 Archives

The following are new inservices submitted since November. You can register at any time. The contact person listed can give you more information about each particular workshop if needed.

February 10 - Videoconferencing 101: Conducting a Successful Videoconference Meeting
March 17 (and April 20 repeat) - Videoconferencing 201: Enhancing Your Videoconference with Tools and Teaching Techniques
March 30 - Small Farm Poultry Management and Emerging Issues
April 6 - Getting Ready for Promotion
June 7 - Evaluating Community Work

Note the new date for "Disease and Insect Update for Forest Trees and Woody Ornamentals is February 8 (with a snow date of Feb 9).

SIGN UP NOW! Click on the inservice signup calendar.

Charles "Chuck" Hersey is the new Sullivan County Extension Educator, Forest Resources. The Sullivan County Extension Advisory Council, Sullivan County Commissioners and Delegation, recognizing the value of retaining this position, agreed to continue fiscal support for it following Steve Wood’s retirement.

Chuck, a New Hampshire native, grew up in Epsom. He attended Brandeis University and received his Master's degree in Forest Management from the University of Massachusetts. For the past two years, he worked for the Massachusetts Forest Stewardship Program. His duties included technical and administrative support for an extensive landowner outreach initiative, state and federal cost-share programs, a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) database of stewardship properties, management and harvesting plans for adherence to state regulations, and workshops for landowners.

He also wrote management plans to include University of Massachusetts lands as “green certified.” He's carried out timber inventories and marked timber. At the Lincoln Land Institute, Chuck helped create a web course on forest ecology.

Chuck worked with the Epsom Conservation Commission to create a conservation fund and the Bear-Paw land trust to coordinate land protection at a landscape scale. He also created a natural resource inventory for the Town of Alton. Contact Chuck at the Sullivan County office in Newport at 863-9200 or at chuck.hersey@unh.edu He began his new position on January 24.

Three years ago, the Professional Development component of the Northeast Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SARE) got a nice surprise when Stephen Herbert of the University of Massachusetts developed a 16-page color booklet profiling some of the SARE Farmer Grant recipients in that state, their projects and the results.

This booklet showed, by example, how the Farmer Grant program works, in a format that was appealing, easy to read, and compact. It spurred the Professional Development Committee to offer incentive funds to all states in the region to develop similar publications.

Now, New Hampshire has developed a web-based publication, “Creative Ideas, Practical Solutions: SARE Farmer Grants in New Hampshire,” up and running on the UNH Cooperative Extension web site. The booklet is brought to you by Lorraine Merrill, Caroline Robinson, Linda Brushett and from UNH Cooperative Extension, Seth Wilner and Faye Cragin.

Highlighted in the publication is a solar vehicle for farm use, a farm-based sustainable agriculture education program, an orchard management project, the development of a community-supported agriculture cooperative, and a new resource on selling dairy products at farmers’ markets. There also is a listing of sample grants from around the state and a section offering helpful hints on developing a SARE grant proposal. The publication is fresh, specific and useful.

This article is reprinted, with permission, from Innovations in Sustainable Agriculture, Winter 2004-2005, the newsletter of the Northeast Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program.

Each year, we reaffirm our commitment to UNH Cooperative Extension's Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity responsibilities. I am committed to the implementation of unbiased employment practices and the delivery of educational programs that serve all people of New Hampshire, with particular efforts to include under-served and under-represented groups. I'm proud to be part of an organization that values Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity, and is consistently sensitive to the needs and rights of others. I commend the efforts I see throughout the organization demonstrating your spirit of accommodation and inclusion.

We multiply our delivery system effectively through the use of volunteers and
increased diversity training for them. County Extension Advisory Councils have also received civil rights training. As a result of our civil rights work with volunteers, we see enhanced awareness and improved practices among our council volunteers.

Thank you for your personal and professional commitment to reaching out to welcome, involve and serve all people in New Hampshire.

Hillsborough County legislators, commissioners and department heads participated in the sixth “County Conversation” Monday at the Hillsborough County Office complex in Goffstown. 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 Hillsborough County.

The Monday program, which drew about 75 people, included remarks from UNH President Ann Weaver Hart and a discussion designed to generate ideas for further collaborations between UNH and Hillsborough County. Attendees included Cooperative Extension Advisory Council members, educators, legislators, county commissioners, business owners, and community members. Hillsborough staff shared their programming efforts in a roundtable discussion with President Hart.

A highlight of the event was a tour of the Family, Home and Garden Education Center. President Hart learned more about the Master Gardener program and Millyard Landscape Revitilization Project during her visit there.

The next "County Conversation" is scheduled in Cheshire County January 24.

The new insurance liability form is available on our web site at both our Policies and Procedures page and Volunteer Management page.

As of January 1, Seth Wilner and Gail Kennedy began sharing responsibilities as Sullivan County's office co-administrators. Gail will oversee county personnel issues and staff meetings, attend the Extension Management Team (EMT) and State Council meetings, while Seth will provide leadership for the county budget process, advisory council and attend county department head and delegation meetings.

In Carroll County, Ann Hamilton and Tina Savage are the new co-administrators. Tina will oversee county personnel issues and staff meetings, while Ann will provide leadership to the advisory council, county budget process and attend EMT meetings.

We are grateful for the leadership Nancy Berry in Sullivan County and Peter Pohl in Carroll County gave to these roles over the past several years. Thank you, Nancy and Peter.

Last year, New Hampshire residents qualified for $16.5 million in unclaimed Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). National research studies reveal between 15-20 percent of eligible workers earning less than $35,458 don’t claim their EITC. By filing a tax return, working individuals and families can receive as much as $4,300.

In December 2003, the Annie E. Casey and the NH Charitable Foundations provided grant funding for “Linking Workers with the Earned IncomeTax Credit.” It focuses on developing marketing strategies to increase the visibility of EITC benefits to low and moderate-income New Hampshire residents. It also helps conduct research to increase the population’s understanding of EITC and availability of free tax preparation sites. The grant efforts included forming a statewide EITC Alliance to share best practices and information, and provide financial management education.

Many families applying for EITC pay someone to complete their tax forms. This can cost $55 to $200 or higher. Low-income workers can get free tax preparation help with offices located throughout New Hampshire. You can find the nearest free tax preparation location at the AARP web site.

Many EITC-eligible families participated in UNH Cooperative Extension’s “Making Money Work for You” series. At its conclusion, results show 64 percent set up a system for storing financial records and 36 percent planned to, 34 percent prepared a household inventory and 56 percent planned to, while 37 percent reviewed their insurance coverage and 40 percent planned to do so. Sixty-seven percent now follow a spending plan, 45 percent now have an emergency fund, 51 percent now save, 61 percent reduced their money leaks, and 56 percent obtained a copy of their credit report.

Two free publications are available to EITC-eligible individuals and families, “Need More Money to Pay Your Bills?” and “2005 Advance Earned Income Tax Credit.” By the end of January, you can order them from UNH Cooperative Extension Publications Center. For more information, contact Val Long or Suzann Enzian Knight.

The latest issue of the Journal of Extension (JOE) continues to offer excellent resources, including an article co-authored by Extension Specialist Mike Sciabarrasi on Minimizing Farm Business Succession Risk in New England. Articles of interest in this issue also include one asking whether or not Cooperative Extension is relevant in the 21st century to Leadership Training for Transforming the Community: A Participatory Approach and Making a Case for Engaging Adolescents in Program Decision-Making.

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!