Extension Update: August 2007 Archives

Vanessa Green, Budget Analyst for Energy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment on the US Senate Committee on the Budget (Senator Judd Gregg - Ranking Member) met with me and others on August 21st for a briefing regarding UNH Cooperative Extension. She was impressed with the extent to which UNH CE has a broad mission with more diversity than she had anticipated and its program impacts. In addition, she noted that Federal formula funding makes up a small but important portion of our total revenue and is critical for leveraging other funding sources. She looks forward to further interactions with Cooperative Extension as we advance our mission throughout New Hampshire.

Extension Specialist Charlie French and Prof. Troy Hartley, Dept. of Resource Economics and Development, are co-teaching a two-credit, Natural Resources and Earth Sciences System PhD Program-approved seminar this fall that integrates research activities on communication networks and regional governance, and uses a UNH Technology grant to bring practitioners from case studies into the classroom through various remote technologies (e.g., video teleconferencing, web-based technologies, etc.)

Case studies address fisheries management, watershed planning, and regional ocean planning. Contact Troy Hartley, troy.hartley@unh.edu or Charlie French, charlie.french@unh.edu with specific questions about this seminar.

Cheers for Peers provides a way for UNH Cooperative Extension staff to simply and immediately acknowledge the positive contributions co-workers make to each other, the work place, our clients, the organization and the University.

Recognition from co-workers for a job well done is especially valuable and can reinforce good work and build collegiality. Cheers for Peers is for all UNH Cooperative Extension staff, including support staff employed by a New Hampshire county.

To recognize someone, go to the Staff Recognition Page to learn more about the award in the Supporting Documents section. Follow the instructions for Cheers for Peers listed in the Recognition Award form box. Go ahead, click the award form to see what the award looks like, and while you are there, recognize one of your peers. Your recognition will be sent, by email, directly to the person you select and his or her supervisor. Once each quarter, two recipients and two nominators will be selected randomly to receive a $25 shopping spree in our "recognition store."

Our first winners, chosen at random from all names accumulated in the April, May, June quarter, are Julia Peterson for her great work at our annual conference and Deb Maes for ensuring recognition of a co-worker at the same conference. Congratulations also go to Kristina Vaughan and Barbara Wright for being randomly selected from the list of those who sent a Cheers for Peers card to a colleague. Contact Holly Young for your reward.

Send a Cheers for Peers card now - there is no limit. The next drawing is Sept 30.

The foodservice industry is important to New Hampshire's economy. A recent report detailing New Hampshire's employment projections to 2014 show combined food preparation and serving jobs will be among the top 10 occupations, adding the most jobs and among the 10 experiencing the most annual openings.

Whether you're dining in an up-scale restaurant or a snack shack at the beach, you expect the food to be safe. UNH Cooperative Extension Family and Consumer Resources Educators work closely with the retail food industry to provide food safety education for both food managers and food workers. In the past 15 years, educators reached food workers in all 10 counties in the state with the Safety Awareness in the Food Environment (SAFE) program. The SAFE program focuses on the importance of personal hygiene (especially handwashing), preventing cross contamination, using recommended temperatures for keeping food safe from receiving to serving, and the "how to's" of cleaning and sanitizing.

During the first six months of the 2007 fiscal year, educators taught 34 SAFE programs reaching over 568 restaurant workers, non-profit and health care food workers, food pantry volunteers and food entrepreneurs. Ninety-five percent of the participants scored 75 percent or greater on a post-workshop knowledge test.

One hundred and forty-three food workers participated in a UNH Cooperative Extension sponsored ServSafe program, also taught by Family and Consumer Resources Educators. ServSafe is a national food safety certification program sponsored the National Restaurant Association's Educational Foundation. Seventy-five percent of these participants passed the national examination to become ServSafe certified.

Food workers who are knowledgeable about food safety and sanitation are important to the foodservice industry. UNH Cooperative Extension Family and Consumer Resources educators continue to lead educational programming in New Hampshire to reach this goal.

Extension staff members are sharing their expertise on three different legislative committees.

Extension Specialist Mike Sciabarrasi sits on the newly-formed commission to study and make recommendations on the expansion of the NH Agricultural Innovation Program (HB207). The commission will review and make recommendations concerning the restructuring of the program, based on Massachusetts and Maine farm viability programs, opportunities to coordinate with existing farm viability programs in neighboring states, and the feasibility of forming public/private partnerships for administration and financial and technical support. The commission's report to the legislature is due Nov. 1, 2008.

Extension Educator Tom Buob serves on the commission to study methods and costs of sewage, sludge and septage disposal (HB 699). The group will look at costs involved with the disposal of sewage, sludge and septage, the economic feasibility of alternatives to current disposal methods and the public health effects of current and alternative disposal methods. An interim report is due by Nov. 1, 2007.

Malcolm Smith, Extension Specialist, Family Education and Policy, is a member of the task force on work and family (HB 306). The task force will identify groups interested in resolving specific work-family issues and devise ways to bring them together. The task force also will consider changes to current state law that would allow for greater flexibility on the part of businesses to accommodate the changing needs of employees and their families. An interim report is due by Nov. 1, 2007.

The updated 2007-2008 in-service calendar is now available and you are encouraged to sign up for professional development opportunities. The registration process remains the same as it has over the past several years, however a catalog web page has been developed to categorize the in-services in four broad categories to help staff and supervisors develop appropriate professional development plans. This page is intentionally redundant, listing many of the in-services multiple times because they fit under several categories.

You also can go directly to the in-services registration page.

Questions about these offerings and other professional development opportunities? Ask Lisa Townson or your program leader.

The new UNH President, Mark Huddleston, has been busy learning about UNH Cooperative Extension, and he already has plans to join us for two important events in September and October. While in Coos County on July 24, he visited the Extension staff in Lancaster and was very impressed with our extensive outreach efforts.

On August 2, the Leadership Team briefed President Huddleston on Cooperative Extension's programmatic, financial and strategic planning efforts that are currently underway. Following the briefing in Taylor Hall, President Huddleston noted, "UNH Cooperative Extension does some really great work for UNH and the people of New Hampshire. I look forward to helping to get that word out."

President Huddleston will be a guest of honor at a September 26th dinner hosted by our State Advisory Council, along with USNH Board of Trustees Chair Andy Lietz. He also will participate in our next combined Belknap-Carroll County Conversation October 26, tentatively scheduled at a location on Squam Lake featuring our Lakes Lay Monitoring Program (LLMP). The LLMP has grown into an internationally recognized volunteering effort, with 500 volunteers monitoring the water quality at hundreds of lakes and tributaries. Squam Lake volunteers are one of the program's longest participants and in 2008, will celebrate 30 years as a participant.

Lastly, President Huddleston looks forward to not only continuing the tradition of "County Conversations" but also seeing all our staff at our next conference on May 19, 2008.

Two of our Forest Resources Educators, Sumner Dole and Don Black, are retiring, Sumner on October 2, 2007, and Don in January, 2008.

Both Sumner and Don appreciate the support they've received over the years from their colleagues, county advisory councils, partners, and most importantly their clientele.

Sumner, with over 32 years with UNH Cooperative Extension, and Don, with over 36 years, take with them over six decades of Extension forestry experience.

Please join me in thanking Sumner and Don for all their efforts over the years. We will miss them for the many things they have contributed to Extension, their counties and to the greater forestry community in the state.

The Thomas Fairchild family and the 4-H Foundation of New Hampshire have renamed the New Hampshire 4-H Dairy Endowment to the Tom Fairchild 4-H Dairy Endowment. This memorial opportunity with the 4-H Foundation is in addition to the UNH Foundation Fairchild Scholarship Fund for Animal Science.

Tom Fairchild, former dean of UNH's College of Life Science and Agriculture, as well as interim president of the university, died July 3, after a long battle with cancer. When reflecting on Tom’s career as a Cooperative Extension Dairy Specialist, 4-H Program Leader Wendy Brock said, "Tom took 4-H members under his wing, teaching them not only about the dairy industry, but about being a good team member, supporting the efforts of others and understanding the importance of agriculture to New Hampshire and the world. Several generations of 4-H families have been touched by the wisdom and magic of Tom Fairchild."

As chair of the 4-H Foundation Board in 2002, Tom led the foundation through a successful Centennial Campaign, raising $100,000 for the New Hampshire 4-H Youth Development Program.

In recognition of his support to the UNH Cooperative Extension 4-H dairy program and the 4-H Foundationof NH, the renaming of the existing 4-H dairy endowment to the Tom Fairchild 4-H Dairy Endowment provides an opportunity for friends to remember Tom and support 4-H. The annual income from the endowment will support 4-H dairy events and activities without touching the endowment principal. Those who would like to remember Tom and his impact on 4-H can contribute by making checks payable to the 4-H Foundation NH-Dairy Endowment, and mail to Wendy Brock, Moiles House, 180 Main Street, Durham, NH 03824-2536. For questions, call 603-862-2187.