Western Extension Directors AssociationMeeting Minutes

March 20-23, 2006

Present: Linda Fox (acting Chair), Wayne Nishijuma, Tony Nakazawa, Marc Johnson, Karen Hinton, Lyla Houglum, Charlotte Eberlein, Jim Christenson, Paul Gutierrez, Scott Reed, Rick Standiford (acting Secretary). Visitors: Elbert Dickey – Univ. Nebraska, CSREES; Deborah Sheely, CSREES; George Cooper, CSREES; Sharon Anderson, National 4-H Council

Approve January and February Meeting Minutes – Linda FoxPaul Gutierrez moved, Jim C. seconded – approved

Update the mailing list – Lyla HouglumCurrent WEDA mailing list reviewed and updated by members present.

Updated committee assignments – Lyla HouglumCurrent list distributed. Will be sent to the group electronically. A nomination committee will be appointed this summer so replacements for terms ending in 2006 can be considered by Fall.

ECOP Committee Reports:Personnel Subcommittee Report passed out by Paul G. The report announced the following:

Development of a new national award of excellence in extension that would parallel the existing award for teaching. The award will be funded by ECOP. They request that we identify one county and one state extension faculty to serve on the national committee reviewing nominees. Not sure when the award would be presented at the NASULGC meeting.

The ECOP Committee on Diversity will develop an eXtension Community of Practice proposal to host the National Virtual Diversity Center. The proposal is being written jointly by New Mexico State Univ., Purdue and Wisconsin, and is to include the Change Agent States for Diversity and the 1890, 1994, and Hispanic serving institutions.

Other ECOP Discussions – o Concern about lack of involvement of Extension in CREATE-21.o Discussion of national urban task force. ECOP voted to discontinue the task force

because there are lots of urban programs without the involvement of the task force. What role should we have in urban programs in the west? 80% of the population in the West is urban. Check to see if this emerges from the Western Program Leaders priorities. Peter McPherson, NASULGC President, is supporting the Council on Urban Affairs. We may want to form a WCC for this. Assessment research is needed about what works in different urban/suburban settings.

WEDA issues to ECOP for Glen: Urban/suburban (metropolitan) issues and the evolution of Extension to serve the

population including the urban/rural interface. CARET liaison to the Regional Directors Associations.

Modify Farm Bill to move Extension e-commerce program to CSREES. (see below) Is it time to discontinue the ECOP Budget and Leg e-commerce Task Force or re-cast it?

(see below)

B&L Rural e-commerce Task Force – Jim ChristensonThere has been no communication among the task force for the past year. Bob Coppage, chair is retiring in June and Bo Balou will be taking over some of this work. The most recent rural development work has been done by Jim Ziches. Jim C will have copies of his most recent piece sent to the WED. Is it time to dismiss or re-cast this ECOP B&L task force? Ask Glen to take this back to ECOP. Also ask ECOP to consider modifying the Farm Bill to move the Extension e-commerce authorization to CSREES. Marc moved and Jim second that this be done – passed. Marc is chair of the Rural Development Title of the farm bill committee.

B&L Forestry Task Force – Scott Reed, Tony NakazawaRREA budget authority has increased. ECOP Forestry Task Force has recommended RREA reauthorization. The BAC recommendation is to double RREA appropriation to $8 million. Have put 10 percent of funds into identified projects – the rest is distributed via formula. National Council for Forests – author – Michael Goergen of SAF wrote much of last title. Task force money is being spent on an internship – Nat Frazer (Utah State) – to focus on networking and accountability. New focused discussions on markets for ecosystem services.

16 page report on the Task Force has been sent by Don Hanley. 10 states involved. National Web-based Learning Center Module has been funded by RREA and includes a western project coordinated by Peter Kolb of Montana State. Registration for summer meeting of Western Regional Extension Forestry Committee has been sent out. Directors should recirculate to forestry extension folks in their states.

B&L EFNEP Task Force – Linda FoxTask Force has been focused on increasing EFNEP funding to $68.5 million. This is above the President’s budget but is supported by the BAC. This is about a 10% increase. State EFNEP coordinators have been asked to be very pro-active. The task force is funding one part-time intern from US Davis. States need to develop messages indicating what would happen with new dollars. EFNEP exhibit at Science on the Hill in conjunction with CARET meeting. New video is available on the website. A tool kit also available on-line. Congressional briefing held a week ago in Senate Caucus room in conjunction with EFNEP coordinators meeting. This year for the first time 1890 institutions have access to EFNEP funds. The range of funding is between $4,000 and $400,000/ institution. There have been discussions about a minimum of $100,000 per institution. Encouraging 1862 and 1890 partnerships. This will likely be the last year of BAC support for this project. May transition to an Extension/Research project on health.

ECOP Extension Diversity Task Force – Charlotte Eberlein, Paul GutierrezTask Force report was distributed electronically prior to meeting. Charlotte distributed a draft of the national award for diversity. Information will be coming out soon. Task force toured the Piute Reservation in NV. Paul G will be the new liaison to the Task Force. ECOP approved this group to be a standing committee – National Extension Committee on Diversity and they have requested an opportunity to meet with ECOP on a regular basis. Will also include the Change

Agent States. The group also requested that diversity training be included in the New Extension Director/Administrator workshop.

Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative – Charlotte Eberlein (for Paul McCawley)National Conference on Grazing Lands will be held Dec. 10-13, 2006 in St. Lewis.GLCI was zeroed out in President’s budget which would mean a loss of 300 positions in NRCS. Directors may be requested to write letter of support.

Journal of Extension – Karen HintonRelies on state subscriptions. Won’t need to increase subscription rate (e-version keeps cost down). Access is increasing every year. There are no reviewers from CA or Washington (should get nominees submitted). In particular they need Ag, IPM, and horticulture reviewers. JOE has been submitted to Thompson Scientific to improve cataloging of articles. Contains a Job Bank for Extension positions, which has been very successful.

National Water Quality – Charlotte Eberlein (for Bob Mahler)National water conferences have been steadily increasing participation each year. Most recent conference in San Antonio had over 400 in attendance. Group has been very vocal in not being part of NRI – want to remain as a separate 406 program. They request that Extension Directors support this effort by writing letters to their Congressional members. The WED would like to have success stories from this group. There is need for a new plan which defines integrative activity – linking of research and extension. Need formal place for housing traditional 406 and Smith Lever 3D programs besides NRI, which implies research only. May want to recommend a name change from NRI to NREI (National Research and Extension Initiative). Need extension faculty to serve on review panels. Will help give better review for integrated projects. Food safety for example, is currently seeking panel members.

Western IPM Center, Rick MelnicoeMade a general powerpoint presentation on background, current projects, state involvement. Rick expressed interest in visit to individual states to talk about role of the Center. The role of Center can be firmed up in Farm Bill. Rick can provide list of people involved in various projects. Charlotte is our representative on the Board. The NE IPM Center is a leader in urban issues. The West has an urban work group.

WEDA Executive Director’s Office – Lyla HouglumWEDA Strategic PlanSent out handout before meeting (and again at meeting). Strategic plan discussions started last summer. Started with issues and values. Goals came from the ED position announcement. Group had general discussion about 1994 Institutions – are they members or affiliates? Some uncertainty based on by-laws and practice. Work on the language to insure inclusion but membership not required as part of a quorum. Edits on opening paragraph include:

identify membership as open to 1862 Directors and 1994 representatives; add WAAES as a partner; Add and modify bullets in mission; Re-draft vision as: WEDA is a leader in advancing the impact of its members and

partners to improve the social, economic and environmental quality of life in the West.

Add “inclusiveness” as a value—Paul will help write Combine goals into three:

o Goals 2 and 5 are combined to become #1o Goals 3 and 4 are combined to become #2o Goal 1 becomes #3—add “Work with WRPLC to” at the beginning of Goal 1.

Lyla will re-draft plan for discussion on our next conference call.

WEDA/WRPLC Joint MeetingWRPLC Strategic Plan, Accomplishments, and Goals – Gerald ChaconGerald reviewed history of WRPLC and provided an overview of strategic planning. WRPLC was formed by the Extension Directors 10 years ago. The purpose was to share models, programs, and resources in the region. Importance of leadership development through WELD was emphasized. Community Vitality training was taken on by the WRDC. There have been lots of conversations about on-line reporting systems. Regional training for program evaluation was conducted using the LOGIC model. Also WRPLC manages the WED Award for Excellence.

General discussion on impediments to being even more effective: Suggestion that regional positions could be useful, however, so far not supported by

directors. WRPLC does better if there is a clear mission and guidance from the WED. Professional development. Support for research-based assessments of extension program effectiveness. EFNEP has

used this approach effectively where assessment measures are identified and agreed upon. Measures need to be defined for other programs so consistent assessment can be conducted, and then the assessments need to be conducted regionally. Are there other opportunities? WRPLC would be willing to look at opportunities.

WPLC could perhaps facilitate coordination between programs. Suggested that there could be other WCC-type activities (like Forestry) to create a self-directed team. Examples suggested included: evaluation; bio-energy; urban programs.

Question about how the group stays in touch and advances their agenda between face-to-face meetings: so far the contact has been via e-mail. The WED encouraged WRPLC to form WCC to advance major projects or initiatives for the West. There needs to be a structure in place to follow through.

WRPLC recommends that a more formal relationship be built with the Western Governors, W-NACO, and Municipal Leagues. Chuck and Gerald have participated in some meetings in the past but to be successful there needs to be a consistent point of contact. This would allow us to coordinate with NACO and the Western Governor’s Assoc on their initiatives. Perhaps a staff person from these organizations could attend future meetings with WEDA + WPLC.

NRI and other competitive Integrated Programs – Elbert Dickey, Deborah SheelyThe goal for Integrated Project accounts is to increase Extension participation. Up to 22% of NRI project funding is available for integrated accounts in 2006 (only 17% was used last year). States and regions should be encouraged to send in proposals to CSREES for integrated programs. Extension-led projects should have a comparative advantage. Need to involve Extension faculty on peer review panels. Submit names and contact information via the web. Currently there is a good acceptance rate for integrated projects. Grantsmanship workshops have been held every year by CSREES—one in Washington DC and one somewhere in the West in the Fall (Oct/Nov). They are currently scheduled for Sept 6th in Washington DC, and October 17th in Irvine, TX.

CSREES Chief Education Advisor Issues and Priorities – Elbert DickeyElbert has taken on a partial assignment as Science Advisor to CSREES, and has been asked to focus on integrated programs. He participates in Colien’s Executive meetings and also spends some time on Plan of Work. Disappointing number of folks actually look at these or use the information submitted because states don’t report things under consistent titles therefore it is very difficult to find information from report to report. Brevity is important in the new POW—may want to choose a few areas and focus on them. Pick key issues making an impact. Also need common indicators of success to report against for multi state projects. NPLs assigned to the states have not yet been announced; however George has the list if you’d like to know who has been assigned to your state. CSREES has very few people who have worked with Extension in the past and many also don’t have Land-Grant work experience. To contact Elbert his e-mail address is: edickey@csrees.us.gov

National 4-H Council Update – Sharon AndersonNational 4-H Council and CSREES are on the same path. National 4-H headquarters provides program leadership which is supported by National 4-H Council. Jennifer Sirangelo has been appointed as new Senior VP at National 4-H Council. Her goal is to raise $20 million annually for 4-H. A new communications and marketing VP is under recruitment. Focus of these positions are on developing new partners and bringing back some former donors.

Tufts Univ. is involved in a longitudinal study of 4-H participants.

The National 4-H Caucus is designed to provide an educational opportunity for Congress. A general opportunity to sign on has taken place and attracted Congressional members. Goal to build community of support for 4-H programs. See: http://www.4hstateleaders.org (has an updated list of members of Caucus and an informational packet). Sharon encouraged the group to work with their congressional delegates to sign onto the 4-H Caucus.

Family Strengthening Awards are due June 1st—information on the 4-H Council web site.

ECOP B&L 4-H Task Force – Karen HintonPurpose of the Task Force is to seek increases in federal funding for 4-H Youth Development. The focus of the task force is on health and wellness, science, engineering and technology, and youth in governance. The have held a National Conversation on Youth Obesity.

National Extension Award Review Panel – Paul Gutierrez ECOP is sponsoring this award which will be given for the first time at the November NASULGC Annual Meeting. Two people (one county and one state Extension professionals) are needed from the West to serve on the national review panel. All panel meetings will be conducted electronically and through conference calls. Panel members will review applications and select the National Award winner. Nominations for panel members are:

Laurel Kubin, Colorado (county) Jeanette Sutherland, California (county) Margaret Bubock, Washington (county) Marilyn Bischoff, Idaho (state) Dallas Holmes, Utah (state)

Paul will take these nominations to the ECOP Personnel Committee for them to choose so they have balanced program representation.

WEDA MeetingWEDA Executive Director’s Office (cont.) – Lyla Houglum

ED Plan of workPlan of Work was send out electronically before the meeting (and again at meeting). Group held general discussion of Draft Plan of Work for Exec. Director. Lyla will re-draft POW to be consistent with the changes made earlier in the WEDA Strategic Plan. POW should focus on:

providing leadership and coordination for opportunities and resources staff the WEDA, the chair, and the Executive Committee develop and manage WEDA office and products including the web site

Western Directors need to identify priorities, and then work with WRPLC to agree on issues to work on. Western Directors agreed to suggest the following to WRPLC:

identify a couple multi-state efforts and determine indicators assessing outcomes create a more formal relationship with W-NACO and W-Governors urban models

Question was asked about ED role in eXtension weekly conference calls – is this a useful expenditure of time? It was negotiated between eXtension Director and former WEDA Chair but would be good to monitor for value added.

ED role with development of regional projects – need strategy to decide on best mechanism for priorities (rapid response, RCIC, NRI integrated projects). Current systems are not set up for rapid response.

Assessments and BudgetHandout on budget provided. Budget with projected expenditures through the fiscal year indicates $2,247 of expenditures above the $60,000 contract. There is a mistake in the assessments that were charged. Was based on the 15% of Mike Harrington budget from previous years. Total assessment should be $60,000 plus Montana’s fee for collecting

assessments (assessed amount was only $46,402 with $42,562 being paid) Montana will be asked to send out a revised bill to collect the amount due (voted on and passed).

WEDA Web site Gave out a template of a proposed WEDA web site and asked for input on the design and the site map. No money provided to develop and maintain the site. Will get bids for design costs from WSU, NMSU, CSU and report back on recommendation during May meeting.

ED Accomplishments to dateLyla provided a handout on ED accomplishments. These were based on the draft POW. Comments should be provided to the ED and/or to a member of the Executive Committee.

Process and Input for Annual Review of ED – Executive Committee Linda Fox collected input and led general discussion of ED accomplishments. Executive Committee will take input and provide formal review of ED performance.

WEDA/WAAESD/WRPLC Joint SessionCSREES Report – George Cooper

Talked about Gail Buchannan confirmation. He is awaiting Senate confirmation. Each state is being assigned a National Program Leader (NPL) to serve as the principal

liaison between the state and CSREES. A tentative list has been developed identifying the NPL contact. Training is being held for NPL Liaisons. Anticipation is that the NPL liaison will visit contact state at least once every 2 years (visits may last 2 weeks).

CSREES has put together a Hatch National Competitive Multi-State Program Committee to advise CSREES on implementation of this initiative should the President’s budget proposal be accepted. .Mike Koltenbach, Ron Pardini, Mike Harrington to represent West.

Reviewed various web links, competitive programs.

Western SARE – Phil Rasmussen Review of 20 years of W-SARE funding. 20 to 40% success rate in grant applications. New initiatives – subregional sustainable ag conferences; graduate student fellowships; professional partnership proposals for CE county; water conference; bio-energy conference

Western Rural Development Center – John Allen (via phone + powerpoint)Focus areas – Enterprise Development; Increasing Capacity of Land Grant Univ. and Partners – work with Tribal Colleges, community colleges, community leaders; Civic Capacity – moving products to retail and internet markets; Land Use and Public Policy – transportation study; “Best of the West” Conference. Have received external grants to supplement federal funding of the WRCD.

RCIC Report – Sandra RistowReviewed results of meeting held Monday. Project extensions, project revisions discussed. Will be revising report submission forms.

Regional Collaborations Water – Water listening session held in Wisconsin. Plans were made for similar program in Utah – since has been cancelled. Currently 8-9 western regional committees relating to water – don’t have venue for communication and coordination between these. Idea of holding western water summit to help with coordination. Interest in putting steering committee together. Discussion about narrowing the focus. Mike Harrington will take the lead in the next steps.

Obesity Project – A WCC is under development and should be ratified very soon. This is a joint research and Extension project that focuses on measuring the responses/impact of various interventions. So far only 4 western states have signed up. Encourage states to sign onto the project.

Rural Communities – this project has been transferred to the WRDC for leadership. A seminar is planned for May.

Accountability, Plan of Work 2007-2011 – George CooperReviewed powerpoint presentation on the Plan of Work. Discussed “One Solutions” initiative for federal reporting. Reviewed National Emphasis Areas (11), CSREES Program Areas (62), goals, objectives, portfolios. Reviewed central importance of the use of the LOGIC model for impact reporting and planning. The Plan of Work is due June 1, 2006 and Report of Work due this fall.

Review of NASULGC - Ian Maw – (via phone)General discussion of philosophical and staffing changes as result of new leadership of NASULGC. Priorities include:

*accountability and measurement (student learning and learner outcomes), *innovation and competitiveness, public Universities and economic development and manufacturing, *K-12 (P-20), Urban challenges, engagement, *international education, 1890s and 1994s forging relationships with 1862s, Rewrite the farm bill including CREATE 21.

Those with the asterisk* will likely be first on President McPherson’s agenda.

CREATE-21 Proposal – Mike HarringtonMike Harrington presented a general powerpoint on CREATE-21 and led discussion of the proposal. Lots of territorial issues from different members of the “Family.” Frequent updates to the proposal, losing some of the original clarity. Details should be out by late summer. Can look on the following web site to obtain the latest version of the powerpoint and other updates on status of the proposal: http://www.CREATE-21.org

Future of Formula Funds – Mike HarringtonMike suggested that we discuss this issue at our tables at lunch time and provide any direction to the formula funds task force.

WEDA/WRPLC Joint MeetingECOP Budget and Leg Committee – Chuck GayChuck distributed a draft of a potential calendar of events related to the FY 2007 and 2008 federal budgets. This is being created to help Directors understand the process and to create a more structured opportunity for Extension Directors and ECOP to identify needs and priorities for the federal budget process. Issues need to be identified at the winter/spring WED meeting 2 years in advance of budget preparation. He also shared a copy of the Experiment Station budget priorities that have been provided for the FY 2008 federal budget. The draft calendar will continue to be developed and communicated by ECOP and the BAA.

CREATE 21 – Chuck GayNot much to add to Mike’s report. The information changes continuously based on additional thinking and input. The response letter from the WEDs was clear and well written. The letter was shared with the group electronically and was written based on the February caucus meetings during the NEDA meetings. May include an increase in resources for Hispanic serving institutions.

Regional Water Summit – Chuck GaySenator Bennett has been very accessible and involved in discussions about the water summit that was to be held in Utah. Based on his input a decision was made to not go forward with the Utah summit as planned. His office is very willing to work with us and support us on water issues. We need to support the internal process that was suggested by Mike in this morning’s joint meeting. Need to include the 406 water state coordinators in the plan. Federal Plans of Work – George CooperAdditional discussion and questions about the POW included:

a concern that the new format does not facilitate joint planning between AES and ES. Now they must do separate reports. An option needs to be added that will accommodate a joint report while at the same time keeping the option for separate reports.

Stakeholder input documentation is confusing. States need to take responsibility for providing useable consistent data. The public will be able to access the information in the new system.

eXtension – Karen HintonThere has been good participation to date. It’s a new program, but is developing momentum. It would be helpful for states to know who is (what states) involved in what projects. Developing a FAQ database right now and working to figure out how to integrate various existing data bases. Looking at alternative ways to become a Community of Practice - especially when there are existing projects with existing funding. Looking at establishing minimum criteria to be certified. A new development officer has been hired and is initiating plans for a development campaign. Concerns have been expressed about the open architecture of the system. Anyone with a

password can make changes in the wiki environment. It may be too open. Need to do a better job of adopting what’s already developed rather than creating everything from scratch. There will be a partial release of some of communities of practice this fall with more releases in 2007.

National and Regional DOE Projects Update – Lyla HouglumWSU Energy Program provides technical assistance for a regional extension energy program focused on local governments. Currently there is involvement of 4 states (Alaska, Washington, Idaho, and Oregon). We need to be able to reach the home consumer. This may be an area that we want to discuss with Jim Fisher from DOE. There is also interest in energy production on private or public lands by cities, small power plants, etc. There needs to be a connection with Sun Grant. Rural development home construction needs to be connected to the project nationally. Also small business development as often energy costs eat up small businesses. The Youth and Energy Project in the North Central region has broadened to include other states. Washington will be included this next year. Other states responded but were not included. This area appears to be an opportunity for a long-term, formal funding partnership with DOE.

National Program Leader State Liaisons – George CooperTraining for NPL liaisons will be held in April. Paul will send an e-mail to the Directors to ask what we want. Directors should develop a plan for their NPLs coming to campus—plan appointments, send pre-package of information, etc. George has the names of the liaisons and will share them with individual Directors upon request.

Other WRPLC Items - Gerald ChaconGerald handed out a list of potential priorities for collaborative program focus (handout) developed by the WRPLC. Concern was expressed that there were no agriculture production issues on the list. WRPLC believes that we have significant programs in ag and that there are fewer deficiencies in ag production than in other programs. These concentrated on areas that represent the best opportunities and greatest deficiencies for regional focus on issues.

Combined group had an in-depth discussion around “Serving Urban Audiences.” Also, emerging area around energy that should be focused on. WRPLC can play an important role in the development of outcomes and indicators. WRPLC was asked to outline a strategy of action for these two areas. Look at who the partners would be for each priority area. Also recommend who would be involved including people outside of WRPLC, for example Bill Gray from WSU Extension should be included in a regional Urban Extension Initiative. Timeline would be to have a product for discussion in at the July WEDA meeting.

Lyla and Gerald will develop a proposed plan to develop linkage with Western Governor’s and Western NACO. May be desirable to develop a formal liaison of WEDA and/or WRPLC with Western Governor’s. There is a June 11-13 meeting of the Western Governor’s in Sedona, AZ, and the Western NACO meeting is in Sacramento May 10-12. We need a consistent WEDA liaison plus a representative from the host state involved in these meetings.

WEDA Awards of Excellence – Karen HintonThis will be awarded at the summer meeting at breakfast on Wednesday morning. Thinking about putting together a booklet of all nominees. Those winning honorable mention can be

nominated in future years. Those who have won in the past cannot be nominated again. It would be good to archive and post an abstract of the winners. This should be on our web site and also shared with our federal partner. May want to consider looking for opportunities to recognize regional projects and perhaps eXtension projects.

WEDA MeetingReview of Multi-State ProjectsGreat Basin InitiativeNevada, Idaho, Oregon, Utah are involved. Group is working to identify common ground for program planning. Take advantage of existing professional meetings for collaborations. Fire, public land management and sustainable communities are possible areas of thrust.. What can be done in a collaborative way? Need for follow-up from earlier meetings. Karen will initiate a phone conference call with the 4 states to discuss.

CANUCalifornia, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah have been involved in developing collaborative issues in the “strip” area near Grand Canyon. The counties meet once/year as a coordinating committee to talk about joint programs. The desert tortoise issues and impacts of recreation have been identified as an area. The effort is a county/specialist driven program. Native American and natural resource programs also an important area. Should revisit MOU’s between states and various partners. Try to involve John Allen (WRDC) and W-SARE. Need to generate new grant funds to build on program. Future efforts will be asked to think more broadly. There is a meeting scheduled the Fall in Las Vegas.

Navajo Extension Partnership AZ, UT, CO, NM, are involved in an ongoing multi-state effort. They have been meeting for a number of years. It is faculty driven and includes Dina’ College and Crown Point.

Homeland Security Border Coalition TX, AZ, NM, CA are getting organized for homeland security funding on border issues. No lead state yet.

Dairy Consortium NM, TX, AZ – working with Penn State – on regional dairy programming.Also NV, MT, WY working together on dairy issues.

COINCO, OR, ID, NV – Includes states concerned about range and public lands issues. Group has been meeting for a number of years.

Desert Vegetable ProductionCA, AZ – planning a desert vegetable production conference.

It would be useful to create a list of all multi-state projects so we can collectively learn from them and consistently report their efforts and impacts. Would be useful to have a system to manage this information.

Western Committee ReportsEIRP (Extension Indian Reservation Program) Task Force – Karen HintonName has been changing to “Federally Recognized Tribal Extension Program.” Just had a meeting in Las Vegas. This included a workshop on assessing impacts of programs. There will be an opportunity for new institutions to participate if President’s $1 million budget increase is approved. Karen and Doug attended the EIRP Conference. Our Western Task Force (Doug, Chair) has not met yet.

Aquaculture Committee – Chuck GayNeed replacement liaison to this committee next year. Chuck has learned a lot. The group has really turned around. They have developed Extension and outreach criteria and have taken it very seriously. Very significant industry. Paul McCawley has played significant role in coordination. Very deserving of kudos. Developed a very useful strategic plan. Exciting group to be associated with.

WELD – Paul GutierrezProvided handout on Western Extension Leadership Development program. There is an upcoming capstone conference in June in Portland, OR. There are over 30 participants this year in program. A new class will be recruited next Fall.

Mid Managers – Jim ChristensonThe group is planning for their summer meeting in Monterey in conjunction with the Western Directors meeting. There will be a joint reception between the Directors and the Mid-Managers.

IPM Committees – Charlotte EberleinMeet in Portland next week (pest management center). PSEP – pesticide safety education program (Bozeman in May). Western Regional IPM (April 3 in St. Louis).

Economics Extension – Rick StandifordProvided a handout of current year’s activities, membership, and future plans. The group is made up of mainly specialists with some county people. The web site has a good array of materials. A risk management conference is a possibility.

NASULGC UpdateLyla handed out an ECOP and NASULGC update sent for distribution by James Wade which identifies ECOP’s goals and accomplishments.

May WEDA Conference CallLyla will send e-mail to identify a date for our May conference call. Agenda items will be identified via e-mail.

Possible Fall Meeting – Jim ChristensonJim suggested that we consider a fall face-to-face meeting – fly-in – do business items (noon to noon). This meeting would replace last meeting day at NASULGC. Meetings at NASULLGC are too crowded and it is difficult for WEDA meeting time to be productive. Consider meeting in Sept. or Oct. in central location (Las Vegas, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Southern California, Seattle). Karen volunteered to host in Las Vegas and meet at the new office facility there which could accommodate conference call and polycom if needed for the Pacific Islands. There was a consensus so Lyla will find a date via e-mail.

Western Joint Summer Meeting – RickInformation about the joint summer meeting in Monterey was handed out. Registration materials are available on the web.

CARET Rep to WEDARequest that we have a liaison from W-CARET to WEDA. Perhaps approach NASULGC to pay the costs. Marsha Hollingsworth, the CARET representative to ECOP is from Montana and has expressed interest in serving in this way with WEDA. This would be helpful to increase visibility of CE with CARET both regionally and nationally. If NASULGC won’t pay for this, we will include her expenses in the meeting registration fee. Ask Doug to approach NASULGC to provide fiscal support. Lyla to draft NASULGC request memo for Doug.

War on Hunger Summit – Linda FoxTable item to conference call. Some in attendance have participated.

Working with other Federal Agencies – George CooperProvided general discussion of web site for all federal governmental agency grant funds: www.grants.gov. Maintains listing of all grant opportunities from federal agencies. Searchable. Very useful tool for looking for funding opportunities. Tutorial is available for first time users. Click on “get started” to get to the tutorial. Can identify key words through the subscription services so when new opportunities are posted, they are sent directly to your computer.

AHS Meeting UpdatePrimary agenda items for AHS include:

CREATE 21 working on the process so in the future the system has an opportunity to weigh in on the

President’s budget prior to BAC decision. This year the BAC voted to support the President’s recommendation to move Hatch and McIntire Stennis formula funds to competitive programs and the system opposed the recommendation. We don’t want that to happen in the future.

State/Territory Reports – Directors share state priorities, accomplishments, major issuesNV – Moving towards the three “Ws” (weeds, water, and weight). Hiring a new state weed specialist; need help on water quantity and water rights; just hired an exercise physiologist; have a new Extension development officer.

AZ – New thrust on exercise programs with health programs; good funding opportunities with spas. UA designated as a “Wellness University.” This initiative is driven by Cooperative Extension. Work with the medical school. Home economists will be redeployed in health and nutrition. Health and wellness have the most grant dollars. Will be housing extension faculty in new downtown Phoenix location. There is substantial development money in health. Trying to bridge rural health with Extension—osteoporosis, diabetes, obesity, etc. Banks and credits cards must provide $ for education. Have tapped into this and raised $10 million for family financial education. AZ is getting this to do financial education for students and youth. 40% of the Extension budget is now grants and contracts. Drought programs – point of intervention by CE. Gives visibility to programs. Other important areas include forest health and sustainability. There are funding fluctuations although these are fairly reasonable economic times. May pick up another 11 new positions. There is interest in Extension going university wide.

OR – Leadership—Strategic Planning—Policy Issues. Leadership update -- 3 new program leaders—4-H, Families, Forestry (not yet hired). John Winder will be moving to WA as the Associate Director. Will conduct an internal search to fill the position. Have a new Strategic Plan. New initiatives include:

Extension in urban Portland. Have utilized stakeholder involvement to define what is needed in urban environments.

Have started a “County College” – program oriented to new county leaders, become certified on tools needed to be successful.

Extended campus a new concept – uses extension faculty who are located at community colleges.

Policy option package proposed for 10% budget increase in the next biennium. This includes:

o 24/7 initiative electronic-based strategieso Community sustainability initiative

Proposing new professorship on campus – fixed term. New assessments on campus services for central university administration.

UT – Governor’s Rural Partnership Board, including Extension, is a way to bring all agencies to the table to address issues faced by rural communities. The Board has held listening sessions, and has built support for extension. Have developed briefing book for legislature – measured against performance standards developed by legislature.

With Jack’s resignation the university restructured to take advantage of in-house leadership, to reduce costs, and to re-align academic programs with the Provosts office. In doing so, Extension and Continuing Education were separated. Extension is in the College of Agriculture and Continuing Education reports to the Provost’s Office. University is hiring Extension offices to help with recruitment. Each office gets $5,000 annually from the university to facilitate the connection of potential students to the university.

Governor focused on economic development that involved the university. Did a report on Extension’s accomplishments and impact in economic development. Faculty in Utah are certified bankruptcy educators so can certify educators from other states.

AK – Celebrated 75th anniversary of University. University in 50 locations – had an event in every location. Building support for new initiatives - Land Resources, Home Economics (want to change the name to Family and Consumer Sciences), 4-H and Youth. Working to build funding base. They do not get local funds in support of Extension. Chancellor is very supportive of Extension but no new money. Working to make a better connection with the university. University has an enrollment person located at the Anchorage Extension office. Started new program called, “Strong Women,” oriented to health issues. Started “Healthy Lifestyles” – looking to take lead in university-wide program. Interfacing youth programs with Boys and Girls Clubs – using 4-H materials. Also have 2 military base programs. Dept. of Energy initiative has created new opportunities – Energy Extension. Working on Certificate of Endorsements – working with rural utility districts for water waste systems.

ID – Stakeholder survey was conducted in 2004 and is being used to help define priorities and new initiatives. Idaho is the 3rd fastest growing state in the US. Focus on 5 major areas – urban hort, family financial management, after school programs, obesity and diabetes, small acreages. Faculty are certified in UT to conduct bankruptcy education. Rural communities and economic development (economic vitality, leadership development, data analysis tools, wild-land urban interface) are important areas of thrust. Development of value-added products. Increasing population and increasing diversity – difficulties in recruiting new faculty.

CO – State funding base is more stable. Taxpayers Bill of Rights in on hold for 5 years so revenues collected by the state may be spent rather than going back to citizens. Undergoing reorganization, which will separate extension and AES. Extension, public policy, water resources, continuing ed, international, and economic development are together in one unit lead by a Vice Provost. After that position is filled, the Extension Director position will be filled. Forest Service will go to Natural Resources. AES will go to Ag. Extension to push economic development out to counties. Working on integration of counties with campus. Extension plans tied with dept. academic plans. Extension as front door to the university, with programs based on community demand.

NM – Focus is on people, programs, and processes. Importance of annual personnel evaluation—raising the bar. Recruitment, hiring, retention initiative essential to vitality of the organization. They are a “change agent” state and are becoming a model for the university.

Programs: K-20—Youth cuts across all areas. Other priority issues include: Ag and natural resource; family health and wellness; community economic development; homeland and bio-security. Special initiative to develop 8 tribal extension centers. There are 22 tribes and pueblos in NM. Pueblos are very agriculturally-based. Extension is an important link. County office as location for applying to NMSU (satellite admissions offices). Extension faculty are trained to do this and in exchange they get a number of student scholarships that they can award. President is creating University wide extension—Extension will define the relationship between the university and the community.

CA – Embarking on strategic planning for budget augmentation and future position planning. 7 broad areas include: Agricultural sustainability and viability; Air and water quality; Civic engagement of youth; Food safety and bio-security; Invasive pests and diseases; Natural resource

management; Obesity and chronic diseases. These areas include 21 core areas of focus. New emphasis on leadership development; financial management for youth. Hired 11 new positions in current year. Rebuilding the specialist ranks.

HI—Written report from Hawaii shared with the group. Highlights include: may be receiving a $3.5M grant to establish a program to rebuild Iraq’s agricultural higher education capacity; trying to convince county government to contribute to CES; college has been the target of Native Hawaiian activists targeting genetically engineered research on taro and coffee. Housing costs are a major obstacle to hiring faculty. Administrative positions are being filled. New Extension building project on Molokai, and building renovations in Hilo. Salary increases of 5% in 2006, 9% in 2007, and 11% in 2008.

Observations about Meeting Content and Format: Would like significant focus at face-to-face meetings on important issues such as:

o University-wide Extensiono State sharing—issues, programs, learningso Diversified funding including private fund development and cost recoveryo Leadership development and community capacity/community vitalityo County College for Commissionerso Certification programso Urban Modelso Front Door to the University—what does it really look likeo Significant future program opportunities

Use conference calls for WEDA reports and updates

Joint meeting with AES was of little value. No significant discussion—primarily just sat through joint reports. If meeting jointly, need time for interaction and discussion on significant issues of importance.

Meeting adjourned.

Respectfully submitted byRick Standiford, Acting Secretary