WV NRCS Civil Rights Committee

FY 2008 2nd Quarter Meeting
February 13, 2008
Morgantown, WV
10:00 AM

Present:
Barbara Broxterman, Civil Rights Advisory Committee Chairperson
Marvin Kerr, Black Emphasis Program Manager
Rex Gardner, Hispanic Program Manager
Carol Lagodich, Federal Women’s Program Manager
Crystal Buchanan, Disability Emphasis Program Manager
Leslie Sears, General Member from the South Area
Karen Fitchett, Human Resources Advisor
Charlotte Elliott-Friend, State Administrative Officer
Lonnie Williams, General Member from the State Office
T.J. Burr, Veterans Emphasis Program Manager
Mike Jones, Native American Program Manager
Katie Fitzsimmons, General Member from the East Area (teleconference)

Meeting opened at 10:00

Chair, Barbara, opened the meeting by welcoming the committee. New committee members were introduced.

Lonnie Williams, State Office representative
T.J. Burr, Veterans representative
Katie Fitzsimmons, General Member east area


Old Business

Review Minutes:

Minutes were corrected to show Charlotte not Barbara as the leader of the Program Delivery Committee

Calendar of events:

February: Black history month

CR Reviews-schedule

    Office reviews were discussed. All reviews should be conducted by a SEPM and the Area representative.

    Then new revised civil rights review plan is now on the national website and can be downloaded from there. Charlotte will review and discuss any changes from the previous review at the next meeting.

2008 Reviews

Gassaway-Jan. / Completed by Leslie (report to be submitted)
Beckley- Feb. /Leslie
Ripley-/Not scheduled
McMechen-/June
N P RC&D-/June
Ranson-March / Katie
Petersburg-/April
Whitehall-/June

Appointments of Program Managers and Area Representatives

Black Emphasis Program manager- Marvin Kerr 10-/1/07 – 9/30/10
Native American Program manager- Mike Jones 10/1/07 – 9/30/08
Federal Woman Program manager- Carol Lagodich 10/1/06 – 9/30/9
Hispanic Emphasis Program manager- Rex Gardner 10/1/05 – 9/30/08
Disability Emphasis Program manager- Crystle Buchanan 10/1/07 -9/30/10
Veterans Emphasis Program manager- T.J. Burr 10/1/07 – 9/30/10
CRAC Program Manager- 10/1/07 – 10/1/08
West Area – Crystal Buchanan- 10/1/07 – 9/30/10
South Area- Leslie Sears – 10/1/04 – 9/30/10
East Area- Katie Fitzsimmons – 10/1/07 – 9/30/10
State Office- Lonnie Williams – 10/1/07 – 9/30/10

New Business:

Letter from Mr. Wickey:

Chair Barbara reviewed a letter from Mr. Wickey concerning outreach and the 2008 minority recruitment plan.

Mr. Wickey will approve comp time for weekends or after hours work while participating in job fairs or other recruiting activities.

Discussion of University recruitment ensued. The committee agreed WVU and WVSU will be the focus of this years university recruitment.

Action Item: Participate in job fairs at WVU and WVSU. Charlotte will make the contacts and arrangements for NRCS’s participation in the job fairs.

Committee members participating will be:

Human Resources
Veterans Emphasis
Special Emphasis Members
CRAC chair
A Soil Conservationist

Records will be kept on the diversity of people visiting the NRCS booth.

Chair Barbara requests that Charlotte send a bulletin to the field offices requesting information on career day or job fairs etc, they are aware of or plan to attend.

Action Item: SCEP and STEP positions. Recommend via a letter to Mr. Wickey to hire 1 or 2 temporary positions. Lonnie will compile the SCEP and STEP info for the committee and Barbara will draft a letter.

Action Item: Barbara will set up an outreach folder on the S: Drive where all committee members can file outreach accomplishments.

Action Item: Each SEPM will contact local organizations and specific groups to discuss NRCS and recruitment.

Rex Motioned: The Minority recruitment plan be expanded to include all disciplines not limiting to just soils.
Crystle 2nd, Motion passed.

Review and comment on demographics.

    Barbara reviewed with the committee demographic maps of WV she had prepared. Committee agreed that the maps should be placed on the WV web page as a recruitment tool. Mr. Wickey would also like to see demographic information on Age, Farms and the age of WV farmers.

    Barbara noted that we have a lot of young DC’s and aging farmers. Computer access and computer knowledge in the farm community can be a limiting factor to outreach to the aging farmer. Font size and slow dial up access are also concerns.

Area representatives will present the demographic maps at an area staff meeting.

Demographics map showed the need for an Asian American/ Pacific Islander SEPM. The committee will be seeking a program manager. Charolette will prepare a letter requesting people interested in this co-lateral duty position.

Budget:

Training: Mr. Wickey assures that the DEPM positions that have not received training will receive training this year. He requested that training costs and when training is available be sent to Charlotte and Barbara.

Career Days and Fairs:

    Charlotte is working with WVSU and their job fair April 10, 2008; Sandhya G. Mahraj is the contact person. 304-766-3250. Charlotte will coordinate this event

    Committee recommended that Virginia Tech and Marshall Universities be added to the list of schools for recruitment.

    NRCS shirts should be worn by NRCS personnel who participate in the job fair. Charlotte will contact Mr. Wickey about purchasing shirts for the CRAC committee. An employee who was hired through the STEP program could answer questions concerning the STEP hiring procedure.
Katy will be on the career day committee

Program Delivery:

    How is meeting diversity recorded? Outreach? To whom is it recorded, where it is documented? Chair will contact ASCO for clarification.

CRAC office reviews and CRCR:

    The revised civil rights compliance review procedure will be reviewed by Charlotte who will inform the committee of any significant changes.

Standardization of Program Manager Reports.

    Carol distributed examples of the format that will now be used. She will place it on the S: drive.

New and transferring employees:
Discussion about a exit interview form that is in the personnel files. Make sure it is completed How are we to review these, can they be copied and distributed for review to the committee?

SEPM 2nd quarter reports need to be sent to Charlotte and cc to Carol: Jan., Feb. and March. Capture any outreach

Carol needs stories of diversity on minority customers.

Reports were made by each SEPM to the committee.

Chair Barbara noted that civil rights should be a Performance element for each member of the civil rights advisory board to be reviewed by the DEEOO. This has not always been done in the past. Each member’s time and commitment to civil rights is not always recognized. CRAC committee work is in addition to their normal position and should be recognized as a critical performance element.

Next meeting date is May 14, 2008 at Mt. Clare

Meeting adjourned 2:30

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