St Charles County Master Gardeners

St Charles County Master Gardener

 

Steering Committee Special Meeting- 

Education, Outreach, Long-Term Planning    Minutes-

 

Friday 24 January 2020

 

Attendees:  Kevin Minard, Jan Carron, Rebekah Davis, Joe Walker, Justin Keay, Alex Reichert, Cindy Platzer, Waneta Parmenter

 

Call to Order:  Kevin called the meeting to order at 9:14 AM

 

MU Horticulturalist Specialist:  Justin discussed the roles and responsibilities for the Education and Outreach committee of the St Louis Master Gardeners as an example for adaptation of a St Charles Master Gardener Education Committee.  One of the Committee’s roles would be identifying education resources within the chapter and a list of prior speakers and topics was shown.  Justin plans to recruit members for the Education Committee by discussing it with the membership at upcoming monthly meetings.

 

Justin suggested to enrich core training with more outside experiences and/or field trips.

 

New Business:  The main purpose for this meeting of the Steering Committee was to define goals for the upcoming years and determine if an ad-hoc Committee would be necessary to establish contingency plans.  Alex led the group in identifying and developing goals for the Steering Committee which are as follows:

 

Goals to Achieve Within 10 Years

1)  Become a recognized resource in the community for Horticulture Education.

 

2)  Increase active Master Gardener membership and retention.

 

3)  Become more self-sustaining in regards to funding and location.

 

These three overall goals were then broken down and refined, actions to take and challenges to address were discussed.

 

Goals to Achieve Within 5 Years

1)  Increase Community Involvement

-Shift MU to community  -Use gardens more for teaching  -Establish programs

Challenges:  xNon-active members  xAttendence  xPartner identification

 

2) Percentage increase of active Master Gardeners

-Provide more opportunities  -Expand areas of interest

Challenges:  xNot meeting needs/expectations of members  xOffsite locations  xPartner identification

 

3)  Alternative Sites

-Community gardens  -Partnerships  -Source of funds/services 

Challenges:  xNot to move away from County

 

Goals to Achieve in First Year

1)  -Create classes/programs  -Conduct field trips  -Create partnerships (based on their needs)

-Increase marketing (link with MU)

Challenges:  xTraining

 

2)  -Create a mentor program  -Conduct a survey  -Provide clear expectations to the membership and to trainees  -Provide opportunities to learn, teach, and participate

 

3)  -Work with partners  -Charge for programs?

 

Based on these goals, the Steering Committee agreed to the following action items:

 

• Identify Partners/Introductions -Identify partner expectation  -Conduct needs assessment.

 

• Establish Education Committee  -Recruitment needed.

 

• Member Survey/Needs  -Identify roadblocks for participation  -Survey to be distributed electronically and via paper at February Member’s Meeting, reviewing results at March meeting.

 

• Create a framework for mentors

 

Meeting was adjourned at 11:58 AM

 

Respectfully submitted,

                                   Rebekah Davis

 

 

 

APPROVED                14-FEBRUARY-2020