Extension Update: February 2006 Archives

After careful consideration, I'm pleased to announce the interim appointment of Jim Grady as the Associate Director effective Monday, March 20. Jim has 31 years of experience with UNH Cooperative Extension and is held in high regard both on and off campus for his outstanding work.

Jim began his career as an Extension Educator, 4-H Youth Development in Belknap, then Merrimack County. In addition to his 12 years as an Extension Educator, he served as the county office administrator in Merrimack. He looks forward to his new responsibilities as we all work together to make UNH Cooperative Extension as strong as it can be.

This interim appointment will be for an indefinite period. Jim will continue to oversee Extension's finance and human resources. Please join me in congratulating Jim.

The process of nominating a staff person from the following categories, Operating Staff (OS), Professional, Administrative and Technical (PAT), or Extension Educator (EE), for the 2006 Presidential Award of Excellence is now on-line.

Nominations are due by March 24. A nominee must have "demonstrated excellence through outstanding performance in their position and has a record of dedication to, and a concern for the University community."

A worm tunnel, animal pelts, a leaf quiz, a buzzard board at kid level, live birds and much more were all part of the excitement at the UNH Cooperative Extension Forestry and Wildlife Program exhibit at the recent Farm and Forest Expo in Manchester, claiming top prize for the two-day event.

Extension Educators, Community Tree Stewards and Coverts volunteers were on hand at the booth throughout the Expo to answer and inspire visitors of all ages. The exhibit was the result of the creativity and hard work of Extension staff Mary Tebo, Wendy Scribner, Malin Clyde and Karen Bennett, along with Bambi Miller from the Strafford County Conservation District.

The volunteers participated in the development and staffing of the worm tunnel, a walk-in-to world of the natural underground, critters and man-made recyclable items that don't belong in our soils. The tunnel is destined for exhibit sites around the state. The requests started to come in with its debut at the Expo.

Wendy Scribner accepted the plaque and ribbon from Governor John Lynch at the Farm and Forest Expo awards breakfast. "The Farm and Forest Expo provides an extraordinary opportunity to maintain and enhance relationships with natural resource related partners and clientele in a very efficient way," according to Program Leader Bob Edmonds. "Over a two-day period, people come to us from all around the state, saving us valuable travel time and expense that we would expend trying to reach them in other ways."

How does UNH 4-H Camp change children? We asked parents of 849 campers from the 2005 summer camp program for help answering this question. Over 15 percent of the parents of our 2005 campers responded to a post-camp experience survey. Questions reflected the kinds of knowledge and skills we hope campers learn and practice in a typical UNH 4-H Camp experience. Over half the children (53%) in the survey had attended UNH 4-H Camp for the first time.

Over half the responding parents (60%) believe their child is more interested in learning new things since camp, and almost a third of parents (31%) think their child discovered something they might like as a career or vocation. Learning something new about the natural environment, and learning and practicing new skills were important camp outcomes reported by most parents (87%). One parent discovered her son “loved being in the woods, he loves being outdoors.” Many campers also learned the importance of eating well, exercise and rest.

An important life skill is learning how to relate to others and make new friends. Most parents (83%) felt their child made new friends that were a positive influence. These parents believe camp also helped their child learn how to get along with others, and some parents (42%) report their child is actually doing better in this skill since camp. A majority of parents (79%) believe their child learned something about people from another culture. Parents commented there was “nice camaraderie in the cabin” and, “he had a child with special needs in the cabin, this was a good positive experience for all.”

The survey suggests good news for busy parents. Over half the parents (54%) believe camp helped their child learn how to solve problems without their help, and one-third report their child helps more around the house or yard since being at camp.

Also good to know...overwhelmingly parents agree (99%) that children had fun at camp. A parent wrote, “Both kids had a great time and each wants to stay an extra week next year!” Another parent reported it was “my daughter’s fifth year at camp. She loves it and talks about it all year.” What makes camp such a special experience? Parents cite everything from “learning the silly new camp songs” to swimming, candle lighting, non-candy snacks in the camp store, kayaking, archery, and cooking makeshift bread. However, the overwhelming impact of camp may just come from “the counselors who come from many countries” and their sincere commitment to being “really fun, friendly and making campers feel safe.”

As we develop our next five year plan of work, questions have been raised
about the future of our interdisciplinary teams. A year ago, the Program
Development and Evaluation Team conducted a formative evaluation of
the teams and submitted recommendations for Interdisciplinary
Team policies to the Leadership Team. Those policies still stand and
appear below. Note there are no term limits for team chairs and team
members. Participation is an agreement between the employee and
their supervisor.

Interdisciplinary Team Policies:
• A definition of interdisciplinary work is provided to staff so Program Leaders and staff have a common understanding of interdisciplinary programming. The Leadership Team agreed on the following definition and rationale for interdisciplinary work.
• Program leaders, in concert with individual staff will determine what interdisciplinary work each Extension Specialist and Educator will engage in using a guideline of 10% of their time (21 days for full time.) Staff have several options for meeting this interdisciplinary programming guideline, including:
o Continue working on the interdisciplinary team to which they are assigned
o Request a reassignment to another interdisciplinary team
o Create a new interdisciplinary team with a focus that meets the definition of interdisciplinary work, falls within the mission and vision of UNH Cooperative Extension, and meets the needs of New Hampshire residents (determined by GAP analysis, demographics, and other data). The Leadership Team will review and approve newly proposed teams.
o Participate in a new or existing program outside a team that meets the criteria for interdisciplinary work
o An existing interdisciplinary team may choose to disband. Sufficient evidence must suggest Extension is responding to the topic/issue in another manner since these teams were formed based on GAP analysis data.
o There may be circumstances where an educator’s or specialist’s job responsibilities may not include interdisciplinary work for a period of time (new hire, funded by restricted grants, contracts or gifts.)
• The Leadership Team supports rewarding interdisciplinary work through the staff recognition plan. Incentives/rewards are based on documented outcomes/impacts of interdisciplinary work rather than inputs such as time spent on interdisciplinary work. Reduction of an employee’s appointment will not be related to participation with an interdisciplinary team.
• Supervision and documentation of time involved in interdisciplinary work is the responsibility of Program Leaders, not chairs of interdisciplinary teams. Chairs, like all other Extension staff, provide performance review feedback on staff with whom they work. They will not be required to provide additional feedback or documentation for their team members.
• A description of interdisciplinary work expectations will be included in all position descriptions for new hires. Search committees will discuss this expectation with candidates.
• The Leadership Team will continue to support the Program Council. This group of Program Leaders and Chairs/Co-Chairs of interdisciplinary teams is an important and effective way to facilitate communication about programming.

Feel free to contact Leadership Team members if you have questions about these policies. The Leadership Team appreciates the hard work of these teams and what they've already added to our programming portfolio.

We are fast approaching the sweetest season in New England, the time of the year when sugarmakers tap their maple trees for the sap and boil it down to make pure maple syrup, maple candy and other products. Extension Educator Sumner Dole works with these producers from across the Northeast and Canada to ensure that tree health and consumer standards for maple syrup are in place and in practice. His objectives are to enhance the economic viability of the maple industry in the region while protecting both the maple resource and consumers.

Sumner worked with New Hampshire’s maple community to detect and reduce lead levels in maple syrup with great success. Working with the International Maple Syrup Institute, Sumner helped design a random sample purchase and testing program to detect adulterated syrup entering the market around the world. This protocol ensures that the products’ label reflects pure maple syrup.

UNH Cooperative Extension collaborated with the Vermont Department of Agriculture, Food and Markets and the University of Maine Extension to develop and conduct two annual New England Maple Grading Schools in Lancaster, NH. The International Maple Syrup Institute and maple industry provided some financial support for the grading school, attended by participants representing six states and three provinces. This school provides a strong scientific base combined with intensive hands-on exercises.

Lately, several insects have attacked our sugar maple trees. Extension’s Forest Resource Educators are available to advise maple producers on dealing with these incidents. The more conservative tapping guidelines outlined in the Sugarbush Management: A Guide to Maintaining Tree Health are sustainable and if followed, lessen the need to revise tapping practices with each insect outbreak.

UNH Cooperative Extension supports the maple industry, a multi-million dollar renewable resource rural industry, with assistance from educators and specialists in the Forestry and Wildlife Resources program and our partners in the NH Division of Forests and Lands.