February 14, 2022 Minutes

Southern Administrative Heads Winter Meeting

Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, New Orleans, LA
Monday, February 14, 2022, 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Minutes

Participants:

1. NIFA Update – Carrie Castille
   • Working hard to get money out the door, have processed most of the capacity grants and over 1,000 RFA’s
   • Doing an RFA calendar so PI’s can plan for future proposals
   • Workforce and economic recovery are key priorities now
   • Any ideas on special efforts that could use some enhancement funding to finish would be welcome
   • Likely to be new funding on supply chain problems
   • Also working to enhance diversity, inclusion and equity in many areas; panels, science programs, business office, etc.
   • Rural vaccine education has been very effective, like Excite
   • Artificial intelligence is another area that’s growing
   • Are there any federal entities that NIFA should be working with that they are not?
   • Need advice on streamlining RFA’s
   • Very happy with campus visits and want to do more, but would also like to get more staff to campuses
   • Meet with Doug Steele frequently and really appreciate that
   • When there’s an opportunity for public comments on local or state ag issues, let her know
   • NIFA also depends a lot on regional ED’s for help in many ways
   • Comments are welcome from both individuals and regions
   • Examples of how to be involved with the $billion climate change challenge
     • Centered around NRCS and Forest Service, but NIFA will be involved
     • Biggest challenge will be around adaption of good practices
     • Also need regional efforts on unique needs
     • Need help capturing metrics and impacts of funding
     • LGU’s should definitely be part of this effort
   • Currently emphasis is on nutrition security and health
   • Building new markets and economic recovery are also increasing in importance
   • Josh Stull has asked if each institution could identify top five stakeholder events where Carrie could speak about NIFA and the LGU’s impact on their members
   • Need more stakeholder groups to advocate for NIFA programs and priorities
   • DOD is insisting on greater data security in their partnerships with LGU’s, USDA will likely do this also
   • Some technical institutions have developed technology for DOD in programs that have been dropped, so they are looking for partners to develop uses for these technologies.
2. Update on Federal Budget, Advocacy Efforts, Farm Bill, and other Legislation – Paul Patterson
   • Went through a long careful process to choose new advocacy firm, Lewis Burke Associates
   • They are engaged now since January and it’s been a smooth transition
   • They are working hard to learn about us and get to know our needs and priorities
   • Still under a Continuing Resolution, but has been an agreement to develop an omnibus bill to fund all agencies by end of March
   • Have received input from all Sections on NIFA budgets
   • Moving forward with One-Ask, similar to last year
   • Opened discussion on additional lines for direct advocacy, including STEM and Women & Minorities
   • CLP meeting last week to begin reviewing priorities from Sections input, ~61 priorities total
   • Infrastructure bill was mentioned in Build Back Better, even if it probably won’t be funded, it’s a positive sign of interest
   • BAC is currently reviewing how to continue that effort
   • ARS is till advocating for infrastructure funding
   • Our Research Facilities Act is a great opportunity for LGU’s, but ARS infrastructure also benefits us
   • Lewis Burke Associates has a three year contract, reviewed annually, with an option for two more years, contract will be rebid after five years
   • Congress is considering allowing earmarks again, but there hasn’t been an appropriations bill passed since that started, so not sure how they’ll play in ag bills
3. Issues from Sunday’s SAAS Board meeting and other items for SAAS – Robert Taylor
   • Passed a resolution honoring the regional Rural Development Centers on 50th anniversary of the Rural Development Act
   • Keith Belli is now the SAAS President
4. Items from Administrative Heads Executive and Section meetings in November – Keith Belli
   • Plans were being made for the 2022 CARET/AHS to be in-person at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC March 5-9, but the meeting has been transitioned to virtual.
   • CARET has been working on a new strategic plan that will be introduced during the CARET/AHS meeting in March for review and comments.
   •  A ballot amendment will be coming from the Policy Board of Directors to make the Communications and Marketing Committee a standing committee of the Board on Agriculture Assembly. Next step will be to modify the membership to the committee to include more communications and marketing positions and less administrative oversight.
   • The Policy Board of Directors has selected Lewis Burke Associates as the next advocacy firm for Jan. 1, 2022 through Dec. 31, 2024 with an option of a two-year extension.
   • The 2022 Joint COPS meeting will be at the Omni Shoreham in DC to help fulfill the cancelled CARET/AHS contract
5. Agricultural Land-grant alliances between 1862 & 1890 institutions in Southern states – Robert Taylor
   • Alabama Ag Land-grant Alliance is a very good example, greatly enhances working together and made it possible for the 1890’s to get their state match
   • AL LGU’s meet jointly with the state legislature on budgets
   • UFL and FAMU have been working close together recently on funding initiatives
   • OK has a Board of Regents that allocates state funds to all three LGU’s, but Langston still does not get their match
   • OK starting to form more collaborations, but still more work to do
   • Some of the best 1862-1890 collaborations have been through the Southern Rural Development Center
   • SAAESD and ARD are working to enhance collaborations in research projects and will meet together to discuss this more at the Mini Land-grant
6. Development and implementation of a region-wide survey of metrics – Keith Belli
   • See handout for details
   • Southern NAUFAP has been doing a comparative data survey for a long time
   • We frequently get internal and external questions about how our college compares to other similar colleges, but there’s no easy way to get the comparative data
   • Definitions of the metrics is the key to having meaningful data
   • If we’d like to do this, a small group of 1862 and 1890 research, Extension, and teaching directors, with Keith as chair, could develop the metrics and definitions
   • Check with business officers to make sure data is available
   • Consensus is that this is a good idea and should be followed up on to check feasibility
   • Nick Place agreed to help Keith with this effort
   • Keith and Eric will start by sending an email to the other southern ED’s to get their thoughts on this.
   • If it moves forward, a small group will propose metrics and definitions that can be discussed by each group at the Mini Land-grant
7. Strategies for enhancing faculty and staff diversity – Luke Laborde
   • See handout for details on LSU’s efforts
   • LSU has a dedicated position to guide this effort on campus
   • Important to have the proper role models to help promote diversity
   • Need to start recruiting diverse students for the pipeline at least by middle school age
   • Need to target all kids, not just socio-economically disadvantaged
   • Better to talk about technology than traditional agriculture; unmanned aircraft, sensors, autonomous equipment, artificial intelligence, robotics, etc.
   • Enhanced diversity in the faculty is the key to improving recruiting diverse students
   • Need to convince good students to stay and get a PhD degree and become faculty
   • Information on why minority faculty decided to become faculty would be helpful
8. Election of New S-AHS Chair-elect and Secretary – Robert Taylor
   • Nominees for both offices were presented by the Nominations Committee Chair, Keith Belli
   • Nick Place was nominated for Chair-elect and Keith Coble for Secretary, both were elected unanimously
   • Keith Belli is now our Chair, so he and Nick Place will be our representatives on the national AHS Executive Committee
9. Southern Mini Land-grant Update – Eric Young
   • See handout for details on the meeting
   • Southern Mini Land-grant will be in College Station, TX, May 16 – 19, 2022, hosted by Texas A&M Univ. AgriLife and Prairie View A&M Univ.
   • Hope to have the website with registration and hotel information live by end of next week
   • The 2022 Southern AHS/CARET summer meeting will be held during the Mini Land-grant, we will not have a meeting in early August.
10. Updates on current situation at home institutions – All 
    • See handout for institutional updates