ASRED Meeting

August 22 – 26, 2016

Sheraton Music City

Nashville, TN

Agenda

Monday, August 22

1:00 pm Registration Opens

1:00 – 2:30 pm Program Leadership Committee Meeting w/ Committee Chairs Followed By PLN Executive Committee Meeting – Hermitage D

1:30 – 4:30 pm Pre-conference: Urban Extension – Two Rivers

5:30 – 6:00 pm Newcomer Orientation – Hermitage D

6:00 pm Dinner On Your Own

Tuesday, August 23

7:00 am Breakfast – Hermitage C/D

8:00 – Noon General Session – Hermitage C/D

8:00

Welcome – ChaNae Bradley, PLC Chair, Senior Communications Specialist, Ft. Valley State University Welcome to Tennessee

Dr. Tim Cross, Extension Dean and Professor, University of Tennessee

Dr. Chandra Reddy, Dean and Director of Research/Administrator of Extension, Tennessee State University

8:15 Charge – Dr. Ed Jones, Director, Virginia Tech and Chair, ASRED and Dr. Carolyn Williams, Prairie View M University and Vice Chair, AEA

8:30 Keynote: Shonali Burke – public relations and social media expert and consultant based in Washington, D.C.

9:30 Response

10 – 10:30 Break

10:30 Branding Extension

11:00 Ignite Sessions

11:45 Lunch – Hermitage C/D

1:30 pm

PLC Committee Meetings (with Administrative Advisors)

Agriculture & Natural Resources – Edgewood

Communications - Evergreen

Community Development – Hermitage A

Family & Consumer Sciences – Hermitage B

4-H Youth Development – Tulip Grove F

Information Technology – Kingsley

Middle Management – Tulip Grove E

Program & Staff Development – Two Rivers

3:00 pm Break

3:30 pm PLC Committee Meetings (with Administrative Advisors)

Evening State Night Out (Optional)

Wednesday, August 24

7:00 am Breakfast – Hermitage C/D

8:00 - Noon ASRED Session - Belmont

8:00 1

Call to Order; Charge Committees; Review Agenda; Approve April Minutes – Ed Jones, Chair

Ed Jones called the meeting to order and introduced our special guests. Self-introductions followed: Tim Cross (UT), Paula Threadgill (MSU), Gary Jackson (MSU), Jim Trapp (OSU), Jimmy Henning (UK), Laura Johnson (UGA), Tom Dobbins (CU), Leslie Boby (SREF), T. Hinton (Nat'l 4-H Council), Ron Brown (ASRED), Ed Jones (VPI), Tony Windham (UA), Rick Cartwright (UA), Paul Brown (AU), Mark Tassin (LSU), Eric Young (SAAESD), Rich Bonanno (NCSU), Bill Hubbard (SREF), Jennifer Sirangelo (Nat'l 4-H Council), Doug Steele (TAMU), Tom Obreza (UF)

Nick Place (UF) arrived around 10 AM.

The minutes from the April ASRED meeting were approved by unanimous vote.

Nominating Committee – Nick Place, Tim Cross, and Tom Dobbins. Positions identified to be filled include these.

The question of continuing Chris Boleman on the National 4-H Leadership Committee was raised. Tim Cross moved to recommend to the nominating committee that Chris remain on this committee for another term. The motion carried unanimously.

NIFA is looking for six people to serve as part of the LGU Stakeholder and Liaison Group for NIFA’s Grant Modernization Initiative. Nominated individuals include C. Shotwell from KY; R. Swan from MS; M. Kelly from SC; D. Alexander from TX; and K. Gouin from FL. These names were sent to Katelyn Sellers for consideration.

The Resolutions Committee of Gary Lemme, Jim Trapp, and Rich Bonanno will present a resolution on Friday morning.

2

State Updates

Print all State Updates in one document: HERE

Individual documents: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Virgin Islands

MS: State legislative budget increases (17%) have occurred in the last 4 years. Have hired new faculty and provided pay raises. Had a small 1.8% decrease recently. Getting ready for another small decrease. Grants and contracts increasing – extension and applied research included. Won the tenure battle for extension faculty in the faculty senate. No grandfathering of current employees.

LA: Most of Mark’s report centered on the recent floods. The state is in the clean-up stage that will take a long time. The sugarcane crop survived, but the rice crop does not look good. Twenty parishes were declared disaster areas. No damage occurred to the LSU campus in Baton Rouge. Count of 60,000 homes and 7,300 businesses damaged at this time, but there are probably more. Most businesses had no flood insurance. Lots of neighborly help going on.

NC: Experiencing a 2.3% budget cut. Received a small raise and a 1-year bonus. NC State Extension is feeling good about how the FLSA response turned out. Extension is establishing new category of Extension Leaders. A list of criteria relating to the scholarship of extension was developed. The Extension strategic plan is finished,

and Extension is hiring 40 new faculty. Seventeen new FTEs in Extension are being added statewide. NC State is working on new branding with NC A&T.

KY: Extension is engaging the UK main campus relative to their Plan of Work. Extension hired their first “County Manager,” who will supervise peers. Kentucky SNAP-Ed has experienced huge growth. Extension is adding SNAP-Ed money to agent salaries. The state budget is going through a bumpy time.

OK: Extension has received no budget increase in 7 years; experiencing a 16% budget decrease this year. Mentioned a 1% sales tax for education. Extension will have to reorganize its county structure due to lack of budget. Trying to go elsewhere for revenue. 4-H program fee instituted, but internal push-back is occurring. Wondering how hard 4-H can be squeezed.

GA: Most recent budget year was a good one. Have been able to add new state and county faculty positions. Thirty agent positions have come back. A new Ag Dean is in place. Greg Price will retire December 1; the HR director is also retiring. Grants and contract activity has set a record. Providing startup funds has been a challenge. Maintaining county funding is a challenge.

SC: Great budget year this year. Fourth straight year of increases. New excitement and enthusiasm among extension agents. Finished a strategic staffing plan with some personnel restructuring. Want to get more MOUs done with county governments. Coming back with Food Safety and Nutrition education. Re-doing the state 4-H program; hiring new agents, but still a long way to go. Would like to attract more males into 4-H agent positions.

AR: Rick Cartwright will take the interim position as Tony Windham departs Arkansas Extension. Have had flat funding for 8 years even though state finances are doing well. Tony opined that the FLSA exemption decision for county agents will result in lawsuits. Hiring a new Food Safety faculty member. There is a problem with illegal use of dicamba in Arkansas.

TN: Tim Cross is moving up to the Chancellor position as Larry Arrington retires. Delton Gerloff will take Tim’s job for the time being. Have experienced a modest increase in the Extension budget. State has done well financially but the university did not see an equal benefit. A 3% salary increase is coming. Extension had animal cruelty investigation responsibility removed after 17 years. Rolling out a new county director training consisting of four sessions per year.

FL: UF president, senior vice president (IFAS), and IFAS deans met with the Florida Farm Bureau State Board the day before this report was given. Farm Bureau has issues with IDC and with IFAS’s attention to agriculture. According to FB, IFAS is “walking

away” from ag. Commodity groups now paying 12% IDC instead of zero. FB pressed University President Kent Fuchs to change this but he will not. FB also questioned urban extension, the $20 new 4-H membership fee, and 4-H growing into urban areas. In some cases, “we have met the enemy and he is us.” Some of our own people are not pleased with the direction we are going and they feed it to their local FB. President Fuchs will be the keynote speaker at Extension’s annual conference in September. Extension is reaching out across UF for engagement of other colleges; for example, Health and Human Performance for tourism and Engineering for regional outreach. Funding situation is good; IFAS is hiring many new faculty. Extension has a major push on water resource education. Extension is advancing the revenue enhancement concept with county agents. Laura asked if IFAS records the Extension Conference. (Yes.) She would like to watch it and Nick will try to accommodate.

TX: University campuses are now subject to a new concealed carry firearm law that has led to controversy. Current year’s budget is set at 96% of level funding, but the university is trying for 100%. It would help if the price of oil would increase. Working to increase agent salaries. Want to add a COLA adjustment to salaries. Removing the need for a newly-hired county agent to achieve a master’s degree within 5 years of employment (applies to rural counties). Degrees must be closely related to the agent’s job assignment. County contracts vary from one place to another, so Extension is working towards consistency and transparency. A task force will work on this. Changing contracts will be painful but necessary.

AL: Working to develop regional administrative teams rather than establishing another administrative layer like middle managers. Transition from ROI to Economic Impacts in their reports on the impacts of Extension. Have made their impact reports simpler with time… something people will read.

VA: State just canceled a 3% pay raise. University will give a 2% merit pay raise. Significant hole in budget. Working on an early retirement plan to free up resources. Salaries for faculty and agents are way behind.

9:40 3

Regional Forester’s Report– Bill Hubbard

SREF responded to the request to market themselves better. Doing a better job at that. Bill talked about the partners in regional forestry extension… LGUs and Forest Service. Bill reviewed the following items: SREF mission; products and services; programming areas and issues; staff. Talked some details about various program areas. Lots of web-based knowledge bases. More details in written report.

10:00 – 10:30 am

Joint Break

10:30 – 12:00 am

ASRED Meeting – Belmont

10:30 4

4-H Council Update and Discussion – Jennifer Sirangelo (NOTE: This is a joint discussion with the 4-H Program Committee in Tulip Grove F; afterwards, ASRED will move to the Belmont room) 4-H Council is considering restructuring the Board. Jennifer Sirangelo, President and CEO, National 4-H Council, along with southern region representatives on the Board, Nick Place and Chris Boleman, and Ed Jones, Co-Chair of the ECOP National 4-H Leadership Committee, will provide background information and lead a discussion concerning the proposed changes (See Council Update, Board Development Initiative, and PPT Presentation). Jennifer Sirangelo's comments: We need to tap into 4-H alumni better than we do for support to grow 4-H nationally. (1 in 12 adults were associated with 4-H as youth, and 38% still feel connected to 4-H.) Goal is adding 10 million youth to 4-H. Fundraising goal is $125 million in 5 years. 8% of the budget will go into marketing 4-H. The Board should be composed of 20 trustees or less, and it should devote 80% of its effort towards fundraising.

11:00 5

National 4-H Congress Board of Directors and 4-H National Leadership Committee Update – Laura Johnson and Ed Jones Supportive of proposal to change make up of Board.

11:20 6

SRDC Update – Steve Turner

Steve described some of SRDC’s activities and projects:

Stronger Economies Together – Rural Development has $200 billion to loan, but they don’t loan nearly all of it; SET prepares communities to receive the loans.

Leaders in Economic Alliance Development.

Local Foods Initiative – expecting a SERA.

Turning the Tide on Poverty.

Community Development Indicators.

Steve also described his visits around the region, new initiatives/opportunities (e.g., Recreation Economy, RIDGE, and Rural America Counts), and SRDC’s priorities moving forward (economic development is #1).

11:40 7 Using a Content Management Platform – Andrew Kniberg, Office Depot and Neal Vines, Virginia Tech

Neal framed this opportunity by asking the question of what problem are we trying to solve. Problems include warehousing publications, complicated access to programs and publications, insufficient means for revenue generation, targeted marketing; etc. Andrew showed how the Office Depot content management system works at Virginia Tech. He showed the utility of the web site and how publications are handled, among other things.

12:00 – 1:30 pm

Joint Lunch / Recognitions – Hermitage C/D

1:30 pm PLC Committee Meetings (with Administrative Advisors)

3:15 – 3:30 pm Break

3:30 – 5:00 pm PLC Committee Meetings (with Administrative Advisors)

Evening Committee Night Out

Thursday, August 25

6:30 am Breakfast – Hermitage C/D

6:45 am Program Leadership Committee (PLC) Meeting – Belle Meade (Current, Incoming, and Outgoing PLC Members)

8:00 – 10:00 am

First Joint General Session of AEA and ASRED – Belle Meade

8:00 J1 NIFA Update – Brad Rein, Division Director, Division of Agricultural Systems, NIFA

8:30 J2 eXtension Update – Christine Geith, CEO, eXtension

9:00 J3

Joint Discussion Items a. 2018 Farm Bill Update –Albert Essel and Jim Trapp b. FLSA Overtime Rule: Implementation and Potential Impacts –

All c. NIFA Capacity Study –L. Washington Lyons and Ron Brown

10:00 – 10:30 am

Break

10:30 - Noon Second Joint Session of AEA and ASRED – Belle Meade (Includes Program Leadership Committee)

10:30 J4 PLC Action Items

11:15 J5 PLC Information Items

11:45 J6 Continue 8:00 AM Session Discussion (If finished and time remains, resume ASRED Session)

Noon Lunch (AEA and ASRED) – Two Rivers

1:00 – 5:00 ASRED Session – Belmont

1:00 pm

8

SAAESD Update – Eric Young

Eric Young was not able to see the first version of the NIFA survey. He reported that the original survey has been changed to three surveys, one each for the Head Administrator, the Head of Research, and the Head of Extension. NIFA hopes to send the survey out after Labor Day. The research survey looked pretty good to Eric (he reviewed it immediately prior to his report). The questions are set up to make capacity funding look good to LGUs, but how will non-LGUs react? We are not exactly sure which institutions will receive the survey.

SERA-46 (Hypoxia) is doing very well. The group has helped the Hypoxia Task Force, and the task force leader has been very complementary of SERA-46. The group’s efforts work better in some states than in others. This SERA has received funding from EPA (Projects: Social indicators related to nutrient loss strategies, and Creating a network of regional practitioners and farmer leaders). The group wants to work on economics in the future and on projects related to metrics and measures.

A multi-state research project on Unmanned Aerial Systems for agriculture is being planned. They will answer questions like “What does it take to make decisions?” (data management) and “What is the minimum resolution required?” They will test specific applications in real world situations and ground-truth remotely-sensed data. We can detect stress with UAS now, but not exactly what is causing it. Can sensors be developed to fine tune the analysis? The group will develop extension materials from research projects. They want to work to educate the FAA.

Research and Teaching administrators will meet jointly in a couple of weeks.

The cotton research facility has moved from Mexico to Costa Rica.

1:15 pm

9

Career Ladder, Non-Tenure Track Faculty – Paul Brown

The Alabama Cooperative Extension System has established a new career-ladder for the 21st century non-tenure track faculty job titles (i.e., County Extension Coordinators, Regional Extension Agents, and some Extension Specialists). The purpose is to provide a system for measuring and documenting career growth; advancements in leadership, professionalism, and maturity; and

administrative and programmatic accomplishment.” (See Career Ladder documents HERE).

Paul provided details about ACES's new career ladder. The County Extension Coordinator (CEC) job used to be a terminal position… there was no upward path from there. Paul described some obstacles to upward movement of coordinator, regional agent, and state specialist positions. Paul moved through the document he provided, concentrating on the CEC position. He explained the benefits of making this conversion.

1:40 pm

10

ECOP Actions and Discussions – Jimmy Henning, Jim Trapp and Tim Cross, ECOP Members, and Others Serving on ECOP Committees

a. ECOP Executive Director Search – Jimmy Henning and Doug Steele

Jane Schuhardt is heading towards retirement. The description for her position was updated, and the announcement is on the street. The target for a new hire is Nov 2016. There are some good applicants in the pool. Applicant screening is set for Sep 9. The new hire should be a strong and visionary leader in addition to being a good manager. This is not an APLU position… need to make that distinction.

b. ECOP Budget Task Force Update – Jimmy Henning

This committee’s work has never finished. The budget ended up balancing out but no money was set aside for new initiatives. Approved Scenario 3, which set aside a budget category to hold $30K for strategic initiatives or special projects. There is no requirement to spend all of the $30K every year. Assessments will not increase. Committee is now done.

c. ECOP Budget and Legislative Committee Report – Doug Steele

This committee put forth a document comparing EFNEP and SNAP-Ed. The document was essentially a communication piece for Cornerstone. The committee gave an update at PILD. We need to look at the Farm Bill and concentrate on the top two or three things we want to get out of it. The Policy Board and BAA will make the decision, but we want our voice heard.

d. ECOP Private Resource Mobilization Task Force – Tony Windham and Laura Johnson

The objective of this task force is to examine the fundraising business for Extension. The task force has met once and lined out

six tasks (stated by Laura). Each of the six task force members took responsibility for a primary and secondary task. The group will bring information forward at the Sep NEDA meeting. The plan is to have a final report to ECOP by December. A discussion ensued about the workings of this task force and the various aspects about the business of fundraising. Should we explore the model national 4-H uses?

e. ECOP National System Task Force – Doug Steele

A final report has been submitted. Asking the question “Is it worth investing in a national marketing firm to get a national logo and tagline?” In the past, projects go away after task forces dissolve and/or the money goes away. Could use the Association of Communication Educators or another group to take over the messaging about a national system. ECOP needs to give a thumbs up or down on the recommendations. Must decide if there will be an expectation that all institutions will participate, or if it would be an opt-in system.

f. Innovation Task Force – Doug Steele

This task force does not have representation from all regions. The group spent a lot of time trying to define “innovation.” Surveys were used to gather information about the characteristics of innovative leaders and how to train Extension leaders to be innovative.

2:45 – 3:15 pm Break

3:15 pm

11

eXtension Board Report – Doug Steele

Doug’s term is up in 1 year and he will need to be replaced.

Doug gave a report this morning to ASRED/AEA. He suggests all should take a look at the new eXtension web site. NC is leading the way in the south in trying new things.

12

Collaboration with USDA Partner Agencies – Tom Obreza, Robert Burns and Ron Brown

Recent interactions involving Cooperative Extension and NRCS have raised anew some questions about roles and how best to collaborate. A document was prepared and shared with Drs. Sonny Ramaswamy and Meryl Broussard, who subsequently met with NRCS officials. SERA 6 leaders have also provided a related document.

Lots of questions here, but not many answers. NRCS is partnering with NGOs that have funds to leverage. Can we get a response from NRCS leadership about the lack of

science? What does the Secretary of Agriculture know about this, and does he care? Could a science review be put in the Farm Bill? Who holds NRCS accountable? Where will Cathy Wotecki land after the election? The best ally we have right now is Sonny Ramaswamy. What about duplication of services? Who does NRCS report to? (Undersecretary Ann Mills, says Robert Burns.) Need to find out about the money trail. Go after the money trail as related to mission creep. We should continue to encourage Sonny to keep on top of this.

ASRED will take no action at this time, but we will watch for the results of future high-level meetings due to take place. Some states have good relationship with NRCS, others do not.

13

SNAP-Ed Oversight and Implementation – Nick Place

Nick described the problems UF/IFAS is having securing SNAP-Ed funding. First, the Florida Dept. of Children and Families is having difficulty managing pass-through federal funds. Second, an alternative applicant in Miami-Dade County (Independent Living Systems) challenged the grant process and filed a protest claiming that UF had an unfair advantage. UF joined the protest and legal services will be costly. Southern Region states are advised to be aware of ILS because they operate in 48 states. One remedy to fend off challenges like this would be putting language in the Farm Bill that reserves SNAP-Ed funds for LGUs only.

14

Potential 4-H Enrollment Increases – All

How/what methods are being used to increase and deal with increased 4-H enrollment?

If National 4-H Council's major fund-raising campaign succeeds, then increased funding for 4-H will come to the states. Would like to see increased alumni involvement as volunteers. We should not be tied to our current, limited delivery modes. Shorter volunteer stints (as opposed to lifelong commitments) could be beneficial to recruit new volunteers. We should eventually see direct and indirect FTE increases for 4-H programs. Centralizing the bureaucracy would help. Each state needs a dynamic 4-H State Office.

The group discussed providing input from Extension Directors about Jennifer Sirangelo’s performance as National 4-H Council President and CEO.

Laura Johnson discussed plans for the next national 4-H Congress.

15

NIFA Plan of Work Status – Jimmy Henning Jimmy Henning, along with Scott Cummings, is participating in a POW Working Group to redesign an Extension planning and

reporting module and will provide an update of the work. (See Working Group Plan and Redesign PPT). This working group has met several times via conference calls. They discussed the first draft of their idea with our Program Staff Development group at this meeting. The plan needs a bit of work. Suggestions will go back to Katelyn Sellers. Knowledge Areas and SOI codes need the most attention. This effort continues to be a work in progress. Scott has been doing a lot of the heavy lifting. Extension could end up with a system similar to the REEport that the Experiment Station uses. ASRED members recommended that some direct communication be aimed at Sonny Ramaswamy indicating that the work to produce federal reports is excessive compared with the amount of federal dollars each institution gets in return.

Friday, August 26

7:00 am Breakfast, AEA and ASRED – Two Rivers

8:00 – 11:00 am

ASRED Business Meeting – Belmont

16

Webinar Host Selections

In August 2014, ASRED members agreed to hold three webinars per year and determine the topics and hosts during the August meeting. Hosts and topics are needed for webinars in December 2016 and February and June 2017.

Suggestions for topics: 1) A 4-H update in December 2016; 2) Christine Geist reports about the new eXtension in Feb 2017; 3) An update on where we are with FLSA in June 2017.

Extension Directors approved that establishing SERA-37 (Food Systems) should move forward.

17

Nominating Committee Report

Given by Nick Place

ASRED Chair, 2017 – Gary Jackson ASRED Chair-Elect, 2017 – Gary Lemme ASRED Secretary, 2017 – Paul Brown ECOP, replacing Tim Cross – Ed Jones ECOP, replacing Tony Windham – Tom Dobbins ECOP 4-H Nat'l Leadership Committee – Chris Boleman ECOP Budget/Legislative Committee – Nick Place Nat'l 4-H Congress BOD – Pam Adern Nat'l 4-H Council – Nick Place So. Region Aquaculture Center Board – Gary Lemme and Steve Martin

SRDC Board – Jimmy Henning SRDC Technical Advisory Committee – Susan Jakes SR-PLN ANR State Leaders Admin. Adviser – Laura Johnson SR-PLN PLC AA and Executive Committee – Paul Brown Extension Admin. Adv. to SERA-35 – Jim Trapp Extension Admin. Adv. to SERA-39 – Rich Bonnano Extension Admin. Adv. to SERA-43 – Saqib Mukhtar

18

Resolutions Committee Report

Given by Jim Trapp

Jim read a resolution expressing gratitude to the planning committee for putting on a great conference. Local hosts Tim Cross, Robert Burns, Laura Stevenson, Richard Clark and others from Tennessee were commended for their efforts. (Resolution)

19

Expanding Opportunities through Health and Wellness – Susan Ballabina, Executive Associate Director, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension

Susan described what is going on in Texas: The TAMU Chancellor wanted to create a Health Extension Model, with the Health Science Center (HSC) taking the lead. The Texas state legislature was asked to provide $15 million in funding; $10 million was granted. A pilot program was established in 27 south Texas counties concentrating on diabetes, asthma, and infectious diseases. Texas AgriLife Extension and the HSC split the $10 million 50/50.

Administration created a staffing plan and hired new educators and staff. A new Health Extension Agent was placed in counties that had no FCS agent. Multi-county Extension Program Specialists were also added. New faculty were required to have health-related degrees at the master’s level or higher. Counties were given specific programs to implement all at the same time. The program reached 21,000 people through "Walk Across Texas." 101 youth became "Ambassadors." The previously-established “Dinner Tonight” program was used to increase visibility.

On the horizon is the introduction of the Master Wellness Volunteer Program. More programming will come with time. The HSC took leadership for diabetes, asthma, and diseases. The "Big Baby Shower" in McAllen was very popular; 1690 people attended and received nice giveaways. Elected officials were impressed.

Internal challenges: Some local faculty are not reacting well to what they see as a top-down approach. Agents needed to determine how to fit this in with what was already on their plate. Hiring Program Assistants has helped. Administration was able to sell the concept to current extension agents with the realization that this program is not "business as usual"… rather, there is a higher level of expectation. There were some turf issues as new faculty were

hired. Some current employees have said that Extension is abandoning FCS.

External challenges: Working with HSC; that group looks at this program as a research project, which it is not. HSC moves slowly and some academic snobbery is evident.

Opportunities: There is a golden opportunity to connect Agriculture Agents to human health, but how to do that has not yet been determined. One approach could be ag literacy and the role food plays in health. Other opportunities include increased resources, beneficial media coverage, and increasing employee wellness education.

An event that county agents held at King Ranch was well-received. This event showed the higher level of programming the project has fostered. Administration will approach the legislature for another $10 million to expand the program across Texas.

20

Urban Extension Update – Nick Place Nick: Florida is conducting an educational needs assessments in urban areas that will help decide where to focus urban efforts. But we are still trying to determine how to communicate urban needs to agricultural clientele with a traditional mindset. Rich: North Carolina is hiring an urban agent in Raleigh to work with six counties. Urban extension must avoid duplication of effort with other agencies. If we don’t connect with urban audiences, we will end up with funding issues. Should urban extension be a topic for the April 2017 webinar? Doug: Extension should always have a high-level representative at commodity group board meetings. Laura: Georgia has put attention on urban audiences for the last 18 months. They have hired an employee to communicate with potential partners and urban groups to explain what extension can do. Extension must make friends in urban areas. The Georgia Dept. of Ag and Farm Bureau have been supportive. Jim: One idea is to put people in specialized roles to serve the "traditional" agricultural audiences (those that make their living from ag). If this was done, the standard county extension structure might be lost. Oklahoma Extension would like to do both, but the budget does not allow. Gary J.: Talking “community development” helps.

21

Other Items, Updates, and Reports

a. Middle Managers Committee Report – Doug Steele, HERE

Doug: Middle Managers are supporting NUEL; they continuously talk urban extension. They are establishing core performance evaluations and they share best practices. There are great resources on their website. The 2017 Mid-Manager conference will be held in Asheville. Eric Simonne does an exceptional job with their MM newsletter…he offers a guest editorial opportunity to extension administrators in each issue. The PLN pre-conference has become a Middle Managers conference. The 2017 urban pre-conference in Ft. Worth will focus on innovation.

Doug asked if the summer 2017 ASRED meeting in Ft. Worth could finish at noon on Thursday when the PLN meeting finishes. The group decided this idea should be discussed at the December planning meeting.

Paul will carry Doug’s idea to the PLC. Paul expanded on the idea as follows: Remove the opening "theme" session from the first full day of the conference. In its place, sprinkle in thematic material during the lunch hours. Paul's rationale is that the first-session theme does not carry through the rest of the meeting. He also asked if the ASRED/PLN conference is the time and place for a theme, considering the overall purpose of the conference.

b. SARE AC Update – Jimmy Henning, HERE

Members of the Communications Committee will travel to three states (MS, AR, OK) for meetings to apply for grants.

11:00 am Adjourn