Extension Update: September 2009 Archives

The National Association of County Agricultural Agents annual meeting and professional development conference took place last week in Portland, Oregon.

Amy Ouellette, NH Association of Agriculture Professionals (NHAAP) president, attended leadership meetings, voted on behalf of New Hampshire and attended farm tours.

George Hamilton received a Distinguished Service Award. Seth Wilner won an Achievement Award and Geoffrey Njue received a Northeast Region Communications Award for a promotional piece, fact sheet and newsletter. Travel and accommodations were fully funded by NHAAP dues, a fundraiser in the New Hampshire Eastern States Exposition building, and Northeast SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education).

Amy, George, Seth and Geoffrey plan to share crop production techniques, fresh marketing ideas and urban sustainable development practices with co-workers and farmers in New Hampshire.

Following a 30-year career with UNH Cooperative Extension, Val Long is now a Senior Policy Associate-Food Assistance Program with Altarum Institute. During her tenure with Cooperative Extension, Val served as an Extension educator and specialist, Food and Nutrition.

Under Val’s leadership, the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) moved into all New Hampshire counties, integrating staff into county Cooperative Extension teams, securing funding from county governments and elevating classification status for program associates to “professional” staff. During that time, New Hampshire became one of the first states to seek funding from USDA Food and Nutrition Service, with the NH Food Stamp Program. An initial 1989 grant of $8,000 has grown to a proposed $1.7 million for 2009-2010.

Val’s emphasis included cancer risk reduction and increased physical activity. She was on the ground floor as the statewide HEAL (Healthy Eating Active Living) initiative launched and she taught “Community Nutrition” to UNH students for many years.

After retiring as a full time Extension specialist, Val continued to serve as coordinator for the Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program. Her new position with Altarum Institute will provide her with the opportunity to work at the state and national level providing technical assistance and evaluation services in the areas of food assistance and nutrition education programs.

Geri Farnell, our Operation: Military Kids program coordinator for the past year and a half, will leave her position at the end of the month. We have appreciated her dedicated service and keen attention to detail. She will be missed, but we certainly support her decision to join her military spouse, now stationed in North Carolina.

A job announcement will be posted on the UNH Web site, and we will be accepting applications to fill her position. Internal candidates are encouraged to apply. This is a full time, benefits position with Operation: Military Kids.

The JCPenney Afterschool Fund has partnered with National 4-H Council in a new focus on science, engineering and technology (SET). Nationally, 32 4-H teams received the 2009 JCPASF FIRST Robotics Team Mini-Grants.

These grants will help the 4-H groups build a robot and participate in a FIRST Tech Challenge or FIRST LEGO League (FLL) event. Receiving $1,000 grants for 10-member youth teams from New Hampshire are:

• Wapack Youth Robotics: The FIRST FLL Team is from the Wapack mountain range in southern New Hampshire. The Center for Positive Change in Peterborough is a collaborating partner with Hillsborough County 4-H Youth Development and the robotics team.
• Team SOCC LEGO League Robotics from Dover’s Seymour Osman Community Center is collaborating with Strafford County 4-H to engage middle school youth in new opportunities to experience science, engineering and technology.
• 4-H FIRST Robotics Team, an afterschool club at the Family School Connections program, is collaborating with Sullivan County 4-H to position FIRST Robotics as an extended learning opportunity for 9-14 year olds in the Claremont School District.
  

I am providing an update to our current budget situation to staff and stakeholders, although very little has changed substantively and there are still many unknown factors that will affect our future fiscal situation.

UNH President Mark Huddleston outlined the University’s FY 2010 budget request in his letter to staff (June 3, 2009), indicating a reduction in expenses of $8.3 million. At this time, UNH Cooperative Extension is still predicting a $1.3 million shortfall in FY 2010 as well.

UNH and UNHCE have already put some measures into place to address these budget shortfalls. There are no increases for all non-AAUP faculty and staff with an annualized salary of more than $40,000 this year.

All out-of-state travel, paid for with state or federally-appropriated (non-grant) funds, not only require program leader or supervisor approval, but only those who present at a conference or hold a leadership role of some type will be granted approval. The use of grant funds or Principal Investigator accounts to fund out-of-state travel is strongly encouraged when possible.

In addition, staff were asked to reduce their travel and supply budgets by at least 10 percent. UNH Cooperative Extension ended the 2009 fiscal year almost 36 percent lower than compared to the same time period one year ago with state or federally-appropriated funded travel and supply expenditures.

UNHCE’s hiring freeze remains in effect, and only grant-funded positions (those that are mandatory as part of a grant or contract) will be filled. An internal search or appointment to fill these positions is preferred.

I applaud staff for efforts made to lower our costs and encourage all of you to continue your diligence in this matter. There are many avenues for decreasing our expenses and increasing our revenue, and your creativity is greatly appreciated.

Another important aspect of maintaining a healthy revenue portfolio is through grants, gifts and contracts. Externally funded grants and contracts continue to be strongly encouraged and supported. The current UNH Cooperative Extension Strategic Plan calls for a continued diversification of our portfolio of funding sources, from public funding, grants, contracts and other new sources of funding that support our mission.

While this recommendation is generally understood by staff, there still exists some confusion regarding the specifics and how each of us will be personally impacted by these expectations. The Extension Leadership Team met this month to discuss constraints in generating revenue, staff workloads and the need to cultivate a positive and entrepreneurial spirit among staff.

Again, thank you for your efforts. I will keep you well informed as I learn any new information from the university’s central administration regarding the budget. I’ve attached an updated version of our staff revenue generation expectations for all of you to review.

UNH Cooperative Extension recently received the following grants:

Julia Peterson, Extension Specialist, Water Resources, received $83,472 from the University of Rhode Island, for the second year of funding towards her project, "The Northeast States and Caribbean Islands Regional Water Program."

Becky Sideman, Extension Specialist, Sustainable Horticulture Production, and Seth Wilner, Extension Educator, Agricultural Resources, received $25,000 for tri-state trainings, "a regional and intensive approach to SARE Professional Development - Developing Regional Expertise in Alternative Energy and Local Grain Productions." The grant is from the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) program through the University of Vermont. Wilner also received $15,000 from Northeast SARE for "Building Capacity for Sustainable Agriculture in New Hampshire."

Ken La Valley, Extension Specialist, Commercial Fisheries Technology Transfer, received $60,000 from the University of Nebraska for "Fisheries eXtension: Sustainable Marine Fisheries" community of practice.

Cheryl Smith, Extension Specialist, Plant Health, received $30,000 from Cornell University for the "Northeast Regional Center Plant Diagnostics Network Facility."

Wendy Brock, 4-H Youth Development Program Leader, and Julia Steed Mawson, Extension Educator, 4-H Youth Development, received $25,000 from the NH Charitable Foundation, to build capacity of staff and volunteers throughout the state in youth horticulture and nutrition education.

National 4-H Council recently announced 2009-2010 mini-grants funded to county-based 4-H programs through a partnership with the JCPenney Afterschool Fund.

The Fund is a charitable organization focused on providing children in need with access to quality afterschool programs that foster academic, physical and social development every day between 3 pm and 6 pm.

Nineteen programs in five states received small grants to provide slots for 678 youth who were either not currently in afterschool programs or on the verge of leaving the program due to a lack of funding. In the four academic years since 2006-07, New Hampshire 4-H afterschool programs received a total of $661,829 to assist programs in providing slots for 1,457 children.

Extension 4-H youth development educators receiving this year’s awards in New Hampshire are:

• Claes Thelemarck, Carroll County, $4,644 for 21 children attending the Ossipee Schools Out Program;
• Holly Gowdy, Cheshire County, $3,440 for nine children attending the Harrisville School District’s Marl/Harris Before and Afterschool Program;
• Rick Alleva, Rockingham County, $5,160 for 13 children attending the Epping Recreation Department Afterschool Program, $6,192 for 14 children attending the Raymond Coalition for Youth 4-H Afterschool Program, and $6,192 for 14 children attending the Seacoast Youth Services 4-H Afterschool Program.
• Michael Koski of Hillsborough County, $6,880 for 40 children attending Hillsborough’s KIDS IN GEAR program;
• Linda Willard, Strafford County, $11,610 for 26 children attending the Seymour Osman Community Center afterschool program at the Dover Housing Authority; and
• Nancy Berry, Sullivan County, $5,160 for 17 children attending Claremont’s Family School Connections program.
  

Life on an Ocean Planet is the first textbook that meets the official criteria for ocean literacy, thanks in part to Marine Science Extension Specialist Mark Wiley.

Wiley is currently the president of the Gulf of Maine Marine Educators Association and serves on the Ocean Literacy Committee for the National Marine Educators Association (NMEA). NMEA recently established ocean literacy standards, statements about what students should know about ocean sciences at different grade level groupings, Wiley explained.

The book’s publisher, Current Publishing Corp., asked Wiley and others serving on the committee to review the content of each book chapter. The eight nationwide committee members identified where the book aligned with NMEA ocean literacy standards and where it needed improvements.

"So many things are affected by the ocean, including climate change with the potential rise in sea level," Wiley said. "It is important to have a citizenry that is familiar with why the ocean is important and how it impacts all our daily lives."

Using marine science to teach basic scientific principles is an effective and engaging way to interest students and help them perform at the level set by the state’s educational standards, Wiley said. For example, he commonly uses marine sponges to teach general physics principles rather than other land-based examples.

Dean Allen, vice president and general manager for Current Publishing Corp., said the Life on an Ocean Planet textbook offers abundant resources and flexibility to allow teachers, regardless of their marine science experience, to easily teach the course. The textbook, geared towards students in grades 10-12, is part of a curriculum that also includes a laboratory and activity disc and a teacher’s curriculum guide and digital resource package.

Three new staff members join our Promotion Committee, following a recent election for the positions. Deb Maes will represent Family and Consumer Resources, Margaret Hagen, Agricultural Resources, and Mark Wiley, Water and Marine Resources.

All three elected candidates will begin their second three-year term.

The Promotion Committee reviews the promotion notebooks and makes recommendations to Dean and Director John Pike. The process then continues through the University System channels and final approval is made by the University System Board of Trustees.

Promotion committee members are:

Tim Fleury (Forestry & Wildlife Resources)
Becky Grube (Faculty/Specialist At-Large)
Nada Haddad (Educator At-Large), chair
Robin Luther (4-H Youth Development)
Margaret Hagen(Agricultural Resources)
Deb Maes (Family & Consumer Resources)
Mark Wiley (Water & Marine Resources)

For more information on the promotion process, educators and specialists should contact their program leader. You may also download a copy of the Extension Educator Promotion Procedure. Thank you to all who participated in the election.