Minutes of Meetings

Minutes

DOE EERE / NASULGC Cooperation

Organizational Meeting  

February 2-3, 2004

Washington, DC

Attending:

All of the Regional Executive Directors and NASULGC staff invited to the meeting were able to be in attendance. In addition, we were joined by Rick Brenner (USDA ARS). From the DOE, the attendees were James Fischer and Mike Long. Representing NCFAP was Jill Long Thompson (Attachment 1 provides the coordinates for all in attendance).

Agenda:

The agenda for the two-day meeting is provided as Attachment 2. In addition, several documents were provided to most of those in attendance prior to the meeting. These documents are provided in Attachment 3.

Action Items:

• The Regional Executive Directors (REDs) and NASULGC staff carefully reviewed the five projects identified in the agreement between NASULGC and DOE EERE, and the plan for meeting with James Fischer and Mike Mills at DOE. The purpose of the meeting will be to review the tasks identified in the projects and timetables. Jill Long Thompson will, if possible, participate in these meetings. The meetings will be completed by February 17, 2004. [ Lund and O’Connor, Wootton and Brown, Benning and Maw, Fretz and Young, Donald and Harrington responsible for initiating the organization of these meetings.]

• ISU Extension will provide support for redesigning the NCFAP web page. A draft of the redesigned web page will be circulated to the Committee by February 17, 2004. The target for finalizing the redesigned web page (to support the agreement between NASULGC and DOE EERE) is March 1, 2004. [Stan Johnson responsible.]

• Jill Long Thompson and Stan Johnson along with NASULGC staff and REDs, as available, will make a presentation to the DOE EERE Board. The purpose is to summarize the arrangements that have been made on the coordination of the DOE EERE/NASULGC cooperation and to report progress to date. The meeting will be scheduled by James Fischer. [Responsible for organizing the conducting of the meeting are James Fischer, Jill Long Thompson and Stan Johnson.]

• Mort Neufville and Jill Long Thompson will complete the negotiation of the agreement between NASULGC and NCFAP for support of the DOE EERE/NASULGC cooperation. [Responsible for concluding the agreement are Jill Long Thompson and Mort Neufville.]

• Mort Neufville will work with Peter Magrath and Bobby Moser to appoint members of the “Coordinating Committee” for the NASULGC/DOE EERE cooperation/agreement. James Fischer will work with Doug Faulkner and Assistant Secretary David Garman to appoint the members of the Coordinating Committee from the DOE EERE side. [Responsible for assuring that these appointments are made on a timely basis are James Fischer and Stan Johnson.]

• Jill Long Thompson to provide to the participants in the organizational meeting background on the NCFAP by February 17, 2004.

Outcomes:

• The organizational structure for managing the cooperative agreement between DOE EERE and NASULGC was finalized. It covers the relationship between the five projects, NCFAP, and a “Coordinating Committee.” Provisional members of the Coordinating Committee along with the assignments of the NASULGC staff and REDs to the projects are provided along with the organizational chart (Attachment 4). [James Fischer and Stan Johnson are to finalize the documents including representation from DOE with the projects and Coordinating Committee membership by February 17, 2004.]

• The reporting relationship to DOE EERE/NASULGC and the Board on Agriculture Policy Board of Directors (BAA PBD) was reviewed and approved. It is important to emphasize that the agreement for cooperation is between DOE EERE and NASULGC, and the BAA PBD has been tasked to implement the agreement (Attachment 5).

• Working relationships between DOE EERE Board (Fischer), NCFAP, REDs and NASULGC staff were reviewed. NCFAP will be the point of contact for coordinating the activity between DOE EERE Board (Fischer), REDs and NASULGC staff (Attachment 6).

Organizational Meeting, Monday, February 2, 2004:

• Participants from the NASULGC side met in the afternoon, 2:00-5:00 p.m. The purpose was to review the agreement with DOE EERE, the working relationships proposed between NCFAP, the Board (Fischer), REDs and NASULGC staff. Also, background on the agreement and its negotiation as well as the NASULGC agreement with NCFAP were reviewed. In general, the idea is to prepare the NASULGC side for the meeting with representatives from DOE EERE to join the meeting on February 3, 2004.

• The meeting was opened by Mort Neufville with an indication of the broad support in NASULGC for the new agreement with DOE EERE. In addition to welcoming those present, Mort indicated that the model we are developing for DOE EERE cooperation may, in fact, be a template for NASULGC collaboration with other Federal departments and agencies.

• Stan Johnson reviewed the background that resulted in the NASULGC/DOE EERE agreement. The hand out summarizing this agreement is provided as Attachment 7. Emphasized in this discussion were three major points.

(1) The DOE EERE agreement is with NASULGC, not just with the Colleges of Agriculture. NASULGC has asked the BAA PBD to implement the agreement with DOE EERE. However, the agreement is to engage all of the resources of the NASULGC- affiliated institutions in the collaboration with DOE EERE.

• James Fischer will relate to the NASULGC collaborators reflecting the fact that he is an employee of DOE EERE. We know him as a member of the NASULGC family. But, his role in the NASULGC/DOE EERE cooperative arrangement will be as a representative from DOE EERE.

• It is very important that the projects in the agreement be implemented on a timely basis and concluded prior to November 1, 2004. The plan is that if the cooperative effort between DOE EERE and NASULGC is successful, President Magrath and Assistant Secretary Garman will report on our progress and sign an agreement for broader cooperation at the 2004 NASULGC Annual Meetings.

• The plan for the collaborative relationship between NASULGC/BAA and NCFAP was reviewed. Jill Long Thompson (President and CEO of NCFAP) was introduced. The history and current capacities of NCFAP were provided. The draft agreement between NASULGC/BAA and NCFAP was presented. The agreement calls for coordination with DOE EERE and other Federal agencies consistent with the plans of NASULGC/BAA. Also the agreement called the “Agricultural and Food Policy Forum” will support greater visibility for NASULGC scientists on major national policy issues.

• The working relationships associated with the DOE EERE/NASULGC agreement were discussed along with a review of the agreement (see Attachment 3).

• The organization of DOE EERE was reviewed along with the Board and the position of James Fischer as a Board member. Potential working relations with James Fischer were discussed.

• Assignments of REDs and NASULGC staff to the five projects for the DOE EERE agreement were made (see Attachment 4).

• Each of the projects were reviewed including discussions of the projected time table, tasks, and processes for implementation.

Dinner, February 2, 2004:

• Mort Neufville and NASULGC hosted a dinner for all of those present at the earlier organizational meeting. At the dinner, we were joined by James and Sharon Fischer and Mike Mills.

Organizational Meeting, Tuesday, February 3, 2004:

• The meetings were hosted by NCFAP. Participants in the Leadership Team had an opportunity to visit NCFAP and the facilities to be available as a result of the agreement between NCFAP and NASULGC/BAA.

• James Fischer and Mike Mills were introduced to the NASULGC participants. NASULGC participants and Jill Long Thompson reported to James Fischer and Mike Mills on their planned participation in the agreement. General working relationships were discussed.

• James Fischer and Mike Mills provided background on DOE EERE and expectations associated with the NASULGC agreement. James Fischer also provided an introduction to the organization of DOE EERE.

• The agreement between NASULGC and DOE EERE was discussed. James Fischer and Mike Mills reviewed each of the projects and provided hand outs connecting the projects with related DOE EERE initiatives. At the same time, the NASULGC staff and REDs discussed in detail their provisional plans for the projects and conducted a related dialogue with James Fischer and Mike Mills.

• Communications on the NASULGC/DOE EERE agreement were discussed in detail. It was decided that the NCFAP web page should be altered to reflect the NASULGC/DOE EERE agreement and adapted to support communication among all of the participants in the leadership team. Stan Johnson and Jill Long Thompson agreed to adapt the NCFAP web page for this purpose.

Lunch, February 3, 2004:

• A working lunch was hosted by NCFAP which provided an opportunity for small group discussions related to the projects under the NASULGC/DOE EERE agreement and the working relationship with NCFAP.