TFREC Faculty + Admin Meeting Minutes

Friday February 23, 2018 Stockwell Rm at 2:00pm

Attendees: Joni Cartwright, Wendy Jones, Jim McFerson, Achour Amiri, Betsy Beers, Michelle Reid, Sarah Kostick, Jerry Moreland, Vince Jones, David Granatstein, Sara Serra and Kate Evans

2:00pm Center Administration Information Updates

  • Budget & Grants
  • Joni Cartwright reported that they received 64 candidates for the Office Assistant position and have narrowed it down to 3. They are expecting to make a decision on Monday, February 26th right after the 3rd interview.
  • Personnel
  • The annual review process is under way, and there seems to be no outstanding issues other than scheduling. Jim McFerson reported that there are some new forms that need to be used. Achour Amiri questioned about temporary employees and said he would follow up with Darla Ewald.
  • Joni Cartwright also reported IRS tax tables have changed and everyone’s paycheck will be a little more than usual. They do not have the new W-4’s yet, those come out in March. They are still accepting the old form in case you want to adjust your allowances, see Darla to complete a new W-4.
  • Cougar Manager is the new timekeeper software for timeslip. It had a lot of issues in the beginning, and Pullman are wanting to hear about those issues so make sure to let Darla know before next pay period.
  • Facilities & Operations
  • In the Brunner building 2nd floor they are doing some of the final touches. And on the 1st floor the space is going to be maintained as is until they fill the position.
  • Betsy Beers reported that there has been some discussion on getting new furniture for the conference room. After looking through magazines, Betsy Beers has come to a conclusion that we need a different layout for more flexibility. She showed potential models of tables and mentioned that we are in need of new chairs also. She showed layouts of the room with larger tables and smaller tables. With the smaller tables it would be easier to have breakout sessions. Betsy Beers then suggested to also upgrade the Large Conference Room, and showed some layouts for that room as well. She believes that we should use the current tables for the Christmas luncheon. She thinks the maximum budget needed is $12,500.00 and with a new center budget and a small fundraising campaign should help cover the cost of this project. There was some discussion on how many chairs are needed for each of the rooms. There was also discussion on folding chairs versus stacking chairs. Some discussion about rolling/flipping tables versus stationary tables. Sarah Kostick mentioned that we could keep the old chairs and use them if we needed for a big crowd. Betsy Beers is going to talk to Prosser and see what they have and how they feel about it. Jim McFerson also mentioned that fundraising can be tricky through WSU, so he will bring it up with the advisory committee.
  • Jerry Moreland said that if anyone has old tires we can start cleaning those up. WSDA is doing a pesticide collection, and it is free.
  • The pile is now gone in the basement so please don’t pile anything there.
  • Safety - There was a safety issue that was handled very well. Some lime sulfur was delivered in an unmarked package and it spilled. Megan Welker, Darla Ewald and Joni Cartwright all handled it well and got ahold of Jerry Moreland right away. Peter Smytheman got some gloves and moved it right away. No one should have touched the package until Jerry Moreland arrived.Winter safety is ok so far.
  • On March 22-23 EHS will be here for fit testing.
  • Orchards – Cameron Burt
  • Cameron Burt will be in and out on Family Medical Leave.
  • Note from Cameron: He will be back on Monday from FML. Please contact him via email to confirm your continuation of plot use at SRO and CV, also any new plans to use a plot. Spray season is approaching, and he needs to plan accordingly.
  • IT – Wendy Jones
  • Wendy Jones reported that she sent out the log this morning that covers a lot of the details. There are several projects that are still pending; the Podium for the Large Conference room, the Internet back up switching, server room reorganization and the phone system upgrades. Campus is aware of these projects and are trying to get organized for each project. They now have a planning software that should help with this. Jim McFerson reported that the planning software will help make the targets clear. The podium should be here soon through a vehicle transfer. People are still having firewall issues. Wendy will send out an email about the issue.

CAHNRS – Jim McFerson

  • CAHNRS awards were announced and we had several winners from TFREC, Trish Mulvaney and the TFREC Extension Team both won awards. Trish will be going to the awards ceremony in April 2018. We also had 2 employees make it to the finals but were not given awards Tawnee Melton and Kate Evans. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the process.
  • We have a very tight budget, and specifically, what you can carry forward will be changing. CAHNRS has formed the budget committee. There is a meeting on March 22 that will deal with our budget. Fiscal year 19 and 20 are going to be very challenging, budget wise. We will need to go through the prioritization process on each department. Joni Cartwright reported how to determine your run rate, not using carry forward funds. She will send out a list of the accounts that are affected by this. Jim McFerson said these are not grant funds. Vehicle maintenance and mileage accounts will most likely be affected, but Joni Cartwright is going to be looking into this. Right now carry forward funds are on a soft hold, but that could change to a permanent hold.
  • Our senator has approved 750,000.00 for a planning study. We are applying for a 250,000 grant from the city.
  • Our Valley Seminars are going well.

CAHNRS Positions – Jim McFerson

  • CAHNRS Dean - In June there will be a new dean, Andre Wright. He will learn more in March.
  • PH Systems Endowed Chair (Prosser/Wenatchee) – 2 finalists (Evans) SCHEDULED; Jim also reported that we have two candidates coming for the Endowed chair position.
  • Cherry Breeding (Prosser) – Per McCord (Evans) SIGNED; there is a trip to Prosser coming up to check the cherry blossoms.
  • There is a new employee at the commission, he is going to help with technology.
  • Endowed Chair: Soil & Rhizosphere Ecology (Pullman/Prosser) – Kao-Kniffen (Musacchi) TERMINATED
  • Ento: IPM/Biocontrol (Wenatchee) – Tobin Northfield (V Jones) SIGNED

WA Tree Fruit Extension team

  • In New Zealand.

Graduate Students

  • Sarah Kostick reported she is working with Sue Kane to get graduate student representation in the Our Valley Seminars. They are also communicating with Prosser/Mount Vernon graduate students to get some inter-center activities planned.

Upcoming Events

  • Jim McFerson reported he learned of an event called SPARK program that brings in high school students to experience what it’s like in the real world. They will be visiting here March 29th. They should be here around noon. He is wondering if faculty will be available to help along the way with the tour.

Other

  • Vince Jones brought up the fact that the Overley room is very cold. We are going to try to turn up the thermostat and see if that helps.

Next faculty admin meeting is March 16, 2018 at 2:00pm in the Stockwell Room

3:00pm Faculty only discussion