January 12, 2000 Minutes

The meeting was called to order at 10:30 am by President Monica Roth. Board members present were Monica Roth, Charles Mazza, Ken Carnes, Ed Staehr, Keith Severson, Paul Westfall, Steve Hadcock, Bruce Tillapaugh, Tom Nally, and Walt Nelson. Others present were Ed Harwood, Soneeta Grogan, and Merrill Ewert.

President's Report

Monica said that she was happy to serve, and that she needs and appreciates the help and support of the board members.

Minutes

The minutes of the October 14,1999 meeting were reviewed. Keith Severson moved to approve the minutes. Ken Carnes seconded. Motion passed.

Treasurer's Report

Charlie Mazza passed out copies of the 2000 budget approved at the 1999 annual meeting (attached). He also passed out the account summary covering January 1, 1999 through December 15, 1999 (attached). He mentioned that NYSACAA had received a large contribution from the Capital District.

Charlie reported that he had received a few new members through the ACCEE membership campaign. There is still a problem with reporting membership and dues. Some dues are paid in one fiscal year for the membership in the next year. Quicken won't allow deferred income or allow for accrual accounting.

Charlie proposed that the board consider splitting the duties of the treasurer and membership chairman. For treasurer, candidates should have a farm business management background. He suggested that the membership chairman be located in the same office as the treasurer.

Tom Nally moved to accept the treasurer's report. Steve Hadcock seconded. Motion passed.

Membership Report

There are currently 33 members re-enrolled, 4 new members, and 2 affiliate members for 2000. Memberships are still coming in. Charlie is sending out reminder notices stating that the dues deadline is February 15, 2000.

Monica asked that we discuss associate and affiliate membership at a future meeting.

Charlie passed out membership forms for board members to use.

Keith suggested that Charlie ask Mike Baker for assistance with the membership records.

Monica appointed Dave Tetor, Les Hulcoop, and Stephanie Mallozzi to serve as an audit committee to audit the 1998 and 1999 books.

Old Business

Monica welcomed Walt Nelson and Bruce Tillapaugh as new board members.

Ed Harwood will serve as liaison to the Board from Cornell Administration. He reported on several items.

• Administrative Changes: R. David Smith has requested to be full time in his work with agricultural sustainability and is now working full time on that. Margaret Smith now serves as director in Merrill's absence and retains her half time in extension administration and half time research. Ed Harwood now has all responsibility for agricultural extension programming.
• The Statewide Program Committees are reorganizing and will have more industry representation.
• The Agricultural Initiative was not mentioned in the Governor's State of the State Address, nor was there funding in the Governor's Budget for the initiative. The Council of Agricultural Organizations will continue the effort, depending on what happens to the Governor's Budget in the next 30 days. Nathan Rudgers, Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets, will ask the Governor to add the agricultural Initiative to the budget. If this does not happen, the CAO will have to take the legislative route. The CAO is broadening its base by inviting more organizations to join. There has been more information posted on the web page from the CAO about the Agricultural Initiative. The broad picture is now known as the Agricultural Initiative, with emphasis on Marketing and Agricultural Economic Development. Agricultural education is the CAO's second or third priority. If the Agricultural Initiative is not fully funded, the plan is to use a process yet to be defined to allocate what funds are received. There is no "Plan B". The projected funding stream is that funds would be put in Ag and Markets budget, who would in turn pass them on to the CALS Committee, which includes Cornell Cooperative Extension, CALS, and CAO, who is responsible for further fund distribution.
• Ed mentioned that he had not yet checked to see if the currently funded initiatives are still included in the proposed state budget.
• Board members mentioned that association and field staff need to be involved in the SPC's. This will help improve communications with field staff.

Professional Development Update - Soneeta Grogan

• The Program Development Team was organized about a year ago (attached). The purpose is to strengthen individual learning and professional growth of staff. They are currently rebuilding due to vacancies.
• The team is reviving the call for scheduling in-services, and will circulate in-service offerings to staff with enough advance time for staff to plan and schedule. In-service lists will be circulated every six months.
• The team has reviewed Core Competencies for Extension Educators (attached). These were derived from a nation-wide study, a NELD study, and work at the college. These are being used as a basis for developing the core curriculum. Unit One is already in place, and units two through seven are under development.
• These in-services are important. A new employee would participate in unit one and parts of units two through four during the first year of employment, plus relevant subject matter training. During the second year of employment, the employee would participate in units five through seven, plus subject matter.
• The team is looking at a variety of learning strategies to deliver core competency training, including workshops, distance learning, mentoring, and learning partners. They are offering a learning partners workshop soon, and are designing a learning tactics program.
• It is a balancing act for staff to attend professional development events, from both a time and cost standpoint. Most staff has 10% of their time devoted to professional development.
• The core competencies curriculum will provide training on learning processes for new staff, particularly those already strong in subject matter.
• The Board offered to provide contacts for potential mentors and to work with the professional development team. Soneeta said that the team is holding "framing" discussions to design professional development plans and programs. She also suggested that NYSACAA pursue the "Adopt-a-Faculty Member" idea.

Director's Comments - Merrill Ewert

• ASI - Merrill and Ed have been trying to use the TQM approach to keep everyone informed. Regardless of what the governor does or does not do, we need to press on. We can use building the initiative as a first step and we must move along the lines of implementing some of the issue programs, strengthening the statewide program committees, improve communication between Cornell University and the community, and improve our technological expertise. He articulated the perception that Cornell is on a hill with no access, and emphasized that people need to know how to access campus. The better we do our work on issues, the sooner this will come. We must show that we are serious.
• Classification/Compensation - There is a question of how to motivate/encourage associations to properly classify positions. An example is an employee classed as an Agent II actually performing Agent III level work. Efforts to retain staff will improve program quality. This is a problem that the system has not addresses. We are working on a new set of expectations, classifications, salaries, hours, etc. This is not isolated to New York. The economy and demographics also influence staff retention.
• System 2000 Conference - Merrill pointed out that Ag Agents have been lax in attending CCE conferences. The System 2000 Conference is focused on the "Engaged Institution". We need to encourage Ag Agents to attend and participate. This is critical as discussions are focused on the Cornell Cooperative Extension System, not on in-service.
• Dean's Search - the search committee is currently screening applicants, and a short list should be released soon. The process after that should be similar to past searches, including interviews, seminars, and public forums.
• Provost Search - Provost Randall has resigned and a search is underway.
• Associate Director's Role - Jo Swanson is now full time as associate director. R. David Smith has requested to be removed from administration in favor of the agricultural sustainability work he is doing. Ed Harwood is now the first point of contact for agricultural issues. Margaret Smith has been assigned specific policy issues in agriculture and serves as "deputy director" in Merrill's absence.

Committees:

• We have statewide chairs for all the "old" committees, but need chairs for the commodity committees. Steve Hadcock will distribute the entire committee list.
• Steve Hadcock distributed Northeast NACAA committee openings for 2000-2002. Members should let Monica or Steve know of any nominees for these positions. Job descriptions for each committee chair and vice-chair have been developed and are posted on the NACAA web site. Nominations are due by the end of February.

Awards Program:

• Information should be distributed soon. Board members should encourage participation. The Search for Excellence will be renewed, but has changed. Most of these awards will be the national winners in commodity areas.
• Walt Nelson has asked that the New Publications Award chair be reassigned.
• Richard Weir took early retirement and we need to get him a plaque. Monica will check with Judy Wright.
• Tom Maloney shared via e-mail information regarding the Awards Committee (attached).
• There was discussion about the Meshew Award. We need to consult previous minutes to re-establish the guidelines for the award.
• To apply for awards, a member must have dues paid.

Redistricting

• Monica asked that Ken Carnes share information previously developed regarding re-districting.

National Meeting

• The 2000 National Meeting/PIC will be held August 6-10, 2000, in Jackson, Mississippi. Steve Hadcock reviewed the agenda. Look for more information in The County Agent. We need to submit delegate names 30-60 days in advance.

Fall 200 Professional Associations Conference

• The conference is scheduled for October 25-27. The planning committee will determine logistics and location. We need representatives for the planning committee, and will need to plan our own profession improvement portion of the conference. NYS4-HEA, NYSAFCSE, ESP, and NYSACAA are combining for this conference.
• Keith Severson and Ed Staehr volunteered to represent NYSACAA on the planning committee. The planning committee will meet either January 24, 25, 27, or 28. The question was asked to see if the dates could be changed to avoid a conflict in October.

2005 NACAA Conference

• We have many questions concerning hosting the 2005 NACAA Annual Meeting/PIC in New York. We will need to determine a site, who will be treasurer, coordinator, financial support, and other commitments. We received a letter from Cindy Delaney about researching potential sites. Her proposal was for $1700. Potential sites include Buffalo/Niagara Falls, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany.
• Another strategy is to send letters or contact chambers of commerce to ask what assistance they can offer in planning this conference in their cities. Board members volunteered to solicit information from cities: Ken Carnes - Albany; Ed Staehr - Syracuse; Paul Westfall - Buffalo/Niagara Falls; Tom Nally - Rochester.
• Monica appointed a steering group that includes Les Hulcoop, Steve Hadcock, Ed Staehr, and Tom Nally.
• We need to pursue obtaining 501©3 status. Possible conference chairs include Ed Staehr and Dave Tetor. A possible treasurer is Joan Petzen. We also need to get a list of committees needed from the National Office.

Next Meeting

The next meeting date is Friday, March 31, 2000, 10:00 to 3:30, at the Onandaga CCE office.

Agenda items for the March meeting include:

• The 2005 PIC
• Goals for the Association
• Fall PIC
• The System 2000 Conference
• Dean and Director's Reports
• Clippings
• The NYSACAA Web Site
• Archives
• Associate and Affiliate Membership
• Audit Committee Report

March In-Service

The proposed March environmental in-service is not feasible at this time. We should concentrate on good in-service programs for the October PIC.

Regional Vice Director's Report

Please see attached.

Other Business:

Ken Carnes informed the board that a nursery in each county will have 250 trees in late March for Arbor Day. Community groups can apply for trees, but they may not be used for existing projects. Ken has a list of participating nurseries. He warned that we should avoid planting invasive species.

Meeting Adjourned

Respectfully submitted,
Paul Westfall, Secretary