Agent Discussions on Budget Situation

Ways of Increasing Revenue

·         Secure more grants at state and county levels

·         Increase county contribution, but keep it fair; increase base contribution (phase in), increase county contribution toward salaries

·         Increase fourth and fifth categories to base contribution assessment levels

·         Secure additional state and federal funding

·         Fee for services – for publications, for programs, diagnosis, services, increase charges for soil samples, farm visits, specialist visits

·         Increase endowments

·         Rent camps and facilities

·         Make specialists self funding through grants and contracts

·         Liquidate some resources (Robinson Forest, farms, timber ) and keep it within the college

·         Raise cigarette tax

·         Mobilize efforts of leaders to lobby legislators – state and federal

·         Cut postage received from state, counties assume cost

·         Get the state to mandate a state Extension tax

·         Counties assume greater responsibility for agents’ salary and benefits, counties pay salary AND benefits on staffing pattern greater than 3 agents and 1 secretary

·         Specialists be required to secure grant funds like other faculty

·         Have each county pay all of agents’ salaries

·         Line item in state budget

·         Secure more donations and sponsorships

·         Partner with other agencies

·         Send a portion of fees to the university (i.e. Master Gardener)

·         Provide more assistance and information on grants and contracts – Have Regional Coordinators work on securing grants full time

·         Receive reimbursement as a partner on grants

·         Market Kentucky’s packaged programs for sale out of state

·         Fund raisers

·         Make camp groups pay the break even cost whether they reach enrollment or not

·         Corporate scholarships

·         Counties assume greater responsibility for agents’ salary and benefits

·         Increase tax rates, take 4% tax rate increase every year

·         Seek funding from corporations

·         Counties partnering to defray costs

·         Solicit the support of UK alumni in support of Extension

·         Establish an Extension Foundation statewide

·         Create soft money positions

·         Get an Extension tax in every county

·         Conduct private product research for outside companies

·         More involvement of local leadership

·         Receive compensation for time and expenses at State Fair and North American

·         Hire a grant writer

·         Extension check off on income tax

·         Make sure entire university and state government recognizes importance of Extension, continue to expand statewide visibility

·         Review money spent on county positions vs. administration

·         Be included in marketing materials of State Fair, get a return on our investment

·         Seek funding from federal agencies other than USDA

Ways of Cutting Costs

·            Increase utilization of technology - for training, for programming, use Centra, Webinar, distance learning sites, video conferencing

·            Produce all publications online

·            Discontinue state conferences and replace with program updates, or at least reduce state and regional meetings

·            Schedule more multi-county educational meetings

·            Increase vacancies from 26 to 50

·            Streamline Program and Staff development functions

·            Eliminate post-retirement appointments

·            Hold staff conferences by CENTRA or WIMBA

·            Eliminate AgMag, or at least reduce the number of multiple copies sent

·            Re-evaluate need for motor pool

·            Offer incentives for agents to retire, encourage early retirement

·            Sell 4-H camps

·            Eliminate Regional Coordinator positions

·            Narrow the focus of Extension programming, concentrate on what we do best

·            Assess the availability and usefulness of all specialists

·            Customize the number of publications sent to counties

·            Prioritize topics statewide

·            Let go of some things

·            Review administration salaries

·            Reduce work days

·            Reduce mailings

·            If there is a budget surplus, cut the local tax rate

·            Increased use of federal surplus property, is it still available?

·            Reduce the number of administrators

·            Send newsletters online

·            Allow more flextime, close office one day per week

·            Have specialists web com to counties

·            Get rid of dead wood

·            Coordinate specialist visits

·            Freeze salaries at top level

·            Use central locations for meetings

·            Increase the use of volunteers

·            Trim middle management/administration

·            Reduce the amount of required travel out of county

·            Cut personnel

·            Cut salaries

·            Go paperless

·            Car pool at all levels

·            Reduce printing of glossy publications

·            Hold electronic staff meetings

·            Use other funds for printing (i.e. beef calendar)

·            Travel and professional development funds don’t always have to be equal

·            Locate specialists out in the state

·            Have county staff report to department heads

·            Privatize camps

·            Hold a single statewide staff meeting electronically

·            Reduce specialist travel

·            Identify 4-H curriculum that can be printed in state rather than purchased from out of state

·            Purchase county vehicles

·            Cut back on Core Training for new agents

·            Make better use of vans for multi-county travel

·            Streamline delivery methods – do we really need to make copies for everyone?

·            Make cuts equitable, FCS specialist positions bearing the brunt of cuts

Change in Staffing Pattern

·         Share agents in more than one county while maintaining county offices, multicounty agents in some specific programs according to the need, creates more conflicts

·         Area agents with specialized area of expertise not a good idea, counties may lose support if people don’t have “their” agent, spent 30 years getting away form area programming

·         Review specialist positions – reduce the number, equalize positions among AG, FCS and 4-H

·         Examine Regional Coordinator positions (i.e. redirect to grants)

·         Do not reduce counties to 2 agents

·         Allow small counties to share agents (like 4-H, horticulture)

·         Review administrative positions, reduce the number of administrators

·         Make researchers available to support county programs

·         Share specialists between states

·         Contract specialists for special needs

·         Restructure administrative supervision - more hands on

·         Go to county director system, have someone in charge in the county

·         Get rid of District Directors, reduce the number

·         Utilize volunteers more than we do – answer phones, conduct programs

·         Staff according to county needs, all counties don’t need agents for all programs 

·         Reduce work hours, days, utilize flexible work time

·         Use quick response teams instead of specialists

·         Eliminate campus Personnel Officer and let counties do the hiring and firing

·         Establish a clearing house of programs available to utilize the “train the trainer” format more effectively

·         Make all specialists available to all agents

·         Utilize faculty from all of the colleges of the university

·         Secure an outside entity to review the staffing situation from a neutral perspective

·         Use grad students more for specialist work

·         Don’t like the idea of fewer agents

·         Not in favor of sharing counties

·         Decrease number of agents in smaller counties

·         Get rid of the “dead weight”

·         Look at options from other states

·         Hire more program assistants instead of agents

·         Eliminate program assistant positions, reduce hours

·         Eliminate overtime for hourly positions

·         Look at cost of post-retirements vs. new agents, stop post-retirements, negative public perception, seen as double dipping

·         Allow counties the option of sharing positions

·         Keep county staffing pattern as is

·         Sharing agents across county lines is used during vacancies, but not viable for long run

·         Issues of sharing agents – Who pays travel? Which has priority in scheduling?  Perception of getting what they pay for.  Maintaining visibility and volunteers.

·         Group counties together and work in multiple counties

·         If it is not broke, don’t fix it.  Staffing arrangements in other states haven’t worked.

·         More accountability for job performance

·         Review job responsibilities of agents, specialists and faculty

·         Evaluate role of state specialist

·         Districts are too large

·         Spent 30 years getting away from area programming

·         Hire more associates instead of specialists