Extension Update: September 2006 Archives

Legislators, county commissioners and other public officials from around New Hampshire gathered at the Radisson Hotel in Manchester Monday for an historic ceremony celebrating the renewal of the partnership between New Hampshire's 10 county governments, the University System of New Hampshire and UNH Cooperative Extension.

University System of New Hampshire Chancellor Stephen Reno, along with UNH Interim President J. Bonnie Newman and UNH Cooperative Extension Dean and Director John Pike noted the importance of the partnership between the 10 New Hampshire county governments and UNH Cooperative Extension.

A special guest, University System Trustee Merle Schotanus, provided the background on how the New Hampshire legislature re-established these Memorandum of Understandings with each county when he was a state representative to the General Court in 1994.

Every six years, each county signs a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) recognizing local County Extension Advisory Councils as the sponsor of Extension work. The first MOUs were signed in 1957, almost 50 years ago.

Hillsborough County Conversation Highlights Growth
Prior to the MOU signing, participants leanred more about how the University of New Hampshire and UNH Cooperative Extension work together to address one of the most pressing topics of concern in the region, the growth and rapidly changing landscape New Hampshire communities face today. The Hillsborough County Conversation II was part of the NH Association of Counties' annual conference this year, also held at the Radisson.

The Conversation began with a history of the Manchester mills by Dr. Robert Macieski, UNH-Manchester faculty, followed by a segment presented by Amy Seif, Communications Director, Carsey Institute, and Fay Rubin, NH GRANIT, both of UNH, that reviewed the transition from resources-based industry to service/technology industry. The final segment focused on the future of Hillsborough County, presented by UNH Cooperative Extension Community Profiles Coordinator Michele Gagne.
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Each day, volunteers across New Hampshire make extraordinary efforts to meet the needs of individuals, families and communities. We need your help to identify and recognize these contributions.

Volunteer NH!, in collaboration with the Office of Governor John Lynch, is looking for nominations for the Spirit of New Hampshire annual awards celebration and the newly established New Hampshire Volunteer of the Month awards.

Think about people, non-profits, businesses, schools, church groups, service clubs, municipalities, and state agencies that contribute to everyday life in your region - through their volunteer service or support for volunteers. We hope you will nominate programs, colleagues, partners, even your own program.

Complete a simple nomination packet. Recipients will be honored at the fourth annual Spirit of New Hampshire event Monday, November 13 at the Grappone Center in Concord.

2006 nominations will be accepted on an on-going basis. (To be considered for a category award at the annual 2006 November gala, nominations must be received by September 30, 2006.) For more information, contact Volunteer NH! at 1-800-780-8058.

Interim UNH President J. Bonnie Newman made note of Cooperative Extension's contributions to New Hampshire in her State of the University address.

President Newman noted that "...A major UNH outreach program that has a tremendous impact on our state is Cooperative Extension. Cooperative Extension's many quality programs touch every corner of New Hampshire with research-based education and information that benefit our youth, families, and communities. In our proud land grant tradition, UNH truly is - as it should be - an engaged university..."

The full address is now available online.

After successfully developing and directing the Family Home and Garden Center for more than five years, Margaret Hagen has decided to focus on a new initiative, while retaining some of her current responsibilities.

As of October, Margaret will concentrate her efforts as Extension Educator, Agricultural Resources, on developing new programs in urban agriculture as well as commercial ornamentals in Hillsborough County. She will keep her media relations such as Grow It Green for WMUR TV and the Hillsborough County Master Gardener program. She will move into the Goffstown office in November.

Alice Mullen has agreed to become the administrator for the Family, Home and Garden Education Center. Alice will continue as an Extension Educator, Family & Consumer Resources, in Hillsborough County at the same 50 percent level of programming in nutrition, diet and food safety, along with the 50 percent position administering the Center. This change heralds a broadening of the scope of both the Family Home and Garden Education Center and the Ag Resources program. We appreciate immensely the willingness of both Margaret and Alice to take on these new challenges.

Alice has moved her office from the Goffstown office to the Family, Home and Garden Education Center. Her new address and phone and fax numbers are:
UNH Cooperative Extension - Family, Home & Garden Education Center
200 Bedford Street
Manchester, NH 03101
Phone: (603)629-9494 x 150
Fax: (603)629-9998

Starting in November, Margaret Hagen's office will be located in the Hillsborough County Complex in Goffstown. Her new address, phone and fax numbers will be:
UNH Cooperative Extension Hillsborough County
329 Mast Road
Goffstown, NH 03045
Phone: 603-641-6060
Fax: 603-645-5252

UNH Cooperative Extension will no longer be conducting the Family Lifeskills Program, often referred to by its curriculum name LEAP - Lifeskills for Employment, Achievement and Purpose - effective October 1, 2006.

The award-winning Family Lifeskills Program that began in 1997 ends on September 30 as a result of how the NH Department of Health and Human Services has implemented the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families reauthorization regulations. This change will result in the loss of 13 staff positions in Cooperative Extension, positions all paid through the Family Lifeskills Program contract with the NH Division of Family Assistance.

The impact of this program loss is significant for our organization both in loss of personnel and loss of financial resources to implement valuable lifeskills programming statewide for individuals moving from public assistance to independence. This program was awarded the Northeast Director's Award, the Maynard Heckel Award and was recently recognized with UNH Cooperative Extension's Diversity Award.

UNH Cooperative Extension salutes the Family Lifeskills Program Coordinators whose last day of employment with us is September 29. These include Rebecca Betts, Portsmouth, Kathleen Frenette, Berlin, Diane Gilmore, Conway, Brenda Hathaway, Concord, Cheryl Marsh, Laconia, Robin McGlone, Rochester, Donna Meuse, Claremont, Kelley O'Connell, Salem, and Kathy Radwan, Nashua. These staff and many others have made significant contributions to this work over the past nine years and they will be sorely missed as colleagues and as contributors to the economic condition of New Hampshire families. We wish these staff the very best as we thank them for their commitment to New Hampshire families through working with the Family Lifeskills Program.

Suzann Knight as project director and Debbie Luppold have worked tirelessly on the FLP program since its inception. Suzann will be redirecting her time as Family Resource Management Specialist and Debbie will continue as program director for the Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program and EFNEP.

Over 3,200 TANF recipients have been enrolled in LEAP, a program that successfully provided participants with skills, motivation, self esteem and a healthy social support network to aid in their transition from being on public assistance to working. Through the ongoing statistical evaluation, the LEAP program helped TANF recipients eliminate the more personal internal roadblocks associated with finding and keeping a job. The three-year longitudinal research of the curriculum found that LEAP was successful in developing knowledge-based job readiness skills and enhancing self-esteem and social supports. Such gains are important because one's ability to not only seek and get a job, but to hold a job over a sustained period of time, is dependent upon self confidence and attitude in addition to fundamental work skills taught in LEAP.

More than 90 percent of LEAP participants report they feel more prepared for the job market and 58 percent report they feel much more prepared. Follow-up studies were conducted and it was found that within a year of attending LEAP, about half of the program participants are working and about 40 percent are no longer on TANF and within two years, between 56-60 percent are working and 60-70 percent are no longer on TANF.

The Carsey Institute Brown Bag Series seminars continue on Thursday, September 28, from 12:40-2 pm in the Memorial Union Building, room 332.

Is the Middle Class Losing Ground? is the topic, with Ross Gittell, James R. Carter Professor of Management, Jason Rudokas, M.S. candidate, Economics, and Allison Churilla, Ph.D. candidate, Sociology.

In the 1990s, New England went from having the lowest income inequality in the nation to the fifth highest of the nine Census regions. Professor Gittell and Rudokas will discuss their research on income inequality in New England with a focus on recent changes.

Churilla will describe characteristics of New Hampshire's low-income families and conclude with reflections on state and federal policies relevant to this population.

I am pleased to announce that Darrel Covell has enthusiastically accepted the position of Program Leader for the UNH Cooperative Extension Forestry and Wildlife Program.

As the Extension Wildlife Specialist, Darrel has been an integral part of the Forestry and Wildlife Program since 2001. He was recognized by his peers with a Performance Beyond Expectations award at the May, 2006 Extension Conference, in part for his leadership as co-coordinator of the first-ever Wildlife Action Plan for New Hampshire.

Born and raised in Pittsburg, this New Hampshire native got his college education at the University of New Hampshire and University of Wisconsin-Madison. He served as the Extension Wildlife Outreach Specialist in Wisconsin for seven years before coming back to lead the New Hampshire Wildlife Federation as its executive director for a year and a half.

Darrel says he feels fortunate to have this opportunity to lead such a remarkable group of people. He knows that each staff member in the UNH Cooperative Extension Forestry and Wildlife Program strives to make a difference in our forest resources, the forest-based economy and the people that depend on and work to sustain those resources for New Hampshire. He is honored that people have the confidence in his ability to do this job. He will not let them down.

Darrel will begin in his new job October 2. He says one of his first items on the to-do list will be looking into hiring a new wildlife specialist. I have great confidence in Darrel and know that he will do an outstanding job in building on the work of those who preceded him. Please join me in wishing Darrel the best in his new job. Congratulations, Darrel.

Wendy Scribner will succeed Peter Pohl as the Extension Educator, Forest Resources, in Carroll County. Wendy has been employed by UNH Cooperative Extension in the Forestry and Wildlife Program since 1992 and had worked for UNH Cooperative Extension in Strafford County prior to that. Wendy received her BS and MS at UNH. Carroll County was seeking a person who would address emerging issues, particularly permanent land protection, including conservation easements and estate planning. Her community experience positions her well for meeting that challenge. Wendy has front line experience with land protection in Dover. She is a very active community volunteer, including the Dover Waterfront Commission, a group looking at quality development of the economic and environmental assets along the Cocheco River. She is an adult leader in the Girl Scouts. Wendy is a licensed forester in New Hampshire and Maine. She is on the Executive Committee of the Granite State Society of American Foresters, heading up professional education. She will start in late October. Please join me in wishing Wendy the best in her new position.Congratulations, Wendy.

Steve Roberge will succeed Marshall Patmos as the Extension Educator, Forest Resources, in Cheshire County. Steve is a graduate of the Forest Science Program at UNH and received his Masters at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. He is from Berlin. He has worked on the Yale forest lands where he planned, marked and inspected timber sales on properties, some green certified. He currently works for Lands Sake in Weston, MA, where he has done management planning, educational programs for youth and the community, and works with volunteers. We hope to have Steve on board in Cheshire County early in October. Please join me in welcoming Steve to the UNH Cooperative Extension team, wishing him the best in his new position.Congratulations, Steve.