Minutes of the
Board of Directors
of the
Iowa Association of County Extension Councils
September 20, 2014
The Board of Directors of the Iowa Association of County Extension Councils met at the Polk County Extension Office in Altoona on Saturday, September 20, 2014. President Jennifer Penning called the meeting to order. Additional board members present include Al Pokorny, Tim Hibma, Judi Hertle, Steve Determan, Kathy Ebert, Mike Stocker, Dave Turner, John Dockendorff, and Glen Hayworth. Also present were Dr. Cathann Kress, Jim Harken, Sherry Glenn, Nancy Brannaman, John Paul Chaisson-Cárdenas, Joe Murphy, Terry Maloy, Mark Settle, and Julie Baumler.
No additions or corrections were made to the agenda. Dave moved to approve the minutes from the June 28 board meeting. Mike Stocker seconded the motion. The motion carried.
Kathy Ebert gave the treasurer’s report. We have a balance of $13959.96 in checking and a CD balance of $8,819.68. Kathy presented the following bills: Julie Baumler - $198.30 for printing and $340.61 for office and meeting supplies, Cyclong Trophy - $32.50 for board member name badges. Judi moved to approve the treasurer’s report and the bills. Steve seconded the motion. The motion carried.
Jennifer gave the report of the executive committee. She noted that the minutes of the exec committee meetings are in the packet. A membership map of counties who have paid their 2014-15 dues was also distributed. Our current membership is at eighty-eight counties. The deadline for paying dues is September 30.
Dr. Cathann Kress, Vice President for Extension and Outreach gave an ISU Extension & Outreach update. She introduced Nancy Brannaman, the new Director of Operations. Nancy will be working with all of the processes that are central to the ISUEO administration (i.e., IT, conference planning, publications, 4-H Center, management, finance). Nancy introduced herself to the group. She shared that she is will be placing an emphasis with her team on providing good service.
Cathann reminded the group of the three action steps the spring annual conference yielded:
1. Address Iowa changing demographics
2. Adapt to our new reality
3. Continue to invest in professional development
Last week 75 people attended new staff orientation. They learned more about the complexity of the organization and where we’re going in the future.
Dr. Kress clarified the approach to “addressing Iowa’s changing demographics.” She said that we are currently gathering information about all of Iowa’s demographics in an effort to learn and understand more about them so we can better serve our communities.
With regard to programming priorities, Dr. Kress shared that they will be focusing dollars on programs categorized as fundamental (required to do by federal or state funding), responsive (identified by needs assessment and changing demographics), and strategic (integrate resources across the university, multi-disciplinary, address signature issues).
As a result of focus groups with young Iowans age 18-35, Extension & Outreach is looking at ways to be more relevant. These five goals were identified:
1. Provide opportunities for people to engage and connect with their community
2. Bridge the gap between acadmenics/research and communities/needs
3. Be neutral and bring groups together to identify issues nad take action
4. Provide unbiased data for personal, professional, and community decision-making
5. Serve all people of Iowa with a more flexible, efficient, and responsive structure
Dr. Kress talked about widening the circle of our audience so we serve urban populations in addition to rural populations, thus strengthening the current programs while reaching out to underserved populations.
Ag& Nat Resources is changing their staffing model from dedicated specialists for a narrow field to a team of integrated cropping specialists.
In Human Sciences, Deb Sellers is leading an effort to change the staffing structure to better serve the state.
An update of the County Services unit was given by Sherry Glenn. She shared the updated ISU Extension & Outreach organzational char. It is also up on the website. She talked about some of the resources the county services unit provides as well as their accomplishments.
Sherry introduced Emily Ladewig, ISUEO Accountant. Emily notes that 100% of county offices closed out their books on Dynamics GP. She will continue to develop training and educate bookkeepers and councils on the abilities of the accounting software. Council members should let her know if they see a specific need for training. She is currently developing a training track on what Dynamics GP can do for councils and wants to ensure that county treasurers understand the reports.
Jim Harken, ISUEO Project Manager, was introduced next. He has been working on an intranet site, called My Extension, to help county staff find resources quickly. Their goal is to have the testing rolled out by the end of the month. Jim is also helping with county insurance items to make sure information is updated. Additionally, Jim is working on a task force to reach underserved audiences as well as working with the finance team to create some new modules.
Sherry noted that they are continuing to evaluate the regional structure to identify what is going well and what still needs to be looked at and tweaked.
Jessica Stolee has been hired as the Human Resources Coordinator. She is looking at ways to provide additional training and development for council members to help with their role as employers.
Sherry updated the group on the Crucial Conversations program that provides training tools to be able to have difficult conversations. She is encouraging staff and council membbers to participate in the training.
The Shared Services Fee Report related to County MOU Expenses and Revenue was shared by Sherry.
It tracks expenses outlined in the MOU. She noted that the total IT and Accounting expenses were less than budgeted, however central administration covered half of it. Counties will eventually ramp up their share every year to eventually cover these expenses in full.
Terry Maloy gave the Executive Director Report. He shared a proposal from Whitfield & Eddy P.L.C. to provide legal services for counties on retainer. Other proposals were sought, but no other firms were interested in providing a proposal. Whitfield Eddy has experience in employment law and has worked with other nonprofit groups. They are proposing a retention fee of $2,750/quarter with approximately 15 hours of consultation. As part of the fee, they could provide ongoing communication on current and developing issues, as well as training for council members within their districts. Counties would not be prevented from using their own attorneys if they’re interested, however these attorneys are experienced with employment law. There is no set length of contract beyond the quarter and the proposal could be altered depending on use.
Glen asked whether we will require all counties to pay extra fees to accommodate to expense or if there will be a two-tiered system. If we raise dues to cover the fees, we will need to do a good job of educating councils on what this service provides. The group generally agreed that they wanted to offer the service as part of the regular dues. The board liked the idea of taking advantage of education during regional meetings. Tim noted that the fee would be about $11,000, which is about $100 per county per year. This is much more affordable than if a county needed to hire legal services independently.
John moved to proceed with the Whitfield & Eddy proposal for one quarter starting October 1. Mike Stocker seconded. Dave moved to table due to the lack of a quorum. Kathy seconded the motion. The motion was tabled until the next meeting. A teleconference will be set to revisit the motion.
Terry reported that on December 6 there will be a Council Orientation training via webinar for new council members, exisiting council members, plus county staff. There will be 13 host sites across the state. Topics include Extension Culture & strategies, open meeting laws, fiduciary responsibility, and board development. It will also be recorded for those unable to make it. Sherry noted that the council notebook is being updated as well.
In response to a breach of security that put 30,000 IDs at risk at ISU last year, the university has invested in a program called ID Finder. All servers and all computers will run ID Finder which generates a report to help identify places where these numbers are stored so they can be deleted or securely archived. Counties will also have access to this service.
Terry shared a summary of CoOpportunity Health Insurance, which may be an affordable health insurance option available to counties for their staff members. They have HSA and PPO programs and offer a small employer rate for 1-50 employees. This is a pre-tax program that meets Affordable Care Act standards. He noted that 100% of hospitals and 97% of health care providers in Iowa participate. With this program, councils are not locked into a 50% subsidy, but can choose to pay more or less. Councils can work with a local broker or directly with the company at no difference in premiums. Greene County has been using this company and has been content with it. Terry propsed that we share this information with other counties. Sherry suggested that Michael Cooley from Greene County and a council member might record a brief webinar to talk about it. Terry will put some information together and will share with IACEC members.
New 4-H Youth Development Program Leader, John Paul Chaisson-Cárdenas, shared his outlook for the 4-H Youth program. He wants to ensure that we’re serving all kids in the state, regardless of race, place of residence, disability, etc. He has been talking with groups around the state to gain a better understanding of where we are now and where we want to go with the goal of bringing youth, their families, and their communities together when we look at our programs.
John Paul responded to questions from the board. Glen asked how we can work with families who “don’t have time” for 4-H opportunities. John Paul said the key question we need to ask is, “Are we relevant?” How do you make 4-H more important than those other things that they spend their time doing? Judy noted that we need to make sure that opportunities are affordable to youth and families. John Paul responded that the funding is tight, so that will be tough. He will be working on the budget component. Tim asked John Paul to share his vision of what 4-H will look like in 100 years and how to prepare 4-H to transition to a delivery system that meets the needs of today’s youth. Steve encouraged John Paul to think about how we educate the volunteers to help keep up with the latest without burning them out. JohnPaul noted that we really need to rethink who our key volunteers are. He sees the need to transition from using families as our primary volunteers to partnering with industry to use their employees as volunteers.
The committees shared their reports. The marketing committee noted that the video is almost ready to go out, but Julie will work on a few edits to try to shorten it a little bit. The goal is to have it out by the first part of October. The committee sees a big need to do good marketing for the legal services proposal to ensure that all IACEC members understand the benefits of this service.
The legislative committee reminded the group that we will begin fall legislative contacts post-election. Board members should encourage council members to visit elected officials. The Legislative Day is set for February 25, 2015. We will invite the 4-H’ers from around the state to join us. Once again, the Association will pay mileage expenses of $50 per carload of four or more people.
Joe Murphy gave a legislative update. This year, ISU’s legislative agenda will be focused on service to the state of Iowa.
· Operating increase, 1.75% increase ($3.71M)
· Extension & Outreach, $319,668 increase
· Experiment Station, $1M increase – animal wellbeing and welfare, livestock odor mitigation
· Leading the Bioeconomy Initiative, $5M
Joe also talked about the new Performance Based Funding model that the Regents approved. It is indexed toward resident enrollment.
Council members can help Extension & Outreach in the following ways:
· Continue to engage legislators on our priorities
· Extension will be a crucial constituency for performance based funding
· Personalize your story
· Grassroots momentum
The policy and finance committee reported that they are reviewing the IACEC Procedures Manual. They will continue to go through it and will be making updates in the future.
During discussion of county concerns and issues, Judi reported that an anonymous letter was sent from a council member to the county supervisors complaining about the fair. This person was speaking on behalf of Extenson Council without approval of the council. They have the individual voice, but not the group voice. Sherry said that they plan to address the “code of conduct” for being a council member in future trainings.
Jennifer commented on the extension council election process. She said that not all of their nominees turned their papers in. Sherry noted that some councils are not even nominating candidates. Other council candidates also ran into procedural issues where they turned in their paperwork incomplete and their candidates were not valid. It was noted that we need to take the election process seriously and work to do a better job of informing candidates of the procedures.