Commission on Public Service and Extension Minutes of Meeting on October 23, 1995 Room 400D, Burruss Hall Members Present: Ralph Badinelli, Kevin Fenton, Ted Settle, Deb Williams, Ann Hertzler, Doug McAlister, Clark Jones, Norman Marriott, Pat Edwards, Terry Swecker, Lee Skabelund Alternate: Not represented: Fred Krimgold, Fred Lamb, Sharon Diggs, SGA, two members representing Extension/public service non-ex oficio A/P faculty Steve Parson, Bill Mashburn, Kermit Kwan 1. The meeting was convened and chaired by Ralph Badinelli. Guests included Provost Peggy Meszaros and Andy Swiger, Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The purpose of the meeting was to hear the Provost's ideas about the outreach mission of the University and her response to the issues raised by the Commission Chair in his meeting with the Provost on October 12. The Provost opened with a review of her conversation with the Commission Chair on October 12. She summarized her viewpoints by saying that she thinks that she and the Commission should take a proactive approach to solving the problem of the role of the Commission in policy making. She added that this is a good time to re-energize and re-vitalize the Commission as there is a nationwide trend in higher education that is heightening attention on outreach of universities. 2. The floor was opened for questions and comments. Norm Marriott lead off with a question about the potential duplication of extension efforts with other outreach efforts such as those of Continuing Education. The Provost responded that this question, and many others regarding the direction of the University's Outreach Mission, are unsettled at the present time. She advocated some patience as there is a Committee for the Implementation of the Outreach Study headed by Greg Brown that will make recommendations in January about how the outreach activities of the University should be managed. She claimed that this report should go a long way toward clearing up confusion and resolving inconsistencies. Ralph Badinelli, who has been asked to serve on the implementation committee along with Deb Williams from the Commission, raised the issue of the proper role of faculty and governance-system bodies like the Commission in the setting of policy and the implementation of policy. He expressed concern over his impression that a "role reversal" was creeping into the use of faculty and staff in governance and administration. The Provost stated that the Administration of the University is getting very direct messages and mandates from the Governor's office and from the Legislature. This has meant very short lead time to implement actions. It has also meant very direct guidance such as the recent General Assembly directive to reshape Virginia Cooperative Extension. Several comments about the role of the Commission followed this statement. Terry Swecker made it clear that he and everyone else on the Commission are interested in helping the outreach mission, but that we are ineffective in trying to do so by the unilateral actions of the Administration. He said that we end up feeling that we are wasting our time. Doug McAlister claimed that the Governance System is designed well, but that it is not implemented properly. He said there is a need to share agendas between the executive academic offices and the commissions. Ralph Badinelli countered Doug's claim by saying that without legislation that forces certain policy decisions to be made by the commissions, the same commissions will be left without a significant role to play. He also mentioned the suggestion to disband the Commission on Public Service and Extension that was raised in a previous meeting. Norm Marriott and Pat Edwards strenuously argued against any further discussion of disbanding. Pat Edwards questioned Harold Kurstedt's use of the term "outreach" in connection with his activities, instead of the more restrictive term "continuing education". She wondered if the program designed to offer faculty assistance to local groups and industry would duplicate some Virginia Cooperative Extension activities and asked how this new program would promote continuing education. In response to Pat's question the Provost and Andy Swiger reviewed some of the history of organizational changes that have affected outreach including the decision of President McComas to place Virginia Cooperative Extension activities under the umbrella of agriculture as opposed to the larger university mission of outreach. The result of this discussion was general confusion about what had happened over the last several years, but a rather clear viewpoint among the Commission that Outreach is an over-arching mission that includes, as specific components, Continuing Education, Public Service, International Programs and Virginia Cooperative Extension. After the discussion about organizational structure and responsibilities, the Commission and its guests engaged in a discussion of the actual workings of the Commission and the Governance System as contrasted with the intentions behind the design of the Governance System. Ralph Badinelli was curious about what constituted policy as the Commission is charged with setting policy. Pat Edwards gave some examples of the kinds of policy issues that the Commission on Graduate Studies and Research dealt with. Deb Williams opined that task forces, such as the ones that have recently studied Outreach and Virginia Cooperative Extension, should report to Commissions. Andy Swiger drew a parallel between the failure of the University's Governance System to work effectively and governance problems experienced in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He questioned how one can define policy when policies look more and more like administrative decisions. Terry Swecker expressed satifaction with the hierarchical management structure that places faculty in departments, departments in colleges and colleges within the University. He asked why we can't set up a governance system along the same lines. Pat Edwards argued that the advantage of Commissions is that they represent a cross section of the university community. Clark Jones and Doug McAlister reported that the Commission worked most effectively in the early 1980's when the Provost at that time sat in on Commission meetings. Provost Meszaros volunteered to attend the meetings of the Commission over the next 6 - 8 months in order to stay in touch with the its deliberations and to facilitate its role in the governance of outreach. She noted that the November meeting presented a conflict given the land grant meetings. In response to the need for a secretary to take minutes of Commission meetings, Ted Settle and Clark Jones agreed to share the responsibility of providing secretarial support at future meetings. The meeting adjourned at 3:30.