Michigan Association
of Extension Agents Board MeetingMichigan Association
of Extension Agents Board Meeting
November 2, 2000
President Longstroth called the meeting to order at 9:45 a.m. in Room A of the Livestock Pavilion.
Present were Durst, Fouch, Griffith, Krauskopf, Henry, Lindquist, Longstroth, MacKellar, Moore, Silva, Smucker, Varner and Wiley.
Agenda was approved as printed.
Minutes were reviewed. Moved by Lindquist, seconded by Varner to approve the minutes. Motion carried.
Wiley reported that 15 members have paid their dues as of date and that dues are due on December 15. The number of due paying members determines the number of DSA Awards and National Meeting Delegates for Michigan. Varner stated that about half of our members dues are paid by counties and they have a policy to make sure that one payment is made per fiscal year which may make the December 15 deadline a problem. Longstroth will put up a dues form on the web site as a text file. It was decided that a cover letter should go to the county about the first week of December with the dues form. The letter would ask that the form be photocopied for each agent that needs it in the county. Wiley will follow-up with agents that do not respond by contacting their Regional Director with a list of delinquent members.
Longstroth passed around a print-out of our official letterhead for corrections. This will be made available as a Word File that can be downloaded for those that need to use the official stationery.
A discussion followed about reminding members of our reduced dues policy for those who are members of more than one association. We have decided to offer dual memberships to our association by reducing our dues by $15. from our MAEA annual dues, providing that the dual memberships are in our other Michigan agent associations.
The $6 vouchers, which were made available at the Fall Conference, were discussed. 64 of these were redeemed for a total cost of $384 to the Association. Durst had some questions regarding them, from the Northern Region regarding obtaining merchandise if you had not attended Fall Conference.
Krauskopf moved that we close down the availability of the vouchers, except for people whom we have already heard from. Seconded by Fouch, motion carried.
Moore pointed out a discrepancy in the fund balances on the report of October 6. Wiley will resolve this question.
Upper Peninsula: No report available. It was recommended to please e-mail reports to President Longstroth if Directors are not going to be there so that there will be a brief report to share at the meeting.
North: Durst reported that they are responsible for members of the Professional Improvement Committee. Mary Dunckel, Roberta Dow and Jill O’Donnell have agreed to serve on this committee.
East Central: No report. It was reported that Larry Sheridan is the new Sanilac County Livestock Agent. Jim Kalishek is the new Regional Director from the East Central District. A Groundwater Position is open in the East Central District.
West Central: Griffith reported as the new Regional Director, replacing Tom Dudek. Lindquist has stepped down due to being elected Vice-President and Mira Danilovich, Oceana County will serve as Regional Director for a two-year term through 2002. New Value-Added Agent on the ridge is Diane Novak who will be working with townships in Kent, Muskegon, Ottawa and Newaygo Counties. She is based at SelectBank in Sparta.
Southeast: Krauskopf reported that Mike Score is the new Director. Krauskopf will be meeting with Don Juchartz later in the month to discuss his role in working with life members. There is an opening for National Committee Chair of Life members needed and it was suggested that Krauskopf approach Juchartz to see if he would serve in this role. Smucker suggested that a life member chair role be to help us keep track of the member list of retirees and to revise and update the list we already have. Varner was charged to examine the by-laws and investigate what they say about the life member role and to look at revising, if necessary. A Groundwater Position is also open in the Southeast Region.
Southwest: MacKellar is replacing Mike Staton as Regional Director. They plan to meet later in November, possibly in combination with a Farm Management Meeting. New agents include Mike Metzger, Jackson County Field Crops Agent; Bob Battle, temporarily replacing Natalie Rector on leave, Calhoun County. Interviews have been held for the Berrien County Fruit Position and should be held soon for the Cass County Swine Position. A new position has been posted in Kalamazoo County for Consumer Horticulture that will work in Van Buren, Cass and Kalamazoo.
Longstroth reviewed the duties of the Professional Improvement Committee. Ira Krupp is serving as Chair. Committee members include Coleen Boyer, Charles Gould, Roberta Dow, Jill O’Donnell and Mary Dunckel. One of the responsibilities of this group is to plan for the Spring Training. Subsidiary Chairman for this group include Ned Birkey, Agronomy; Kevin Gould, Animal Science; Bobbi Lawrence, Horticulture; Roger Betz, Ag Economics; Jill O’Donnell, Forestry, and Aquaculture is open at this time. A discussion ensued as to how we might promote interest in serving on these positions and recruit people who want to take these responsibilities. Moore suggested that this be a part of our Annual Meeting and we need to spell out what are the specific responsibilities of these committee assignments so that it is readily available to those who might consider serving. Anyone who is interested in these positions should get in contact with President Longstroth.
Extension Development Council is chaired by Jim Islieb. Jim Zook is Vice-Chair. Their major responsibility is to sponsor Extension Improvement Activities at our State and National Meetings. One of their principal activities last year was to put together the Poster Session that was part of Spring Training. Durst discussed that we need to promote participation in our National Meeting Poster Session. We should do this by making that part of our Spring Training to help agents understand the opportunities and requirements of these activities. Moore stated that we should do some things to encourage uniformity of our posters in Michigan and Varner was charged to talk with Mike Kosacic to see if we can get some help from the Marketing Committee to accomplish this goal.
Program Recognition Council is chaired by Hannah Stevens and Jane Herbert is serving as Vice-Chair. Other members of this committee include Betsy Dierberger, Public Relations; Paul Marks, Extension Programs; Angela Eichorn, 4-H and Youth; Hannah Stevens, Communications; Jane Herbert, Professional Excellence; Jeanne Himmelein, Recognitions and Awards and Julie Pioch, Scholarships. It was recommended that as Chairman, Stevens receives correspondence she should send copies to all of the committees so that they will be aware of the responsibilities of each individual. Durst suggested that the committee should consider appointing a National Annual Meeting Chair for this year who would fulfill the first four duties of the job description for Professional Excellence Chair. This should be one who definitely plans to attend the Albuquerque meeting. Moore agreed to send out a message asking members to respond if they definitely plan to go or if they are thinking of going to the Albuquerque meeting. Durst moved that full responsibilities of the Annual Meeting be assigned to an Annual Meeting Chair and this person be responsible for the first four duties of the Professional Excellence Chair. Supported by Varner, motion passed. Durst stated that Northern Region Members are being encouraged to plan to attend the next three meetings. Longstroth will be responsible to appoint the Albuquerque meeting Michigan Chair.
No reports at this time.
Longstroth stated that he would post dues notices and he is also making an archive of past winners of the AA and DSA Awards that will be accessible on the Web. A newsletter was discussed. The next edition should include new officers, committee chairs and they should be mailed to life members. It was also decided to send them out by way of e-mail to the list that the secretary has and also to produce one hard copy per county to be put in county mailboxes. Discussion proceeded that we should put out four issues a year, according to the following schedule: Next edition will be due out November 30. Articles for this edition should be sent to Smucker by November 20. January 30 will include information on the Spring Training and then editions will be due out on April 30 and August 30. The e-mail list should include Extension Administration.
Moore will send out an e-mail message to find out who plans to attend.
March 6 and 7, 2001 – Sandy Bauer is holding a room for us and also has informed the Union that we will be doing some meals there. We need to finalize plans with her as soon as possible. The themes for past meetings were reviewed including Value Added Land Use, and GMO’s. Suggestions for this meeting include a session on Poster Making. Longstroth stated that he could make a presentation on agent’s response to agriculture disasters. He would be assisted by Mark Hansen. Arlen Leholm and Gale Arendt are to be contacted to open the meeting and keynote speaker. The administration has supported the meeting from about $1,000 to $1,500. Discussion ensued as to what kind of content we need and suggestions included skill building and core competency issues should be part of the meeting. Griffith stated that her Region felt that specific sessions should be considered also. Identifying and dealing with emerging issues have been important components in past meetings. Durst suggested that we should work at having a separate business meeting that would be separated from the dinner and awards presentation at Fall Conference and that we should work to get Administration to commit to this. MCEA has agreed to get more involved and we need to work with them to express our wishes. Fouch suggested that an important aspect of Fall and Spring Conferences is the opportunity for Extension staff to get together, visit and network.
Longstroth reported on the correspondence that he has had with Minnesota and apparently Minnesota has asked for the Sunday night meal that we had hoped to be able to do. It was suggested that we consider doing a fish boil and hold that for an evening meal. Krauskopf raised the issue that we need to consider food safety issues that are becoming more prominent and their possible impact on us being able to bring and serve our own food. It was suggested that Longstroth find out from Wisconsin what the rules are going to be and what is going to be possible and we would possibly consider, as an alternative to Sunday night, doing the Monday night supper which would precede the talent review. The group stated that they did not want to do Wednesday breakfast because that would mean not participating in the Professional Improvement Tours. The next step is to find out what it is going to be possible to do in Wisconsin and then after that appoint a committee to get started working. Krupp asked if committee chairs are expected to attend all board meetings. Longstroth responded that chairs should definitely attend the Spring meeting as they will be giving oral reports at that meeting, and that he would ask that committee chairs give him written reports of activities for each board meeting.
Dates were set for future board meetings: January 29 at 10:00 a.m. will be a board meeting and the general membership meeting will be held during Spring Conference. May 3 at 10:00 a.m. will be a board meeting. Another board meeting will be held August 23 and October 4. Annual Meeting will again be at Fall Conference and the date of that has not yet been set.
Wiley reported on the Michigan Environmental Assurance Program and the pilot program that is being considered to be run through early May.
Varner reported that screening of candidates for the Dean Position is getting underway.
A small business development center is no longer going to be at Wayne State University and MSU may consider making an application.
It was also stated that Scott Romney, Board of Trustees, is serving out the term of Russ Mawby, and has recognized Extension as a important entity of Michigan State University. Longstroth is to send him a letter thanking him for his support of MSU Extension.
Meeting adjourned at 12:55 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Donald R. Smucker
Secretary
This page was last updated on 11/13/2000