Accessible document
October 10, 2004
Newport, RI
In attendance: Bill DuPaul, Ralph Rayburn, Jay Rasmussen, Jim Falk, Jim Hurley and Cheryl Teagle. Jim Murray participated by conference phone. Others invited but unable to attend included: John Woeste (National Review Panel Liaison to Assembly EXCOMM) and LaDon Swann (SGA Liaison to Assembly EXCOMM). .
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Bill DuPaul at 8 a.m. (EST)
A new Assembly nominating committee needed to be appointed and two individuals were appointed at our meeting in Jekyll Island. Dale Baker and John Schwartz both agreed to serve. The EXCOMM still needed to appoint a committee member to serve. We agreed that the past-chair, in this case Jay Rasmussen, would serve as the EXCOMM member on the nominating committee. online elections will once again take place in November 2004. We have openings for a new Secretary/Treasurer (3-year term) and chair-elect (3-year term--chair-elect/chairman/past-chair). The nominating committee will be forwarding information to the Assembly shortly.
We have formalized the roles for our EXCOMM liaisons to the SGA. The chairman has always been a liaison to the Program Mission Committee and now the past-chair will serve as liaison to the External Relations Committee. They will both be required to attend SGA meetings and attend the committee meetings and report back to the Assembly on issues of importance.
Jim Falk gave a treasurers report (see attached). He reported that as of October 6, 2004 we had a balance of $9,076.52 in the Assembly treasury. Outstanding bills include payment for a plaque for the June BBB seminar speaker ($45.00) and room/refreshment costs associated with this Newport, RI EXCOMM meeting. The EXCOMM also wanted to thank Brian Doyle and NH Sea Grant for maintaining the account and agreed that we will continue this arrangement into the foreseeable future.
The SGA board plans to meet with Ralph Rayburn and Bill DuPaul while they are in Newport to discuss the BBB seminars. There is a sense that they just want to be "kept in the loop" on what happens when these seminars are presented in the DC area. There is currently a listserve with a number of SGA representatives included, so they should be aware early on of each BBB seminar that is planned. We will be sure to notify Jennifer Greenamoyer as early as possible to make her aware of all the BBB seminar plans and invite her to participate. In addition we will make sure our SGA liaison, LaDon Swann is kept informed as well. Jay Rasmussen brought up a question from Paul Olin (CA) asking about how the seminar speakers are selected. There is currently no formal selection process. In discussion, it was determined that speakers are selected based on current issues in NOAA, or topics that fit a "hot topic" in the marine and coastal area that Sea Grant Extension has been involved. R. Rayburn will revise a set of selection criteria and circulate it to the network.
The EXCOMM did approve the creation of a formal BBB seminar committee to insure that the selection process considers all extension folks and the myriad of great activities and programs. The suggested committee structure would look like this (11 individuals): The 6 chairs of the Sea Grant Regional Extension Networks (North East, Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, Gulf, Great Lakes and Pacific); SGA liaison to Assembly (currently L. Swann); NSGO staff – Jim Murray and Jamie Krauk; SGA External Relations representative (J. Greenamoyer or Rick Devoe) and the chair of the Assembly. This committee will be responsible for scheduling 3-4 seminars each year.
The EXCOMM deliberated on the three sites that were suggested at our Jekyll Island meeting and decided that two potential sites would be considered; (1) Puerto Rico, and (2) Washington State. B. DuPaul will contact the Program Leader in each of these programs and ask them to scope out potential meeting locations and associated costs and report to the Assembly at SG Week.
Everyone has seen information from Mike Spranger (FL) on the goal and mission of the Academy. There is a planning committee that is scoping out all of the logistics to begin this Academy in March 05 in Washington DC. The committee held a conference call with Ron Baird and J. Murray (R. Rayburn and J. Falk sat in as members of the EXCOMM) on October 6 to get the national office's support for the Academy and to also get a commitment of funding from NSGO. R. Baird indicated that he liked the concept and indicated a willingness to provide funding support when he had a new budget to work with. He could not indicate how much he would be willing to direct to the Academy. M. Spranger is preparing a more-detailed proposal to submit to R. Baird for his consideration. The total cost of the Academy will be about $25,000 and each program sending a staff member would incur some costs as well.
Another topic that was discussed during the October 6 conference call and has links to the Sea Grant Academy is the formation of a Sea Grant Institute "Think Tank". This is an idea that R. Baird is promoting and could be a separate entity, or combined with the Academy. It is not well-defined at this point, but it should be a forward-thinking group that would think strategically for the future of Sea Grant Extension. There is an element of professional development, as well as visioning associated with this idea. The Assembly has already worked strategically on the Growth Report and it could be used as a starting point to begin further visioning exercises. This issue will be further explored in the coming months and more information will be disseminated.
J. Murray reported that the CCE theme team has interacted with EPA in the past and solid relationships have been formed centered around Smart Growth topics. He noted that NOAA (Admiral Lautenbacher) and the EPA Adminstrator Levitt would be signing a formal agreement within the next few weeks to formalize the working relationship that SG has been able to form with EPA. A CCD coordinator will be hired (GS-9) and placed in NSGO office to help coordinate and report on all of the CCD efforts that are occurring throughout the SG network. EPA will cover the salary of the coordinator, for three-years, as well as about $10,000 for travel. J. Murray is hoping to possibly get a current Knauss Fellow who has an interest in coastal community issues to apply for the position.
J. Murray also noted that a coastal communities' workshop is being planned for December 12-14 in Washington, DC. It is being planned by the Coastal States Organization (state CZM and NERR programs). He noted that a few spaces are reserved for SG and 5-6 folks have been invited to attend and represent Sea Grant. An Extension Leader should attend this meeting on the Assembly's behalf.
See September 8, 2004 Assembly conference call minutes for a discussion on this topic. We agreed that this should probably be a topic that we will present to the Assembly in a survey that R. Rayburn is taking the lead in developing. The EXCOMM noted that each institution probably has a policy that deals with consulting and advocacy. If a state program did not have a formal policy, the Assembly could create some guidance for the NSGO to suggest to programs when there might be some concerns about this issue. The group suggested adding a question to the proposed survey that would ask if state programs have a policy on this issue at their institutions.
Everyone thought this Newport Assembly EXCOMM meeting worked well in conjunction with the SGA and R. Rayburn has arranged rooms for an Assembly EXCOMM meeting at the SGA meeting in Washington DC in March 2005. According to our Assembly by-laws the EXCOMM is required to meet one time a year in conjunction with a scheduled SGA meeting. There will also be a BBB seminar scheduled during this week.
SG Week 2005 is being planned for Rockport ME in June 2005. Everyone should have received information via e-mail on this meeting. The Assembly will have its annual business meeting on Sunday (as usual) and will hold a short follow-up meeting on Wednesday to identify action items. R. Rayburn is participating in the SG Week conference calls as our liaison and the EXCOMM will select a committee to help plan our business meeting. One suggestion was to have a couple hours of break-out sessions to have smaller groups of Program Leaders tackle important issues affecting Sea Grant Extension. This will be pursued as the planning committee begins its work.
Jim Hurley, as the at-large member of the EXCOMM, is responsible for overseeing this award that will be presented at SG Week. This award is presented every two years and is part of the Sea Grant Week Awards Banquet. The competition is conducted regionally with the each regional winner advancing for consideration as the National Superior Outreach Award. The announcement for regional winners to be considered for this national award will be posted on the Assembly website in the near future. J. Hurley will send information to the regional chairs that their region's nominated program must be submitted to him by January 31, 2005. He will select a panel of judges to review nominations and help select the national winner.
Incoming Chair, R. Rayburn has suggested a number of working committees that he would like to form to address critical issues facing the Assembly. The EXCOMM agreed that any committees that are formed would need very specific charges and missions. Also, a decision must be made whether the committees would be long-standing or set with a beginning and ending date to complete their charge.
The EXCOMM was informed that a retreat is scheduled for January 24-26, 2005 in Houston, TX. The purpose of the retreat is to develop strategies to take advantage of the Ocean Commission Report findings and the attention given to SG and its role in outreach and education. SGA members, NSGO staff and the National Review Panel will take part in the retreat. R. Rayburn, as incoming chair of the Assembly, will participate in the retreat and represent the Assembly.
A by-laws Subcommittee was formed at our Assembly meeting in Jekyll Island consisting of Bob Bacon, Mike Liffmann and an EXCOMM member. The incoming Secretary/Treasurer to be elected in November will serve as the EXCOMM member to this committee. The committee will be responsible for periodically reviewing the by-laws and making appropriate changes and modifications as the Assembly continues to mature.
The website is currently maintained by J. Rasmussen and Oregon SGEP. He has indicated a willingness to continue maintaining the site and process updates on a regular basis. He felt he could handle it by himself, unless there are plans to do more with it. All members of the Assembly are encouraged to forward pertinent information to Jay for posting if it can benefit the Assembly. It was suggested that contact information for the regional chairs be added to the website, as well as information on any new subcommittees and any reports that might be developed from these new committees. There is also a need to keep our awards information up-to-date. The EXCOMM agreed that a newly proposed committee entitled the Communication and Information Committee would review the web site and make suggestions for improvements.
Consideration was given to the topic that membership (non-voting) in the Assembly should not be limited to only SGEP Leaders. This topic has been discussed a number of times and R. Rayburn has shared his thoughts on why it would be beneficial. His feelings are that many agents/specialists would feel stronger engagement in the SG Extension family if they were members of the Assembly. Much of the discussion by other EXCOMM members focused on the reasons why the Assembly was created in the first place – to give Program Leaders a forum to discuss issues and provide leadership for ALL Sea Grant Extension. Many felt that this original charge would be lost if the Assembly was opened to all extension agents and specialists. Other EXCOMM members thought that agents/specialists could feel engaged participating in regional meetings with colleagues, as well as their participation in professional meetings of their peers. The Sea Grant Academy concept that is moving forward may also give agents/specialists a feeling of engagement in the SG Extension family as they get an opportunity to participate.
R. Rayburn presented a draft survey instrument that he would like to share with program leaders to get their input into a number of issues and topics that could affect the Assembly during his upcoming term as chair, and in the coming years. The EXCOMM felt that this would be a good way to gather input and the draft is being currently reviewed (EXCOMM members were requested to have comments to R. Rayburn by Mid-November) and it should be ready to disseminate later in the year, or in early January.
R. Rayburn brought his issue up at our Jekyll Island Assembly meeting and a subcommittee was formed to review this issue -- R. Rayburn, Chair, Pete Granger (WA) and Stephanie Showalter (SG Law Center). Information was presented to the EXCOMM that Josh Clemons from the SG Law Center compiled. Although there is still much to consider before deciding whether incorporating as a nonprofit is a good idea for the Assembly, the EXCOMM was supportive of this issue moving forward. The subcommittee will review all the information and present the pluses and minuses of incorporating at our SG Week business meeting. A decision by the Assembly for further action on this issue will be considered at that time.
J. Falk presented a motion to the EXCOMM that the Assembly support the development of the Sea Grant Academy in the amount of $3,000 to be provided from the Assembly account. The motion was seconded by J. Rasmussen and approved unanimously. B. DuPaul will draft a letter to M. Spranger informing him that the EXCOMM supports the development of the Academy. EXCOMM members suggested the funds be used for implementation of the program rather than planning activities.
The EXCOMM will convene a conference call in November 2004 to follow-up on topics needing further attention.
The meeting concluded at about 3:30 p.m. (EDT).
If you have any issues you would like the executive committee to discuss or explore, on your behalf, contact any member of the committee (See e-mail addresses and phone numbers below).
B. DuPaul – TUdupaul@vims.eduUT (804-684-7163)
R. Rayburn – TURalph-Rayburn@neo.tamu.eduUT (979-845-3854)
J. Falk – TUjfalk@cms.udel.eduUT (302-645-4235)
J. Hurley – TUhurley@aqua.wisc.eduUT (608-262-0905)
J. Rasmussen – TUJay.Rasmussen@oregonstate.eduUT (541-867-0368)
Submitted by: James M. Falk, ASGEPL Secretary/Treasurer (with the assistance of C. Teagle) 11/04/04
February 2002 – October 2004
Starting Balance (2/25/02) $4,426.63
Surplus from Baton Rouge
Meeting (2/25/02) (+) $4,676.49
Payment for Plaque (-) $ 132.00
Reimburse B. Miller
Past-Chair Awards (4/21/03) (-) $ 281.91
Reimburse R. Rayburn
Wick Awards (4/17/03) (-) $ 374.80
Reimburse J. Murray--SG/EPA
Training Washington, DC(11/7/03) (-) $ 370.00
Interest Added (B. Doyle) (+) $ 597.00
BBB Seminar Plaque for
Gary Graham (4/20/04) (-) $ 45.00
Invoice from Specialty Trophies
Wick Awards (4/27/04) (-) $ 245.25
Reimburse Oregon SG
Past-Chair Awards (June 2004) (-) $ 399.85
Surplus from Jekyll Island
Meeting (5/24/04) (+) $1,419.03
Support for SG Extension
Breakfast at AFS Meeting
Madison, WI (August 2004) (-) $ 193.82
BALANCE (10/6/04) $9,076.52
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