Home > Southern Administrative Heads Winter Meeting

Southern Administrative Heads Winter Meeting

Notes

Boardroom 2, Hyatt Regency–Riverfront
Jacksonville, FL
Monday, February 5, 2018, 11:00 a.m – 3:00 p.m.

Attendees:

Nancy Cox, Chair, Univ of Kentucky
Tom Coon, Chair-elect, Oklahoma State Univ
Paul Patterson, Secretary, Auburn Univ
Mark Cochran, Univ of Arkansas
Alan Grant, Virginia Tech
Greg Bohach, Mississippi State Univ
Eric Young, Executive Director

  1. Welcome and introductions – Nancy Cox

  2. Spring 2019 Southern Mini Land-grant meeting update – Eric Young
    1. Logistics and general schedule (agenda-at-a-glance)
      1. Southern ED’s, along with Wendy Fink and Eddie Gouge, have been working the past six months with the UFL/IFAS conference office to work out logistics for this meeting
      2. It will be held on March 18 – 21, 2019, at the Marriott Fort Lauderdale hotel
      3. The general meeting schedule and room assignments have been determined
      4. In the past couple weeks a representative from each group has been added to the planning committee, which will begin planning the joint program on Wednesday, March 20
      5. The first conference call of the expanded committee will be February 15
    2. Topic suggestions for all-groups joint session (suggested topics)
      1. Potential topics for the committee to consider are shown in the handout

  3. Discussion on NIFA treatment of capacity funds similar to competitive – All
    1. Southern Business Officers comments (handout)
      1. MS State’s audit raised a lot of questions about capacity funds accountability, particularly related to time & effort reporting
      2. NIFA’s interpretation of the Uniform Guidance manual seems to be much more strict than some other agencies
      3. At a recent meeting of the Southern Association of Business Officers, there was a great deal of discussion and concern about the changing expectations of NIFA in the administration and accountability of capacity funds.
      4. The consensus was that capacity funds are being treated more like competitive funds and the increased constraints are significantly reducing the flexibility of these funds.
      5. It now goes beyond just the issue of time & effort reporting into a number of different aspects that have serious negative impacts on the directors’ flexibility and could result in a significant increase in administrative burden – both for universities and for NIFA
      6. It was agreed there needs to be some action taken to address this with NIFA administration
      7. It needs to be a joint effort with the AES and CES directors, preferably at the national level, although a regional position statement might also be helpful
      8. Our AHS Executive Committee members, now Tom Coon and Paul Patterson, will take this issue to their meeting on March 4 during the CARET/AHS Meeting in DC
      9. Ron Brown and Eric Young will be asked to put this on their spring meeting agendas to discuss with the CES and AES directors
      10. They should use the document with the business officers’ comments in their discussions, except with the names and institutions deleted so it’s anonymous
      11. Ultimately it would be helpful to have a one-page set of bullet points to capture the essence of our concerns

  4. Update on federal appropriations and “single ask” strategy – Alan Grant
    1. Single ask strategy
      1. BAC will continue with the single ask strategy for FY 2019
      2. They’ll also explain better why there is a single ask and justify the increase amount in more detail
    2. Update on other advocacy efforts (Riley Foundation, SoAP, AGree) – Greg Bohach
      1. Riley Foundation is still working on the unified message and have an agreement with SoAR, however SoAR’s request is still too radical to allow the BAA to sign on to this message
      2. One SoAR proposal that BAA cannot support is using existing NIFA funds to set up an emergency fund at the Secretary’s level to be used at his discretion, capacity funds are already designed for this type of use
      3. In spite of current differences, SoAR and Riley would like to bring all groups together, including APLU, but this seems unlikely anytime soon
      4. American Farm Bureau President has joined the SoAR Board of Directors, although many state Farm Bureau presidents don’t support SoAR’s agenda

  5. Update on Farm Bill and Committee on Legislation & Policy – Greg Bohach
    1. Most of the minor changes and additions have been worked out and given to Congressional staff
    2. Working a wording that would define a college of agriculture at non-land grant colleges as one that has at least two agriculture related degree programs
    3. Still looking into combining SNAP Education and EFNEP into one budget line and appropriating it through NIFA to the LGU’s. There are, however, some key Congressional members who will probably oppose this, so it doesn’t seem too likely

  6. Issues from Sunday’s SAAS Board meeting and items for Tuesday’s meeting – Nancy Cox
    1. Tom Coon will become SAAS President and Paul Patterson Vice President after this meeting
    2. Animal Science group is still meeting separate from SAAS, but is supposed to reexamine that decision prior to next year’s meeting
    3. There’s some question about who is responsible for reviewing Mark Legendre’s contract and SAAS financial statements
    4. Mark is now retired from LSU, but is still working for SAAS, which is incorporated in South Carolina
    5. Tom Coon and Nancy Cox will talk with Bill Richardson (LSU) and then Mark to determine what the S-AHS responsibilities are relative to Mark and the finances
    6. Next year’s SAAS meeting will be in Birmingham, AL, on February 1 – 5

  7. Nomination of New S-AHS Secretary/Chair-elect to follow Paul Patterson (vote on nominee will be held at meeting in AL) – Nancy Cox
    1. Tim Cross was unanimously nominated to become the next S-AHS Secretary
    2. In a subsequent conversation with Eric Young, Tim agreed and indicated he’d be happy to serve
    3. Vote on the Secretary nominee(s) will take place during the summer S-AHS meeting in Auburn

  8. Summer S-AHS meeting and agenda topic suggestions – Paul Patterson and Eric Young
    1. The 2018 summer S-AHS meeting will be hosted by Paul Patterson at Auburn University on July 27 – 29
    2. Schedule will be similar to last year’s, with an opening dinner July 27, business meetings the morning of July 28, tour and dinner the afternoon of July 28, and business meetings continued on the morning of July 29. Meeting will end by noon on July 29

  9. Other agenda items – All
    1. Search for Ian Maw’s replacement – Eric Young
      1. Search committee has been appointed by the AHS Chair, Alan Grant, and the PBD Chair, Mark Hussey
      2. Alan Grant is chair of the committee, other members from our region include Eric Young and Chandra Reedy (Tennessee State Univ)
      3. The job description and search timeline have also been distributed to the Administrative Heads Section
      4. They hope to have Ian’s replacement named by the end of August so there is some overlap before Ian retires
    2. Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Units – Jack Payne
      1. Many agriculture colleges have these programs and they’re a major source of fish and wildlife graduates
      2. Coops are a 3-way partnership between Department of Interior, State Fish & Game Commission, and the LGU, let by a federal employee with a university appointment
      3. It’s expected that the President’s 2019 budget will zero these out in the DOI budget and the DOI Secretary will not try to restore it.
      4. Cornerstone is looking into how we might work to support this budget line and a coalition of supporting entities is being formed
      5. Jack will send the S-AHS a list of LGU’s that have Coop Units in their agricultural college
    3. Indirect Cost for Industry Grants – Mark Cochran
      1. What overhead cost is being charged on for-profit industry grants?
      2. Most colleges seem to charge whatever the normal rate is if it’s a for-profit company, unless it’s negotiated differently
      3. Many have to pay the university VP for research the difference between full overhead and what is collected.
    4. Faculty Recreational Trips Paid by Companies
      1. What is your policy on faculty accepting a trip that is primarily recreational which a company pays for? Is there a conflict of interest?
      2. UFL’s policy distinguishes between faculty and administration who make internal funding decisions, administration cannot accept these types of trips, or if they go, they pay for the cost themselves
      3. Some colleges consider it consulting and require a conflict of interest form, so acceptability is determined on a case by case basis
    5. Medical Marijuana – Tom Coon
      1. OK has a vote on the ballot to legalize medical marijuana, how do you handle research and Extension work on this crop?
      2. Most institutions don’t allow state funds to be used for research and Extension on marijuana, although some medical and pharmacy schools are exempt from that restriction
      3. It’s very tightly regulated and complicated to attempt any sort of work on this crop
      4. Industrial hemp has research and Extension work occurring in many places, but it’s also tightly controlled
      5. Hemp cultivation has to follow state regulations, usually determined by state departments of agriculture, some colleges require it to be only done on university property