NE District Unit Coordinators’ Meeting

1. NE District Unit Coordinators’ Meeting Centra Session June 1, 2006 Additional Notes in Green

2. Those Attending Not Present: Keith Balderson Karen Baker Doris Baskfield-Heath Karen Carter Jocelyn Dailey Matt Lewis Paul Davis Alinda Uzel Bill Dimock Kim Edmonds (for Karen Carter) Annette Jewell Sam Johnson Kelly Liddington Mike Likins Judy Midkiff David Moore Marilyn Morris Jim Orband Nancy Roche Rita Schalk Catherine Short

3. Agenda • Fiscal Management • Local Government Budgets • VCE Unit Operating Budget • Checking Accounts • External Funds • Personnel Management • Annual Faculty Reporting • Staff Development • Classified Staff Evaluations • Extension Leadership Councils • Program Development • VCE Grants • Specialty Assignments • Marketing • District Program Leader Update • Staff Training • Personal Action Plans • Unit Program Reviews • District Intranet Site • Other • EFNEP/SCNEP Update • Technology Update • Important Dates

4. Fiscal Management: Budgets • Local Government Budgets See Intranet for document to submit info on and other pertinent info • Due in June: Let us know if you can’t make the deadline. Need signature of local county/city representative. Send to District Office. Original will be sent to Dr. McCann and a copy will be kept in the District Office. • VCE Operating Request: NE District Request Form sent by D. Richmond via email: • Due District Office, July 7, 2006

5. Fiscal Management: Checking Accounts • NE District Local Checking Account Inventory: This continues to be a very important item that needs our attention. • Format to be Distributed Barbara would like an assessment about what is in your Unit’s account. A format will be developed. An inventory needs to be kept on your local checking account. • What are your Accounts • Their Purpose • Balances • Signature Authority UAAs are not to be signature authority on this account. • Reviewed When and by Who It is critical to review these accounts periodically. Make sure you have checks and balances. UCs and UAAs are to review together. Barbara is “Trying to get our house in order.” Get things tightened up where they need to be.

6. Fiscal Management: External Funds • External Funds • All Agents are expected to pursue and secure External Funds to support programming: Includes Grants and Non-Grant Support This needs to be communicated back to your colleagues. Try to push your external resources. Need to enhance our outreach.

7. Personnel Management: Annual Faculty Reporting Congratulations! We made it through first on-line reporting. • eFArs currently being revised • eFars expected to be open for new submission this summer • District Directors developing some guidance on what to submit where – Target date July 1. Will organize direction for categories to operate in a standard manner. • Impacts will continue to be a focus of programming/ reporting– Very high priority. • Use Reference Info on writing impact Statements – Examples on EFARS are very good. • Impacts need to be more than numbers of participants—What happened based upon program intentions • Mid-Year Reviews will be done this summer by the District Director—Schedule to be distributed– Will be doing telephone calls (20 minutes to ½ hour).

8. Personnel Management: Classified Evaluations & Agent Staff Development • Staff Development for Agents: Will be developed around situation analysis This info is being highly utilized. • Classified Staff Evaluations: Reminders • If P141 (Extraordinary Contribution) or P142 (Needs Improvement) is needed, please prepare and send in for reviewer signature before September – must be approved prior to evaluation. The P141 is for performance beyond standard expectations and exceeds ratings. • Exceeds ratings are issued for tasks or duties that are beyond the routine responsibilities

9. Program Development: Extension Leadership Councils • ELCs • Need to be meeting and involved: • Involvement: Requires thought and facilitation by Agents---Plan of Actions that Compliments the Unit programming agenda/needs – If there has been a dormant period, you need to get it up and going. Will be checking with UCs as to what is going on. • Utilize Intranet Resources on ELCs for guidance • Has Operating Guidelines: By-laws--Use State ELC By-laws as reference if need to develop – Dr. McCann is interested to make sure there are guidelines. • All ELCs are encouraged to: Host a Program Highlights Event prior General Assembly convening (Fall) • Highlights Event should feature: Needs and How Extension Programs are addressing needs • Suggestion: Events could also be a venue for recognition of support: Volunteers and Government Officials

10. Program Development: VCE Grants • Dr McCann: Hopes to provide small programming grants to aid program development/excellence/innovation • $2,000-$ 5,000 Awards will be based upon programming which reflects applications/principles of programming process • District Program Leaders to be involved with review/etc

11. Program Development: Specialty Assignments • FCS Agents are returned to specialty assignments • Family & Human Development • Management, Housing and Consumer Education • Food, Nutrition & Health Reminder to All: • Specialty assignment is not intended to justify not programming to local needs that fall outside of the specialty – You need to step out and do things outside your specialty. This is a way to get expertise in a particular area.

12. Program Development: Marketing • Marketing: A VCE Marketing Task Force has been formed. The NE District is represented by Paige Hogge, Joel Bunn, and Jim Orband. There are going to be a lot of changes due to the new logo, e.g. new business cards, new letterhead, new tablecloths, etc. • Local VCE Websites need to be maintained with up to date info – UAA responsibility • Government Websites utilized by Cooperative Extension need to have Extension branding—mass head utilization- not utilized to the neglect of the VCE site--Linked back to VCE site – Review your site • Email Signatures: No quotes-extraneous statements – No Bible verses – Your info only – Ask staff to remove quotes. • PID: All should use vt.edu email address—not local government address

13. Program Leader’s Notes Marcia B. Meador Unit Coordinators’ Meeting June 1, 2006

14. Staff Training • Extension Delivery Methods: What Works Best & Who Decides September 28, 2006 District Office – 24 spaces Open to all agents Nancy Franz will conduct the training program. Hours -9am-3:30pm. A general announcement will be sent out.

15. Course Description • Delivery Modes to Meet Audience Expectations • Targeted Behavioral Changes • Case Studies • Writing Impacts

16. Personal Action Plans • All staff need to get the 2006 PAP in. • Some PAP’s need expanding • Review program buy in’s and percentage time allocated

17. Unit Program Reviews • Review of unit educational programs • Impact on community • Strengths • Areas for improvement • What’s needed to support unit educational program

18. Components of Unit Program Review • Situation Analysis • Individual Personal Action Plans • ELC • Make Up • Minutes From Last Two Meetings • Program Evaluations • Unit Committees • Volunteer Groups • Roles • Make Up

19. Components of Unit Program Review • ARE (All Reasonable Efforts)/EEO Review • Forms • Policies • Documentation www.ext.vt.edu/vce/policies/index2.html Makesure you pull documentation up. There will be a Federal review in Virginia. Gretchen will be posting questions (that you are to e-mail to Marcia) with answers to the Northeast District Intranet for the Civil Rights review.

20. Components of Unit Program Review • Unit Web Site • Collaborative Groups Staff Work With • Diagram of Unit Staff & Where it Falls in County Matrix • Individual Meetings with Each Agent

21. District Intranet Site • Add District Events Calendar E-mail events to Marcia Meador or Gretchen Guinn • Q/A Pages • Trainings • Agent to Agent Share • Send Me Your Suggestions

22. Other Items • Establishing Quarterly Meetings for FCS & ANR – 4-H is up and running. Make sure staff is allowed to attend. Will be rotating locations for meetings. • Forming Task Groups To Work on Targeted Issues • Providing Training – Grant writing to be included • Identifying Funding Sources

23. EFNEP/SCNEP Update: Judy Midkiff • Staff Changes New hires – Liz Hayes – Gloucester Adult/Youth SCNEP Vacancies to be filled July 25 – Chesterfield Adult SCNEP/Hanover Adult/ 4-H SCNEP/Henrico Adult SCNEP • Wish List 2006 Submit list to Donna Evans by July 15. Units where Program Assistants are housed will receive $60.00 for supplies. • Local Government Reporting Reports are available upon request/SCNEP year ended May 31, 2006/ EFNEP year ends August 31, 2006 • Match for SCNEP Continue signing your match quarterly and remind UAA to submit monthly. You will receive a document concerning your space match by the end of June to review. Most will have no changes to previous information. Just need confirmation that most of you haven’t moved in 7 years, and I have already talked to those who have. • State-Wide In-service: (For all Program Assistants) • September 13-15, 2006, Holiday Inn, Blacksburg

24. Technology Update: Sharon Whitehead • Outlook rollout – Training CD has been sent to all offices. Cannot keep Eudora. • Ag domain – required to put our machines by December 31, 2006 • New Installs – have been scheduled. Computers are on a 3 year replacement. • There was no Office update in 2005. When a new one comes we will be rolling it out then. – Will not be getting Office 2003. Can be purchased through Software Distribution. • ALL printers and computers must be on a Surge Protector no exceptions. • There are no more Zip Drives on new computers. • If you need help learning to burn CD’s call me, I will help. Publisher training will be provided for the UAAs at New Horizons.

25. Other Business Group • If CSI money comes through, we may be able to ad some more positions. • Sam expressed appreciation for being able to have summer interns. He reminded everyone that Karen Cox is the new Forestry agent working out of King & Queen. She is traveling around the District. Please involve her in the programs in your unit. • David Mentioned that Megan Gardner, the new Horticulture agent working out of Middlesex, will be covering 6 counties and will come in contact with 500 youth and volunteers. Please involve her in your programs also. • Karen and Megan are pioneers in the District with their new positions. They are up for the challenges. Involve them both in activities in your units. • Interviewed for City of Richmond 4-H position. Amber Morgan will start on June 25. She was a Petersburg 4-H person and is eager to become an Extension Agent. • Will be interviewing the end of June for the Charles City/New Kent 4-H position. Five candidates will be interviewed. • Will be interviewing 4 candidates in July for the Community Viability position.

26. Dates: Mark Your Calendars • District Fall Conferences: All Extension Agents are required to attend. If you cannot attend in the Northeast District conference, contact the District Director in the District office you would like to attend. The National 4-H Agents meeting may conflict with some of the schedules. • Northeast: October 20, 2006 • Central: October 18, 2006 • Southeast: October 19, 2006 • Southwest: October 30, 2006 • Northwest: October 31, 2006 • Northern: November 1, 2006 • Agent eFARS Reports Due - January 15, 2007 • Unit Coordinators’ Meetings Hopefully, we will be able to do some face-to-face meetings. We are going to try to provide some training, e.g., Leadership Training, Conflict Resolution Training. • September 7, 2006 • December 7, 2006 • March 8, 2007 • June 7, 2007 I

27. Adjourn and Thanks