Dean's Extension Advisory Committee
The Dean's Extension Advisory Committee meets every other month to engage with Dean Hibberd on issues within and about UNL Extension. During the first half of 2014, the committee discussed numerous topics raised by the committee, by Dean Hibberd, and by UNL Extension personnel. During the August meeting, the committee discussed follow-up and actions on many pending issues including the upcoming Chat with Chuck webinar sessions on Excellence in Extension. A summary of discussions and follow-up is provided to keep all UNL Extension personnel informed of the issues and actions. The committee will continue to meet through the rest of 2014, on the first Friday of both October and December. You may submit any timely topics for the agenda to Brad Lubben at blubben2@unl.edu or to any member of the committee.
Dean’s Extension Advisory Committee Members
Ann Fenton Immediate past president of NCEA
Randy Saner Immediate past president of NACAA of NCEA
Ruth Vonderohe Immediate past president of NEAFCS of NCEA
Karna Dam Immediate past president of NE 4-H Section of NCEA
Jeff Hart Immediate past president of Specialist Section of NCEA
Jay Jenkins Panhandle District
Cami Wells West Central District
Connie Reimers-Hild Southeast District
Diane Vigna Child, Youth and Family Studies; Food Science and Technology; Nutrition & Health Sciences; Textiles, Clothing and Design;
School of Natural Resource, and School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Brad Lubben Ag Economics; Biological Systems Engineering; ALEC/Educational Media; 4-H Youth Development
Rick Rasby Agronomy/Horticulture, Animal Science, Entomology, and Plant Pathology
Kayla Hinrichs Northeast District
Cheryl Burkhart-Kreisel Immediate past president of NACDEP of NCEA
Natalia Bjorklund Immediate past president of ANREP of NCEA
Summary of Discussion and Follow-Up
February
• Excellence in Extension Work – discussion of a draft document being developed by Dr. Hibberd
• Community Vitality Initiative – discussion of Extension investments/commitments to CVI and organizing/reporting CVI efforts
• Organizational development and the role of Dr. Wayne Moore
• Ed Media – discussion of capacity, operations, issues, budget, etc.
• Institutional support of travel – discussion of budget and support for travel
April
• Educational Media – discussion of proposed cuts to Educational Media and efforts of working group under the Resource Optimization Task Force
• Evaluation and Promotion Process – discussion of process and inconsistencies between IANR and Extension guidelines for P&T, need to better understand the process, including the definition of excellence in Extension work, the expectations for citizenship, the communication of progress toward expectations, and the plan for mentoring; role of PIs in evaluation process of grant-funded personnel; evaluation of new hires expected to be part of a team
• Personnel – discussion of center- and campus-based educators, FTE investments in educators and specialists, and personnel management training for administrative/unit leaders
• Resources and Management – the system effectively needs credit card capability in every office, but for example, the Attorney General has said that UNL should have only 1 Paypal account
June
• Protocols for internal transfers – discussion of some internal transfers in Extension – there is no policy, but generally, transfers are strategic staffing decisions where the needs of a position are a good match with an existing employee
• Tax on revolving account revenue – discussion on what is covered by the tax and what is legitimately exempt from the tax (pass-throughs, insurance payments) as well as other revenue that might be exempted based on data showing financial impact of tax on break-even accounts, etc.; discussion on the need for all to manage accounts consistently (not hiding funds in another account to avoid taxes, etc.)
• Ed Media – Resource Optimization Task Force still finalizing work to make recommendations to be followed by input. Impact of recommendations will be significant, but will address more than just how to make budget cut, they will address the strategic role for Ed Media
• NU President's Search – discussion of the focus on teaching, research, and service and uncertainty as to the role or focus on outreach and Extension
• Technology 2020 – working group report to be released soon should help develop a plan to ramp up our information technology and our work in the digital space
• Climate change – UNL climate change report by IANR is expected to be out on September 25. How might Extension respond and develop/adapt future Extension programming. What kind of programming is needed
August
• Ed Media – Issues and questions are being processed with potential announcement on October 1
• Travel Support – Information coming soon regarding Administrative support to pay for all Extension Educators and Specialists travel for the Fall NCEA/Extension Conference
• Evaluation and Promotion – Conversation continues around Activity Insight, promotion of Educators, tenure of Specialists, PI's involvement in evaluations, and how all this relates to Excellence in Extension with more avenues for conversation to take place
• Personnel – The hiring of Extension positions is in process and will be addressed as part of the Chat With Chuck webinar sessions on Aug 18, Sep 11 and Oct 9, leading up to Fall Conference
• Credit Cards – Use of credit cards used by UNL Extension and used by outsiders to purchase Extension materials is making progress and is looking at various providers of this service with more updates to come
• Excellence in Extension – The primary topic of discussion, a draft, work in progress, will soon be released to all Extension Educators and Specialists, to be used as a "conversation" piece, along with the 3 upcoming Chat With Chuck webinars, Fall Conference, and 2015 Eureka!