DATE: February 19, 2003
Members present: Bernien, Cassity, Lehman, Wiese, Zowin
UWEX Staff present: Dietmann, Nevers, Olson, Pederson (Southern District Director)
Advisory Members present: Harms, Leopold, Neuwirth
The meeting was called to order at 9:35 AM by Chair Wiese.
Requirements of the open meeting law were met.
Motion by Cassity, second by Bernien to approve the agenda. Motion approved.
Motion by Zowin, second by Bernien to approve the minutes of the January 23, 2003, regular meeting of the Ag & Extension Committee. Motion approved.
No correspondence.
Motion by Bernien, second by Zowin to approve the January bills in the amount of $3,225.10. Motion approved.
Paul reported that the department's revenues are above what was projected at this time. Expenses are on track except for the category of Project Supplies which is for 4-H project literature. The 4-H Senior Leaders reimburse the department for anything over $1,200 each year.
Lester reported on the District WACEC meeting that he and Paul attended in Platteville. The attendance was low, but the topics were very interesting.
Dick Pederson gave the committee an overview of what the Southern District is planning for the State WACEC meeting that is going to be held March 31 to April 2 in Madison. He stressed that it is critical for Ag & Extension Committee members to attend, especially in light of the Governor's proposed budget cuts. If members cannot attend the entire conference, he encouraged them to at least attend on the second day, April 1st.
Dick Pederson gave the committee an update of what stage the 4-H/Youth Development agent hiring process is in. The external postings will close March 10. Dick anticipates that first interviews may take place the week of March 24, second interviews in Sauk County may take place after Easter. The earliest that we could have a new agent in place is probably June.
Dick also responded to the Sauk County Ag & Extension Committee's letter requesting that the Master's degree requirement be lowered to Master's degree preferred. He stated that he talked to Greg Johll and Donna Menart regarding the letter and there was some concern that if the county was to pursue that line of thinking, the hiring process would be delayed due to the fact that the job description would then have to be rewritten and the process started over. Paul assured Dick that Sauk County did not necessarilyexpect Madison to act on the letter, but that the committee wanted their opinion expressed. Donna Neuwirth asked about job sharing and discussion revolved around the fact that job sharing in a 4-H/Youth Development Agent position would be very difficult due to the long and irregular hours required in the job.
Liz presented her 2003 POW and stated that the changes that she made were not in what she was going to be doing, but in how she will be evaluating her programming. The programs that she will have include:
The committee stated that they feel that Liz needs to look harder at how this program area affects the county economically, how it has impacted the organization that she has worked with and what would the cost have been if they would have had to hire an outside agency. She also needs to communicate the value of the program to the community and provide tangible examples and follow-through.
Paul reported that Sue Nagelkerk, Marcy Huffaker and Melissa Burke provided Accomplishment Reports even though they were not able to attend the meeting. The committee was asked to read through them and bring any questions back to the next meeting.
Paul presented his AR. The highlights of his accomplishments are:
Liz presented her AR. The highlights of her accomplishments are:
Motion by Lehman, second by Zowin to move into closed session. Roll call vote was taken:
Bernien - aye, Cassity - aye, Lehman - aye, Wiese - aye, Zowin - aye. Committee moved into closed session.
Motion by Lehman, second by Zowin to move back into open session. Roll call vote was taken:
Bernien - aye, Cassity - aye, Lehman - aye, Wiese - aye, Zowin - aye. Committee moved into open session.
Dick discussed the evaluation criteria, handed out guidelines and evaluation form.
No Advisory Committee Comments.
Due to the length of the meeting, no update was given this month.
The next regular meeting of the Ag & Extension Committee will be held Friday, March 21, 2003, at 9:30 AM in the ETN Classroom.
Motion by Lehman, second by Cassity to adjourn the meeting. Meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted: Paul Dietmann
DATED: February 27, 2003