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Oregon NRCS/FSA Civil Rights Committee Minutes
 

SUBJECT:   Meeting Date - August 13, 2007

Attendance:

  • Misty Vega Falcon
  • Joe Evans
  • Ginny Cairo
  • Kacee Lathrop
  • Leo Preston
  • Pedro Ramos
  • Gina Kerzman
  • Darca Glasgow
  • Phil Morton
  • Deborah Howerton

Annual Plans/Action Plans

When writing annual plans, each member should try and work with $2,000 for their plans. SEPM training, according to Pedro Ramos, does not come out of individuals budgets.

Annual plans should be submitted to Misty by September 1, 2007 for review. The plan start date will be October 1, 2007 to September 30, 2008 (fiscal year).

Accomplishment reports are due October 5, 2007.

AEP Report

Misty handed out a copy of the Affirmative Employment Plan and a DN 714 report to each member for viewing. From now on, each member will contribute to completing the Affirmative Employment Plan report. Misty explained the changes in workforce for FY 01-FY 06.

A question was raised as to whether Veterans were included and could be added as a SEPM to the team. Another question was raised as to whether females could be included in reporting awards. These issues were taken into account and since the team will be participating in completing the AEP in the future, these will be included in the future AEP reports.

Compliance Reviews

Misty brought up some issues with compliance reviews documentation. State office documentations are missing due to some grey areas of compliance reviews not being thoroughly followed. A new timeline will be forthcoming for all members to follow. This timeline will mirror General Manual requirements. A brainstorming session was held on what things the team believed could be improved on. Out of the brainstorming session the following were items that Misty would follow up on:

  • What documentation is required to collect during a field office review?
  • What are the field offices within the service centers that need reviewing?

These issues needed to be streamlined in order to prepare for the National Review which will be February 25, 2008.

Diversity Day

Dave was in charge of coordinating a diversity day that the state office and Civil Rights members took part in.

Student Career Experience Program

Sue Brandt joined us in order to explain how the STEP and SCEP programs work. Student Vacancy Announcement comes out around October 15th. This closes sometime in January. Sue addressed the qualification process and what classes are mandatory.

New SEPM announcement

Two applicants were reviewed for the BEPM vacancy announcement to fill behind Joe Evans. The team took part in determining the best candidate.

Intranet and Diversity Calendar

Misty covered the new intranet information and what has been placed there. All field office poster requirements are on that page. Misty encouraged everyone to take a look at it and refer the page to anyone interested in knowing what posters are needed.

Misty discussed the diversity calendar idea. The team was willing to take part in helping create this calendar for the next year. This will be an NRCS and FSA collaborative effort.

Awards

Misty presented Joe Evans and Gina Kerzman with awards for their outstanding contribution to the Civil Rights team. She also mentioned she gave an award to Loren Unruh for his contribution while serving two terms as the DEPM of Oregon.

Meetings

The team agreed to the following dates for meetings:
November 6, 2007 – Portland
February 25, 2008 – teleconference
May 14, 2008 – Portland
August 21, 2008 – teleconference
Meeting adjourned at 3:30 p.m.


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