Committee Descriptions

Professional Improvement Council

The committees that comprise the Professional Improvement Council are charged with the responsibility of providing professional improvement opportunities for members with responsibilities in the various committee areas. This includes the development of professional improvement opportunities, securing resources to fund these activities, and promoting these activities to members. Professional improvement program ideas should come from the total membership to this council through the various district committee chairs. As ideas for professional improvement are brought to the committee, it will be the responsibility of the committee to determine if the idea for professional improvement is feasible and, if so, then determine what course should be taken to offer this opportunity to members. These committees are devoted to enhancing the opportunities for our members to become more knowledgeable and competent in subject matter areas in which they work.

The Professional Improvement Council shall be comprised of the following committees:

4-H and Youth - Chair Duties

  • The committee is charged with serving as the primary communication link between the NACAA 4-H and Youth Committee and the state membership. The committee is also responsible for assisting with 4-H and Youth activities at the annual state meeting including committee meetings, professional improvement sessions, and other special activities such as tours.

Agricultural Economics & Community Development - Chair Duties

  • The committee is charged with serving as the primary communication link between the NACAA Agricultural Economics & Community Development Committee and the state membership. The committee is also responsible for assisting with Agricultural Economics and Community Development activities at the annual state meeting including committee meetings, professional improvement sessions, and other special activities such as tours.

Agronomy & Pest Management - Chair Duties

  • The committee is charged with serving as the primary communication link between the NACAA Agronomy & Pest Management Committee and the state membership. The committee is also responsible for assisting with Agronomy and Pest Management activities at the annual state meeting including committee meetings, professional improvement sessions, and other special activities such as tours.

Animal Science - Chair Duties

  • The committee is charged with serving as the primary communication link between the NACAA Animal Science Committee and the state membership. The committee is also responsible for assisting with Animal Science activities at the annual state meeting including committee meetings, professional improvement sessions, and other special activities such as tours.

Horticulture & Turfgrass - Chair Duties

  • The committee is charged with serving as the primary communication link between the NACAA Horticulture & Turfgrass Committee and the state membership. The committee is also responsible for assisting with Horticulture and Turfgrass activities at the annual state meeting including committee meetings, professional improvement sessions, and other special activities such as tours. Additionally, administration and oversight of the Lewis Stillman Howe III Horticulture Scholarship also falls under the purview of the committee.

Natural Resources/Aquaculture - Chair Duties

  • The committee is charged with serving as the primary communication link between the NACAA Natural Resources/Aquaculture Committee and the state membership. The Committee is also responsible for assisting with Natural Resources/Aquaculture activities at the annual state meeting including committee meetings, professional improvement sessions, and other special activities such as tours.

Sustainable Agriculture - Chair Duties

  • The committee is charged with serving as the primary communication link between the NACAA Sustainable Agriculture Committee and the state membership. The committee is also responsible for assisting with Sustainable Agriculture activities at the annual state meeting including committee meetings, professional improvement sessions, and other special activities such as tours.

Program Recognition Council

The committees that comprise the Program Recognition Council oversee the award-based programs that have been a very traditional part of NACAA. Members can enter competitive contests that highlight their work and service in a number of different areas. As new competitive awards programs are introduced by NACAA, they would be overseen by the committees in this council.

The Program Recognition Council shall be comprised of the following committees:

Communications - Chair Duties

  • The objective of the Communications Committee will be to enhance the communication skills and knowledge of the County Agent/Educators through promotion, training and recognition efforts. The committee, under the leadership of the state chair, will conduct the Communications Award Program, working closely with district chairs, to sharpen communication skills, encouraging interest, and sharing ideas with other Extension professionals. NACAA members can apply to 14 communication award categories. Each communication category is listed in the Special Edition issue of The County Agent. The state committee chair should encourage and recruit members to submit awards to their respective district chair. Chairs are responsible for providing NACAA guidelines for poster preparation and judging to members.

Professional Excellence - Chair Duties

      • The objective of the Professional Excellence Committee is to showcase excellence in program efforts of NACAA members. This will be done by giving members the opportunity to present posters with abstracts at the NACAA Annual Meeting/Professional Improvement Conference. Another objective to this committee is to assist members with their career promotion and performance evaluations. If members have distinguished themselves by becoming national finalists in an award program, the abstract of their award-winning program will be published. In addition, abstracts from all accepted poster session entrants will be published as well. The abstracts will be published in the Annual Meeting Proceedings. Committee chair should encourage and recruit members to submit posters for the Poster Session to their respective District Chair. Chairs are responsible for providing NACAA guidelines for poster preparation and judging to state members. Duties also include providing information to members related to poster preparation, writing abstracts, and guidance on the NACAA website poster application submission process.

Public Relations & Agricultural Awareness - Chair Duties

  • It is the responsibility of all members to promote good public relations. However, the Public Relations & Agricultural Awareness Committee will assume leadership in developing suggestions for improving the public image of Cooperative Extension and the county agent. The committee will implement a system whereby all NACAA award recipients receive recognition in their home community media and acknowledgment to advisory committees and supervisors. Under this direction, the committee is responsible for recognizing the following groups: elected officers and directors, DSA and AA recipients, and professional improvement program sponsors. The committee will work with the state/district chairs of the appropriate committees for implementation and maintenance of the system. An additional duty of the committee is to provide administration of the annual Agriculture Awareness and Appreciation Award program.

Recognition and Awards - Chair Duties

    • This committee shall provide recognition and awards for outstanding service and contribution to the Extension program in North Carolina and shall coordinate DSA/AA with NACAA. This committee shall be responsible for the following awards:

        • Distinguished Service Award (DSA)

        • Achievement Award (AA)

        • Young Agent Scholarship Award (YASA)

        • Hall Of Fame Award

This committee is responsible for determining eligibility, opportunity to apply, review, and recommendation of recipients to State Board. Agents may be encouraged to submit an application on a competitive basis or be nominated by a fellow agent. It is recommended that an alternate from each district be submitted, but does not imply that the alternate is to be automatically selected the following year. An alternate should be named in case the selected district nominee cannot participate.

To receive the monetary award associated with the recognition, the agent must attend the State and National meetings. The Recognition and Awards Committee can allow for an exemption from attending the State meeting if a qualified extenuating circumstance is provided.

Each member should refer to the winter issue of County Agent magazine or the NACAA website at http://www.nacaa.com for details of all award and recognition programs.

Scholarship - Chair Duties

  • This committee shall encourage members' contributions to the NACAA Scholarship Fund and provide assistance and encouragement for applicants. This committee shall assume leadership for securing additional funds for investment in the national scholarship trust from which income earned can be allocated for professional improvement to qualified members.

Search for Excellence - Chair Duties

  • The objectives of the Search for Excellence Committee will be to promote and recognize quality program efforts of NACAA members, and to design methods of transferring such excellence in programming to other County Agents across the United States. This committee will conduct recognition programs in program development, implementation, and evaluation by NACAA members, including:

      • Search for Excellence in 4-H and Youth

      • Search for Excellence in Commercial and Commercial Horticulture

      • Search for Excellence in Crop Production

      • Search for Excellence in Livestock Production

      • Search for Excellence in Farm and Ranch Financial Management

      • Search for Excellence in Environmental Quality, Forestry, and Natural Resources

      • Search for Excellence in Sustainable Agriculture

      • Search for Excellence in Young, Beginning or Small Farmers/Ranchers

Extension Development Council

The Extension Development Council strives to enhance the professionalism of our members by providing opportunities for strengthening their leadership and educational delivery skills. One common thread among NCACAA members is the fact that we are all Extension agents/educators. Therefore, it is imperative that our organization strengthen and continue to offer training in the process of how to become better extension professionals. This is the one area that effectively separates NCACAA from other subject specific professional organizations. The sub-areas of the Extension Development Council are not to be subject matter specific, but rather cover broad, general extension related topics.

The Extension Development Council shall be comprised of the following committees:

Agricultural Issues - Chair Duties

    • The Agricultural Issues Committee provides educational opportunities that help NCACAA members identify, define, and educationally address issues in agriculture that impact the sustainability of agriculture operations in their areas. In addition, it encourages and trains members to carry out high impact public relations projects to enhance appreciation for and an overall understanding of agriculture. This charge includes the development of professional improvement opportunities, securing resources to fund these activities, and promoting these activities to members. Professional improvement program ideas should come from the total membership to this committee through the various district chairs. As ideas for professional improvement are brought to the committee, it will be the responsibility of the committee to determine if the idea for professional improvement is feasible, and if so, then determine what course should be taken to offer this opportunity to members. The committee also assists at the state level in coordinating the Outstanding Young Farmer (OYF) Program and promotion of the program to the state's membership.

Early Career Development - Chair Duties

    • The Early Career Development Committee develops professional improvement education programs that will assist members who are early in their career to maximize and successfully complete their Extension education experiences. The committee will also help train members in management positions, or those who are in other positions that might play a role in mentoring new professionals, to assist those who are new to Extension. This charge also includes the securing of resources to fund these activities and the responsibility to promote these activities to members. Professional improvement program ideas should come from the total membership to this committee through the various district chairs. As ideas for professional improvement are brought to the committee, it will be the responsibility of the committee to determine if the idea for professional improvement is feasible, and if so, then determine what course should be taken to offer this opportunity to members.

Leadership & Administrative Skills - Chair Duties

  • The Leadership and Administrative Skills Committee strives to improve and enhance the administrative skills of all NCACAA members regardless of the degree of administrative responsibility. Possible areas of focus could include working with State legislators and other local government officials, general office administration, budgetary skills, personnel management and evaluation, administering volunteers, developing position descriptions and grant writing. This charge includes the development of professional improvement opportunities, securing resources to fund these activities, and promoting these activities to members. Professional improvement program ideas should come from the total membership to this committee through the various district chairs. As ideas for professional improvement are brought to the committee, it will be the responsibility of the committee to determine if the idea for professional improvement is feasible, and if so, then determine what course should be taken to offer this opportunity to members.

Teaching & Educational Technologies - Chair Duties

    • The Teaching and Educational Technologies Committee focuses on the development of programs to assist members in learning non-traditional Extension education skills. Possible areas of focus could include electronic multi-media skills, computer networking, compressed video, electronic communications, distance education, and traditional teaching skills. This charge includes the development of professional improvement opportunities, securing resources to fund these activities, and promoting these activities to members. Professional improvement program ideas should come from the total membership to this committee through the various district chairs. As ideas for professional improvement are brought to the committee, it will be the responsibility of the committee to determine if the idea for professional improvement is feasible, and if so, then determine what course should be taken to offer this opportunity to members.

Other National-Level Committees

Life Members - Chair Duties

  • The Life Members committee functions to encourage retired agents to become life members of NACAA, to contribute to the scholarship program, to attend Association meetings, and to develop programs that enable their continued contribution to Association activities. This committee shall maintain a current list, with addresses, of all retired members of this Association, noting those who are life members, and this list shall be published each year in the NCACAA Annual Report. The committee should appoint one retired and one current member to be responsible for updating the list. The committee shall forward the updated list to the District Treasurer who will forward to the NCACAA Treasurer. The chairman of this committee (which NACAA recommends to be a Life Member) shall notify the national life member chairperson at least 60 days prior to the National Meeting of the death of any life members from North Carolina since the last National Meeting so these deceased members can be properly remembered.

Additional State-Level Committees

Benevolence

  • The Benevolence committee shall develop and recommend procedure and policy for appropriate action by the Association in the event of sickness or death of any member or his/her family, or others worthy of remembrance by this Association.

The county extension faculty will notify the District Benevolence Chairman of illness or death of an active or retired NCACAA member or family member.

The District Benevolence Chairman will utilize email and other appropriate means to notify NCACAA members (including the State Benevolence Chairman) of illness and death.

Upon the death of an active or retired NCACAA member, the State Benevolence Chairman will coordinate with the NCACAA treasurer to arrange for a $50 family designated memorial such as the NCACAA scholarship fund or flowers.

Upon the death of an NCACAA member's spouse, child or parent, the District Benevolence Chairman will send an appropriate card extending sympathy and will pay for such.

The NCACAA Benevolence Chairman will arrange for appropriate cards of sympathy to state level Extension Faculty in the case of serious family illness or death. The Benevolence Committee is granted approval and funding to print a standardized sympathy card with an appropriate message and current logo.

Each year the supply of sympathy cards on hand will be transferred to the in-coming NCACAA Chairman who will supply cards to District Benevolence Chairmen.

Constitution & Bylaws

  • The Constitution & Bylaws committee is to formulate and present a Constitution, Bylaws, and Policy for adoption by the Association. It should provide a channel of communications for implementation of the Constitution, Bylaws, and Policy. Upon adoption, this committee should constantly review and recommend changes, taking into consideration the Constitution, Bylaws and Policy of our National Association and any changes that should be considered by our membership. This committee shall provide guidelines for internal policy measures and serve as a liaison with the Federation and National Association.

Internal Communications

  • The Internal Communications committee shall be responsible for insuring members are informed of Association business by maintaining NCACAA websites and email lists. The state chair shall be tasked with maintaining the state NCACAA website and email list. Each NCACAA district shall have a committee member to assist in maintaining the respective district websites and email lists.

Leadership Development and Public Policy

    • This committee shall be made up of the Executive Board of NCACAA with the immediate Past President serving as chairperson. District Vice Directors will not appoint members to this committee unless asked to do so by the Executive Board. This committee shall provide a strong leadership network between the NACAA National Board and the state in public policy issues. NCACAA will support state officers with travel expenses when attending these development activities. This committee shall be responsible to encourage participation in:

        • Public Issues/Leadership Development Seminar - assisting as needed.

        • Officers Workshops at the NACAA annual meeting and Professional Improvement Conference (AM/PIC)

        • State Presidents and Vice-Presidents luncheon at the NACAA AM/PIC.

        • The State Flag Service during Vespers at the NACAA AM/PIC.

        • This committee shall also evaluate the NCACAA Annual Meeting.

        • JCEP Southern Region Officers' Workshops

Membership Services

  • The Membership Services committee shall become aware of and make available to the Association possible or pending legislation as it affects the Extension Service and/or its individual members. This committee should communicate and coordinate with other agent associations and government employee associations regarding programs or legislation beneficial or non-beneficial to all involved. The adequate provision of supplies and services to do the job and keeping harmony among workers is necessary in carrying out the work of the Cooperative Extension Service. This committee is to recommend supplies and services such as: positions, salaries, benefits, tenure, annual leave, mileage, et cetera, for Extension employees. Benefits include: military leave; life, accident, liability, and hospital insurance; study leave; leave without pay; et cetera. Further, this committee shall develop and carry out specific plans for maintaining and increasing membership in the State Association. The ultimate goal is to have every agent a member. It should provide an educational program for all members on the advantages of membership. The committee should contact all new agents joining the Extension Service and invite them to become members. This committee shall also coordinate the availability of various marketing materials as approved by the Board of Directors. As approved by the board, this committee shall maintain supply of NCACAA paraphernalia and make available to the membership.

Nominating

  • The Nominating committee shall refer to Article IV and V of the Constitution and Bylaws in order to provide a uniform and orderly selection of the officers of the State and District Associations. This committee shall present a proposed slate of officers for consideration by members at the Annual Meeting.

Trust Fund

  • The Trust Fund committee is tasked with managing the investment funds of the Association. The committee shall be comprised of the three (3) most recent Past Presidents of the Association.

(Other district-level committees as deemed necessary)