the impact of budget cuts
Parma, Idaho’s Research Center Closing Delayed
Budget cuts threaten state extension programs, but a committee of farmers and ag leaders succeeds in delaying closure of one center.By Jill Kuraitis, 7-09-09
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An hour’s drive northwest of Boise, the small agricultural town of Parma, Idaho, is just one of several farming communities which face “restructuring” of extension programs connected with their local universities.
The University of Idaho’s Parma Research and Extension Center along with two or three others in the state was scheduled to close this year because of $3.2 million in legislatively mandated budget cuts.
But Wednesday, the university announced jointly with Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter that it will delay any decision to close the Parma Research and Extension Center, to “take additional time to conduct a more thorough review of the Research and Extension centers statewide,” said U of I President M. Duane Nellis. Nellis has been president just over a week.
The review will analyze the cost-benefit ratio, sustainability and the impact of the work done in the statewide extension and research operation.
Part of the job descriptions of two of Parma’s professional staffers explain some of what extension centers do:
Ms. Etter helps plan, develop, implement, evaluate, and report livestock, pasture and forage production and management programs for commercial producers and small acreage landowners, with primary emphasis on dairy and beef, and secondary emphasis on sheep and swine. She also provides financial management education for livestock producers.
Mr. Neufeld provides technical support and conducts applied field trials for irrigation strategies and nutrient management in onions, sugarbeets, mint and alfalfa seed in Canyon County. He has regionally recognized expertise in water efficient irrigation strategies and pest management. He provides leadership for the Treasure Valley Pest Alert Network, a web based system for the early detection and warning of crop pest emergence.
The U of I’s Extension program runs subject-specific defined services, with divisions focused on homes and gardens, community development, youth, family and healthy living (which includes the 4-H program) environment and forestry, animal science, crop production, farm and ranch management and public policy.
Discussion about the University of Idaho Research and Extension centers began in January with state leaders and others with a stake in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and Idaho’s agriculture industry. Conversations started in late March with a statewide committee whose 19 members represent diverse backgrounds and interests.
In addition, the university consulted widely with many of its partners in the agricultural community about what it faces to be able to continue its research and Extension mandate in ways that will work with lower budgets. This new review phase will build upon the foundational analysis and work of the earlier committee, according to Gov. Otter’s press release.
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Comments
You should have mentioned that it was a combination of lobbying by growers and a threat of legal action by the Idaho Federation of Teachers (of which I am president) that led to the reversal of this decision.
Below are excerpts of my column from the Idaho State Journal:
On July 7 the UI faculty union released a summary of a legal memorandum, which argues
· that closing the station may violate policies of the State Board of Education;
· that due process rights of Parma faculty and staff may be violated;
· that contracts with growers may not be fulfilled; and
· that the transfer of the tenured professors without their lab technicians to the Caldwell station will make them unable to their jobs and amounts to both a demotion and a violation of their tenure rights.
With regard to the last point the union attorneys state: “If the University requires that the professors do research, but does not provide the tools, equipment, or location for the tenured professors to do such work, then the University has set the tenured professors up for failure. This is a breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing.”
On July 9 the University Idaho announced that it would “delay any decision to close the Parma Research and Extension center. The length of the delay is undetermined at this time.”
The faculty union is gratified that lobbying and the threat of legal action has led the UI to reconsider a hasty decision. It is our sincere belief that better solutions can be found.
P. S. a better solution would be going to a 4-day work week until the $3 million deficit is covered.
ersity of Idaho for 31 years.
There are unconfirmed reports that the committee ranked the Parma station third out of 12 stations. If so, why was Parma chosen as first to go?