• Approved the Minutes of the NERA Meeting held at USDA-CSREES Waterfront Centre in Washington, DC, on March 5-6, 2003, as posted at url---
  http://www.agnr.umd.edu/users/NERA/workshop/NERAMinutesMarch2003.html

• Accepted the Northeast Multistate Activities Committee Report and Recommendations posted at url--- http://www.agnr.umd.edu/users/NERA/workshop/MACReportJuly2003.html

  1. Approved the proposal, NE_temp401, “Developing and Integrating Components for Commercial Greenhouse Production System ” 10-2003 to 2008. Submitted by T. Fretz (MD).

  2. Approved the proposal, NE_temp601, “Postharvest Biology of Fruit” 10-2003 to 2008. Submitted by R. Seem (NYG).

  3. Approved the proposal, NE_temp744, “Conservation and Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources” 10-2003 to 2008. Submitted by J. Hunter (NYG).
     The directors also approved the request for the new project to retain its existing number, NE9.

  4. Approved the proposal, NE_temp781, “Northeast Coordinating Committee on Soil Testing” 10-2003 to 2008. Submitted by J.S. Angle (MD).

  5. Approved the proposal, NE_temp662, “Northeastern Corn Improvement Conference” 10-2003 to 2008. Submitted by W. R. Coffman (NYC).

  6. Approved the Request to Write a Proposal entitled: "Improving Fruit, Vegetable and Whole Grain Intake by Older Adults (formerly NE-172)". 10-2004 to 2009. Submitted by G. Wyche-Moore (DC)

  7. Request for Regional Off-the-Top Funding for FY2003-2004:
     • NE-9 - Recommends approval at last year's level of $145,000
     • NE-59 - Recommends approval at last year's level of $40,788

  8. Appointed Max Pfeffer (NYC) as Advisor for the following projects:
     • NE-124, "Genetic Manipulation of Sweet Corn, Quality and Stress Resistance", ends 9/2004
     • NE-1012,"Sustaining Local Food Systems in a Globalizing Environment: Forces, Responses, Impacts", ends 9/2007
     • NEC-029, "Northeastern Corn Improvement Program", ends 9/2003

• Appointed Keith Cooper (NJ) and Richard Rhodes III (RI) to the two committees to work on advocacy for the 2005 budget, and to summarize proceedings and action plan from the 2003 NE Summer Joint Session.

• Voted the slate of officers for 2004:
  • Chair - William Trumble (NH)
  • Vice Chair - Jeffrey Seemann (RI)
  • Officer-at-Large - Bruce McPheron (PA)

• Inform USDA-CSREES on actions taken by the NERA Directors.

• ED-T. Fretz will bring up issue on NASULGC assessments at the next conference call with NASULGC.

• ED-T. Fretz will raise issue at the AHS meeting next week, NERA's consensus to seek restitution from AESOP of the lobbying penalty paid by ESCOP.

• Follow-up with Alma Hobbs the CSREES Report to be included in the Minutes.

• Create an ED message board in the NERA homepage to be used by T. Fretz for sharing information to the directors.

• Assist the Nominations Committee in filling up the following positions:
  • NERA Representative to the Executive Board of the Northeastern Regional Aquaculture Center
  • MAC Members
  • NERA Representative to the NRSP Review Committee

• Post on the NERA webpage the schedule of future meetings and send e-mail to all directors.

• Prepare for the NERA meeting on September 22, 2003 (8am-12pm) at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Dearborn, Michigan.

Welcome and Introductions – Chair
Chair Hackney called the meeting to order at 9:45am. He reported that the agenda was compressed to accomodate directors who have planned to leave early. A summary of budget status in the Northeast institutions was distributed in the meeting folder. This will replace the sharing of information that normally took place at the start of the meeting.

A motion was made to accept the draft minutes from the last NERA meeting on March 5-6, 2003, in Washington, DC.

http://www.agnr.umd.edu/users/NERA/workshop/NERAMinutesMarch2003.html
The motion was seconded and passed.

Chair Hackney reported the following interim actions, and also noted that his main preoccupation after the March meeting is the selection and recruitment of the new Executive Director.

1. Solicited and obtained comments and votes from all NERA directors. Met with the Executive Committee via teleconference to finalize the selection of the new Executive Director for NERA, and submitted all pertinent documentation to the Univ. of Maryland.
2. Met with the Tom Fretz at WVU on June 3 to discuss various regional and association programs and strategic issues.
3. Invited nominations to be submitted for the 2003 Northeast Multistate Award for Excellence. According to the Multistate Activities Committee, chaired by Bob Seem, two nominations were received. The Technical Committee for NE-103, “Postharvest Physiology of Fruits”, won the award.
4. Appointed Tom Fretz as temporary member of the Multistate Activities Committee pending election of replacement for Cathy Roheim (RI).
5. Solicited and obtained votes for the NRSPs off-the-top funding for 2004. The results were YES-13, NO-1, and Abstention-1.

New Executive Director's Vision and Plan - Thomas Fretz
T. Fretz shared his vision and plan for NERA by first stating that NERA has management and leadership roles to play. His goals/tasks are:

• Advocacy- for regional issues by keeping the Northeast in front of key players.
• Communication- improving the feedback (focus on listening) mechanism to allow us to work more efficiently together as an association and in relation with other regions, as well as with Extension and Teaching counterparts. He plans to create a message board in the NERA webpage where he could share information with the directors.
• Leadership- in establishing direction, facilitating people and producing change to make us more competitive. He wants the region's leadership contribution in the national scene to grow. He was concerned that at this time leadership on the BAA, etc., is coming largely from the NC region. Leadership should be spread across in the LGU system because we cannot rely on other regions to look after our interests.
• Articulate Spokesperson- for the region and national scene. The goal should be broadened beyond the traditional Ag sciences and to extend focus beyond USDA to include EPA, Energy and Homeland Defense.
• Partnering- more with NEED, AHS and CARET. He saw a need for the AHS to meet and discuss issues collectively. NERA can serve as facilitator to bring groups together for meetings or to compete for grants.
• Impacts- greater role in coordinating impacts, and as an immediate task to update the latest summary of research impacts
• Consolidation of services- NERA can take on a greater role in the creation of a unified regional office that can service all our needs: Research, Extension and Teaching, and perhaps even international programs.
• Special funding- there is opportunity for NERA to focus on special funding. This is difficult to achieve but we can work together to build coalitions to address issues of concern in the NE and where we have special expertise, e.g. watershed and water quality, food safety, homeland security, air quality, sprawl, land use and urbanization.
• Monitoring federal agencies agric. programs- monitor developments within USDA and Congress, serve as the spokesperson on emerging issues affecting the region and system, and find opportunities for the directors to get engaged as appropriate. Continue to look for national opportunities where the collective strength of the region would be to our advantage. To play this role, he will continue to serve on the NAREE, the USDA Secretary's Advisory Board.
• Sub-regional collaborations- building strong links among the New England states and the southern states
• Review of regional multistate portfolio- conduct systematic reviews by assessing research accomplishments, identifying high priority areas and knowing where the voids are.
• NIMSS development- continue to monitor development and support for its maintenance. Work with NRSP-1 to incorporate NIMSS.
• Develop agenda for the fall and winter meetings- the directors agreed to his proposal to move to a "consent agenda".
• Review of the strategic pland and revise as necessary

He raised the following questions to the directors, and hopes to get answers when he visits the stations in the fall:

1. What are the activities that need to be increased or decreased in NERA?
2. How do you want to be kept informed?
3. What are the regional issues that we have expertise in?
4. Should this organization reflect how LGUs look? Can we and should we integrate services for Research, Extension and Teaching?

Responses and comments to the above:
A. Adelaja noted that it is important to improve the relationship between Extension and Research, and try to move programs collectively. The focus should be programmatic rather than administrative. In the region we cannot afford not to have strong synergies. He added that structures should be built whereby these groups can work together.

B. McPheron commented that interaction are best addressed by working on actual projects, like the NERECs. He wanted to see more reporting of successful projects in meetings. NERA should keep a dynamic and updated calendar. He is concerned that if there is a tendency to discuss the same topic over and over, then the system is dysfunctional and maybe we should just move on.

R. Morgan said that small institutions like DE mistrusts larger ones. The concern is that advocacy efforts are geared towards the larger institutions. Perhaps, T. Fretz could help educate the directors on who are getting the services from the assessments they are paying and how do the smaller contributors benefit.

J. Seemann noted that administrative heads are, as expected, more concerned of their state "fires". How do they get involved in other issues, say national? How can they find time. He expects NERA to be that organization that will take that detail and help directors to actively participate.

Chair Hackney suggested continuing this discussion at the September meeting.

T. Fretz plans to visit all the stations in the fall. The week of Sept. 8 or 15, and week of October 6.

Multistate Project Reports:

• NE9 Conservation and Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources - Allan Stoner, USDA-ARS
  Allan Stoner briefly shared his report. His presentation is posted at URL---
  http://www.agnr.umd.edu/users/nera/workshop/July2003Meeting/NE9Report.htm
  There was discussion about the regional assessment for this project. R. Seem advised that it is not to NERA's advantage to convert this project into a NRSP. The Northeast pays the lowest regional off-the-top funding among the 4 regions. For now, there was consensus that support for NE9 as a regional multistate project should continue.

• NE59 Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development - Stephan Goetz, NERCRD
  Stephan Goetz distributed copies of his report. He highlighted research grants that are currently awarded: NRI-USDA ($76,000) for Phase II of research on wages, jobs and the environment. In progress are NSF-Land Use Research and NRI-agricultural/community vitality.
  There are five workshops co-sponsored by NERCRD, and several publications and web resources have been finished and are currently under completion.

Consideration of Multistate Activities Committee Report - Robert Seem
A motion was made to accept item nos. 1 to 6 of the MAC Report. The motion was seconded and passed without discussion.
A motion was made to accept item no. 7 of the MAC Report. The motion was seconded and passed.
The MAC Report and Recommendations are posted at URL---
http://www.agnr.umd.edu/users/nera/workshop/MACReportJuly2003.html

NASULGC Assessments - Ian Maw, NASULGC
There were concerns expressed about the assessment process, relating to quality, accountability and equity. Ian Maw gave a brief background on how the new formula was arrived at by the BAAPBD. The Board also decided that instead of sending the invoices separately to each responsible department, a single consolidated invoice will be sent to the Dean. Invoices sent in the future will include an attachment explaining each item, how it was derived and what formula was used for each item (for ex. CARET, ICOP, ACOP, ECOP, ESCOP etc.). The assessment process is going to continue to be refined. The Execuitve Directors will be involved in the discussion, as well as the administrative heads.
A request was made to NASULGC to include brief, one-paragraph statements on the impacts of each item in the assessment. The directors want to know where their money is going and what results they are getting. T. Fretz will follow-up these issues at the next conference call with NASULGC.

On the lobbying penalty imposed by the IRS on NASULGC, the NERA directors unanimously agreed to seek restitution of the region's share from AESOP. It was AESOP's responsiblity to monitor its lobbying activities, not NASULGC. T. Fretz will bring this up at the AHS meeting next week. Ian Maw assured the directors that the new lobbying firm, the Blue Ribbon Team, has been given instructions to watch their activities closely to avoid future penalties.

CSREES Update - Alma Hobbs, CSREES
Chair Hackney introduced Alma Hobbs as the new CSREES liaison to NERA, replacing Ralph Otto. Alma Hobbs asked the directors how she can best serve them as liaison. She noted that the extension directors were very concerned about the Penalty Mail but was not sure if the AES directors were affected. A comment was given that as long as the formula fund is not affected by the formula used to redistribute the remaining fund in the Penalty Mail, then the AES directors are not concerned. She will share the report she gave to the extension directors to Rubie Mize so it could be included it in the minutes.
Her report is posted at url---
http://www.agnr.umd.edu/users/nera/workshop/CSREESAdministratorsReportJuly2003.htm

Nominations Committee Report
Chair Hackney presented the following recommendations:

• NERA officers for 2004:
  • Chair - William Trumble (NH)
  • Vice Chair - Jeffrey Seemann (RI)
  • Officer-at-Large - Bruce McPheron (PA)

• Appointed Max Pfeffer (NYC) as Advisor for the following projects:
  • NE-124, "Genetic Manipulation of Sweet Corn, Quality and Stress Resistance", ends 9/2004
  • NE-1012,"Sustaining Local Food Systems in a Globalizing Environment: Forces, Responses, Impacts", ends 9/2007
  • NEC-029, "Northeastern Corn Improvement Program", ends 9/2003

A motion was made to accept the above recommendations. The motion was seconded and passed.

In addition, Chair Hackney appointed Keith Cooper (NJ) and Richard Rhodes III (RI) to the two committees to work on advocacy for the 2005 budget, and to summarize proceedings and action plan from the 2003 NE Summer Joint Session.

Resolutions Committee Report
On behalf of J. Hunter, R. Seem read the resolutions as follows:

WHEREAS, Dr. Cathy Roheim served as Associate Director of the Rhode Island Agricultural Experiment Station and Associate Dean for Outreach for approximately one year, and

WHEREAS, she was appointed as the NERA representative to the National Advisory Committee for the National Research Support Projects, and

WHEREAS, Dr. Roheim served on the NERA Multistate Activities Committee,

Now, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Northeastern Regional Association of State Agricultural Experiment Station Directors meeting in Princeton, New Jersey on July 13-15, 2003, express sincere appreciation for Dr. Roheim’s collegiality and service to NERA, and wish her continued success as a member of the faculty in the Department of Environmental and Natural Resource Economics at the University of Rhode Island.

July 15, 2003

signed
Cameron Hackney, Chair
Northeastern Regional Association of State
Agricultural Experiment Station Directors

WHEREAS, Ms. Rubie Mize and her assistant, Ms. Judy Sun, provided excellent support of the NERA office during the exceptionally difficult period of illness and passing of their friend and co-worker, Dr. David MacKenzie, as well as dealing with the fire and destruction of the NERA office and the move into new facilities, and

WHEREAS, Ms. Mize and Ms. Sun have provided superior and dedicated support of the Interim Executive Director, Dr. Scott Angle, and

WHEREAS, Ms. Mize and Ms. Sun are planning for a smooth transition for the new Executive Director, Dr. Thomas Fretz, and

WHEREAS, Ms. Mize and Ms. Sun have continued the development and support of NIMSS, which is one of the finest project management systems in the world,

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Northeast Regional Association of State Agricultural Experiment Station Directors meeting in Princeton, New Jersey, on July 13-15, 2003, express appreciation to Ms. Mize and Ms. Sun for their dedicated and exceptional service during the difficult period from the onset of Dr. MacKenzie’s illness in April 2002 to the present time.

July 15, 2003

signed
Cameron Hackney, Chair
Northeastern Regional Association of State
Agricultural Experiment Station Directors

WHEREAS, the Northeastern Regional Association of State Agricultural Experiment Station Directors participated in an important and productive meeting at Chauncey Conference Center, in Princeton, NJ , and

WHEREAS, the Directors also were involved in a joint meeting with deans of colleges, leaders of extension and academic programs, and CARET representatives from the Northeast Region on July 13-15, 2003, and

WHEREAS, the Northeastern Experiment Station Directors enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere of the Nittany Lion Inn,

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Directors acknowledge their appreciation to Executive Dean Adesoji Adelaja, Sr. Associate Dean of Administration Daniel Rossi, Dean of Research Keith Cooper, Associate Director of Extension Mary Jane Willis, and Meeting Coordinator Patricia Kastner for their efforts in making the meeting a great success and a very enjoyable experience.

July 15, 2003

signed
Cameron Hackney, Chair
Northeastern Regional Association of State
Agricultural Experiment Station Directors

A motion was made to approve the above resolutions. The motion was seconded and passed. Chair Hackney signed all three resolutions.

Future Meetings

• September 22, 2003 (8am to 12pm) at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Dearborn, Michigan. This is in conjunction with the 2003 SAES/ARD Workshop and ESS Meeting
• March March 10 (1-5pm) to March 11 (8am-12nn), 2004, at the CSREES Waterfront Centre in Washington, DC. This will be in conjunction with the Joint CARET/AHS Meeting (3/7/2004 - 3/9/2004) and the 7th Annual Agricultural Science and Education Exhibition at the Capitol Hill (3/9/2004).
• July 11-14, 2004, at the Northeast Summer Joint Session in Mystic, CT, to be hosted by the New Haven Agricultural Experiment Station.

Discussions
Bruce McPheron noted that more discussion is needed on the assessments, in particular the support for NIAS and the additional ESCOP assessments to cover NIMSS and other activities. These will be discussed further at the September meeting. He requested that NERA discuss these issues before the body votes at the ESS meeting in September.

The directors also would like more involvement at the national level on issues that are pressing for the region, i.e., budget. T. Fretz is expected to provide leadership for the region and to support the directors so they could get more actively involved at the national level. T. Fretz noted that having a new lobbying firm working for us is also a good opportunity to bring our regional interests to the forefront.

Summary Comments and Closing – Chair Hackney
Chair Hackney encouraged the directors to continue the dialog on the issues discussed and to bring forward their concerns to T. Fretz. He thanked everyone and adjourned the meeting at 12:15pm.

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