Meetings
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2012
Kentucky JCEP
November 30, 2012
Present: Joanne Bankston, Becky Nash, Nellie Buchanan, Gae Broadwater, Raven Ford, Kelli Bonifer,
Lyndall Harned, Chris Ammerman, Tommy Yankey, Linda McClanahan, Jann Burks, Peggy Powell, Rosie
Allen, Dana Anderson, Dr. Henning, Dr. Samuel
Minutes from the September 18, 2012 meeting were reviewed. Motion to accept the minutes as printed
by Peggy Powell. Second by Tommy Yankey.
Summary of 2012
A JCEP sponsored reception for new University of Kentucky President Dr. Capilouto was held in January
2012. Dr. Capilouto had a strong understanding of Extension prior to the meeting. He also discussed
student recruitment and alumni engagement with us. He listened to us and is looking forward to setting
an agenda for partnership in communities.
JCEP had representation at PILD in April 2012 in Washington DC.
In September, Rick Maurer gave us an update from the Creating our Future committee.
JCEP sponsored the County Judge Executives breakfast that was held on September 28, 2012. As always,
it is good to be engaged in conversation with them.
Dr Henning and Dr Samuel worked together at the KACO and Judge Executives meeting. They talked to
magistrates and said that there were no unhappy customers. Dr Henning also shared that he is happy to
be working with Dr Samuel as co-leaders in Kentucky Cooperative Extension. They are in discussions to
have a plan and guidelines for co-locating Agents.
Dr Henning emphasized that the County Plan-of-Work is preeminent….whatever is going to happen
starts with Plan-of-Work in any county. Currently KY Extension has to have 31 open base Agent positions
in order to balance the budget…with stop gap funding only 20. We are down to 1 year wait to fill
vacancies. There is a Federal early/opt-out window now for Civil Service employees.
Epsilon Sigma Phi will be held on March 26-inservice and March 27-meeting at Fasig-Tipton. Dr. Douglas
Steele, Director, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will be a guest speaker. Three national awards
were earned by Alpha Kappa Chapter members this year.
KEAFCS will hold their annual meeting, including awards program in December in Louisville. They will be
hosting the national meeting in September 2014 in Lexington.
KASEP will have a meeting at KSU with Dr. Samuel and Dr. Henning on March 28. They are planning an
event in October affiliated with All-Tech.
NEA4-HA national meeting was held in October. Their state annual meeting will be held May 1-3, 2013,
in Bowling Green. Their State Series was just held last week.
KACAA winter conference will be held in mid-December. They met in October with administrators to
address their concerns.
Fringe benefit chairs of the Associations discussed the Federal News Digest newsletter reporting that it
is a good source of information. UK Human Resources will send a team to district meetings if needed. Jann Burks, Staff Senate, can help
with that process.
Supervisors at UK will be given training on the new performance evaluation system that will be
implemented July 2013. CES has asked for an extension until 2014.
Send names to Gae Broadwater of Association Officers that will attend Leadership Conference in
Memphis in February 12-14, 2013. Make your reservations now with the Marriott for this conference.
County Judges Breakfast will be held at Kentucky Lake on October 11, 2013.
Gae will send a poll to determine 2013 JCEP dates in March, May, September, and November.
Becky Nash moved and Raven Ford seconded the motion to adjourn.
Respectfully submitted, Rosie Allen, 2012 JCEP Secretary
Kentucky JCEP
September 18, 2012
Present: Joanne Bankston, chair, Chris Ammerman, Dana Anderson, Jeffrey Bewley, Kelli
Bonifer, Gae Broadwater, Raven Ford, Linda Combs, Becky Nash, Brian Newman, Susan Turner,
Catherine Webster, Tommy Yankey, Nellie Buchanan, and Rosie Allen.
Joanne Bankston called the meeting to order via Lync conference call at 10:00 AM.
A report from “Creating Our Future” effort was given by Rick Maurer. Twenty five
representatives from across all aspects of Cooperative Extension are represented on the
committee. The committee met monthly for year. A report was submitted to Dr. Henning in
June 2012. He is in process of setting up final meeting with the committee to answer questions.
Once the meeting is held, a final report will be posted. There were three major information
gathering exercises.
1) Survey for clientele and Extension participants at State Extension Council, state fair
etc…bulk of info came from CEC’s
2) Discussions at District Forums
3) Survey of CES staff
Information was gathered and the committee and made recommendations. Items found
consistently through discussions and information gathering:
3 major sets of consistent findings of what is valued core of CES
1-research based information that is impartial. 2-county based programs, leadership
involvement…Kentucky continues to maintain county presence in every county 3- a need for
marketing to reach new audiences with consistent messages. A consistent public relations
model is needed from state level that counties can tie in to. There were 9 main areas with
summaries and recommendations that will be included in the report.
-Marketing extension and reaching new audiences
-County involvement in staffing decisions
-Guidelines for county staffing
-Guidelines for state staffing
-Staffing between KSU and UK
-Guidelines for sharing agents with other Agencies and other counties
-Guidelines for transitioning to a county staffing pattern with fewer agents
-Guidelines for staffing patterns with program assistants
-Technology and the use of technology
Specific questions can be sent to Rick Maurer.
The County Judge Executives breakfast will be held Friday Sept. 28 at Jenny Wiley State Park.
Breakfast begins at 7:30 AM. See email message from Joanne Bankston for details on room
reservations. The group will meet at 7:30 PM on Thursday September 27 at Jenny Wiley to set
up. Natasha Lucas and Crystal Osborne will represent KEAFCS. Raven Ford and Susan Turner will
represent KEA4-HA. Chris Ammerman and Daniel Wilson will represent KACAA. Gae Broadwater
will represent KASEP. Dana Anderson and possibly Chuck Stamper will represent ESP.
Each Association will provide $200. UK and KSU Administration will bring greetings.
Chuck Stamper will bring the mugs and materials from Karen Ramage to the Heritage House.
KSU will also bring materials and possibly bring incentives.
Officer Rotation: Gae Broadwater will chair JCEP representing KASEP next year. Upcoming
officers need to be informed that they will be on JCEP next year.
Preparation for meeting in November with Administrators: Need to poll Association members
for questions for administration. Meeting will be held on Friday, November 30, 2012. Nellie
Buchanan moved and Tommy Yankey seconded that Joanne Bankston will select a location of
either Lexington or Elizabethtown based on administration preference. All were in favor.
Association reports:
KEAFCS is preparing for national meeting to be held in Columbus Ohio with one of largest
delegations this year with over 70 participants. In 2014 KEAFCS will host national meeting.
KEA4-HA will have a September board meeting. Their National meeting is in October in Orlando.
KACAA held a successful meeting at Dale Hollow State Park. 70 attendees from Kentucky
attended the national meeting in Charleston.
ESP has several members heading to National ESP Meeting in Mobile, Alabama, October
7-10, 2012. Also would like to invite everyone to the Annual meeting scheduled for
March 26 - Professional Development and March 27 will be the Annual meeting dates in
2013. The meeting will be held at Fasig Tipton in Lexington.
KASEP held their annual meeting in March and will have a planning meeting on November 27.
Kelli Bonifer made a motion to adjourn. Tommy Yankey seconded. All were in favor.
Respectfully Submitted,
Rosie Allen, JCEP Secretary
KEAFCS Past President
Kentucky Joint Council of Extension Professionals
May 17, 2012; 10:00 AM EDT
Conference Call via Lync
Motion to approve the minutes from March 13, 2012 was made by Becky Nash, second
by Nellie Buchannan. Motion approved.
PILD discussion. Public Issues Leadership Development Conference was held in April
in Washington DC. KSU made hill visits separately from UK. Everyone felt that all visits
made with Kentucky legislators were productive. A visit could not be set up with Rand
Paul or his staff. Some of our delegation stopped by Rand Paul’s office. He was not
available for a visit. We are not expecting changes in the Farm Bill according to PILD
conference speakers. Thank you notes have been sent to legislators.
Marshall Stewart was an outstanding presenter and recommended as a speaker at a
Kentucky event. Suggestion has been made to Dr. Henning to invite Mr. Stewart to
speak at Kentucky ESP next year.
KACAA Report: State meeting will be held June 26-29 at Dale Hollow State Park near
Burkesville, Ky. This is the second newest State Park in Kentucky.
KEA4-HA Report: Held their State meeting in Lexington in April. The keynote speaker
was Matthew Mitchell, UK Women’s Basketball Team Coach. Association members are
preparing for their national meeting in October to be held in Orlando, Florida.
KASEP Report: Don Hershman will not be able to serve as chair of JCEP next year.
Their board has elected Gae Broadwater to represent KASEP and chair 2013 Kentucky
JCEP.
KEAFCS Report: Association just finished KEHA state meeting and combined inservice.
Association is preparing for national session to be held in Columbus in September.
State Association meeting will be held December 5-6, 2012, at the Brown Hotel in
Louisville. The 2013 State Meeting will be held at the Embassy Suites in Lexington.
ESP Report: March meeting was successful with a great speaker and awards
presentation. State awards have been sent to Regional/National competition. ESP
National Meeting will be held in Mobile, Alabama in October.
Concerns will be brought to Administration in November.
JCEP membership policies were reviewed.
The 2013 JCEP Officers will be:
Chair KASEP Gae Broadwater
Vice Chair KEAFCS Linda Combs
Secretary KACAA Brian Newman
Event KEA4-HA Raven FordSecretary Rosie Allen will get updated officer rotation list onto the website according to
the JCEP bylaws.
County Judges Breakfast discussion:
Event will be held Friday, September 28, 2012 at Jenny Wiley State Park in
Prestonsburg. Karen Ramage will be asked to provide synopsis of accomplishments
and KSU will also provide a synopsis of KSU accomplishments.
Those present on the conference call felt that what we’ve been doing for the Judges
Breakfast seemed to work well. Plans are to meet and greet Judges, staff and spouses
as they arrive, interact with Judges during breakfast to keep them fully abreast of the
accomplishments and status of the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service. A mug or
glass will be given to each individual as a thank you.
Chair Joanne Bankston will work with Karen Ramage on the items to present to the
judges. A travel mug was suggested. UK Ag marketing travel mugs was discussed and
the consensus was that it was considered a lower quality than other brands.
Chuck Stamper lives near the park and he can assist as needed.
Committee of Linda Combs, Raven Ford, Dana Anderson, and Chris Ammerman will
make plans and report to JCEP. Each association typically sends two representatives to
this event.
Discussion turn to the following question – “How can county district board’s have more
input into hiring agents since they are going to be asked to contribute more funding?”
Nellie Buchanan member of the Creating Our Future committee reported that the COF
committee will be discussing this question with Dr. Henning. Check the website and
facebook page for updates from the “Creating Our Future” committee.
(https://citc.ca.uky.edu/groups/creatingourfuture/)
Next JCEP meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 18, at 10 a.m. EDT via Lync.
Finalizing plans for Judges Breakfast will be on the agenda.
Chuck Stamper moved to adjourn. Annette Heisdorffer seconded.
Respectfully Submitted, Rosie Allen, 2012 JCEP Secretary
Kentucky Joint Council of Extension Professionals
March 13, 2012; 10:00 AM EST
Conference Call via Lync
Attending:
KASEP Jeffery Bewley
KEAFCS Rosie Allen
Linda Combs
Becky Nash
Sara Talbott
KAE4-HA
KACAA Chris Ammerman
Brian Newman
Tommy Yankey
Annette Heisdorffer
UK Administration
IT/Guest Terrance Evans
2010
Kentucky Joint Council of Extension Professionals
Minutes
December 17, 2010
The meeting was conducted by conference call.
Members Participating:
ESP: David Harrison
KACAA: Gary Carter; Ray Tackett
KAE4-HA: Jann Burks
KEAFCS: Rosie Allen, Sally MIneer
KASEP: Donna Fox
Also participating were incoming 2011 members Brain Newman KACAA
President Elect and Jenny Cocanougher, serving as Past President of KAE4-HA and
incoming JCEP Chair.
The conference call/meeting was called to order by Chairman Gary Carter. There
was not a quorum of members participating so no official business was conducted.
However the following discussions were held.
The County Judges Breakfast went well, however there were only about 25
Judge Executives present. Each association will soon be billed $137.28 for their part of
the $686.40 total bill. The 2011 Breakfast will be September 29-30 at Lake Barkley
State Park.
There was discussion of the 2011 JCEP membership. Officers will be Chair –
Jenny Cocanougher, Vice Chair Jennifer Bridge, and Secretary Donna Fox. The list of
2011 total membership is attached.
There was a discussion for the JCEP meeting dates for next year. 2011 Chair
Jenny Cocanougher proposed third Wednesdays of March, June, September and
December. After discussions of dates, timing, location, etc, it was decided that Jenny
would survey the 2011 membership for suggested dates. There is a need to set the
dates fairly soon so administration can include the meeting dates on their calendars if
their schedules permit.
There was a discussion on who attends JCEP and PILD from the organizations.
Typically the current President and President Elect from KACAA, KAE4-HA, KEAFCS
and ESP attend. Dr. Henning has allocated up to $3,000 for registrations for JCEP and
also for PILD. Last year this covered registration fees of $350 per person per meeting.
Additional expenses for the events are typically covered by the respective associations.
Annette Meyer Heisdorffer is the 2011 JCEP event chair and will be contacting those
attending.
There was discussion on the recent approval by the administration to allow
payment of association dues from Professional Improvement funds provided it is part of
the annual meeting registration. It presents some difficulties on timing of dues
payments, but apparently has to be that way to meet IRS regulations.
Bylaws committee member Jann Burks briefly discussed some of the bylaw
corrections and changes that were being considered. These included an apparent error
on the officer rotation, and changing the events chair rotation to be a past president rather than a current president. There was discussion on these changes. Further
discussion and vote on bylaw revisions will be delayed until the changes can be
reviewed by the members. This will probably occur at the next meeting. Suggested
changes will be sent out to members for review before the meeting.
Official approval of the September 7 meeting minutes will be considered at the
next meeting in 2011. The next meeting of the council will be scheduled by incoming
chair Jenny Cocanougher after the meeting date survey.
There being no other business, meeting was adjourned.
David Harrison, secretary
Kentucky Joint Council of Extension Professionals
Minutes
September 7, 2010
Location: Room 249 Barnhart Bldg, University of Kentucky, Lexington
Teleconference Locations: Princeton Station, Robinson Station
Members Present:
ESP: David Harrison; Jennifer Bridge; Joanne Bankston,
KACAA: Gary Carter; Ray Tackett, Annette Meyer Heisdorffer
KAE4-HA: Chad Conway, Ty Back, Jann Burks
KEAFCS: Sally Mineer; Donna Fryman, Rosie Allen, Rita Spence
KASEP: Donna Fox
Guests Present: Dr. Jimmy Henning, Dr. Charlene Jacobs, and Karen Ramage
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Gary Carter. He called for the
Secretary’s report. Secretary David Harrison distributed the minutes of the June 8,
2010 meeting. (These had been committee reviewed and posted on the web site).
Rosie Allen moved that the minutes be approved as printed. Motion was seconded by
Jennifer Bridge and motion passed.
Dr. Charlene Jacobs was introduced as the interim Assistant Director of
Extension for 4-H Youth Development. Dr. Henning noted the timeline for filling the
position is unknown depending on the budget and other factors, but he is very hopeful
of filling it as soon as feasible.
Chairman Carter expressed thanks to the administration for the $1,000 bonus in
lieu of a salary increase. Dr. Henning stated he did not know the actual source of
funding for the bonuses.
Karen Ramage updated us on the State Extension Council special meeting that
was held August 10 in Campbell County. This meeting was requested by Council
members to enhance their leadership roles as council members. Approximately forty
members attended. The meeting included a tour of the Campbell County Environmental
Center and a review of successful Extension Councils in several counties. An email
was sent to County Offices regarding the activities and results of the meeting.
Dr. Henning discussed several topics of current interest.
The tax exemption that 4-H has had for a long time no longer exists. He is
looking for a tax exempt blanket organization that would allow 4-H to remain exempt.
Other non- profit organizations in counties are also likely to lose their exemption.
He will be asking for a listing of county organizations that have an EIN number and
checking account, take in more than $5,000 annually, and write charitable donation letters. This information will likely be requested by UK administration. The exempt
status of state extension professional organizations needs to be determined. Most
responded this either exists or is being worked on.
County agent s will again have the opportunity to evaluate State Extension
Specialists. The survey instrument will be similar to the previous surveys and will
include an open dialog box for constructive comments. The survey should be available
from mid September to mid October and participation of all agents is needed for
effectiveness. Department Chairs will see this evaluation. The survey should give
specialists credit for things not recognized through normal university level performance
appraisals.
Dr. Henning discussed the request from the JCEP Board to allow payment of
professional association dues from County Professional Improvement (PI)Funds. This
has been a frequent request from state extension associations in the past. He has
discussed this with appropriate administrative personnel and there is a mechanism to
allow this now. It will available for Extension Professional Organizations (KACAA,
KAE4HA, KASEP, KEAFCS and ESP) dues only. He is proceeding with getting this set
up. It will involve a reduced registration fee(that would include membership dues).as
part of each organization’s annual meeting If an agent does not register for the annual
meeting, there is no mechanism available for dues reimbursement from PI funds (the
employee would have to write their own check for dues without reimbursement).
Guidelines should be established by the December meeting of JCEP.
Chair Gary Carter thanked Dr. Henning and all those members who worked on
this endeavor.
Karen Ramage again noted the auditing firm of Tichenor and Associates in
Louisville is available to do county extension audits. County offices should have
received correspondence from them concerning their firm’s interest. Karen also noted
Extension District Board Guidelines have been revised and a check sheet for an audit
was added.
The need for a review of the bylaws was discussed. This could include the need
for the accuracy of current JCEP membership. Each organization changes officers at
different times of the year, but JCEP membership is based on organization office held
on January 1. These and other issues will be addressed by a bylaws review committee.
Chairman Carter appointed Jennifer Bridge, Jann Burks and Ray Tackett to serve on
the Bylaws committee that will report at the December meeting. Some other potential
items of consideration were mentioned.
The County Judge Executive Breakfast is October 1 at Cumberland Falls State
Park. Individual associations in the past have contributed approximately $200 to fund
the event. Chair Carter expressed his concern that reimbursement for individual
expenses are paid from county travel funds rather than association funds. Those attending it would be possible to change from county reimbursement to association
reimbursement. No official action was taken.
Two representatives per organization usually attend the breakfast. Each
organization will send Gary Carter the names of those who plan to attend.
Karen Ramage has the Extension handouts ready. Gary Carter has the UK
glasses to be given to each judge. It was decided bags would not be used. Dr.
Henning discussed using a few 3X5 cards related to special Extension programming or
expertise for the County Judges. Specific sources need to be mentioned. He will work
on this idea. Other discussions involved high quality ink pens, table decorations,
display board, and dress code (UK or Kentucky State casual). Brian Newman agreed to
be the photographer.
Dr. Henning was asked to discuss the status of technology needs and issues
discussed at previous meetings. It has not gone much further, but he has taken JCEP
off the hook. A survey has been completed and Craig Wood and others are working on
putting together a conference with guidelines and practical instructions. He noted
further details should be available at the December meeting.
The next meeting of the council will be Tuesday, December 7. After discussion
on possible locations including state parks, Jennifer Bridge agreed to check with Rough
River State Park about scheduling the meeting there.
Gary Carter requested additional items for the agenda or concerns be forwarded
to him prior to the meeting. The question was asked if the Dean would attend. Dr.
Henning felt the Dean would be more likely to attend if specific purposes were given for
him to attend. The possibility of budget discussion, state of the college and
communications were mentioned. The usual question and answer session is not
preferred.
Those attending PILD were impressed with the Extension leaders from other
states that attended. Kentucky does not send Extension leaders or volunteers. The
Dean might discuss the possibility of Kentucky dong this and function of CARET at the
December meeting.
There being no other business, meeting was adjourned.
David Harrison, secretary
Kentucky Joint Council of Extension Professionals
Minutes
June 8, 2010
Location: Room 249 Barnhart Bldg, University of Kentucky, Lexington
Teleconference Locations: Princeton Station, Robinson Station and Elizabethtown
Members Present:
ESP: David Harrison; Jennifer Bridge; Joanne Bankston,
KACAA: Gary Carter; Ray Tackett, Annette Meyer Heisdorffer
KAE4-HA: Chad Conway, Jason Brashear, Jann Burks
KEAFCS: Sally Mineer; Donna Fryman, Rosie Allen, Annie Mae Kingston, Rita Spence
KASEP: Donna Fox
Guests Present: Dr. Jimmy Henning, Dr. Gary Palmer, Dr. Joe Kurth, Dr. Ann Vail, and Karen Ramage
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Gary Carter. Introductions of members and guests present were made. Chairman Carter called for the Secretary’s report. Secretary David Harrison distributed the minutes of the March 30, 2010. (These had also been previously posted on the web site). Rita Spence moved that the minutes be approved as printed. Motion was seconded by Donna Fryman and motion passed. There was discussion about having the recorded minutes more accessible to Extension professionals and having a link to the JCEP web page from the college internal page. This will be referred to the organization’s web master Martha Nall.
There were only a few questions received for the Q&A Session with the administrators. Some questions may need to be handled on individual basis, but are presented as received:
Questions for Dr. Henning and Assistant Directors
- 1. For those counties with a strong financial situation what can we do for our county paid staff in lieu of raises? (Karen Ramage) A concern for all. Things that can be done include support staff opportunities for education such as classes or EEP, professional development, in service, and reduced seasonal hours (less pay, but time off).
- 2. Agents were allowed to evaluate District Directors/Area Directors once. Why can’t this policy be installed again? It is only fair that evaluations go both ways. Upper administration only hears one side and there are always two sides to every story as well as personality conflicts that need to be buffered. There are always ways to make the best better. Was done once, results were more a vent and not constructive. However, some survey instruments have been under discussion. Will go back and discuss with the Dean further. If done, wants it to be constructive, some Extension Specialists surveys were not.
- 3. Since the University has gone three years without giving increases in salaries, has the University considered reducing work hours to 8am to 4 pm and increasing hourly rates? Total salary budget would remain the same but workers would be compensated with a reduced work load. University decision not college. He pointed out agents are not on the clock. Would rather have money to give people raises. What we have is a compensation issue. Question probably related to support staff.
- 4. How is the determination made (by DD’s) or what is the policy to approve/deny sabbatical leave to work on a master’s program? (Karen Ramage) This has been a growing issue; there is a revised/clarified version on sabbatical/study leave in Office Procedure Manual (on web). Agents do not qualify for sabbatical leave, but for study leave. Approval based on several factors including years of service, letter of justification covering several areas, and current county staffing. Leave is approved at three levels of administration. Use of study leave seems to be increasing.
- 5. Is there a policy concerning supervisors being business partners with an employee they evaluate? Generally not a good idea, there are university policies regarding conflict of interest, but under special circumstances it may be possible. There Is a university contact for ethics concerns.
- 6. An employee with FERS retirement was told by employee that her calculator was old and she wasn’t sure if her calculations were correct. Without sounding too critical: why does our retirement person not have the latest and/or best tools to advise those nearing retirement in particular FERS? More information and specifics are needed to respond to this issue. Of course, there is a need for current, correct information on all aspects of benefits including retirement.
Dr. Henning challenged JCEP to determine if question and answer sessions were the best use of our time, or if our efforts might be used more effectively in other areas. He complimented the visits at PILD this year and thanked those who prepared the handout material, coordinated the delegation and attended the conference.
Karen Ramage addressed the issue of finding auditors to do district board audits. In many counties it is difficult to find an auditor willing to do the work, and they are often quite expensive. Several counties have requested assistance with this. Tichenor and Associates in Louisville are willing to do audits (basing charges on county budget level). They are willing to do audits across the state, and have done several county audits already. A county could compare Tichenor with others bids obtained locally. A check sheet for an audit has been prepared so only required areas of auditing will be covered.
Chairman Carter asked Dr. Henning to continue his discussion/concern on technology discussed at our March 30 meeting. Three observations of his: 1) some use social media extensively and well, 2) technology staff is familiar with “cool tools” and their use, 3) some agents say what they are doing is working well and why should they change. He believes great opportunities exist for use of new technologies in our programs. He would like for IT staff to be knowledgeable of county programs efforts in order to recommend what works best, and wants some who do not use technology to meet with IT staff to better understand the potential for its use. He believes JCEP can engage all areas of Extension in discussion of uses of technology. Dr. Henning will propose to Laura Skillman that there be a series of listening sessions related to technology with anticipation of a major communications conference to include the topic. This is a college issue beyond just Extension and is basically a communication issue.
Discussion continued with comments concerning the issue from administrators and JCEP members in attendance
Karen Ramage noted the State Extension Council will meet August 10 in Campbell County. This is a new event and was requested by the council to make an effort to connect program councils with the State Extension Council.
Chairman President Carter thanked the administrators for attending the meeting. After the administrators left, the business meeting continued.
Association reports were given by the association presidents. KACAA State Meeting will be July 28-30 in Paintsville and National Meeting is July 11-15 in Tulsa Oklahoma. KEAFCS National Meeting will be in Portland, Maine, September 20-25. Lora Lee Howard will be running for a National Vice President position. The State Meeting will be November 30-December 2 in Louisville. KAE4-HA State Meeting was in April and National Meeting is October 24-28 in Phoenix, Arizona. ESP State Meeting was March 24 and National Meeting will be October 12-15 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Laura Wilson is a National Vice President. KASEP met in May and is planning meetings in September, December, March and May.
By laws were considered. Chairman Carter encouraged members to review the bylaws and send suggested changes to him. He plans to appoint a bylaws committee, and they will be discussed further at the September meeting.
The JCEP sponsored County Judges Breakfast will be Friday, October 1 at Cumberland Falls State Park. Rooms are probably not available now. Each organization contributes approximately $200 to help sponsor the event. It has also been decided not to include “trinkets” as in the past. There will be a UK glass given to each County Judge, and these have been ordered. Joanne Bankston will plan to get something from Kentucky State University. The handout for each Judge is also ready. Two representatives per organization are normally present. Question of whether bags is needed or not, but decided to continue to use bag.
Chairman Carter appointed a minute review committee of Rosie Allen, Karen Ramage and Jason Brashear to review the minutes of this meeting before they are posted on our website.
Chad Conway (committee chair) shared his thoughts on asking administration approval to allow payment of professional organization dues with professional improvement funds. His committee for this concern, appointed at the last meeting, has not met. He noted Dr. Henning seemed agreeable to considering such a proposal. He believes there will probably be a limit to the number of associations that dues can be paid and a maximum dollar amount annually.
Current dues structures are as follows: KAE4-HA - $110.00, KACAA - $85.00, KEAFCS - $110.00, ESP - $50.00 and KSEP - $15.00. It was pointed out there are multiple other relevant organizations each professional could join. Discussion on the topic followed.
Rita Spence moved that JCEP propose and request approval from the Extension Administration that $300.00 maximum per year of Professional Improvement funds be allowed for Professional Associations dues. David Harrison seconded. Discussion followed, and when the question was called, motion failed.
Annie Mae Kingston moved that extension professionals be allowed to use part of their professional improvement funds for payment of professional association dues. Rita Spence seconded the motion and motion passed. The committee will follow through on this proposal with Dr. Henning. It was noted that District Directors approve Professional Improvement fund expenditures.
The general purpose of JCEP as questioned by Dr. Henning and the relevance of having administrator questions each meeting was discussed. It was the consensus of the group that question and answer sessions be conducted at two meetings per year, not four. It was also mentioned it would be a good idea to review the questions before being presented to the administrators, but this would not allow administrators to view the questions before the meeting.
The possibility of a having a liaison contact within the college was mentioned by Jennifer Bridge, and was discussed as a potential need. There are some contacts now for certain faculty and staff.
The motion to adjourn was made by Rita Spence, seconded by Jennifer Bridge and passed. Meeting was adjourned. Next meeting will be September 7.
David Harrison, secretary
Kentucky Joint Council of Extension Professionals
Minutes
Date: March 30, 2010
Location: Room 249 Barnhart Bldg, University of Kentucky, Lexington
Teleconference Locations: Princeton Station and Robinson Station
Members Present:
ESP: David Harrison; Jennifer Bridge; Joanne Bankston, Lyndall Harned
KACAA: Gary Carter; Ray Tackett, Annette Meyer Heisdorffer
KAE4-HA: Chad Conway, Ty Back
KAEFCS: Sally Mineer; Donna Fryman, Rosie Allen, Annie Mae Kingston
SEP: No officers of SEP were present
Guests Present: Dr. Jimmy Henning and Dr. Gary Palmer
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Gary Carter. Introductions of members present were made. Chairman Carter noted the minutes from the December 8, 2009 meeting at Glendale Kentucky were approved by the minute review committee and were posted on the web.
Ray Tackett gave a report on the National JCEP conference in Nashville, Tennessee. This year the conference was a national conference rather than two regional conferences as in the recent past. Work life topics were a major part of the program. The member organizations met separately in effective meetings. Dr. Henning was thanked for his continued financial support of this conference, which allowed our membership to attend.
Ray also briefly discussed the PILD conference scheduled for April 25-28 which will include updates on National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). Jennifer Bridge is coordinator for the Kentucky delegation, and will contact those attending with last minute details of the trip. Karen Ramage has supplied attendees with information packets. Drew Graham will also attend and provide training on Capitol Hill visits with legislators. Security issues and several other problems with Kentucky gifts at last year’s PILD were discussed. The consensus was not to bring gifts this year.
Discussion then centered on providing opportunities to meet with legislators and/or their representatives in their respective districts. While this has been done in some areas, JCEP has not been directly involved in such events. It was decided to discuss this further with Drew Graham at PILD and put it on the agenda for the next JCEP meeting.
Chairman Carter turned the meeting over to Dr. Jimmy Henning and Dr. Gary Palmer for a discussion of the submitted issues/concerns. The issues/concerns, administrator responses and general discussion follow. They are listed by the JCEP organization submitting the question(s). Dr. Henning noted he realized the questions might not reflect the thoughts of those on the JCEP Board or the organizations represented.
JCEP QUESTIONS FOR UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATION
Submitted by FCS Agents
1. For JCEP would you ask Jimmy Henning, when will FERS employees be notified
of the new rules for crediting unused sick leave for retirement? You can take him
the information on this site.
http://federalretirement.net/sickleave.htm#Credit_for_Unused_Sick_Leave
Rosemary Veach is our contact at UK for employees with Federal appointments and is on list serve for changes. He will ask her to inform those on CSRS and FERS as necessary about changes in both systems. Web site listed is useful for those employees.
2. “Many counties are involved in barn quilt projects and have seen many rewards
on the local level. This is seen by increased clientele visiting the office then
coming back for other programs, tourism committee support and more
community partnerships. Why are our efforts not reflected in our
evaluation/rating?”
Dr. Henning believes those efforts are reflected in evaluations to the extent impact can be shown from the project. Dr. Ann Vail is well aware of the Quilt Projects. He believes it is a worthwhile project, and is supported by administration. However, impact may be hard to measure even though it may consume a lot of time and effort. Additional discussion followed.
3. “What are the chances of Extension Agents getting a raise this year? Seeing
that we have gone without for a couple of years while our staff assistants and
other county government staff are receiving the appropriate cost of living
increases combined with the reduction in mileage reimbursement?”
Chances of salary increase are slim, even though it was hoped a small raise could be given. Other states have suffered much more than Kentucky. Georgia Extension cuts were given as an example. Raises would be reoccurring money which makes it even more difficult to come up with. The state budget is not finalized yet. A reduction of 1.5% is expected for the 2010-2011budget year and the next year is unknown, but not promising. Our mileage reimbursement rates are tied to Federal IRS rates and are changed soon after new rates are set.
4. We have many of our Food Stamp Educators who are making under the poverty
level. Is there any thought to giving these people raises? It seems just wrong
that they do not make enough to live on if they are single?
Dr. Henning is aware of salary inadequacies that exist among coworkers in local offices and across the state. Funding sources such as grants, University sources and other things affect wages. He will discuss these some more with Dr. Ann Vail who is aware of these situations and is very concerned. (Dr. Vail received a copy of these issues and concerns).
5. Has there been any thought to giving one time bonuses to staff as has been
done in the past to offset the lack of raises? If funds can be found?
There have been discussions about this, but it is not likely to occur because of tight budget restrictions as mentioned previously.
6. Would Administration let those with a 5 star rating to carry it over until there is
money available for compensation?
This is being discussed with Human Resources and affects other University faculty and staff. There is a lot of support for it by College of Agriculture administration.
7. Agents have concern over the management of hiring agents for District Directors
positions in which they will be over the same area/district that they just worked in.
While we like to see agents be able to advance to higher positions it is felt that it would be better practice for them to work in a different area than manage co-workers they just worked with.
Several issues related to this. Administration wants to hire the best person for the position and that may not equal a specific area of the state. Also, people may not want to move and relocate to a different part of the state. The last two District Directors hired did come from within their districts and this concern was discussed with agent advisory committee from the respective districts. It was not thought to be a problem in these instances, but it can be difficult for both sides.
Submitted by 4-H Agents
1. Please review how the final rating for agents has been decided. It has been said
that Extension Specialists were asked to rank agents within a district and this information was used by an assistant director to determine ratings. When did input from Extension Specialists become a part of the rating system?
While all information available can basically be used in evaluation, Extension Specialist input is not part of the formal evaluation process. Dr. Henning estimated that 98% of the ratings are determined by the rating given by the District Directors, although all ratings are reviewed by Assistant Directors. Agents are, however, asked to provide feedback on specialists. Most agents employed over five years still have the option of being evaluated every other year.
2. With Dr. Kurth’s retirement, what is the expected timeline for filling the position?
His retirement is effective in August. There will be an interim. The interim may be short time (6-9 months) if the position is allowed to be filled. If budget constraints dictate otherwise, the period could be much longer.
3. Are there plans being made for a state wide All-Extension conference next year?
No, it is still very expensive to the counties and the college administration to have an Annual Extension Conference. However, state wide training may be utilized for specific training needs.
4. How does an Extension Office “qualify” or get “selected” for an audit? Are we supposed to be completing some type of IRS form similar to what 4-H Councils complete?
Does not know how an office is selected for IRS audit, but two county offices have been audited this year. This has been an impetus to have a further evaluation of cell phone use policies. Regarding required annual/ four year audits, discussions are being held with an accounting firm knowledgeable about our business to assist with those. Concern about meeting “Herald Leader” test.
Submitted by Agriculture Agents
1. What is the current status of Robinson Substation? We realize that there have
been some discussion regarding the changes that have been made at the
Substation but there is still a lot of folks asking questions. Could a ‘quick facts’
information sheet be developed regarding the changes to Substation be
generated and circulated?
There have been a lot of changes due to reorganization of University farms. Changes should provide for greater local oversight of the station’s mission and programs. This lead to additional discussion concerning the Robinson Station including agent support and programming that meets the needs of Kentuckians in that area of the state. Field Day changes have been made for this year. A Farmer’s Market is being considered. Pumpkin Day is very successful, but provides additional opportunities for learning. A station advisory committee has been established. The possibility of taking the programs out to the communities was mentioned. The need for an information sheet will be discussed with David Ditsch and will be prepared regarding the changes at Robinson Station.
2. Is it still a general policy that attempts be made to select District Directors from
outside the areas where they are to be Directors?
See response to similar question #7 asked by FCS agents.
3. If it is true that David Ditsch will now only be devoting 20% of his time to field
work addressing forage issues, are there any plans to provide additional support
from UK to help support field programming in this area?
Yes, David Ditsch is now 80% administration at Robinson Station and Lloyd Murdoch has a similar appointment at the Princeton Station. These appointments have created needs in their former areas of specialization. Additional resource specialists have been asked to assist in these areas. A Horticulturist has been hired for Robinson Station.
Submitted by ESP
1. Would you please address the “policy” of only attending one National Association
Meeting per year? It seems some District Directors will not allow employees to attend two professional development meeting in a program year while others will.
The policy does exist and is mainly because of week long absences at such meetings as National Conferences. There are exceptions, however, for state and national officers and nearby regional meetings. The ultimate decision to allow or not lies with the District Director. Don’t be afraid to ask.
2. Some states allow employees to use professional development funds to pay association dues. Is there a KRS statute which prohibits this in KY? If so, what can be done to change it?
This is UK policy, not KRS statute and has existed for a long time. It affects other faculty and staff as well, and is asked about frequently. It could be an additional “benefit” (since there are no raises) if it were allowed. Dr. Henning is sympathetic to the proposal and is willing to check into it further if given a written, well researched proposal.
There is policy that allows new agents and transfers a $500 moving expense allowance for relocating.
3. Furlough. Is the university considering furlough as part of cost cutting measures? Will an early out be offered in an effort to reduce costs?
These are not under consideration at the present time for us. These have been used in other states along with other, even more drastic, measures.
ADDITIONAL CONCERNS AFTER PRINTING WAS COMPLETED
1. A concern from the old Purchase Area is the Mandated Snap-ed hours of one day per month. We need training on different techniques of achieving this mandated objective.
This is not mandated, but a target. Agents should make it work in their county due to needs of the county. It is the single biggest grant UK Extension gets. Typically we under report our hours anyway. Reporting may be difficult and training may be needed in how to report, and recognizing what can and should be reported. Dr. Palmer also supports reporting these hours by agriculture agents. Agents requested a monthly reminder to report, and more information on what the money is used for and how it benefits us.
2. Taking on a role of leading a discussion on the current and future role of
technology tools on CES programming from a total system perspective. Should
and would the JCEP Board be the lead group on discussing these future
changes in our system?
This issue was presented by Dr. Henning as a result of information presented at the ESP sponsored in service on High Tech High Touch on March 23. The agent panel on use of new technology highlighted what some agents are doing compared with traditional methods and was very enlightening. There is a wide disparity among agents in technology use. We need a better interface between technology and what works for agents.
This lead to extensive discussion among those present on adaptation, what works, training, time constraints, potential audiences, measuring impact, expense, communication equipment methods and reliability (Communicator, Centra, dial up etc), current usage of technology, virus exposure, generational differences etc.
Dr. Henning needs help in structuring the discussion in this area and proposed a teaser webinar on technology usage in May.
With no further questions or discussion, Chairman Carter thanked Dr. Henning and Dr. Palmer for meeting with the JCEP membership.
Additional Business
Jennifer Bridge moved that JCEP undertake as a project leading the discussion on the current and future role of technology tools on CES programming from a total system perspective. Motion was seconded and passed. Chairman Carter appointed Ray Tackett to give the JCEP committee direction on this project.
Chad Conway moved and Sally Mineer seconded that a committee composed of the JCEP Officer Team and Rosie Allen explore the issue of not being permitted to pay professional organization dues with program development funds and prepare a proposal that it be allowed. Motion passed. Chad Conway will serve as Committee Chair.
In other business items, the agenda item on the bylaws will be discussed further at a later meeting of the organization. The next meeting is scheduled for June 8. The group’s webmaster needs to be determined. The date for the County Judges’ Breakfast will be determined and sent to members.
The motion to adjourn was made by Jennifer Bridge, seconded by Sally Mineer and passed. Meeting was adjourned.
David Harrison, secretary
2009
Joint Council of Extension Professionals
December 8, 2009
MINUTES
Chairperson Nancy Hunt called the meeting of JCEP to order at 10:36 am at
Tony’s on Main in Glendale, KY. Members present for the meeting included: Ashley
Osborne, Steve Patton, Donna Fox, Chad Conway, Jann Burks, Gary Carter, Jennifer
Bridge, David Harrison, Nancy Hunt, Jenny Cocanougher, Annie Mae Kingston, Curt
Judy, Ray Tackett, Joanne Bankston, Nancy Hunt, Sally Mineer and Donna Fryman.
Guests present for the meeting included: Dr. Paul Warner, Karen Ramage and Dr. Gary
Palmer.
The first item of business was to appoint the Minutes review committee.
Ashley Osborne and Chad Conway will serve on this committee. After their review, the
minutes will be posted on the JCEP website.
Karen Ramage led the discussion of questions posed to administrators. Responses
follow the questions listed:
Budget:
1. Projected budget cuts and what is the plan for addressing them?
At this time unsure of what the state budget, UK and CES. University allowed a slight
carry over for CES. We are holding vacancies for Assist Director for Community
Development and other vacancies in program staff development. Units in college are
preparing for a 2-3% budget cut.
2. Given the increased financial contribution from counties to the total extension
budget, when does administration see agents getting a raise?
Increase in contribution from counties was done to fill agent vacancies. The University
is currently carrying 16 agent vacancies. Agent raises will be dependent upon
University raises which are dependent upon the state budget. Additional county money
was never intended for agent raises – it was used to fill vacancies.
3. Should counties budget for county staff increases for the next budget year?
Yes budget for staff raises, but we don’t know yet if raises will be approved by the
University and Board of Trustees. Question regarding EFNEP positions – federal funds
are available, but again the EFNEP positions are still under University raise policies.
EFNEP funds are treated as grant funds. There were only two exceptions to staff raises
last year: Med Center and CES county staff support.Ratings/Salaries:
4. Could you please share the distribution of agent ratings with associations?
Typically this information will be sent directly to agents with the number of agents in
each of the 5 categories.
5. Are there information available comparing College of Ag salaries from
surrounding land grant universities including administration, specialists and
agents? This information used to be available from CSREES.
Every Land Grant University reports this information on a federal level. Since the
beginning of the career ladder we have gained ground in the region (gone from 13 to
10th). With current budget issues, we haven’t moved any higher. Some states have
chosen to reduce positions and increase salaries. UK has chosen to retain positions,
which means giving up salary increases.
6. During the recent evaluation process, some District Directors told agents their
ratings during the face to face conference stage just after year end reports were
submitted. Other District Directors waited until Mid-November before informing
agents of their rating. Do District Directors make the decision on the ratings
without input and approval of assistant directors, Dr. Henning and the Dean?
How are ratings determined?
Agents may have received a preliminary rating. Assistant Directors, District Directors,
Dr. Henning and Dean had discussions on all ratings. Ratings are not final until agent
receives letter in mail.
Personnel:
7. We would like an update on the Extension Vet Position (Patty Scharko
replacement).
In negotiations. Process began last spring. First offer to an individual was declined.
The position has been amended slightly and re-advertised. It has not progressed as
we would have liked.
8. Are there any specific plans made to retain new agents especially considering
that we have not had any raises for the past couple of years?
We are doing many things to maintain new agents, and we are also concerned about
maintaining all agents. Examples of efforts include new agent orientation, mentor
system, in-service training support and special visits to new agents. We are protecting
career ladder funding and master’s degree stipend funds. Most new hires are overjoyed to have a professional level job. Quality of new hires and applicants is as great as it
has ever been.
9. Why are county agents still going into three-year post-retirement arrangements,
but state specialists starting into post-retirement are terminated after one year or
the FTE percentage reduced below the agreed level?
All post-retirements are on a yearly basis. Some state specialists have gone for
several years. In order for agents to do the job, it must be kept to no less than 80%.
State specialists can negotiate less time. When a specialist position retires, the
University pulls the salary funding for that position. To fill the position, the college goes
through the same process of requesting a new position. For an agent position the
savings to the university is 20% salary costs and no benefit cost except social security.
Counties funding is not changed because the assumption is that the county continues to
receive a full program.
10.How do we build bridges with 1890 programs? Should 1890 Administrators be
invited to participate in JCEP meetings?
It is up to all of us to build bridges with 1890 programs. Karen, Dr. Henning and Dr.
Benson meet to discuss joint programs on a regular basis. New Farmer program is a
recent example. Co-branded with many programs. Monthly administration meetings
are always represented with KSU administrators. There will be 3 full voting delegates
from KSU at the state extension council meeting. Yes 1890 Administrators should be
invited to JCEP meetings.
Comment: “Thank you for re-hiring the Fruit and Vegetable Specialist at Quicksand.”
Farm Bill:
11.How is Kentucky Extension impacted by the Farm Bill?
Gary Palmer: Much bigger emphasis on Extension from USDA. Many more
opportunities for extension to be involved in the grants through USDA. Many grants
require outreach and extension planning. Some things are no longer formula funds –
IPM grants for example – they are now competitive. Research is going to have to
involve extension from the start – this is how we are going to extend the information we
learn to the people it impacts. There is a need for more extension specialists on review
panels through USDA. National program leaders put together the selection process for
grants.
12.There is concern over changes in NIFA (National Institute of Food and
Agriculture) and its effect on our state support. “There has been a lot of money
going to a lot of places.” Are there things administration thinks we need to
position ourselves differently for to receive some of those national dollars? We are required to have 10% of federal formula money for multi-state programs. We
are gathering the information from county and state staff to document efforts. Impact of
decision making at the federal level – there is a new system – assistant secretary and
senior scientist. New assistant secretary was not from an education background – will
moving to another position. Senior Scientist does not have a land grant background.
There has been a small increase in formula funds, but more will continue to be available
through competitive grants and teams of research, extension and teaching to submit
grants will be important to receiving the federal funds.
4-H Certification Programs: Dr. Kurth was unable to attend the meeting in person.
Jann Burks shared his response. After the meeting, Dr Kurth sent his responses out
via email. His email response is included in these minutes.
13.Why is Livestock Volunteer Recertification necessary? Shooting Sports, which
was used as an example for certification of livestock volunteers does not
“recertify”, so why are livestock volunteers treated differently?
Since the program’s inception, the intent has always been that certification would
last for 5 years, after which time, some continuing education hours would be
required. This has been communicated in both written and verbal forms to every
class since the program’s inception. Dr. Monty Chappell, whose influence was
instrumental in the design of KLVC, always believed that certification would be good
for a 5 year period, after which time some continuing education would be
necessary. As an organization that prides itself on its research base and dedication
to education, it is imperative that we ensure that our materials and delivery methods
remain current and on the cutting edge. No one wants old, out-dated curricula or
delivery methods.
14.Many 4-H agents across the state have a concern about the cost of Dr. Ken
Culp’s livestock certification and re-certification. The cost for each of these is
cost-prohibitive to a lot of counties. The recertification cost $125-135 dollars and
is held only at state parks in far western KY or at Carrolton’s state park. These
locations are obviously only conducive to attendance in those areas. Beyond the
registration cost, counties must cover the cost of room and usually mileage for
volunteers to attend these meetings. The livestock program costs need to be
brought under control so that counties can afford to have this program.
There was a large design committee, more than half of which were 4-H agents, who
were involved with developing and reviewing the materials for both certification and
recertification. We believe the cost for recertification can be made manageable for
counties. Most counties have taken advantage of Ag Achiever’s grants to pay for,
either in part or in full, the cost of the KLVC Kit, registration fees, lodging and
transportation. Those agents who have not done so are not taking full advantage of the
grant’s potential. The cost charged for KLVC is a break-even figure. Our cost for the curriculum is $108. Meals, breaks, facilities and duplicating are a very modest $82 and
the 4-H Foundation charges 5% to handle the money. This brings the cost us to $190,
and we are charging $125-$135. So the state office is actually subsidizing the
recertification program, which we are happy to do in support of counties.
15.4-H agents want to make sure that the costs associated with the upcoming 4-H
horse program certification do not follow along the lines of the livestock program.
The kit alone for the horse certification will cost between $600-700. Can the
certification meetings be held in a central location in each region to cut down on
costs?
KLVC workshops have been held all across the Commonwealth, including Buckhorn
Lake SRP, Pine Mountain SRP, General Butler SRP, Rough River Dam SRP and
Pennyrile Forest SRP. Additionally, the second LVrC workshop, will be held at
Kenlake SRP in Marshall county. Dr. Culp has contacted Barren River SRP for the
past four years to try and schedule a certification workshop, but their schedule has
never had an availability for a group of this size. Shooting Sports Certification has
ALWAYS been held at the KY Leadership Center in Jabez, which is a location that is
neither centrally located or rotates. Livestock volunteers are passionate about these
projects and are willing to go to great lengths to make sure that youth are provided
these educational opportunities. The fact that we now have certified livestock
volunteers in 109 counties is proof of this fact.
HES/FCS:
16.Outline what grants UK HES received for the Stimulus Package and what affect
they should have on grassroots Extension.
Thirteen applicants from college were submitted. Only 150 of the total 20,000
applicants were funded. None of our applicants were funded. Two or more are being
tweaked and will be submitted to other grant sources. Partners with medicine, nursing,
public health, and business. Has opened the doors for other grants sources.
Other:
17.Can the link for JCEP be included on the web page under the CES Organizations
& Associations?
Yes. And it has been done.
18.Was the email from Dean Smith on “Policy on Use of University Resources”
directed toward any specific issues in county offices? No not specifically to any county office. Good policy to follow to show how we are
accountable to pubic funded resources. Applies to every office and every employee in
CES.
Additional question: Process for filling Dr. Kurth’s position:
We are going to fill position as an assistant director for 4-H youth development. Not
going to be combined with another position. Will begin as soon as the budget will allow.
Do not know if there will be an interim. Will be a national search. 4-H co & state staff
submitted many comments on qualities and characteristics.
Health insurance issue for agents on federal appointment. Over the years we
have gotten advice, counsel but now there is very little assistance from the university to
compare options? There is a BlueCross BlueShield hotline. With university benefits,
beginning Jan 1 new employees will not be vested until 5 years of employment.
JCEP BUSINESS MEETING
Nancy Hunt then proceeded with the business meeting. Minutes from the previous
meeting have been posted to the JCEP website. Motion to accept the minutes as
posted was made by Jennifer Bridge, seconded by Anna Mae Kingston. Motion passed.
County Judges Breakfast - Nancy Hunt
Attendance this year was lower than usual. Shared printed program. Bills have
been sent to each association ($134.00). Tim Hendricks served as photographer.
Good representation from all associations. Discussion over gifts/favors and information
packets was held. Glassware is supplied by Dr. Warner’s office. Concern over the
variety of favors supplied by each association. Discussion was tabled until after lunch
was served.
Nancy Hunt re-convened the meeting after lunch. Motion was made by Steve
Patton, second by Donna Fox, to continue to provide UK glassware and information
packet to the attendees of the County Judges’ Breakfast with no additional favors by
the individual associations. Motion passed.
Association Updates – Each association representative gave a brief update on
their organization.
Jennifer Bridge-ESP
201 members in ESP, many retirees, 46 FCS, 23 4-H, 14 Ag. 10 specialists. All
administrators except one. Would like to increase specialist and ag membership.
Retreat with support of Dr. Henning who serves as our membership chair. Reviewing
membership policies, cash stipend awards. Amy Lynch will provide in-service session
on generations working together day prior to ESP annual meeting. Sponsored by Dr.
HenningRay Tackett - KACAA- 95 paid members, typical numbers. Winter Board meeting was
recently held.
Donna Fryman- KEAFSC
75th anniversary on national level. 113 members. Second largest delegation to
national conference. National leadership positions: 2. Fundraising effort: Living Well,
More than A Cookbook on sale for $25.00. Contact Donna Fryman to purchase.
Building Strong Families publication for each county has been produced. KEAFSC
provided funds to help with design of new graphic representation/logo for school of
human environmental sciences.
Donna Fox-KASEP
Membership has increased from 35 to 70. Departmental contacts have helped keep
the word out and are in touch with new specialists and associates. The KASEP website
has been revamped. Activities include Tour and lunch of south farm; Tour of Meats lab;
Annual meeting with administrators in March; Tour equine initiative and involvement
with World Equestrian Games in May.
Chad Conway – KAE4-HA
KAE4-HA has 96 regular members, 118 total (including retires). 61 attended national
meeting. One national award winner. Three members serving in national positions.
The 2010 State meeting in Ashland April 21-22. Will host a retirement reception for Dr.
Kurth.
JCEP Officers for 2010 will be Chair - Gary Carter; Vice-Chair – Chad Conway
and Secretary – David Harrison. 2010 Membership includes KACAA: Ray Tackett,
Gary Carter, Annette Meyer-Heisdorffer, Lori Bowling and Greg Whitis; KAE4-HA: Toni
Riley, Chad Conway, Ty Back, Jason Brashear and Jann Burks; KASEP: Donna Fox,
Stephen Patton, Allison Davis, Ashley Osborne and Corey Walters; KEAFCS: Sally
Mineer, Donna Fryman, Rosie Allen, Annie Mae Kingston and Rita Spence; ESP:
Jennifer Bridge, David Harrison, Joanne Bankston, Tim Hendricks and Lyndall Harned.
JCEP meeting dates for 2010 will be March 9, June 8, Sept 7, and Dec 7. The
March, June and Sept meetings will be video-linked and the December meeting will be
a face-to-face meeting with the location to be announced later.
Nancy Hunt presented a special recognition for Dr. Paul Warner for his many
years of service to Cooperative Extension and especially his great support for JCEP.
Nancy Hunt reviewed accomplishments for the organization for this past year.
The organization’s bylaws have been revised, the rotation schedule for planning
responsibility for PILD was updated, JCEP link has been placed on the CES website,
and sharing with each other dates of state and national association meetings.
Jennifer Bridge reported that Dr. Henning’s office has committed to cover the
cost of registration for Southern Region leadership workshop and PILD Conference.
Registration will be up soon and attendees need to submit out of state travel request
and send registration forms to Dr. Henning. Chad Conway discussed issues concerning gifts/favors for the PILD conference.
Tabled discussion to March.
With no further business to discuss, Chad Conway made the motion to adjourn,
seconded by Curt Judy. Motion passed and the meeting was adjourned at 1:30 pm.
Future Association Dates
December 2 - 4, 2009 KEAFCS Annual Conference Lexington
February 2 - 4, 2010 JCEP Leadership Workshop Nashville, TN
March 23 & 24, 2010 ESP In-Service & Annual Meeting Bowling Green
April 12-14, 2010 NACDEP National Meeting Bloomington, MN
April 21-22, 2010 KAE4-HA Annual Conference Ashland KY
April 26 - 28, 2010 JCEP – PILD Conference Arlington, VA
July 11-15, 2010 NACAA Conference Tulsa, OK
September 20 - 24, 2010 NEAFCS Annual Session Portland, Maine
October 12 - 15, 2010 ESP Conference Jackson Hole, WY
October 24 - 28, 2010 NAE4-HA Annual Conference Phoenix, AZ
December 2 – 4, 2010 KEAFCS Annual Conference Louisville
MINUTES
Joint Council of Extension Professionals
September 8, 2009
President Nancy Hunt called the meeting to order at 10:07 am. Link sites were established in Princeton, Quicksand, Elizabethtown and Lexington. Those present at the meeting included: Lexington: Scott Smith, Jimmy Henning, Paul Warner, Ann Vail, Joe Kurth; Joanne Bankston, Jann Burks, Gary Carter, Jennifer Cocanougher, Donna Fox, Donna Fryman,Tim Hendrick, Nancy Hunt, Ashley Osborne, Sally Mineer, Steve Patton,Toni Riley, Rita Spence, Corey Walters; Robinson Station/Quicksand: Jason Brashear, Chad Conway, Ray Tackett; Princeton: Curt Judy,Annie Mae Kingston; Elizabethtown: David Harrison, Jennifer Bridge.
The following members were appointed to review the minutes: Toni Riley and Jann Burks.
President Hunt turned the meeting over to Dr. Scott Smith for opening remarks and discussion of questions posed by the individual associations. The questions are listed with responses from administration representatives.
Questions & Concerns for September 2009 JCEP Meeting
1) How is the financial horizon looking for the College of Ag? Should we expect more cutbacks based on the information you have right now, or does it seem to be leveling out (or on the rise even)?”
The financial situation remains the same, sources of income have stabilized (due to tuition increases, increased county funding, and fed funding) but will not rise significantly. These sources have made up the difference from the lack of state funding. Stimulus package has helped the state for this year and next. How to proceed? We have been told to be very tight for the fall semester. Hiring restricted on campus (not county positions). Next couple of years will continue to be tough for the state. Not optimistic about a lot of new money, but not pessimistic about huge cuts – may have a few small cuts, but nothing large and significant like other states.
2) As we have listened to agents in surrounding states share the cuts in staffing patterns that they have experienced, what does the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture foresee regarding our staffing patterns if we receive another round of budget cuts?
Increased county funding has let us keep the current field staffing patterns. We have lost campus positions by vacancies, but haven’t furloughed, reduced hours or cut positions. We don’t know if we are done with cuts. We have managed by trimming vacancies, adding other income sources and cutting corners. We don’t know how much more we can manage beyond what we have already done. Still uncertain over future state budget situations.
3) Are you satisfied with the number of students enrolled this year in the College of Agriculture and School of Human Environmental Sciences? Is there any way to inform county offices in the fall of the names and/or numbers of students attending from their county?
It is possible to supply this information (names/numbers of current students) to the county offices. We are satisfied with the number of students. There has been a significant increase in the last decade. Close to 2,100 undergraduate students. Distribution of students is not totally satisfying – for example HES has high enrollment in food service areas – with smaller number of faculty. Plant & Soil Science, Forestry is low in student numbers but adequate number of faculty. Ideally we would like the number of students to be more level across all programs. It is important for agents to help recruit students. Comments agents make to students and parents about UK are very influential. Will work on getting information about student lists to counties – please let the college know how useful this information is and/or how counties use the information.
4) How are the new Extension funds coming in from counties being spent?
Any new spending was used for re-filling county postions. We went from 40 vacancies to 16 vacancies.
5) What changes are in the forecast for experimental research stations as a result of budget situations?
This is the biggest problem area for college budget situation. 4-H camps not a problem as far as cash flow, but continued cost of maintenance & utilities. $2 million from legislature has been tremendously helpful, but we really need about $20 million to get camps where they need to be. Biggest budget issue is the research stations – increased utility costs continue to cause the facilities to operate in red even with large staff attritions. There are rumors that Eden Shale Experiment Station will close – this is not true. It will have less staff, but there are no plans to sell any farms. There will be some re-organization at Princeton. Robinson Station will become Robinson Center – as a result combined staff crews will help the budget. These facilities are indespensible for UK.
6) How are we funding the new Center for Environment positions?
There are no new positions associated with this center. The Tracy Farmer Center was already in College of Ag with an endownment. It has moved to University as Farmer Center for Sustainability. But College of Ag has kept the funding. Just taking the different components and bring them together under one umbrella. Same positions. Looking for an office location – to provide a central location for the various programs/positions that are focused on Environment.
7) Could you give us an update for distance learning opportunities towards Masters Degrees and beyond. We strongly support anything you can do to provide more opportunities.
Dr. Henning: We do have faculty that are utilitzing distance learning – for example: Paul Vincelli, Chad Lee. Mike Mullen indicates that more distance learning opportunities available. Some things on horizon. It may be that 1-2 courses at a time are added. Technology is in place. Dr. Vail: The challenge is to add a distance section to a course, that currently has students enrolled. It will be quite a while before HES distance courses will be available. Not a great deal in 4-H Youth Development courses from UK. Two agents are taking advantage of other state universities courses (WKU for example). How can we work together to identify agents that would like to group together for a masters program? Currently we work through District Directors. Associations could help also. Agents are reminded how important it is to be in discussion with your program leader, and district director, to make sure the program is approved.
8) As many older agents retire, what is the administrative plan to retain quality young agents, without significant funds for raises?
We strive to create a good work environment. The Career Ladder will remain viable. There has been a strong indication from president and provost that we can’t have another year of no pay raises. Dr. Vail : one of HES faculty members to provide one on one assistance with new FCS agents. Dr. Kurth: it is critical to hire people that have a strong sense of connection with the 4-H program, this can cause people to stay with the job without significant salary increases. Martha Welch provides a lot of personal attention for early career 4-H agents. Dr. Henning & Dr. Smith: We are still aggressively trying to identify new funds for salary increases. Dr Warner: We feel it is important to devote some professional growth opportunities for agents in 3-10 year range.
Concerns over specialists positions:
9) Is there a time frame to begin filling positions and/or a plan to achieve equity in the number of specialists?
We are considering the option of using federal money to hire associates or non-tenure faculty specialists in a few key positions. We have never had equity in the number of specialists.
10) What are the personnel updates for departments? ex: Extension Veterinarian positions, fruit and vegetable specialist at Quicksand?
Extension Veterinarian: we are currently negotiating with a candidate. There is a key need for a Fruit & Vegetable Specialist at Quicksand – this has a high priority with the department. We may use federal funds for a nontenure faculty position in order to fill as soon as possible.
11) With the cuts in funding at UK, it seems HES and FCS extension has been greatly affected. The retirement of essential subject matter specialists has had a tremendous impact on FCS agents and consumers. During a period of time when families are struggling to meet day to day expenses, the need and demand for consumer education has been at an all time high. One of the most positive things to come out of this difficult time is the realization by consumers of the need for life skills education. FCS agents have seen an increase in program attendance and request for information. We need the expertise of the specialist to assist us in meeting the needs of our customers. What is the priority level and what efforts are being made to replace the vacancies of these FCS specialist? Will there be additional funds allocated in future budgets to add much needed specialist positions?
Three key positions have been lost to budget costs. Some of these could be replaced when the budget allows. Some positions have also been lost in agriculture as well. As mentioned earlier, a short term solution could possibly use fed funds. Long term soluntion is hampered because of trouble getting assistance from provost for extension positions. We are looking to creative means to fill the needs – short term contracts, associate positions. The College, as a whole, needs a better plan of prioritizing needs in order to find a long-term solution.
Concerns about raises & evaluations:
12) Is there any thought on providing pay raises to agents via the increased county assessment?
The increased co assessment has been used to fill vacancies. We haven’t been given green light from UK to reallocate funds internally. Field programs is in good shape right now. If we had given an across the board raise, our financial situation would not have been as good now.
13) Could there be retroactive compensation for the years that agents had better evaluations and there was no money for raises?
No.
14) In the past, encouragement was given to personnel to join professional extension associations and involvement was reflected in performance ratings. Since this is no longer emphasized, membership has declined in some associations. Being an active member of an association gives opportunity for leadership development which is a major aspect of our roles in the communities we serve. Will there be renewed emphasis on gaining leadership skills through professional associations?
The perception is that is no longer emphasized, but it still is emphasized. All associations provide leadership skills and that benefit all county programs and benefits. The evaluation tool could have been clearer for reporting your involvement in professional associations.
Program area concerns:
15) What is the administrations expectation of county agents in administering the Phase One programs?
Since 2001 it has been a big part of the agriculture agent’s job. It is very intergral to what ag agents do. Expectations are pretty high for commitment to the program. We expect to have it intergrated into the county level program, not just an administrative chore. Emphasize the educational impact of the phase I program? Hope we can reward those that can provide an educational impact vs those that just distribute funds. Dr. Palmer and Dr. Henning gave feedback to Gov. Office on Ag Policy & Ag Develop board - and they are willing to receive more feedback. Dr Smith doesn’t like that someone outside of the college has such influence on how much time agents on this, but at the same time this has tremendous impact on agriculture and opportunity for educational programs.
16) FCS agents are asked not to print recipes without the nutritional value on them, not create their own lessons without having them approved by specialists and to have photo permission slips on file for Homemakers/clientele. Why are some of these protective measures not required of other departments such as 4-H, Ag and Horticulture? This lends itself to Homemaker groups going to other agents in the office to get what they want. It makes good office teamwork difficult. This sends a double message to clientele and does not protect the Extension Service in all ways. Shouldn’t all departments have the same basic guidelines?
FCS is strongly committed to copyright and providing credit/pemission to use when using other people’s materials. One example of this being an issue: an entire booklet was copied in a county extension office. A google search brought up that office before it brought up the actual author of the booklet. We need permission to use recipes that were not developed by the agent. We do not want to publish recipies that do not have the nutritional value at the level we like.
17) What is being done by program areas to give support to new agents from the state level? County staff doesn’t always have the time or expertise to train. We need to know who we can encourage a new agent to contact if this occurs in a county.
New agent training website. Please refer to Dr. Kurth’s and Dr. Vail’s prior comments. There are some things that do fall to county staff to teach new agents. We need to know the shortcomings in order to address this in the future.
Additional questions for Dr. Henning:
Is there an Extension policy for professional staff working out of their homes? If yes, what is the policy, how is it monitored and what is the justification for working out of one’s home?
The policy is that it can be negotiated. It is not prohibited, but it is not routine. Everyone has an office location. Abnormal circumstances allow to work from home (for ex ice storm, weather conditions). We recognize the nature of the job is not a 40 hr workweek in the office, the flexibility is in agreement with their supervisor.
Dr. Smith: some administrative type positions with tremendous travel requirements have a written agreement which allows that individual to work out of their home 2-3 days a week. These are formal arrangements involving supervisors, Jim Lawson - not a casual arrangement.
Since the current evaluation is based on the expectations of the District Director – could there and shouldn’t there be a discussion, contract, agreement between the agent and director as to what are the specific expectations for job performance and advancement?
The evaluation piece “Evidences of Competencies and Skills” lays out the expectations for the job. This is the first full year that everyone went through this. Directors meet twice a year with agents to discuss theses competencies and expectations. Dr. Henning feels we have done a good job, but this was the first year and we probably are not as good as we need to be at this. The plan of work document is another tool to reflect back on what has been accomplished and what is expected.
Opened to additional questions. None presented.
Following a 10 minute break, President Hunt resumed the meeting. Motion to accept the minutes from the March 2009 meeting was made by Sally Mineer, second by Tim Hendrick. Motion carried.
Chad Conway presented a report on the PILD conference held in April 27-292009. Focus was on Connectivity from Community to Capital. Participants learned a lot about changes in DC; new farm bill and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. There was some concerned about extension programs not specifically mentioned, but we were assured that those things are included. More details on specific program areas were discussed in breakout sessions. The Hill visits were well received. Met with one new congressman (Guthrie). Most of aides had heard of Extension – filled them with details about what extension is doing in KY Future recommendations: a lot of volunteers are now attending the conference – such as state extension council officers etc Volunteers tend to brag more about Extension on capital hill, then staff does. Is this something we would like to consider? Funding may be an issue, but Dr. Warner felt it would be a great idea for KY. Discussion followed on involving state extension council officer teams, funding issues. It was agreed to address the idea again at December. Chad Conway will draft a recommendation for December and will also discuss further with Dr. Warner.
Under new business, President Hunt presented revisions to the by-laws. Motion to accept proposed changes was made by Donna Fryman, second by Rita Spence. Motion carried.
Next item of business was discussion of plans for the County Judges’ Breakfast on Friday, October 2 at General Butler State Park - 8:00 am. $200.00 per association will be billed from Drew Graham’s office. Gift items to include ESP mini staplers, KAEFCS notepad, 4-H plastic toothpick holder, KACAA still deciding. Information sheets from Dr. Warner’s office are ready. Dr. Warner’s office is billed for etched College of Ag glasses. Nancy Hunt is coordinating Exhibit. Tim Hendrick will serve as a photographer. 2 individuals per association are to attend please send names to Nancy Hunt. Karen Rammage is going to present greeting in case Dr Henning is unable to be there due to travel plans. Dress code is Casual College of Ag attire. Will set up Thursday evening. Make room reservations now if you are staying Thursday night. Additional hotels in area – CarrollCountyky.com can provide hotel listing. JCEP members are welcome to come to a Sr Citizens event 4-8 pm Thursday evening sponsored by Carroll County Extension. . Nancy Hunt will coorespond directly with those who are attending in case of last minute changes.
KAE4HA April 21-22 2010 Ashland, KY (add to agenda of upcoming dates)
President Nancy Hunt shared information about the December JCEP meeting to be held in Glendale KY (Tony York’s on Main restaurant). Members are asked to RSVP for this meeting by November 17. Meal cost will be approximately $10 + gratuity. Announcements about upcoming conferences were made. With no futher business, motion to adjourn was made by Toni Riley, seconded by Tim Hendrick, motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 11:59 pm.
Submitted by,
Jenny Cocanougher, Secretary
Kentucky Joint Council of Extension Professionals
Minutes
Date: March 10, 2009
Location: Room 249 Barnhart Bldg, University of Kentucky, Lexington
Teleconference Locations: Princeton Substation; Quicksand Substation; and Hardin Co
Extension Office.
Members Present:
ESP: Charlotte Atkins; David Harrison; Jennifer Bridge; Tim Hendricks; Chuck Stamper
KACAA: Curt Judy; Gary Carter; Ray Tackett;
KAE4-HA: Jenny Cocanougher; Toni Riley; Jann Burks
KAEFCS: Nancy Hunt; Linda Combs; Sally Mineer; Ann Kingston; Rita Spence
KASEP: Chad Lee; Stephen Patton; Donna Fox; Ashley Osborne
Guests Present: Dr. Jimmy Henning, Dr. Paul Warner, Dr. Gary Palmer, Dr. Joe Kurth,
Laura Stephenson.
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Nancy Hunt. Introductions of
membership were made. The minutes from the December 16, 2008 meeting were
reviewed. The following corrections were made: add Tim Hendricks and Jann Burks to
the attendance list. The motion to approve the minutes as amended was made by Tim
Hendricks and seconded by Jann Burks. Motion carried.
Chairman Hunt requested that the following members serve on the minutes
review committee: Charlotte Atkins and Rita Spence. The purpose of this committee is
to review the minutes before they are posted to the website.
Sally Mineer gave a report on the regional JCEP conference. 130 people
representing 25 states participated in the conference. Kentucky was represented by 9
members. Dr. Henning was thanked for his continued support of this conference,
which allowed our membership to attend.
Chad Conway submitted a written report on the PILD conference (report
attached). Members attending this spring include Gary Carter, Ray Tackett, Chad
Conway, Toni Riley, Donna Fryman, Linda Combs, David Harrison and Jennifer Bridge.
Chad will be in contact with the members regarding last minute details of the trip. As a
reminder, the person responsible for planning the upcoming PILD conferences will be:
2010 – Jennifer Bridge; 2011 – KACAA president; 2012 – KEAFCS president
Chairman Hunt appointed the following members to review the by-laws: Nancy
Hunt, Curt Judy and Jenny Cocanougher. Recommendations from the committee will
be presented at the next meeting.
Chairman Hunt turned the meeting over to Dr. Jimmy Henning for a discussion of
the submitted issues/concerns. March 10 2009 JCEP Issues/Concerns for Administration
1 Financial cuts, staff and specialist vacancies, and increased workloads have created low
morale across the entire Cooperative Extension system. We are sticking with the
University and Extension regardless of raises and being professional about it.
With such low morale and staff working increasingly hard to maintain a credible and
efficient service to the people of Kentucky, could CES agent evaluations be opted out for
staff with over 5 years of service as a way to reward staff? This could be a time benefit to
District Directors who already have their hands full with the budget situation.
Dr. Henning appreciates how everyone is coping with the difficult budget situation.
Salary increases and staff evaluations are beyond his and Dr. Smith’s control. Policy
regarding evaluation of professional staff is in line with requirements of faculty – which
are required to be evaluated each year. Comments from the district directors indicate
they place a high priority on spending time with agents in mid-year and annual
conferences.
2 There are concerns about the new letterhead’s appearance and font size. It may seem a
small matter, but a letter is sometimes the first contact with a new user of extension and
should project a professional appearance and clearly identify us.
Other comments on the letterhead included the need for Cooperative Extension Service to
be a larger font, whether or not the small icon at the bottom for UK Ag/HES clearly
identifies FCS, and formatting issues.
The new letterhead was developed with input from UK Marketing and includes mailing
requirements. Changes to the footer are not under our control. Extension Agents have
the freedom to use the body of the letter to include additional clipart that will help their
clientele identify with the Extension Service. Dr. Henning recognizes the timing of this
new letterhead is not ideal due to tight budgets. He will send comments on to
committee for future reference.
3 Extension has lost Gae Broadwater to a different position and Steve Isaacs as CED
Assistant Director. Both of these individuals have been very supportive to county staff.
Community economic growth and quality of life seem to be more important than ever.
Will Steve’s position be filled by a peer to the other assistant directors?
Dr. Henning’s preference is to fill these positions. Currently he is budgeting for ½ time
position. The position will be a peer role to the other assistant directors. Dr. Henning
would like to take this time to gather input from Department chairmen, agents,
specialists in order to define the roles of this position. Similar situation for the positions
in the Center for Leadership Development. Staff in these areas are meeting in April to
discuss needs. Chuck Stamper is serving as a liaison between programming groups
and the center for Economic and Leadership Development. 4 Ron Hustedde has applied for a position in Wisconsin. County staff are very pleased with
his efforts in Kentucky programming. Does UK make counter offers to staff when they
are offered positions elsewhere?
Yes, the University does offer counter offers. Dr. Smith is pro-active in making counter
offers.
5 Career ladder- One of my colleagues has never received a 5 rating, but is an excellent
agent who doesn’t have a master’s degree. They are coming up on 20 years of service.
Are there ever any exceptions to the guidelines?
With the current economic situation will the career ladder continue? Is the funding
already available?
Dr. Henning is not in favor of making exceptions to the guidelines established for the
career ladder. You may submit suggestions to either Dr. Paul Warner or Martha
Thompson for future consideration. Funding is still in place for the career ladder.
6 What is being done to extend the resources of FCS Extension? Given the state of the
economy are there any plans to hire more FCS specialists to deal with economic issues
particularly for families. More specifically as more FCS specialists retire – where will we
get support from? We have been very creative in coping thus far, but there is only so
much ANR specialist can help with…i.e. clothing & textiles.
The College is making efforts to secure these positions. Examples include 12 month
research and extension assignments. Dr. Badenhop’s position will not be maintained
as a faculty position. They are working on other options to fill this need. Laura
Stephenson commented on creative use of resources across campus. Some agents
are working with researchers in FCS to meet the need. Currently, specialists are
helping to identify gaps and where help is needed. 12 month positions have more
opportunity to reach out into the state. 9 month positions are limited due to their
teaching requirements. The college is aggressively seeking grant funds for these
positions also.
Comments from membership included the immediate need coming from counties –
there has been increased interest in home-based businesses related to clothing and
textiles; as well as other financial education programs.
7 How is the amount of travel money for specialists determined? At a recent state 4-H
shooting sports activity it was reported the group had to pay the travel cost for a specialist
to attend. Will all program areas be expected to pick up travel costs for specialists to
attend local events in the future?
Travel funds for specialists are determined by the department or unit. The 4-H unit uses
funds from the department budgets, grant funds and the 4-H foundation. There is a
high priority to have specialists out in the state whenever possible. Travel related to the shooting sports program is usually charged to the Shooting Sports account held by
the 4-H Foundation. This account receives funds from donations and registration fees
for state events.
8 We know the UK campus has a Tobacco-Free Campus Initiative to be in place by
November 19, 2009 but is there a policy concerning tobacco use in county offices both
owned and leased?
Dr. Warner commented that there is nothing written in the Extension Manual regarding
how county office policies fall under University policies. We would like to mimic the
University’s policy on maintaining tobacco free facilities. Federal regulations and state
regulations implement smoke-free policies for public buildings. If pressed, we will try to
adopt a workable version of the University policy. The preference is to resolve these
types of issues locally. UK’s legal department typically looks at county extension
offices as “not a UK-owned facility”.
9 We appreciated Dr. Henning’s positive thoughts on efforts concerning Extension’s
response to the ice storm. The event had to be pretty intimating to a younger agent
concerning their involvement. Plus, some agents feel guilty because they couldn’t do
more due to being without services themselves. How do you get information out when
you have no radio, TV or newspaper? In the rural areas some places were without
services for 20+ days. FCS responded by sending counties multiple copies of educational
information which could be distributed since we couldn’t copy anything in our offices.
What do Extension administrators feel Extension could be doing to help us be more
prepared for emergency situations in our counties and offices?
Dr. Henning has asked those currently working on agro-security and disaster-relief
issues to develop ideas of how the Cooperative Extension Service can be more disaster
prepared. Agents shared examples of educational programs that benefited families
during the recent ice storm.
10. Even though it has been stated the position numbers do not mean anything, if the economy
gets worse and agent cuts are required, will the College Agriculture use the U.K. policy of
last hired, first to go, or will it be by the position numbers?
If the college receives additional cuts, there are plans in place to maintain current
staffing positions. The college does not follow the “last hired/first fired” policy. The
preferred method of staff reductions, if necessary, is performance based reductions.
Maintaining current vacancies allows the college to restructure. Dr. Henning commented
that there is a plan to help each county maintain their current staffing structure. Dr. Warner:
1 Please outline what the legislative priorities are for the College of Ag in this legislative
session.
The college is supporting the higher education agenda. Cooperative Extension
Service benefits from being a part of higher education. Central campus has included
Extension in their PR work with state legislators. Very positive comments were
received from state legislators at events such as the KACAA Country Kitchen and the
4-H: Capitol Experience (jointly sponsored by 4-H and KAE4-HA).
2 Did the College of Ag make any recommendations to USDA for items to be included for
the agency in the Economic Stimulus Package? Is it too late, especially for Food Stamp
Education?
The college is currently working with its partners to see what can be obtained through
the economic stimulus package. There are opportunities for 4-H Military project, 4-H
Science, Engineering & Technology, Family Finance.
3 Given the proposed increases that counties will be sending to the state, what steps is the
administration taking to insure that county agents and administrative assistants can have
pay raises. If this is not going to be possible this year, please do not let us inform
assistants of district board approved raises and then have to take them back.
The increase in county allocations is meet gaps in the budget, not expand the budget. It
would be misleading to think these additional dollars could be used to give raises.
Currently we are carrying 33 vacancies. Hopefully, with the increased allocations, we
can return to carrying 12-15 vacancies. Two attempts were made by the
administration to get permission for raises for county support staff. We are still
recommending that district boards budget up to a 4% raise for county support staff and
administration will request again that these raises be allowed.
4 Given that attendance was so poor at the State Extension Council, what additional plans
are there for communicating to county councils and leadership about what transpired at the
council?
Additional plans are being made to communicate with all of the delegates to the State
Extension Council. We are sending resources/items presented at the State Extension
Council to all delegates and all County Extension Council presidents.
Additional Question: What is the status of the funds to improve 4-H camps?
Dr. Kurth reported that the funds are still in place, but would not be available until July 1
2009. Therefore, any camp improvements will not be seen until the 2010 camping
season. With no further questions or discussion, Chairman Hunt thanked the administrators for
meeting with the JCEP membership. A reminder of the next meeting date scheduled
for June 9 and other future meetings were announced. The motion to adjourn was
made by Tim Hendricks and seconded by Donna Fox, motion carried and the meeting
was adjourned.
Attachment 1: PILD Report submitted by Chad Conway
Public Issues and Leadership Conference
April 27-29, 2009
Key Bridge Marriott: Arlington, Virginia
Kentucky Representatives 2009 PILD Conference
KACAA – Gary Carter – Harrison Co. ANR; Ray Tackett - Floyd Co. ANR
KEAFCS – Donna Fryman – Fleming Co. FCS; Linda Combs – Knott Co. FCS
KEA4-HA - Chad Conway- Leslie Co. 4-H; Toni Riley Christian Co. 4-H
ESP - David Harrison – Larue Co. ANR; Jennifer Bridge – Meade Co. FCS
The Conference will have a general session on Monday morning April 27 which will
include an ECOP outlook report and USDA Extension Outlook reports. Tuesday, April
28 will include break out session for each association to discuss more specific national
program highlights and concerns. The economy and extension role with the economy
will be a major part of the conference as well. On Wednesday, April 29th the Kentucky
Delegation will be making visit to our senators and Congressmen. We will be sharing
with them the positive impact Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service is making across
the Commonwealth. Drew Graham will be making the Capitol Hill visit with us
representing the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture. I am in the process of
making the Capitol Hill visits and working out the conference details with the Kentucky
delegates and extension administration.
Submitted By Chad Conway
2008
Kentucky JCEP
September 9th, 2008
Barnhart Building, Lexington, Kentucky. UKREC Princeton Kentucky, Hardin County Extension Office, and Quicksand were linked via teleconference.
President Chad Lee of KASEP, was present at Lexington, and Secretary Greg Drake II of KACAA, was present in Elizabethtown.
The following people were in attendance at the JCEP meeting
Teresa Howard KEAFCS Charlotte Atkins ESP
Greg Drake II KACAA David Harrison ESP
Chad Lee KASEP Nancy Hunt KEAFCS
Jimmy Henning Administration Frank Hicks KACAA
Donna Fryman KAEFCS Jenny Cocanougher KEA4HA
Steve Patton KASEP Laura Howard KAEFCS
Chad Conway KEA4HA Curt Judy KACAA
Paul Warner Administration Gary Carter KACAA
President Lee called the meeting to order at 10:00 est.
President Lee then turned the meeting over to Dr. Henning and the administrators for their comments and for them to answer questions submitted to them from the JCEP organizations. A summary of those comments follow:
- Question regarding meeting with extension leadership to discuss future staffing and funding patterns for cooperative extension. Dr. Henning did not want to go into a lot of detail until we had all had staff meetings and had held meetings with our leadership. Extension personnel will be involved in whatever decisions are made. Administration hopes to have some type of plan in place by winter, but realizes that any real change in staffing patterns will take 5 to 10 years to materialize. Dr. Henning wants district directors to fill in agents at this month’s staff meetings.
- Six counties have initiated the process to get an agent by the county paying all of that agent’s salary before that county’s turn comes up in the regular rotation. Henderson, Woodford, Fleming, Franklin, and 2 others.
3. Catpaws- what follows is text forwarded to me by Dr. Henning: CATPAWS is reviewed on an annual basis with the idea of improving usability, looking for duplications in reporting, merging as many statewide reporting functions as we can into one system, making the information as accessible to as many individuals as possible while at the same time trying to keep the information captured to only what we need and making changes that do not require a re-do of the system and additional training.
This past year we have incorporated the Affirmative Action Plan into CATPAWS so it is now accessible on-line – a feature we did not have in the past. We have moved that plan into the same realm as the Plan of Work making it a four year plan with annual updates.
If you have looked at CATPAWS Reports on the internal page lately, you will see we have now incorporated much refined search capabilities for both the Plan of Work and the Impact Statements making them much more usable. This is already paying dividends with specialists and whole programming units – FSC specifically – using Plans of Work to identify the outcome indicators you have identified in your county programs so we can build our current and future support for county programs both in terms of training materials and evaluation tools on what counties are already doing and evaluating.
When FSNEP was moved to CATPAWS we saw significant improvement of reporting in those programs. It is clear that agents want to go to one location, open their calendar only once when they decide to report, and then put everything they need to report on one or as few screens as possible, We have a committee that is working to try to incorporate FSNEP reporting as seamlessly as possible into regular CATPAWS Activities and Events, however the detail required for Food Stamps is much more than we require for everyday CATPAWS so we are trying to find a reasonable way to not increase the amount of information required for everything in order to meet FSNEP criteria.
We keep hearing that we need to reduce the duplication in reporting. That comes out loud and clear each time we meet to review CATPAWS and anytime we get feedback from agents. The most common suggestion is to fold the statistical report into the meetings and activities report. We are putting together a model we will be piloting this winter with the idea of making changes next July 1 if the changes prove to be acceptable.
The bottom line is that CATPAWS is changing and evolving system that we will continue to update. We will always have a reporting system regardless of unpopular reporting is. Believe me, our system is one of the least time consuming, systems in the Southern Region and our intent is to capture only what we need, use everything we collect and make it a “common sense” system that requires only familiarity – no training.
- 4-H camp money- Dean Smith, Jimmy Henning, Donna Fox and others will be touring camps and meeting with camp improvement committees in the next two weeks. Ultimate decision making authority lies with the dean.
- KY Leadership Center name change- The KY Leadership center and Lake Cumberland 4-H Camp were combined to improve operation efficiency. The current name is the one already on the deed to the property. Administration made this decision. The original agreement and paperwork lasts for 6 more years. The mission and operation of the leadership center will not change, they just have a bigger facility to market.
- Salary: No agent mid-year increases are being discussed. A county staff support mid-year adjustment is being proposed to the provost. They have also proposed a mid-year bonus for county support staff.
- College Finances: Management Operations is running a $1 million deficit. They usually run $600K. This is a large issue currently. Most of the deficit is from no farm income last year.
- Increased county assessment next year: Probably plan for something, nothing is set in stone.
- Web Page Management System: Expect something before the end of the year. This will be software to help build county home pages. We will use “ Drooople” to manage county pages.
- Evaluation Results: At staff meetings this month.
- Career Ladder: Jimmy Henning and Paul Warner select the peer review committee. DD has very little input on peer review committee. There is no formal review scheduled for the peer review process. Dr. Henning believes the process is a fair one.
- Home Economics Specialists Vacancies: Ag. is losing positions. Due to budget problems lots of ag. positions have been eliminated.
- Dr. Vail: FCS eliminated several temporary employees, Marjorie Baker will support 4-H clothing. She will cover master clothing volunteer and homemaker lessons through December. (Correction from Dr. Vail: FCS eliminated temporary employees with the exception of Marjorie Baker. Marjorie will continue her responsibilities with the Master Clothing Volunteer program. She will complete her KEHA responsibilities in December. We are working with KEHA to determine how to cover those responsibilities. Her 4-H responsibilities are covered by a separate contract through the state 4-H office and are not influenced by decisions made to her FCS responsibilities. )
Questions session Ends Here
Southern Region Meeting- Feb. 11-12 in Orlando, Florida
Chad Conway is leading the effort this year. Association presidents should have the names of their delegates to the southern region meeting to Chad by December 1st. Dr. Henning will support the delegates at $400 each.
Judges Meeting- September 25-26 at Barren River State Park
Associations are getting gifts to Laura Lee. Cups and bags are ordered and Chad Lee has them in his office. Dr. Lee has the extension today display reserved. Group will put the bags together the night before. Meet at 6:00 p.m. CST. For supper at the lodge. Group will try and put out the cups the night before . Chad Lee will check with Barren River on this.
December JCEP Meeting- December 16th at 10:00 EST.
Meeting at Hardin County Extension Office. Expect a $10 registration fee. JCEP member should let Chad Lee know if they plan to attend by Sept. 17th.
Group decided there was the need to continue meeting quarterly.
Motion by Jenny Cocanougher to approve the minutes from the June JCEP meeting. The motion was seconded and passed.
Dr. Chad Lee adjourned the meeting at 11:30 EST.
Greg Drake II
JCEP Secretary
Kentucky JCEP
March 18, 2008
Barnhart Building, Lexington, Kentucky, UKREC Princeton Kentucky, Hardin County Extension Office Elizabethtown Kentucky, and Leslie County Extension Office were linked via teleconference for the meeting.
President Chad Lee of KAESEP, was present at the Princeton Site and Greg Drake II of KACAA was present in Elizabethtown.
The following people were in attendance at the JCEP meeting
Teresa Howard KEAFCS Charlotte Atkins KEA4HA
Greg Drake II KACAA David Harrison ESP
Chad Lee KASEP Nancy Hunt KEAFCS
Jimmy Henning Administration Frank Hicks KACAA
Joe Kurth Administration Christi Ramey KAEFCS
Chuck Stamper ESP Dean Smith Administration
Donna Fryman KAEFCS Steve Patton KAESP
Gary Palmer Administration Laura Howard KAEFCS
Chad Conway KEA4HA Curt Judy KACAA
Jan Burks KEA4HA
President Lee called the meeting to order at 10:00 est. During opening comments Chad outlined the JCEP meeting Schedule for 2008.
Tuesday, June 24 10:00a.m. till 12:00 p.m. Campus with video link
Friday, Sept. 19 10:00a.m. till 12:00 p.m. Campus with video link
Thrus-Fri.Sept.25/26 County Judges Breakfast Barren River State Park
Tuesday, Dec. 16 10:00a.m. till 1:30 p.m. Hardin County Extension
There was a motion by Chad Conway to approve the minutes of the December meeting was seconded and passed.
President Lee discussed the upcoming County Judge Executives Breakfast to be held Sept. 26 at Barren River State Park. Many of the group will be traveling down the night before to make the needed preparations.
President Lee then turned the meeting over to Dean Smith and the administrators for their comments and for them to answer questions submitted to them from the JCEP organizations.
Budget Situation: nobody knows what the budget will look like. House budget put diagnostic center in and left the UK/EKU dairy out. Expecting senate budget to look very different. UK dealing with a 3% cut. 2.5-3 million cut for the college of ag. The hiring freeze will continue. Dean does not see layoffs being necessary if it does not get any worse than the current 3%. The county assessment could be altered. Cuts in spending State Funds will have to be made. Post retirements are being looked at.
There is probably going to be an early out offer for civil service employees. Probably at least a year delay in filling faculty and agent positions.
Career Ladder: College intends to honor the career ladder salary adjustments on July 1. They had more people moving up than they expected to see this year. Don’t expect the masters requirements to be changed.
Salary Adjustments: there is some potential for a very small staff salary increase this year.
College cost cutting: There will not be a state extension conference this year. There probably will be a regional conference in ’09. District Director travel will not be cut. Hoping to use non face to face meeting methods (centra) as much as possible. Agent travel to state fair will still be paid for with state funds from Dr. Henning’s office. Looking to economize agent days at the fair.
Agent Association Support: Dr. Henning expects to be able to continue to support association delegates attending their national meetings. This is contingent upon the budget.
Conflict between DD and Agents: if there is a conflict that can not be worked out between agents and district directors agents should call the assistant director for their program area. Dr. Henning is open to being called. Try to be as open as possible and let district directors know there is a problem and what it is.
Farm Bill: Delays in the farm bill have nothing to do with extension. Create 21 elements are in the farm bill, some are not. Many people think we will not have a new farm bill until we have a new president.
Mileage Reimbursement will probably go up to the IRS Rate July 1st.
Reporting: More experienced agents like the reporting system because they remember when it was much more cumbersome. Hope is to get food stamp reporting in catpaws.
Employee Benefits: Dean does not expect benefits to be effected by budget situation.
Tuition: Expect a single digit increase in tuition increase this year.
County Reviews: will continue to do them. Budget restraints may cause the review to be done by 1 person instead of 3 in 2009.
Education Benefit: If a staff position is fully funded by the county the bill for the tuition benefit goes back to the county. Dr. Henning’s office is paying for it. College of Ag. is covering these costs until the policy causing this can be changed.
This is the end of the Administrative Comments
Nancy Hunt is providing leadership this year for JCEP regional conferences and PILD Nancy gave the following report:
Eight representatives from the 4 association groups and two agents who are currently serving as their association’s Southern Region Directors, Judith Hetterman and Lena Mallory, represented Kentucky at the Feb. 5-7 leadership workshop in Orlando at the Regal Sun Resort. This was the first year the Southern Region and the Northeast Regions had met together.
The theme for the meeting was Reaching Diverse Generations Through Your Extension Efforts. We heard an outstanding presentation on this theme by two University of Wisconsin Extension Agents. It really helped us to understand why we have trouble with relating to certain age groups and get along great with others.
Also, a presentation was given on “Technology and its use in Reaching Extension’s Diverse Generational Audiences” by Dr. Jerold Thomas of Ohio State University.
We received the latest information on the Galaxy III Conference in Indianapolis, Sept. 15-19, 2008. The Galaxy III theme is "Celebrating the Extension System: Strengths, Diversity, and Unique Qualities."
The Galaxy conference is a wonderful opportunity for Extension professionals from all subject matter areas and all parts of the country to network, learn together, and continue to build programs that will serve the citizens of our communities now and well into the future.
You can go to www.ces.purdue.edu/galaxy to find out about the conference. Association presidents need to inform their membership about the web site and that Hotel registration opened March 15.
Organizations have been assigned the following properties as their hotel headquarters, but individuals may choose to stay at any of the conference hotels.
Hyatt - ESP, NACDEP
Marriott - ANREP, NAE4-HA
Westin - NACAA, NEAFCS
Embassy Suites – overflow
Conference registration will open April 15 but you must go through the web site for your hotel registration before you can register for the conference. Cost for the conference will be $395 from April 15-June 15 and it will be $495 from June 16-August 15.
This year’s JCEP participants are encouraged to fill out the on-line evaluation on the JCEP web page if they haven’t already.
The dates for the South/Northeast JCEP Meeting in Orlando, FL are Feb 10 - 12, 2009. It will be held at the Regal Sun Resort in Orlando.
PILD Report
April 28-30, 2008 Key Bridge Marriot, Arlington, VA
We appreciate Dr. Henning taking care of our registration fee and we are all registered for the conference.
There will be 2 representatives from each of the four agent associations. Everyone is responsible for their own travel plans. Also, from Kentucky Diana Doggett will be attending as JCEP Registration Chair and Dr. Warner and Dean Smith will be presenters. Also, Drew Graham will be attending for part of the conference.
Dr. Warner’s office has prepared our folders to present when we make our Hill visits. He will get them to Nancy this month.
Nancy is in the process of finalizing the appointment times for the meetings on the Hill and she has discussed with each of the association presidents on what we want to present to the legislator’s office as a thank you for our visit. She will take care of purchasing these and taking them to Washington. The cost will be divided among the four associations.
We will have a Kentucky Night Out on Monday evening. Details on this will be sent to all Kentucky participants.
For those of you who will be going to PILD next year the date will be April 27 - 29, 2009.
Discussion returned to the judges breakfast. Association will send talking points to Greg Drake II for Greg to produce a 1 page document of accomplishments at each place setting during the breakfast. Greg will call for these when the event gets closer.
Martha Nall’s office will continue to post the minutes to the JCEP Website.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:45 a.m.
Greg Drake II
JCEP Secretary
2007
Minutes
Joint Council of Extension Professionals
Quarterly Meeting of KY JCEP
Monday, December 17, 2007
Elizabethtown, KY
Dr. Martha Nall called the meeting to order.
Members present included:
Christy Ramey – KEAFCS Charlotte Atkins – ESP Nancy Hunt – KEAFCS
Curt Judy – KACAA Jann Burks – KAE4-HA Jenny Cocanougher – KAE4-HA
Chad Conway – KAE4-HA Peggy Powell – KEAFCS Lora Howard – KEAFCS
Melanie Mays – KAE4-HA Chad Lee – KASEP Theresa Howard – KEAFCS
David Harrison – ESP Stephen Patton – KASEP Greg Whitis - KACAA
Administrators Present:
Dr. Jimmy Henning Joe Kurth
Dr. Paul Warner Gary Palmer
David Harrison moved to accept minutes. Curt Judy seconded. Motion carried.
County Judge Breakfast: Dr. Nall reported it was a successful meeting. Dr. Henning was there and enjoyed the opportunity to interact with many of the judges and was very pleased at how many of the judges identified their agents and made positive comments concerning their role in solving community problems.
Next year the meeting will be at Barren River State Park September 25 & 26.
The County Judges Association was to send the bill to Drew Graham and he will notify each Association of their cost. Each association needs to check with their treasurers.
Curt Judy commented that we might have had too many JCEP people. Stephen Patton thought as long as we spread out the number was okay.
Dr. Nall indicated that she has detailed notes that she will provide to Chad Lee as he works on this event for next year.
Regional JCEP:
Nancy Hunt is chairing the planning for the Kentucky delegation to the Regional JCEP meeting. Anyone else going needs to send their out-of-state travel request to Darlene, Dr. Henning’s staff assistant. Lodging will be identified as the item to be reimbursed by the state.
Those currently planning to attend from Kentucky include: Charlotte Atkins and David Harrison – ESP; Nancy Hunt and Donna Fryman – KEAFCS; Curt Judy & Gary Carter – KACAA; Melanie Mays & Chad Conway – KAE4-HA; Judith Hetterman – NEAFCS; and Lena Mallory – NAE4-HA.
Representatives from each Association – Martha asked each association to list their representatives to JCEP for 2008 on the form which was circulated.
Officers for next year are past presidents.
Chair – Chad Lee
Vice Chair – Lora Frazier Howard
Secretary – Greg Drake
Welcome
Dr. Nall extended a hearty JCEP welcome to Dr. Gary Palmer.
Dates for next years meeting:
March – 18 – Dean Smith, guest – (Teleconference link)
June – 24 – Assistant Directors, guests – (Teleconference link)
September – 9 – Dean Smith, guest – (Teleconference link)
December – 16 – (Face-to-Face)
3 video & 1 face to face. – Dates pending confirmation with the Dean.
PILD – April 28 – 30, 2008, Washington, DC (vicinity)
County Judge Association – September 26, 2008
Questions for Assistant Directors
December 17, 2007
- Agents who have already received a Master’s are somewhat discouraged from getting another—are there other choices? Will certifications that enhance our work count toward the career ladder? What recommendations are being made for certifications?
Dr. Jimmy Henning: This is an on going process. Moving up the career ladder has lots of options and not just certification. It is up to the agent to describe their professional level of work. You individualize the application based on what is significant in your career.
Palmer:
A Masters program should be formulated on what programs are needed by the person and the county.
The Mid-West States have a consortium that offers totally online degrees. They might be open to cooperative efforts with other universities. More classes are archived on line.
- Agents are appreciative of the level increases that we are seeing with the career ladder. However, as cost of living goes up, would it be possible for agents to receive a cost of living (or at least a partial cost of living) increase in January of each year the way USDA Federal employees do because the “cost of living” goes up for everyone, not just those reaching milestones of a Masters’ or a new level in the career ladder?
Henning: Why do we give raised on merit? It is a university wide decision. In a few cases the College of AG has made some special exceptions, but generally follow University recommendations.
- Again, we appreciate the efforts administration has gone through for Levels, and that we need to attract outstanding applicants, but please don’t create another situation like before, when we experienced raises in starting salaries while “experienced” agent’s salaries were in need of a “catch up”. Please don’t “devalue” tenured agents that have already earned an increase in Level(s). Is there any way that when the Level salary compensations are raised, that those already in that level are supplemented the difference in pay that they received when they earned that Level?
Warner: There is an ongoing debate on where to spend the money. Do you concentrate on special problems? In the past 5 years special efforts has been made for agents because of how far they were behind based on bench mark data. Support staff did not receive those raises in prior years. We are still struggling in comparison with starting salaries in other benchmark states. The career ladder is an attempt to bring up salaries of the more tenured agents who fell behind as we were giving increases in starting salaries. About half of the county agents are rated at level 3. The career ladder increases are in addition to the mid-year raises. We are slipping behind on starting salary again. It is easy to get into compression each time we raise starting salaries.
- Are the funding mechanisms for the Career Ladder Promotion levels still in place for 2008? At what monetary levels?
Dr. Warner: The amounts will probably be this for 2008.
1 & 2 = $2000
3 & 4 = $3000
Because of the special appropriation it is a revolving financial pool. Those funds are reserved. As retirees leave there are more funds available.
- The June report on the organization of the College of Agriculture contained a recommendation about central scheduling of county Extension Offices. Is this seriously being considered?
Dr. Henning: No. Campus is responsible for scheduling. County offices control their meeting space.
Any course offered for credit which targets Extension employees would also be open to non-Extension employees.
- We received information that the University set aside 2.3 million for mid year salary increases for UK Staff. Why are some departments such as extension staff not receiving the mid year salary increases?
Dr. Warner: UK set money aside to do upgrades in graded positions. County employees are in exempted positions and receive their raise straight from the county. 2 prong approach was used to bring up a salary. The College of Agriculture identified staff that needed adjustments and added to their salary. 40% received some benefits as low as .01 per hour.
For Agents, the college of Ag put about 1% in raises July, 2007 rather than adding it in January so no current adjustments for county staff.
Kurth: This was done at University level & at the College level, the College of Ag had little input. Associates and Specialist were not included.
Warner: For county support staff, supporting letters of justification can be sent for higher raises than campus indicates in July, but not mid-year. This is based on a desire to not raise flags on campus. Benefits are not set on campus until April while county budget work begins in January. Any unused money is returned to counties.
Salary request may be partially included in a second request from the University on the Top 20 University Plan. College got 4 new positions out of the first request.
- Comment: CENTRA - Continue to develop the CENTRA System
Henning. Yes is short answer. We have 20 seats that are locked. Other departments have seats. We are looking at how to do more. Andrea Husband’s office is an office ready for a second CENTRA presenter location.
Palmer: E Extension might offer some similar possibilities. We are looking at 2 other systems and evaluating their potential for our educational strategies.
Warner: Out of POLY COM, we now have 9 sites and may have 2 more sites soon. The College of AG is attempting to get equipment to strategic areas. Hopefully these sites can be used for training and committee work. One of the disadvantages is that everyone has to be there at the same time.
- Higher Education Offerings? Updates – where are we in this process?
Henning: The College of AG is still in the early stages of discussing how agents might get into a program. A CLD distance friendly degree is needed. We have begun the discussion.
Palmer has been meeting with departments and reviewing which instructors are doing something that leads itself to distance offerings.
Kurth – The Volunteer Academy is open to all agents. This is 6 hr. graduate opportunity. HES is interested in offering the volunteer academy as a part of a degree program.
Warner – Jimmy met with CLD faculty and discussed the need for higher education offerings. CLD has the most offerings. When we talk about distance we might look at non-traditional scheduling with concentrated time in class for face to face time. The faculty is willing to let a core section of basic skills include some specialization/core.
Chad Lee uses a non-traditional scheduling of day a week to 150 minutes noon to 3. Have video links on a grain crops class. Set up as a 597 for agents. Different requirement for papers for agents working on a Masters verses students working on a BS.
- Career Ladder Rung #4 – we would like to see the process of getting to Rung 4 better defined. We also feel like there should be some refinements done the process of getting to Rung 4.
Warner: The flexibility in point was deliberate. Dr. Turner saw the 4th level as different for each individual. It might be certification, mentoring, leadership, or on taking interns or agents at large. It might also include significant work in other areas than those listed.
A Peer review committee for considering career ladder rung #4 will be appointed. The committee will be publically announced. 12 people were certified as being level 4 this year.
- Ratings - We would like to see the breakdown of ratings by program area.
Henning: Assistant Directors look at all ratings. We will share the breakdown of 5’s. In Walla’s Era the breakdowns were shared by program areas. Henning would be comfortable in sharing breakdown of 5’s. They look across gender, tenure and program areas. A federal team reviews those during formal reviews.. Dr. Henning turned loose 5’s on Sunday. Agents will receive rating letters before the holidays.
- Mentoring program – We feel like the program needs a total overhaul. Better and more training needs to be given to mentors. Much thought needs to be done before selecting mentors. Not everyone who volunteers to be a mentor should be one. A task force/committee made up of mentors/mentees/administrators needs to be appointed to look into overhauling this program. The concept is good it is just not working.
Henning: We spent large portion of time at administrative retreat looking at new agents. We think mentoring is a significant part of that. We have 3 new District Directors. A committee including Chuck Stamper, Louise Moore and Gary Palmer will look at what is being taught for new employees. They will examine who is doing what – orientation, core training, program area training (Assistant Directors) and District Directors. They need to look at mentoring and how it is connected to new agent experience.
Nall: Current concepts taught in the mentoring in-service for agents to be eligible to be mentors include: role of mentoring, what a new agent needs, what the responsibilities of each are, structure of Extension, Extension policies & procedures, a review of what agents receive in core training ,and time management techniques. The best trainings are group when sharing included challenges, frustrations and positive experiences when they were new agents..
- New Agents Help – This is a problem across all program areas. New agents feel like they are basically thrown to the wolves when sent to a county. Even most tenured agents felt that way when they started. The mentoring program could help here, agent associations can help, and neighboring agents do help. We feel like some one from UK, within their program area, needs to meet with these new agents for the first few years on a very regular basis to help them through these times.
We also think that new agents should meet with 2-3 tenured agents within their program area for 2-3 hours during their first CORE Training. They need to have dialog with some agents not just administrators/specialist.
Kurth: suggested that these questions be referred to the new committee.
Kurth: Martha Welch works with new agents. Had phone calls and visits to new agents to provide additional support. He believes that a support group of other 4H agents is the most helpful in mentoring new 4H Agents.
Laura Stevenson has that role in FCS.
Warner: Paul Deaton position is still open and may not be filled after committee gives recommendation.
Henning: The core training is very compressed. We have a lot of good agents and we need to work to make them better.
Nall: At each core training those attending have different lengths of tenure as well as experience, yet all have worked a year or less. This provides great opportunities for sharing and support.
Warner: It has been a while since we have surveyed new agents. May be time to revaluate the mentoring program. Certain program areas are under represented in mentoring program.
Ramey thought the gathering of those in 2 agent counties was positive. Agents working in 2 agent counties plus working on a degree have a very difficult job.
Whitis: One suggestion for those working on mentoring is to ask for ideas from district directors that should be covered in training sessions with new agents.
Powell: One of the difficulties in mentoring is that new agents as well as old have never had so much to manage in terms of programming. The expectations and challenges have increased dramatically in the last 10 years.
- KAE4-HA Camping Concerns
1) We recognize the desperate situation with 6-7 years of fiscal deficit for the 4-H Camping program. We greatly appreciate the concern about the camping program expressed by Administration and are most grateful for the very creative “Bathroom Blitz” project to demonstrate this concern. KAE4-HA has dedicated $400.00 towards the bathroom blitz ($100 per camp). This is being allocated through its current fundraiser: the “$40 for 40 years” campaign. Individual members are supporting this rather than taking funds from our organization which is committed for professional development. We hope that in the future professional associations will not be asked to support facility improvements.
2) Why has the $8.00 per person assessment in the camp fees been removed from the Kentucky 4-H Foundation account? The original purpose of the fee was to establish a set-aside fund that could be used to make major camp improvements, such as a new pool, so counties would not have to conduct fundraisers to cover the cost of the improvement. Will this fund still be maintained separately for each camp? Is this fund being used to pay bills or meet payroll for the camping program?
3) Given the current financial situation in the camping program, we are concerned about the amount of expenses & payroll that is being supported by the summer camping program. The nine week summer residential camping program is expected to support the facilities being used year round. Positions that have a state wide responsibility outside of the camping program are also being supported through the camping budget. The 85% capacity has been set as a bench mark to break even. Even if the summer camping program reaches over 85% capacity that will still not generate enough income to bring the camping program out of the red. As an example, North Central 4-H Camp had 83% capacity over the entire 2007 summer camping season. If the camp had been at 85% capacity, that would have only generated an extra $5,867.00 revenue – still far short of the $100,289.00 deficit that was reported for the North Central 4-H Camp. If the camp had 100% capacity during the nine week summer camping session, that would have generated $343,125.00 still short of the 2007 total expenses of $410,753.15 (356 person total capacity; fees waived for 1 volunteer for every 7 campers (51); 305 X 125.00 = $38,125 per week; 9 full weeks = $343,125.00. This assumes nine weeks of 5 day camping sessions.) We need a similar benchmark for other activities held at 4-H camp such as environmental camps, teen camps, project camps etc. Are those programs (environmental camps) financially feasible to maintain?
Kurth: 4-H Camp – During last couple weeks, we have held camp in-services and are willing to have further conversations on camp. Dr. Henning has promoted camp and listened to concerns about the program. Thanks to Dr. Henning for the “Bath House Blitz.”
2 categories - $8 per camper fee that is kept with KY 4H Foundation until recently. Dean Smith has had concern and thought it should be in a University camp account. It will be…
We have been in the negative for most of the 5 years. The University allowed us to carry negative balances forward. Agreed to do so for one year. We must have a 0 balance. We have had to raise camp fees. Do not foresee that we will not raise fees each year. Camps have not been upgraded since built in 1960’s. The $8 fees will be held in separate accounts and may be used to balance accounts. Dean Smith believes in the camp program. Camps are on the radar screen of the University. Break even analysis is about 85 capacity and give a balanced budget. The formula breaks down for North Central because ¾ of Jennifer Lynn’s salary and benefits come from those funds at North Central since 1991 and ¼ from water quality.
We are no longer willing to subsidize environmental camps at North Central. Fees are the same for all 4 camps. We have increased outside fees. Other youth activities at camp are meant to make money such as football camps. Costs of doing camps are going up. We need private sector or legislative tools.
Henning – has looked for funds that he can infuse.
The foundation is free to ask for monies from the legislature. May or may not happen. Need a significant capital campaign.
Kurth: Based on statistical analysis has not lowered camp attendance by camp fee increases.
There being no further business the meeting was adjourned.
Adjourn.
Submitted by:
Peggy Powell
JCEP Secretary
2005
Minutes
Joint Council of Extension Professionals
Quarterly Meeting of KY JCEP
Monday, December 17, 2007
Elizabethtown, KY
Dr. Martha Nall called the meeting to order.
Members present included:
Christy Ramey – KEAFCS Charlotte Atkins – ESP Nancy Hunt – KEAFCS
Curt Judy – KACAA Jann Burks – KAE4-HA Jenny Cocanougher – KAE4-HA
Chad Conway – KAE4-HA Peggy Powell – KEAFCS Lora Howard – KEAFCS
Melanie Mays – KAE4-HA Chad Lee – KASEP Theresa Howard – KEAFCS
David Harrison – ESP Stephen Patton – KASEP Greg Whitis - KACAA
Administrators Present:
Dr. Jimmy Henning Joe Kurth
Dr. Paul Warner Gary Palmer
David Harrison moved to accept minutes. Curt Judy seconded. Motion carried.
County Judge Breakfast: Dr. Nall reported it was a successful meeting. Dr. Henning was there and enjoyed the opportunity to interact with many of the judges and was very pleased at how many of the judges identified their agents and made positive comments concerning their role in solving community problems.
Next year the meeting will be at Barren River State Park September 25 & 26.
The County Judges Association was to send the bill to Drew Graham and he will notify each Association of their cost. Each association needs to check with their treasurers.
Curt Judy commented that we might have had too many JCEP people. Stephen Patton thought as long as we spread out the number was okay.
Dr. Nall indicated that she has detailed notes that she will provide to Chad Lee as he works on this event for next year.
Regional JCEP:
Nancy Hunt is chairing the planning for the Kentucky delegation to the Regional JCEP meeting. Anyone else going needs to send their out-of-state travel request to Darlene, Dr. Henning’s staff assistant. Lodging will be identified as the item to be reimbursed by the state.
Those currently planning to attend from Kentucky include: Charlotte Atkins and David Harrison – ESP; Nancy Hunt and Donna Fryman – KEAFCS; Curt Judy & Gary Carter – KACAA; Melanie Mays & Chad Conway – KAE4-HA; Judith Hetterman – NEAFCS; and Lena Mallory – NAE4-HA.
Representatives from each Association – Martha asked each association to list their representatives to JCEP for 2008 on the form which was circulated.
Officers for next year are past presidents.
Chair – Chad Lee
Vice Chair – Lora Frazier Howard
Secretary – Greg Drake
Welcome
Dr. Nall extended a hearty JCEP welcome to Dr. Gary Palmer.
Dates for next years meeting:
March – 18 – Dean Smith, guest – (Teleconference link)
June – 24 – Assistant Directors, guests – (Teleconference link)
September – 9 – Dean Smith, guest – (Teleconference link)
December – 16 – (Face-to-Face)
3 video & 1 face to face. – Dates pending confirmation with the Dean.
PILD – April 28 – 30, 2008, Washington, DC (vicinity)
County Judge Association – September 26, 2008
Questions for Assistant Directors
December 17, 2007
- Agents who have already received a Master’s are somewhat discouraged from getting another—are there other choices? Will certifications that enhance our work count toward the career ladder? What recommendations are being made for certifications?
Dr. Jimmy Henning: This is an on going process. Moving up the career ladder has lots of options and not just certification. It is up to the agent to describe their professional level of work. You individualize the application based on what is significant in your career.
Palmer:
A Masters program should be formulated on what programs are needed by the person and the county.
The Mid-West States have a consortium that offers totally online degrees. They might be open to cooperative efforts with other universities. More classes are archived on line.
- Agents are appreciative of the level increases that we are seeing with the career ladder. However, as cost of living goes up, would it be possible for agents to receive a cost of living (or at least a partial cost of living) increase in January of each year the way USDA Federal employees do because the “cost of living” goes up for everyone, not just those reaching milestones of a Masters’ or a new level in the career ladder?
Henning: Why do we give raised on merit? It is a university wide decision. In a few cases the College of AG has made some special exceptions, but generally follow University recommendations.
- Again, we appreciate the efforts administration has gone through for Levels, and that we need to attract outstanding applicants, but please don’t create another situation like before, when we experienced raises in starting salaries while “experienced” agent’s salaries were in need of a “catch up”. Please don’t “devalue” tenured agents that have already earned an increase in Level(s). Is there any way that when the Level salary compensations are raised, that those already in that level are supplemented the difference in pay that they received when they earned that Level?
Warner: There is an ongoing debate on where to spend the money. Do you concentrate on special problems? In the past 5 years special efforts has been made for agents because of how far they were behind based on bench mark data. Support staff did not receive those raises in prior years. We are still struggling in comparison with starting salaries in other benchmark states. The career ladder is an attempt to bring up salaries of the more tenured agents who fell behind as we were giving increases in starting salaries. About half of the county agents are rated at level 3. The career ladder increases are in addition to the mid-year raises. We are slipping behind on starting salary again. It is easy to get into compression each time we raise starting salaries.
- Are the funding mechanisms for the Career Ladder Promotion levels still in place for 2008? At what monetary levels?
Dr. Warner: The amounts will probably be this for 2008.
1 & 2 = $2000
3 & 4 = $3000
Because of the special appropriation it is a revolving financial pool. Those funds are reserved. As retirees leave there are more funds available.
- The June report on the organization of the College of Agriculture contained a recommendation about central scheduling of county Extension Offices. Is this seriously being considered?
Dr. Henning: No. Campus is responsible for scheduling. County offices control their meeting space.
Any course offered for credit which targets Extension employees would also be open to non-Extension employees.
- We received information that the University set aside 2.3 million for mid year salary increases for UK Staff. Why are some departments such as extension staff not receiving the mid year salary increases?
Dr. Warner: UK set money aside to do upgrades in graded positions. County employees are in exempted positions and receive their raise straight from the county. 2 prong approach was used to bring up a salary. The College of Agriculture identified staff that needed adjustments and added to their salary. 40% received some benefits as low as .01 per hour.
For Agents, the college of Ag put about 1% in raises July, 2007 rather than adding it in January so no current adjustments for county staff.
Kurth: This was done at University level & at the College level, the College of Ag had little input. Associates and Specialist were not included.
Warner: For county support staff, supporting letters of justification can be sent for higher raises than campus indicates in July, but not mid-year. This is based on a desire to not raise flags on campus. Benefits are not set on campus until April while county budget work begins in January. Any unused money is returned to counties.
Salary request may be partially included in a second request from the University on the Top 20 University Plan. College got 4 new positions out of the first request.
- Comment: CENTRA - Continue to develop the CENTRA System
Henning. Yes is short answer. We have 20 seats that are locked. Other departments have seats. We are looking at how to do more. Andrea Husband’s office is an office ready for a second CENTRA presenter location.
Palmer: E Extension might offer some similar possibilities. We are looking at 2 other systems and evaluating their potential for our educational strategies.
Warner: Out of POLY COM, we now have 9 sites and may have 2 more sites soon. The College of AG is attempting to get equipment to strategic areas. Hopefully these sites can be used for training and committee work. One of the disadvantages is that everyone has to be there at the same time.
- Higher Education Offerings? Updates – where are we in this process?
Henning: The College of AG is still in the early stages of discussing how agents might get into a program. A CLD distance friendly degree is needed. We have begun the discussion.
Palmer has been meeting with departments and reviewing which instructors are doing something that leads itself to distance offerings.
Kurth – The Volunteer Academy is open to all agents. This is 6 hr. graduate opportunity. HES is interested in offering the volunteer academy as a part of a degree program.
Warner – Jimmy met with CLD faculty and discussed the need for higher education offerings. CLD has the most offerings. When we talk about distance we might look at non-traditional scheduling with concentrated time in class for face to face time. The faculty is willing to let a core section of basic skills include some specialization/core.
Chad Lee uses a non-traditional scheduling of day a week to 150 minutes noon to 3. Have video links on a grain crops class. Set up as a 597 for agents. Different requirement for papers for agents working on a Masters verses students working on a BS.
- Career Ladder Rung #4 – we would like to see the process of getting to Rung 4 better defined. We also feel like there should be some refinements done the process of getting to Rung 4.
Warner: The flexibility in point was deliberate. Dr. Turner saw the 4th level as different for each individual. It might be certification, mentoring, leadership, or on taking interns or agents at large. It might also include significant work in other areas than those listed.
A Peer review committee for considering career ladder rung #4 will be appointed. The committee will be publically announced. 12 people were certified as being level 4 this year.
- Ratings - We would like to see the breakdown of ratings by program area.
Henning: Assistant Directors look at all ratings. We will share the breakdown of 5’s. In Walla’s Era the breakdowns were shared by program areas. Henning would be comfortable in sharing breakdown of 5’s. They look across gender, tenure and program areas. A federal team reviews those during formal reviews.. Dr. Henning turned loose 5’s on Sunday. Agents will receive rating letters before the holidays.
- Mentoring program – We feel like the program needs a total overhaul. Better and more training needs to be given to mentors. Much thought needs to be done before selecting mentors. Not everyone who volunteers to be a mentor should be one. A task force/committee made up of mentors/mentees/administrators needs to be appointed to look into overhauling this program. The concept is good it is just not working.
Henning: We spent large portion of time at administrative retreat looking at new agents. We think mentoring is a significant part of that. We have 3 new District Directors. A committee including Chuck Stamper, Louise Moore and Gary Palmer will look at what is being taught for new employees. They will examine who is doing what – orientation, core training, program area training (Assistant Directors) and District Directors. They need to look at mentoring and how it is connected to new agent experience.
Nall: Current concepts taught in the mentoring in-service for agents to be eligible to be mentors include: role of mentoring, what a new agent needs, what the responsibilities of each are, structure of Extension, Extension policies & procedures, a review of what agents receive in core training ,and time management techniques. The best trainings are group when sharing included challenges, frustrations and positive experiences when they were new agents..
- New Agents Help – This is a problem across all program areas. New agents feel like they are basically thrown to the wolves when sent to a county. Even most tenured agents felt that way when they started. The mentoring program could help here, agent associations can help, and neighboring agents do help. We feel like some one from UK, within their program area, needs to meet with these new agents for the first few years on a very regular basis to help them through these times.
We also think that new agents should meet with 2-3 tenured agents within their program area for 2-3 hours during their first CORE Training. They need to have dialog with some agents not just administrators/specialist.
Kurth: suggested that these questions be referred to the new committee.
Kurth: Martha Welch works with new agents. Had phone calls and visits to new agents to provide additional support. He believes that a support group of other 4H agents is the most helpful in mentoring new 4H Agents.
Laura Stevenson has that role in FCS.
Warner: Paul Deaton position is still open and may not be filled after committee gives recommendation.
Henning: The core training is very compressed. We have a lot of good agents and we need to work to make them better.
Nall: At each core training those attending have different lengths of tenure as well as experience, yet all have worked a year or less. This provides great opportunities for sharing and support.
Warner: It has been a while since we have surveyed new agents. May be time to revaluate the mentoring program. Certain program areas are under represented in mentoring program.
Ramey thought the gathering of those in 2 agent counties was positive. Agents working in 2 agent counties plus working on a degree have a very difficult job.
Whitis: One suggestion for those working on mentoring is to ask for ideas from district directors that should be covered in training sessions with new agents.
Powell: One of the difficulties in mentoring is that new agents as well as old have never had so much to manage in terms of programming. The expectations and challenges have increased dramatically in the last 10 years.
- KAE4-HA Camping Concerns
1) We recognize the desperate situation with 6-7 years of fiscal deficit for the 4-H Camping program. We greatly appreciate the concern about the camping program expressed by Administration and are most grateful for the very creative “Bathroom Blitz” project to demonstrate this concern. KAE4-HA has dedicated $400.00 towards the bathroom blitz ($100 per camp). This is being allocated through its current fundraiser: the “$40 for 40 years” campaign. Individual members are supporting this rather than taking funds from our organization which is committed for professional development. We hope that in the future professional associations will not be asked to support facility improvements.
2) Why has the $8.00 per person assessment in the camp fees been removed from the Kentucky 4-H Foundation account? The original purpose of the fee was to establish a set-aside fund that could be used to make major camp improvements, such as a new pool, so counties would not have to conduct fundraisers to cover the cost of the improvement. Will this fund still be maintained separately for each camp? Is this fund being used to pay bills or meet payroll for the camping program?
3) Given the current financial situation in the camping program, we are concerned about the amount of expenses & payroll that is being supported by the summer camping program. The nine week summer residential camping program is expected to support the facilities being used year round. Positions that have a state wide responsibility outside of the camping program are also being supported through the camping budget. The 85% capacity has been set as a bench mark to break even. Even if the summer camping program reaches over 85% capacity that will still not generate enough income to bring the camping program out of the red. As an example, North Central 4-H Camp had 83% capacity over the entire 2007 summer camping season. If the camp had been at 85% capacity, that would have only generated an extra $5,867.00 revenue – still far short of the $100,289.00 deficit that was reported for the North Central 4-H Camp. If the camp had 100% capacity during the nine week summer camping session, that would have generated $343,125.00 still short of the 2007 total expenses of $410,753.15 (356 person total capacity; fees waived for 1 volunteer for every 7 campers (51); 305 X 125.00 = $38,125 per week; 9 full weeks = $343,125.00. This assumes nine weeks of 5 day camping sessions.) We need a similar benchmark for other activities held at 4-H camp such as environmental camps, teen camps, project camps etc. Are those programs (environmental camps) financially feasible to maintain?
Kurth: 4-H Camp – During last couple weeks, we have held camp in-services and are willing to have further conversations on camp. Dr. Henning has promoted camp and listened to concerns about the program. Thanks to Dr. Henning for the “Bath House Blitz.”
2 categories - $8 per camper fee that is kept with KY 4H Foundation until recently. Dean Smith has had concern and thought it should be in a University camp account. It will be…
We have been in the negative for most of the 5 years. The University allowed us to carry negative balances forward. Agreed to do so for one year. We must have a 0 balance. We have had to raise camp fees. Do not foresee that we will not raise fees each year. Camps have not been upgraded since built in 1960’s. The $8 fees will be held in separate accounts and may be used to balance accounts. Dean Smith believes in the camp program. Camps are on the radar screen of the University. Break even analysis is about 85 capacity and give a balanced budget. The formula breaks down for North Central because ¾ of Jennifer Lynn’s salary and benefits come from those funds at North Central since 1991 and ¼ from water quality.
We are no longer willing to subsidize environmental camps at North Central. Fees are the same for all 4 camps. We have increased outside fees. Other youth activities at camp are meant to make money such as football camps. Costs of doing camps are going up. We need private sector or legislative tools.
Henning – has looked for funds that he can infuse.
The foundation is free to ask for monies from the legislature. May or may not happen. Need a significant capital campaign.
Kurth: Based on statistical analysis has not lowered camp attendance by camp fee increases.
There being no further business the meeting was adjourned.
Adjourn.
Submitted by:
Peggy Powell
JCEP Secretary
Minutes
Joint Council of Extension Professionals
Quarterly Meeting of KY JCEP
Monday, December 17, 2007
Elizabethtown, KY
Dr. Martha Nall called the meeting to order.
Members present included:
Christy Ramey – KEAFCS Charlotte Atkins – ESP Nancy Hunt – KEAFCS
Curt Judy – KACAA Jann Burks – KAE4-HA Jenny Cocanougher – KAE4-HA
Chad Conway – KAE4-HA Peggy Powell – KEAFCS Lora Howard – KEAFCS
Melanie Mays – KAE4-HA Chad Lee – KASEP Theresa Howard – KEAFCS
David Harrison – ESP Stephen Patton – KASEP Greg Whitis - KACAA
Administrators Present:
Dr. Jimmy Henning Joe Kurth
Dr. Paul Warner Gary Palmer
David Harrison moved to accept minutes. Curt Judy seconded. Motion carried.
County Judge Breakfast: Dr. Nall reported it was a successful meeting. Dr. Henning was there and enjoyed the opportunity to interact with many of the judges and was very pleased at how many of the judges identified their agents and made positive comments concerning their role in solving community problems.
Next year the meeting will be at Barren River State Park September 25 & 26.
The County Judges Association was to send the bill to Drew Graham and he will notify each Association of their cost. Each association needs to check with their treasurers.
Curt Judy commented that we might have had too many JCEP people. Stephen Patton thought as long as we spread out the number was okay.
Dr. Nall indicated that she has detailed notes that she will provide to Chad Lee as he works on this event for next year.
Regional JCEP:
Nancy Hunt is chairing the planning for the Kentucky delegation to the Regional JCEP meeting. Anyone else going needs to send their out-of-state travel request to Darlene, Dr. Henning’s staff assistant. Lodging will be identified as the item to be reimbursed by the state.
Those currently planning to attend from Kentucky include: Charlotte Atkins and David Harrison – ESP; Nancy Hunt and Donna Fryman – KEAFCS; Curt Judy & Gary Carter – KACAA; Melanie Mays & Chad Conway – KAE4-HA; Judith Hetterman – NEAFCS; and Lena Mallory – NAE4-HA.
Representatives from each Association – Martha asked each association to list their representatives to JCEP for 2008 on the form which was circulated.
Officers for next year are past presidents.
Chair – Chad Lee
Vice Chair – Lora Frazier Howard
Secretary – Greg Drake
Welcome
Dr. Nall extended a hearty JCEP welcome to Dr. Gary Palmer.
Dates for next years meeting:
March – 18 – Dean Smith, guest – (Teleconference link)
June – 24 – Assistant Directors, guests – (Teleconference link)
September – 9 – Dean Smith, guest – (Teleconference link)
December – 16 – (Face-to-Face)
3 video & 1 face to face. – Dates pending confirmation with the Dean.
PILD – April 28 – 30, 2008, Washington, DC (vicinity)
County Judge Association – September 26, 2008
Questions for Assistant Directors
December 17, 2007
- Agents who have already received a Master’s are somewhat discouraged from getting another—are there other choices? Will certifications that enhance our work count toward the career ladder? What recommendations are being made for certifications?
Dr. Jimmy Henning: This is an on going process. Moving up the career ladder has lots of options and not just certification. It is up to the agent to describe their professional level of work. You individualize the application based on what is significant in your career.
Palmer:
A Masters program should be formulated on what programs are needed by the person and the county.
The Mid-West States have a consortium that offers totally online degrees. They might be open to cooperative efforts with other universities. More classes are archived on line.
- Agents are appreciative of the level increases that we are seeing with the career ladder. However, as cost of living goes up, would it be possible for agents to receive a cost of living (or at least a partial cost of living) increase in January of each year the way USDA Federal employees do because the “cost of living” goes up for everyone, not just those reaching milestones of a Masters’ or a new level in the career ladder?
Henning: Why do we give raised on merit? It is a university wide decision. In a few cases the College of AG has made some special exceptions, but generally follow University recommendations.
- Again, we appreciate the efforts administration has gone through for Levels, and that we need to attract outstanding applicants, but please don’t create another situation like before, when we experienced raises in starting salaries while “experienced” agent’s salaries were in need of a “catch up”. Please don’t “devalue” tenured agents that have already earned an increase in Level(s). Is there any way that when the Level salary compensations are raised, that those already in that level are supplemented the difference in pay that they received when they earned that Level?
Warner: There is an ongoing debate on where to spend the money. Do you concentrate on special problems? In the past 5 years special efforts has been made for agents because of how far they were behind based on bench mark data. Support staff did not receive those raises in prior years. We are still struggling in comparison with starting salaries in other benchmark states. The career ladder is an attempt to bring up salaries of the more tenured agents who fell behind as we were giving increases in starting salaries. About half of the county agents are rated at level 3. The career ladder increases are in addition to the mid-year raises. We are slipping behind on starting salary again. It is easy to get into compression each time we raise starting salaries.
- Are the funding mechanisms for the Career Ladder Promotion levels still in place for 2008? At what monetary levels?
Dr. Warner: The amounts will probably be this for 2008.
1 & 2 = $2000
3 & 4 = $3000
Because of the special appropriation it is a revolving financial pool. Those funds are reserved. As retirees leave there are more funds available.
- The June report on the organization of the College of Agriculture contained a recommendation about central scheduling of county Extension Offices. Is this seriously being considered?
Dr. Henning: No. Campus is responsible for scheduling. County offices control their meeting space.
Any course offered for credit which targets Extension employees would also be open to non-Extension employees.
- We received information that the University set aside 2.3 million for mid year salary increases for UK Staff. Why are some departments such as extension staff not receiving the mid year salary increases?
Dr. Warner: UK set money aside to do upgrades in graded positions. County employees are in exempted positions and receive their raise straight from the county. 2 prong approach was used to bring up a salary. The College of Agriculture identified staff that needed adjustments and added to their salary. 40% received some benefits as low as .01 per hour.
For Agents, the college of Ag put about 1% in raises July, 2007 rather than adding it in January so no current adjustments for county staff.
Kurth: This was done at University level & at the College level, the College of Ag had little input. Associates and Specialist were not included.
Warner: For county support staff, supporting letters of justification can be sent for higher raises than campus indicates in July, but not mid-year. This is based on a desire to not raise flags on campus. Benefits are not set on campus until April while county budget work begins in January. Any unused money is returned to counties.
Salary request may be partially included in a second request from the University on the Top 20 University Plan. College got 4 new positions out of the first request.
- Comment: CENTRA - Continue to develop the CENTRA System
Henning. Yes is short answer. We have 20 seats that are locked. Other departments have seats. We are looking at how to do more. Andrea Husband’s office is an office ready for a second CENTRA presenter location.
Palmer: E Extension might offer some similar possibilities. We are looking at 2 other systems and evaluating their potential for our educational strategies.
Warner: Out of POLY COM, we now have 9 sites and may have 2 more sites soon. The College of AG is attempting to get equipment to strategic areas. Hopefully these sites can be used for training and committee work. One of the disadvantages is that everyone has to be there at the same time.
- Higher Education Offerings? Updates – where are we in this process?
Henning: The College of AG is still in the early stages of discussing how agents might get into a program. A CLD distance friendly degree is needed. We have begun the discussion.
Palmer has been meeting with departments and reviewing which instructors are doing something that leads itself to distance offerings.
Kurth – The Volunteer Academy is open to all agents. This is 6 hr. graduate opportunity. HES is interested in offering the volunteer academy as a part of a degree program.
Warner – Jimmy met with CLD faculty and discussed the need for higher education offerings. CLD has the most offerings. When we talk about distance we might look at non-traditional scheduling with concentrated time in class for face to face time. The faculty is willing to let a core section of basic skills include some specialization/core.
Chad Lee uses a non-traditional scheduling of day a week to 150 minutes noon to 3. Have video links on a grain crops class. Set up as a 597 for agents. Different requirement for papers for agents working on a Masters verses students working on a BS.
- Career Ladder Rung #4 – we would like to see the process of getting to Rung 4 better defined. We also feel like there should be some refinements done the process of getting to Rung 4.
Warner: The flexibility in point was deliberate. Dr. Turner saw the 4th level as different for each individual. It might be certification, mentoring, leadership, or on taking interns or agents at large. It might also include significant work in other areas than those listed.
A Peer review committee for considering career ladder rung #4 will be appointed. The committee will be publically announced. 12 people were certified as being level 4 this year.
- Ratings - We would like to see the breakdown of ratings by program area.
Henning: Assistant Directors look at all ratings. We will share the breakdown of 5’s. In Walla’s Era the breakdowns were shared by program areas. Henning would be comfortable in sharing breakdown of 5’s. They look across gender, tenure and program areas. A federal team reviews those during formal reviews.. Dr. Henning turned loose 5’s on Sunday. Agents will receive rating letters before the holidays.
- Mentoring program – We feel like the program needs a total overhaul. Better and more training needs to be given to mentors. Much thought needs to be done before selecting mentors. Not everyone who volunteers to be a mentor should be one. A task force/committee made up of mentors/mentees/administrators needs to be appointed to look into overhauling this program. The concept is good it is just not working.
Henning: We spent large portion of time at administrative retreat looking at new agents. We think mentoring is a significant part of that. We have 3 new District Directors. A committee including Chuck Stamper, Louise Moore and Gary Palmer will look at what is being taught for new employees. They will examine who is doing what – orientation, core training, program area training (Assistant Directors) and District Directors. They need to look at mentoring and how it is connected to new agent experience.
Nall: Current concepts taught in the mentoring in-service for agents to be eligible to be mentors include: role of mentoring, what a new agent needs, what the responsibilities of each are, structure of Extension, Extension policies & procedures, a review of what agents receive in core training ,and time management techniques. The best trainings are group when sharing included challenges, frustrations and positive experiences when they were new agents..
- New Agents Help – This is a problem across all program areas. New agents feel like they are basically thrown to the wolves when sent to a county. Even most tenured agents felt that way when they started. The mentoring program could help here, agent associations can help, and neighboring agents do help. We feel like some one from UK, within their program area, needs to meet with these new agents for the first few years on a very regular basis to help them through these times.
We also think that new agents should meet with 2-3 tenured agents within their program area for 2-3 hours during their first CORE Training. They need to have dialog with some agents not just administrators/specialist.
Kurth: suggested that these questions be referred to the new committee.
Kurth: Martha Welch works with new agents. Had phone calls and visits to new agents to provide additional support. He believes that a support group of other 4H agents is the most helpful in mentoring new 4H Agents.
Laura Stevenson has that role in FCS.
Warner: Paul Deaton position is still open and may not be filled after committee gives recommendation.
Henning: The core training is very compressed. We have a lot of good agents and we need to work to make them better.
Nall: At each core training those attending have different lengths of tenure as well as experience, yet all have worked a year or less. This provides great opportunities for sharing and support.
Warner: It has been a while since we have surveyed new agents. May be time to revaluate the mentoring program. Certain program areas are under represented in mentoring program.
Ramey thought the gathering of those in 2 agent counties was positive. Agents working in 2 agent counties plus working on a degree have a very difficult job.
Whitis: One suggestion for those working on mentoring is to ask for ideas from district directors that should be covered in training sessions with new agents.
Powell: One of the difficulties in mentoring is that new agents as well as old have never had so much to manage in terms of programming. The expectations and challenges have increased dramatically in the last 10 years.
- KAE4-HA Camping Concerns
1) We recognize the desperate situation with 6-7 years of fiscal deficit for the 4-H Camping program. We greatly appreciate the concern about the camping program expressed by Administration and are most grateful for the very creative “Bathroom Blitz” project to demonstrate this concern. KAE4-HA has dedicated $400.00 towards the bathroom blitz ($100 per camp). This is being allocated through its current fundraiser: the “$40 for 40 years” campaign. Individual members are supporting this rather than taking funds from our organization which is committed for professional development. We hope that in the future professional associations will not be asked to support facility improvements.
2) Why has the $8.00 per person assessment in the camp fees been removed from the Kentucky 4-H Foundation account? The original purpose of the fee was to establish a set-aside fund that could be used to make major camp improvements, such as a new pool, so counties would not have to conduct fundraisers to cover the cost of the improvement. Will this fund still be maintained separately for each camp? Is this fund being used to pay bills or meet payroll for the camping program?
3) Given the current financial situation in the camping program, we are concerned about the amount of expenses & payroll that is being supported by the summer camping program. The nine week summer residential camping program is expected to support the facilities being used year round. Positions that have a state wide responsibility outside of the camping program are also being supported through the camping budget. The 85% capacity has been set as a bench mark to break even. Even if the summer camping program reaches over 85% capacity that will still not generate enough income to bring the camping program out of the red. As an example, North Central 4-H Camp had 83% capacity over the entire 2007 summer camping season. If the camp had been at 85% capacity, that would have only generated an extra $5,867.00 revenue – still far short of the $100,289.00 deficit that was reported for the North Central 4-H Camp. If the camp had 100% capacity during the nine week summer camping session, that would have generated $343,125.00 still short of the 2007 total expenses of $410,753.15 (356 person total capacity; fees waived for 1 volunteer for every 7 campers (51); 305 X 125.00 = $38,125 per week; 9 full weeks = $343,125.00. This assumes nine weeks of 5 day camping sessions.) We need a similar benchmark for other activities held at 4-H camp such as environmental camps, teen camps, project camps etc. Are those programs (environmental camps) financially feasible to maintain?
Kurth: 4-H Camp – During last couple weeks, we have held camp in-services and are willing to have further conversations on camp. Dr. Henning has promoted camp and listened to concerns about the program. Thanks to Dr. Henning for the “Bath House Blitz.”
2 categories - $8 per camper fee that is kept with KY 4H Foundation until recently. Dean Smith has had concern and thought it should be in a University camp account. It will be…
We have been in the negative for most of the 5 years. The University allowed us to carry negative balances forward. Agreed to do so for one year. We must have a 0 balance. We have had to raise camp fees. Do not foresee that we will not raise fees each year. Camps have not been upgraded since built in 1960’s. The $8 fees will be held in separate accounts and may be used to balance accounts. Dean Smith believes in the camp program. Camps are on the radar screen of the University. Break even analysis is about 85 capacity and give a balanced budget. The formula breaks down for North Central because ¾ of Jennifer Lynn’s salary and benefits come from those funds at North Central since 1991 and ¼ from water quality.
We are no longer willing to subsidize environmental camps at North Central. Fees are the same for all 4 camps. We have increased outside fees. Other youth activities at camp are meant to make money such as football camps. Costs of doing camps are going up. We need private sector or legislative tools.
Henning – has looked for funds that he can infuse.
The foundation is free to ask for monies from the legislature. May or may not happen. Need a significant capital campaign.
Kurth: Based on statistical analysis has not lowered camp attendance by camp fee increases.
There being no further business the meeting was adjourned.
Adjourn.
Submitted by:
Peggy Powell
JCEP Secretary
Minutes
Kentucky Council of Extension Agent’s and Specialists
Spindletop Hall
Lexington Kentucky
March 17th 2005
The meeting was called to order at 11:00AM by President Lincoln Martin.
Those present were:
Pat Margolis Cheryl Case Jennifer Klee
Kimberly Adams Leger Jennifer Benham Greg Tompkins
Larry Turner Scott Smith Lena Mallory
Lincoln Martin Jann Burks Drew Graham
Britney Edelson Michael Phillips Kim Strohmeier
Anna Smith Susan Turner Tim Hendrick
Peggy Powell
Martha Nall
On motion from Lena Mallory, seconded by Jennifer Benham, minutes from the
December meeting were approved.
Drs. Smith and Turner addressed the list of issues, concerns, and comments that was
submitted earlier.
JCEP Issues/Concerns March 17th 2005
Thank you- Thanks for the 1 million for the career incentive program!
4-H Honors Program- Other Universities around the state reward youth for reaching levels within their
organization. One in particular is that full tuition is provided for boys that reach Eagle Scout in the Boy
Scouts organization. What is the status of the University of Kentucky providing scholarships (full tuition
would be great) for the 4-H Youth that obtain the 4-H Gold Honor. This program requires youth to stick
with a program for at least three years and complete a multitude of work. Other than a few counties
offering rewards, little is currently being done to reward the youth for their hard work and loyalty to the 4-
H program and the Cooperative Extension Service. With 4-H being an "in-house" program, the University
should seriously consider this. Lots of other scholarships only require a letter of reference and an essay.
Smith: Funding for proposed scholarships and other worthy rewards for the top 4-H youth is always a
challenge. It would be good if we had the funding.
Turner: “The Friends of 4-H “ would be a possible source of support in finding avenues of funding for a
scholarship program and for Camp Improvement needs.
HEEL Program- is good and we understand they have funding, but our clientele do not constantly want
health programs (even though they need them). This is reflected on their program planning choices. They
do appreciate the monthly health newsletters and those do meet many of their needs. It is nice to have
resources available that we can draw upon as needed. They do appreciate variety of programming.
Smith: would like to hear what our clientele has to say abut Extension efforts in HEEL as well as hearing
from agents. Realizes- that some of our identity in our traditional programs may be at risk of some compromise as we continue to partner with other agencies. Hopefully this kind of partnering serves to
make us stronger.
Turner: Expects more direction/assistance for agents working with HEEL when new specialist is in place.
Post Retirement- What are the expectations of the new positions? What are the work requirements? If the
position is an 80% appointment, how does that translate into hours/days working in the office? Will these
agents still be required to take an equal burden of office responsibilities…i.e. Councils, Budget, Personnel?
Is it legal for a “contract” employee to be budget contact?
Smith: Those with post retirement appointments may accept the same kind of responsibilities as full time
agents and specialists according to the plan that was arranged and agreed upon with their respective District
Directors and Department Heads. Thinks the hours/work schedules will need to be adjusted if they intend
to stick to 80% but there is no standard by which to measure this arrangement yet. Sees no reason why post
retirement appointees cannot accept the same type of responsibilities as full time.
Extra Efforts- Agents are becoming more and more concerned about the time and organization that it
takes to fill association leadership roles and in serving as host agent for summer interns, etc. With the
demand of the job and overextended hours to complete tasks without this added responsibility, fewer agents
are willing to serve in these important voluntary roles that make the Cooperative Extension Service
stronger. Many agents feel that they have gone unrecognized and certainly not compensated for this extra
work? Many of the newer agents are reluctant to step up to these jobs and many of the older agents are
getting tried of carrying the load. Will these extra efforts be recognized in the new evaluation system and
career ladder?
Smith: Most extra efforts are instigated with those involved with doing the extra efforts … extra efforts
should be noted and considered by District Directors.
Turner: Extra efforts and activities seem to originate and continue to be sustained by different groups of
agents and faculty. Seems to be a lot of these and some take a lot of time when involved in positions of
leadership (i.e. JCEP, and the other professional associations)
District concept- has added additional travel expense for county staff. There seems to be pressure from
district directors to have district programs but the logistics of an entire district program for clientele in most
cases requires travel that is not realistic for night programs and even for youth. Is there going to be a
review of the re-envisioning process and is there a possibility that we could return to the Area concept for
programming?
Smith: The new District organization will not change for administrative purposes but agents are
free and are encouraged to continue their past associations with co-workers and to develop new
relationships with similar counties in programming where the need exists to do so.
Turner: The frequency of attending district staff meetings has been reduced to fewer meetings
since the travel distance was increased.
Salary/Career Ladder/Benefits-
1) UK is known for offering great benefits. But some understand that the benefits could be scaled
back to lower expenses. This would hurt Extension Agents and we don’t want to see this happen.
Is the scaling down of benefits being considered
Smith: The cost of benefits is an on going challenge- Example: when retiree’s benefits for health
care increase the University has to pay ½ of the cost.
2) In the state budget passed by the House & Senate, can you explain the differences in restricted
funds (Diagnostic Lab), bond funds (UKREC Princeton expansion) and funds for the Salary
Enhancement Initiative. Not specifically addressed
3) It is understood that Levels 1 & 2 of the career ladder are to be implemented 7/1/05 on new hires.
If so, when will the full career ladder be implemented.
Turner: Referred to attached draft copy of Career Ladder plan
4) We are fortunate to receive the 1M funding—thanks to Drew and all those throughout the state
who worked hard on the initiative! How will these recurring $$ be distributed and will special
consideration be given to the 10-33 year employees who have a definite salary gap? If the
University salary increase of 3% occurs will extension agents receive this in addition to the career
ladder adjustment?
Smith: Expects near 4% pool for the salary increase in addition to the Career Ladder increase.
Expects ½% of pool available to adjust special cases for compressed salaries. Regarding use of career
ladder money- this will not be an across the board increase for all agents, it is merit based with
consideration for those who are behind the averages for no apparent reason. Expects the gap of
disparity, compared to other states, to be considerably less for agents than for faculty after this is all in
place. Faculty will still be too far behind other universities.
Career ladder—concern for agents who have worked a long period of time and have not obtained a
master’s degree. Is it really beneficial to obtain a degree when retirement is in sight?
Smith: There will be a grandfathering of more experienced agents-refer to draft of career ladder
plan.(attached)
5) For agents in remote areas of the state it is not feasible for them to get a master’s because of the
expense and time to travel for class. The main concern is the point that the Master’s degree
program (on-line) needs to be implemented concurrently or prior to implementation of the career
ladder.
Turner: Hope to offer more distance learning opportunities for graduate work
6) Also, what certifications will be recognized under this proposal? Will certifications be weighted?
There are some certifications that require passing a test in order to be certified, some aren’t as
rigorous. I don’t want to have a very rigorous certification be weighted the same as one where
attendance alone gets you certified.
7) Many certifications require CEU’s to remain certified? Meaning that agents will be out of the
office more than now in order to collect CEU’s? Can offices financially support this?
General comments about career ladder
Smith : We all need to thank Drew for the exceptional work that he accomplished in getting a big
job done for us all. The college did very well with not only the career ladder but the other funding
for projects we needed.
Graham: most of the real work happened out in the counties with the activities by agents who did
a good job of informing their legislators regarding the issues. This was especially so to keep our
career ladder money from coming from the Tobacco Settlement Fund. Make certain that after the
budget is signed that we all thank our legislators in a personal way. I told my former colleagues
(referring to his acquaintances in the state legislature)to expect me back next year with more
requests.
Turner: We will begin soon in planning our next appeal for next year’s session.
Smith: If we had not sold the notion of a career ladder we would not have been funded for the
salary adjustment. Smith, Turner and Graham plan to express appreciation to the legislature perhaps at a function
such as Ag Roundup for all the consideration the College received this year.
Turner presented his draft of the career ladder schedule (attached) not final- open for comment via
his webpage. He intends to implement the first 2 steps beginning with July 1 2005.
Steps 3-4 will come in the future as funds are available.
Career ladder will not be an across the board increase for all agents but merit based.
Most agents are already in Level II according to his draft proposal.
Smith ; The career ladder plan will eventually reduce the salary compression problem.
At 12:25PM the meeting adjourned for lunch. The meeting re-convened at 1:10PM
Dr. Turner distributed his report on ECOP.
More issues and questions:
Would you please update us on the hiring timeline of the new Director of
HES? Will JCEP be involved in the process?
Turner: Campus visits and interviews are scheduled for late March and early April. We will
involve associations and a cross section of University %College personnel. The new director will
probably be in place by late summer.
It seems to be confusing to people throughout the state that we have a school
of HES and FCS agents. Since the most common name for the profession is
Family and Consumer Sciences will the school name be changed to reflect
FCS. Could this be implemented when the College of Agriculture name is
changed?
Turner: The name may eventually change but now is not the right time.
It is more important to have a strong school rather than to have internal friction regarding a name.
Assistant Director for FCS/Director for Human Environmental Sciences
how can one person have the amount of time it takes to give direction to the
two different areas? Other program areas (Ag, 4-H, Community
Development) have their own full-time assistant director.
This comment not specifically addressed.
It seems the print quality and quantity of publications has decreased. Are
there plans to increase production again, even if counties have to purchase
for a nominal fee?
Turner : Didn’t realize there was a problem-will look into this.
Since the HR dept/UK no longer requires a specific major, grade point or
even a degree for staff positions, how will this affect county and other
Extension “professional” positions? Would it be to our benefit to pursue
something like NC has - rather than faculty positions – they are called field
faculty? Turner: We will not lower our qualifications for candidates to be considered for employment
as Agents
What is the timeline for filing the Provost vacancy and does the College of
Agriculture have a strong candidate for the position?
Turner: We might have a candidate…..an interim must be named first …that person cannot be
considered as a permanent prospect.
Funding- Are we going after the $1.9 and $1.6 for the next budget funding process?
Turner:cannot say what the amount will be at this point but we are planning for our next session.
Suggestions
New chair for Extension FCS and HES- the chosen person should have
a thorough understanding of what FCS agents do and the role they have in
the communities. It is also important that vacant FCS specialist positions are
filled, in order to provide support to FCS programs.
Providing staff with regular updates at to who has been hired, resigned, transferred and retired. Examples:
on the web – it has been since January of 2004 that the Program and Staff development page has been
updated with new hires; the field staff directory on the web still says 2004 on the title for the link, 2004 on
the cover, update 1/08/04 on the front page, the administration page of this document has 2003 at the top;
the address book for Outlook has not been updated since May 2004; how many changes have occurred in
this time period. If we send an email to the list serves in the address book does it go to all the new hires
since the last address book update?
Turner: promised to buy Tim Hendricks dinner next time if Tim had to ask for this again.
In other business:
A motion from Britney Edelson, seconded by Susan Turner, to change the name of this committee to :
The Joint Council for Extension Professionals (JCEP)
Jennifer Benham announced that the June meeting would be at Bun Baker’s Restaurant in Elizabethtown.
The PILD conference dates are: April 17-20 2005 and April 23-26, 2006.
Dr. Turner will attend PILD as ECOP member.
The need for a JCEP webpage was discussed with Tim Hendricks volunteering to design a template and
send it to Bob Fehr so Bob could assign a web address for us. The new web would serve all of the
Extension community to post minutes and meeting announcements and other information.
Tim Hendricks suggested that JCEP lead an effort among the agent/specialist associations to conduct a
hospitality event for the State County Judge Executive’s meeting to be held sometime in the Fall.
A motion was made by Kim Strohmeier, and seconded by Susan Turner to contact each of the professional
associations for support with this.
With no other business the meeting adjourned at 1:50PM
Greg Tompkins
