UW Extension Arts & Culture Committee Meeting

UNAPPROVED UW Extension Arts & Culture Committee Minutes from October 8, 2014 (93 KB)

UW Extension, Arts and Culture Committee

Minutes of the Regular Meeting

October 8, 2014

Members present:  Judy Ashford, John Dietz, William Hambrecht, Eric Peterson, Donna Stehling, Alan Anderson

Members absent:  

Citizens Present:   Maryo Gard Ewell

UWEX Staff Present: Jenny Erickson, Sue Nagelkerk, Danielle Sander, Lynn Zick

______________________________________________________________________________

Call to Order

            The meeting was called to order at 9:00 AM by Chair Ashford.

Certification of Open Meeting Notice

            Requirements of the Open Meeting Law were met.

Approval of Agenda

Chair Ashford asked to change the order of business to allow Maryo Gard Ewell to give her presentation earlier in the meeting; Jenny Erickson asked that Departmental Updates be added.  Chair Ashford said that as long as there were no actions that needed to be taken regarding the updates that it could be added.  Motion made by Stehling, second by Hambrecht to approve the agenda with changes.  Motion carried.

Approval of Minutes of Last Meeting

Motion made by Peterson, second by Stehling to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of September 10, 2014.  Motion carried.

Public Comment:

None

Communications:

None

Presentation by Maryo Gard Ewell:

Maryo Gard Ewell gave a presentation of the history of The Wisconsin Idea and Cooperative Extension as developed by Governor Robert La Follette and University President Charles Van Hise in the early 1900’s, how the idea progressed through the decades, and how it has touched the lives of almost every Wisconsinite for more than a century.  She also gave a perspective of how the arts was viewed as a valuable asset in agriculture and fostered through Extension programs in the University of Wisconsin’s College of Agriculture during this same time period.

Department Updates:

• Civil Rights Review will be November 18, 2014.
• Sue Nagelkerk talked about the weighted blankets project that HCE sews fleece blankets for.
• Sue mentioned the Lunch –n- Learn coming up on October 28, 2014, with Dr. Julie Poehlmann presenting her research findings from the Young Children of Jailed Parents study.
• Part of Vern Esser’s column from the Reedsburg Independent was read where he talks about the invaluable resource in the UW Extension office, that being Phyllis Both.
• Jenny Erickson mentioned that she is considering the possibility of becoming a multicultural awareness trainer and asked the committee if they saw any obstacles or had any objections to her applying for the program.  The committee was supportive of Jenny’s possible participation in this training.

Review 2014 Budget and Approval of Vouchers:

The second half of the agents’ salary contract has been paid for 2014 accounting for the large monthly invoice amount.  Motion was made by Stehling, second by Hambrecht to approve the UW Extension vouchers for the month of September an in the amount of $65,868.54 and also the vouchers for Arts & Culture in the amount of $75.00.  Motion carried.

Jenny reported that there is a savings in the agents’ contract line item due to the vacancy of a 4-H Youth Development Agent for a few months in 2013 which was credited to the department in 2014.  This will help to offset the unexpected expense of part-time help during Lynn’s illness earlier this year.  The budget will be tight for the rest of 2014, but the department should still be able to keep spending under budget.

Update of 2015 Budget Process:

There were no questions from Finance on the UW Extension Department budget nor on the Arts & Culture budget.  The next step in the process is the presentation of the county budget request to the full County Board in October for discussion and possible changes; the final vote to adopt will be made in November.

Agents Monthly Reports

Danielle Sander, WNEP:  Danielle has started back in the Sauk County office after working solely in Richland County for the last year.  She talked to the committee about the following topics:

• She gave a brief explanation of WNEP/SNAP-Ed and what she has been doing since her return to Sauk County.  She also reported that there are no schools in Sauk Prairie that qualify this year for WNEP.
• The confusion between WNEP and WIC and the perception that services overlap or are  duplicated; Danielle explained how different counties utilize the two different programs and the situation in some more urban counties where they work together.
• Danielle reported to the committee where Sauk County is at in the hiring process for a WNEP Educator for Sauk & Richland Counties.  Applications close October 21^st with the screening of those applications to be completed by October 29^th; preliminary interviews are set for November 10^th with final interviews on November 24^th.  Start date would be January 1, 2015.  The position is being listed as Richland/Sauk to be able to utilize the educator’s services across county lines if needed.
• WNEP’s federal funding will be cut in Wisconsin and she reported the decreased funding amounts through 2018.

Jenny Erickson, CNRED:  Jenny gave a recap of the Great Sauk Trail public participation event on September 24^th and gave the committee some preliminary numbers/percentages of responses from the survey that was developed and distributed to get input as to what people would like to see this trail look like and what amenities they would like to have along the trail.  To date there are over 900 surveys that have been completed and received; the survey closes October 13, 2014, so the hope is to have 1,000 surveys by that time.  The next Great Sauk Trail Commission meeting will be October 22, 2014, for anyone who is interested in attending.

Future Agenda Items

• Presentation by Donna Neuwirth in either November or December on Fermentation Fest results

Next Meeting Date:  The next meeting will be on Wednesday, November 12, 2014, in the UW Extension Conference Room at 9:00 AM.

Adjournment

Motion was made by Dietz, second by Hambrecht to adjourn the meeting.   Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 10:48 AM.

Respectfully Submitted,

William Hambrecht, UW Arts and Culture Committee Secretary

Lynn Zick, Recording Secretary