Meeting Minutes February 9, 2022
February 9, 2022 Meeting Minutes | Fargo, ND
The State Board of Agricultural Research and Education met for a regular meeting on February 9, 2022. Present: Jim Bahm, Mark Birdsall, John Dhuyvetter, Doug Goehring (Tom Bodine), Lance Gulleson, Larry Hoffmann, Greg Lardy, Sarah Lovas, Mark Urquhart, Dean Wehri and Julie Zikmund. Present via Zoom: Doug Bichler. Absent: Rep. Tracy Boe, Dean Bresciani and Sen. Jerry Klein.
Chairman Lovas called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. She welcomed everyone in attendance.
Approval of January 12, 13 and 20 Meeting Minutes
MOTION: Larry Hoffmann made a motion to approve the January 12 and 13 meeting minutes as presented. Seconded by Dean Wehri. Motion carried.
MOTION: Jim Bahm made a motion to approve the January 20 meeting minutes as presented. Seconded by Mark Birdsall. Motion carried.
Administrative Update from Greg Lardy, VP for Agricultural Affairs, Dean, Director, Director
Dr. Lardy advised that the NDSU presidential search committee has finished their part of the process. They referred three of the five candidates to the State Board of Higher Education (SBHE) for their review. The three finalists are David Cook, vice chancellor for public affairs and academic development at Kansas University in Lawrence; Hesham El-Rewini, provost and senior vice president of academic affairs at Marymount University in the Washington, D.C., area; and Mary Holz-Clause, chancellor for the University of Minnesota Crookston and acting executive chancellor for Crookston and University of Minnesota Morris campuses. The SBHE will meet on February 23 to determine who the next NDSU President will be. There are other searches being conducted as well. The Agricultural Experiment Station (AES) Associate Director interviews are complete and Dr. Lardy will decide soon. The finalist for the director of the Carrington REC, Mike Ostlie, will give his presentation on February 10th. And, Dr. Scaglia, the new ANSC Head, will start on March 31, 2022. And, we are in the process of hiring a development officer for college. We are looking for someone who is strong in relationship building as well as comfortable seeking out the large donations.
Dr. Lardy advised that they are ready to roll out strategic plan. There will be a webinar on March 14 to discuss and gather input.
Administrative Update from Lynette Flage, Associate Director of NDSU Extension
Dr. Flage advised that there are two searches for SBARE members – one in the NE and one in the SE quadrants of the state. The current NE representative is Julie Zikmund, who is eligible to run again. The search is being led by Shana Forster, director of NCREC, as well as people in that region. Lance Gulleson is currently the SE region representative; however, his term is up and he will not be eligible to run again. The SE search is being led by Dena Kemmet, Central Extension District Director, as well as a search committee. The deadline is March 5, 2022. Lynette will send the application to board to forward to those interested.
And, the Ag Coalition appointee’s selection is also coming up soon. On Feb 25th, Mark Birdsall’s term will end; therefore, a replacement will be needed. Doug Bichler’s first term will end; however, he is eligible to run again. The Ag Coalition will be conducting those searches.
There are two positions that currently have an interim director, which are now open for recruitment to fill them on a permanent basis. Those two positions are the Assistant Director Family and Community Wellness (interim Dr. Carrie Johnson) and the Chair Center for 4-H Youth Development (interim Dr. LeAnn Skurupey). The Interim Assistant Director Agriculture and Ag Natural Resources search will start next week. The plan is to have an interim director for approximately 5-6 months with the search for the permanent replacement beginning in April. Dr. Jane Schuh will chair the Assistant Direct for ANR position.
The drought webinars were viewed over 2600 times. Also, Extension has reached out on a mental health project in partnership with the Dept of Agriculture. Session have been done to help farmers and ranchers. 121 individuals have been trained in the program called Question, Persuade and Respond (QPR).
Christopher Schauer, Hettinger Research Extension Center (HREC) Director
Dr. Schauer presented information and provided background information regarding the land that is rented, owned and/or leased for the Hettinger Research Extension Center. There is some land that the HREC currently rents which will be coming up for sale. The HREC would like to purchase this land if the Legislature appropriates the money to do so.
Dr. Lardy clarified the REC will need legislative sponsors for this process. SBARE would need to approve or endorse this in order to move forward with seeking a sponsor and have it introduced as draft legislation for the upcoming session. Dr. Lardy stated that the most recent land purchase was in Langdon (quarter section). And, he is not aware of any other REC’s requesting more land at this time.
Dr. Schauer stated they are hoping to have the appraisal back within the next couple weeks.
Other information the board would like Dr. Schauer to gather, besides the appraisal, is information about what the land means to agriculture research, the number of grants and the type of work and research that is conducted there – it is important to be able to explain to the Legislature.
Comments from Sarah Lovas, SBARE Chair
Chair Lovas thanked Dr. Lardy on behalf of SBARE for his time and commitment on the NDSU Presidential search. She reminded the board about the prioritization process and encouraged discussions during the day’s prioritization process. Bundles were created based on the priority items from the previous meeting – using the rankings for Extension, Agriculture Experiment Station (AES) and capital projects. The ballots for the bundles were not in priority order, but alphabetical.
Prioritization Process
Discussed the bundles that were created. Discussion on whether or not to have the bees and apiary research in a category of its own.
MOTION: Mark Birdsall made a motion to separate bees and apiary research from the bundle as a stand-alone initiative. Seconded by Larry Hoffman. Motion carried.
A ranking vote of the bundles for each category was conducted. Results of the ballots were tallied and reviewed by the board. At the March 2nd meeting, the dollars will be assigned to the bundles and another ranking vote will be cast.
MOTION: Mark Urquhart made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Mark Birdsall. Motion carried.
Meeting adjourned 1:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Melissa Schwengler