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Minutes from Alabama Civil Rights Advisory Committee Meeting

The Alabama Civil Rights Advisory Committee held a meeting on July 20, 2006, at the Auburn NRCS State Office.

Special Emphasis Program Manager Reports

Hispanic Special Emphasis Program - Carolyn King, SEMP Manager
  • The English/Spanish glossary is schedule to be ready for the 2007 Hispanic Month.
  • The Hispanic Association of College and Universities Scholarship (HACU) was awarded to Omayra Ortiz Santiago from Puerto Rico. She reported to work on June 7 in the Guntersville Field Office under the tutorage of District Conservationist, Stan Franklin.
  • The closing date for submitting ideas for the national Hispanic SEP poster is July 28. The winner will receive $300. A second reminder was sent to the field via email on June 7.
  • Participated in a quarterly teleconference on April 18. Items of most importance were the National Organization of Professional Hispanic NRCS Employees (NOPHNRCSE) conference and SEPM training to be held in Orlando July 24-28 and the English/Spanish dictionary.
  • SEPM will be attending a SEPM and the NOPHNRCSE meeting and conference in Orlando, Florida, on July 24-28. HEPMs were asked to get five pictures of conservation practices/projects that have been done in their county/state to compile a dictionary for field use.
  • Remind CRAC to continue to request any employees who are bi-lingual to assist in translating for the Agency. We need to have a list of these employees to call upon when needed. As we get more involved with the Small Scale/Limited Resources Farmer Initiative, there will be a real need for translators.
American Indian Alaska Native Special Emphasis Program - David Elliott, SEMP Manager
  • Lori Sawyer, a member of the federally-recognized Poarch Band of Creek Indians, was the winner in an art contest for the 2006 American Indian Poster which will be distributed by USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in November 2006 during American Indian Heritage month. The painting is entitled, “Gifts of Mother Nature” and features American Indian children playing in Magnolia Branch near Atmore, Alabama. Distribution of the poster is part of the month-long event to celebrate the uniqueness and import contributions of American Indians and Alaska Natives. Approximately 20,000 copies of the poster will be distributed to NRCS offices and to Native American Tribes throughout the United States.
  • Will attend the national APIO/AIAN conference in Anchorage, Alaska, August 14-18, 2006.
Federal Women's Special Emphasis Program - Linda McGraw, SEMP Manager
  • Attended training in Atlanta on Sexual Harassment.
  • Sat in on the national quarterly teleconference, the SE teleconferences have been suspended.
Asian American Pacific Islander Special Emphasis Program - Sue Daniel, SEMP Manager
  • Will be attending “Roles and Responsibilities of the EEO Advisory Committee” and “Managing a Special Emphasis Program” training in Atlanta, Georgia, August 7-11, 2006. This will be the first training session since being appointed to the Committee in October 2006.

Committee Business

  • Merry Buford presented a PowerPoint presentation on CRAC for use at team meetings. The SEPMs need to send Merry pictures and a caption of activities for inclusion in the presentation. Thomas McDaniel made a motion that the Committee adopts the presentation as a state PP presentation and David Elliott seconded the motion. The committee concurred.
  • Paul Swenson reported that the retirement training seminar is in the preliminary stages and would probably be presented in early 2007.
  • Joyce discussed the soil conservation technician pay scale issue with Gary. Paul Swenson reported he is unaware of hiring a soil conservation technician as a full-time, permanent employee below Grade Level 4. The Committee determined no further action was required by the Committee. The Committee has advised the state conservationist of the concern.
  • We have 3 summer interns. Students can apply anytime for the following summer. Applicants should call Paul Swenson for an application and information concerning the USDA, NRCS summer intern program.
  • CRAC members rolling at the end of FY06 (September 30, 2006) are:  
    • Jason Gardner, East Team
    • Travis Burns, State Office
    • Joyce Nicholas, West Team
    • Carolyn King, Hispanic SEPM, West Team
    • Linda McGraw, Federal Women’s SEPM, West Team          
  • Due to the creation of the new Central Team Terry Williamson will move from representative on the West Team to the Central Team.
  • Gary will resolve the replacements by the next meeting. Appointments take place October 1, 2007.

Next meeting scheduled for October  19, 2006, in the Auburn NRCS State Office.

If full-time Alabama NRCS employees have comments or suggestions for the committee to take under advisement, please use the Comment/Suggestion Form below and submit to any CRAC member.

The following document is in Adobe Acrobat.

Adobe Acrobat documentForm to Submit Concerns/Suggestions to the Civil Rights Advisory Committee

 

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