NERA

Northeastern Regional Association
of
State Agricultural Experiment Station Directors Meeting

The Renaissance Hotel
Providence, Rhode Island

July 9-10, 2007

Minutes

Steve Goodwin, Chair

In Attendance:
Steve Goodwin (MA), Chair
Edward Ashworth (ME)
Tom Brady (NH)
Stephan Goetz (NERCRD)
Ian Hart (CTS)
Bradley Hillman (NJ)
Michael Hoffman (NYC)
Diane Hyman (DC)
Ian Maw (NASULGC)
Bruce McPheron (PA)
Anna Palmisano (CSREES)
Daniel Rossi (NERA)
Jeffrey Seemann (RI)
Kirby Stafford III (CTNH)
Dariusz Sweitlik (USDA-ARS-NAA)
Michael Vayda (VT)
William Vinson (WV)
Gloria Wyche-Moore (DC)
Rubie Mize (NERA), Recorder

MAJOR DECISIONS

THE JOB JAR
(Work Assignments for the Executive Director)

Monday, July 9, 2007

  1. Call to Order - Chair Goodwin
    The meeting was called to order at 3:30 pm.

  2. Comments from the Members (States/stations Updates) - Chair Goodwin
    Each member gave a brief summary of administrative and budget issues in their institutions and states.

  3. Approval of Meeting Agenda - Chair Goodwin

    The motion made to approve the draft agenda as posted, was seconded and approved.
    http://www.agnr.umd.edu/users/NERA/workshop/NERAAgendaJuly2007.html

  4. Approval of the March 27-28, 2007, Meeting Minutes - Chair Goodwin

    The motion made to accept the minutes posted was seconded and approved.
    http://www.agnr.umd.edu/users/nera/workshop/NERAMinutesMarch2007.html

  5. Interim Actions by the Chair and NERA Executive Committee Report - Chair Goodwin
    Actions Taken by NERA Chair

    Review of Joint Session discussion and issues:
    There is potential for greater collaboration on the renewable energy issues raised in the Joint Session discussions. The institutions in the Northeast are already engaged in research activities but the scientists are not working together. It may be worthwhile to have an inventory of on-going projects and scientists involved. We can create a mechanism in which these scientists can collaborate, not artificially removing competition, but at least they are aware of what others are doing and are not duplicating efforts. We need to go after the 'big picture' addressing all aspects of bioenergy, set up a consortium and go after funds as a region. Switchgrass, for example, is unique in the Northeast. Concentrate on what Northeast needs - biological and economic aspects. Institutions are gearing up for competition and are opening faculty positions, it is imperative that we approach this as a region so we can share and maximize resources.

    The Northeast Sun Grant is a good starting point for building up the inventory. Mike Hoffman will confer with Larry Walker, Northeast Sun Grant Director.

  6. CSREES Update - Anna Palmisano
    Dr. Anna Palmisano gave a brief update on CSREES.
    http://www.agnr.umd.edu/users/NERA/workshop/CSREESJuly2007.pdf

  7. NERCRD Report - Stephan Goetz
    Dr. Stephan Goetz distributed the handout.
    http://www.agnr.umd.edu/users/NERA/workshop/NERCRDJuly2007.pdf
    Dr. Ian Maw, NASULGC, praised and thanked Dr. Goetz for his work in coordinating the Transatlantic Land Use Conference, Sept. 24-26, 2007.

  8. OED and ESCOP Report - Dan Rossi
    http://www.agnr.umd.edu/users/nera/workshop/OEDReportJuly2007.pdf
    Dr. Rossi had met with NPLs. Visiting the stations is a high priority for the NPLs as noted by Dr. Palmisano. Stations not yet visited should contact Dr. Palmisano so she can follow up.

  9. Comments from Chair before closing the day's session - Chair Goodwin
    Chair Goodwin thanked everyone for the fruitful discussion, and asked the directors to consider the nominations and MAC report for tomorrow's discussion.
    NOTE: Dr. Mike Vayda will preside Tuesday's meeting.

    Tuesday, July 10, 2007

  10. Multistate Activities Committee and NRSP Report - Bill Vinson
    http://www.agnr.umd.edu/users/NERA/workshop/MACReportJuly2007.html
    A motion was made to approve the MAC recommendations for item nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. The motion was seconded and approved.

    Item #1 - Request for extension was denied. The technical committee will be requested to proceed with writing the proposal and have it peer-reviewed. MAC will expedite review of the proposal once submitted in NIMSS.

    Item #7 are new advisor assignments and will be handled by the Nominations Committee.

    For item #8, the advisor was requested to return the request to the technical committee. The committee should consider an existing project, NCERA125: Biological Control of Arthropods and Weeds, that has exactly the same title. The committee can re-submit their request if they can differentiate this proposal from NCERA125 and demonstrate the need for establishing a Northeast multistate project.

    NRSP Discussion
    http://www.agnr.umd.edu/users/nera/workshop/NRSPAgendaBriefJuly2007.pdf
    http://www.agnr.umd.edu/users/nera/workshop/NRSPRecommendationsFY2008.pdf
    http://www.agnr.umd.edu/users/nera/workshop/NRSPMotion5-29-07.pdf [Motion to Support NRSP5 and NRSP6]

    At the request of Chair Goodwin, Rubie Mize consolidated the FY2008 recommendations by the NRSP Review Committee and the off-the-top levels approved by NERA at the March 2007 meeting. The table is posted at url--
    http://www.agnr.umd.edu/users/nera/workshop/FinalFY2008NRSPComparison.pdf

    There is a need to better define and differentiate a National Research Project from a National Research Support Project, and what the directors should support. For NRSPs that are up for renewal or revision, there should be a stakeholder statement on why the project should continue, say for another five years. There should also be a relevancy test at the time of rewrite.

    Other MAC issues:
    A Northeast Extension director will be invited to join the Multistate Activities Committee.

  11. Nominations Committee Report - Chair Goodwin and Bruce McPheron
    Names were put forward for the following positions:

    The motion made to accept the above nominations was seconded and approved.

  12. Future Meetings:

    2007 ESS/SAES/ARD Workshop:
    The meeting will be held on Sept. 16-19 in Philadelphia, PA. The first day will be the regional associations' meetings [two hours] and the ESS business meeting. Tuesday and Wednesday will be devoted to workshops on the following topics:


    The directors were requested to help identify and invite presenters for the workshops.

    Information about hotel and registration can be found at url--
    http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Summary.aspx?e=6e864d9f-aa6b-4ca3-83f6-d73b290feb4a

    2008 NERA Spring Meeting:
    Majority agreed that it should be held in the same week and venue as last year's, at the Admiral Fell Inn in Baltimore, MD, on March 25-26, 2008.

    2008 Northeast Summer Joint Session:
    The NERA OED will help facilitate the planning for next year's session. Delaware is scheduled to be the next host, but Washington, DC, had expressed interest in leading and showcasing "urban agriculture" as next year's theme.

  13. Resolutions Committee - Bruce McPheron
    Dr. McPheron read the following resolutions:

    Resolution of Appreciation to William R. Trumble

    WHEREAS, Dr. William R. Trumble has distinguished himself as Dean of the College of Agriculture at the University of New Hampshire since 2004, as well as Director of the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station since 2000.

    WHEREAS, Dr. Trumble has contributed in many ways to the Northeastern Regional Association of State Agricultural Experiment Station Directors (NERA), serving as Chair in 2004, and as member of various national task forces and committees of the Experiment Station Committee on Organization and Policy (ESCOP),

    WHEREAS, Dr. Trumble also served as the Administrative Advisor for NRSP-8 and NE-186, national and regional animal genome multistate projects,

    Now, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Northeastern Regional Association of State Agricultural Experiment Station Directors at their meeting in Providence, Rhode Island, on July 9-10, express sincere appreciation to Dr. Trumble for his dedicated service and many valuable contributions to the Association, and wish him much success in his future professional activities and personal endeavors.

    signed July 10, 2007
    Steve Goodwin, Chair
    Northeastern Regional Association of State Agricultural Experiment Station Directors

    Resolution of Appreciation

    WHEREAS, the Northeastern Regional Association of State Agricultural Experiment Station Directors participated in an important and productive meeting at the Renaissance Providence Hotel, in Providence, Rhode Island , and

    WHEREAS, the Directors also were involved in an engaging and well-organized joint meeting with the Northeast Extension Directors, and members of the Council for Agricultural Research, Extension and Teaching on July 9-10, and

    WHEREAS, the Directors enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere of the Renaissance Hotel and its surrounding area, and the lovely dinner at the Roger Williams Botanical Garden,

    NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Directors acknowledge their appreciation to Dean and Director Jeffrey Seemann, Associate Director Richard Rhodes III, Asst. Director Nancy Fey-Yensan, Cathy Curtin-Miller, Glenn Schroder, Elissia Wahl and Joe Pittle for their efforts in making the meeting a great success and a very enjoyable experience.

    signed July 10, 2007
    Steve Goodwin, 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.

  14. Chair and ED Report from Meeting with CARET
    CARET had passed a motion to move forward to the next steps as discussed in the Joint Session. A working group to pursue activities on the bioenergy topic will be formed with representatives from NERA, NEED and CARET. CARET appointed Hank Clark (VT) as member and Bob Frazee (MD) as alternate to this group. A representative from an 1890 institution in the Northeast will also be invited.

    Dr. Mike Hoffman and Dr. Bradley Hillman will be the members from NERA. The NERA-OED will provide administrative support to the working group and will facilitate its first meeting. An inventory of Northeast strengths and capacity in bioenergy will be compiled. Dr. Hillman noted that there are already resources at Rurgers that he can tap into. Dr. Hoffman will confer with Larry Walker at Sun Grant. This group will collaborate closely with the NE Sun Grant Initiative. The focus of this group will be on conservation and other forms of alternative sources of renewable energy, and not just biofuels. We should be able to demonstrate that we can capitalize on our advantage to work as a region.

  15. Best Practices
    An open discussion followed the brief presentations by Drs. McPheron and Rhodes, on the topic "How do we effect change? How do we keep our institutions agile? How do we replace unproductive tenured staff?"

  16. Open Discussion:

    ESCOP Award for Excellence in Multistate Research
    http://www.agnr.umd.edu/users/NERA/workshop/ESCOPMultistateAwardsProgram063007.pdf
    Any project in the multistate portfolio can be nominated. The purpose of the award is to increase the visibility of multistate research awards that are already given at the regional level. The decision is to leave it to the regional associations to recognize projects nominated from their respective region. NERA will use the mechanism already in place for nominating Northeast multistate projects for the regional research award for excellence. The winning project will then be nominated for the national ESCOP award.

    Impact Statements for Northeast Multistate Projects
    http://www.agnr.umd.edu/users/nera/workshop/NERAImpactSubmissionForm.pdf
    The suggestion is to incorporate the process of collecting impacts in NIMSS. A revision of the SAES-422 annual report form will be discussed by the EDs.

  17. Summary Comments and Closing - Acting Chair Vayda
    Acting Chair Vayda thanked everyone for a great discussion and a productive meeting.
    The meeting was adjourned at 1:20 p.m.


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