NETWORK 98, Vol. 13, No. 1, March 1998

Directors Comments . . .

Often, as I reflect on the job of the Center Director, I believe I am truly blessed. These "blessings" include: 1) being surrounded by excellent personnel, 2) being associated with outstanding faculty - both on and off-campus, 3) being able to partner with others outside the land-grant system, and 4) enjoying the continuing support of all of you. This issue of NETWORK will demonstrate all of these points and more.

  The lead article describes a "Community Design Team" effort in Weston, West Virginia that involved both Steve Nelson and me. The model is one that is user-friendly for the team and the local community. Moreover, it has extreme relevance for those universities and state and local agencies who are interested in expanding their partnerships. It has special utility for those land-grant systems seeking ways to expand the Cooperative Extension System into the total outreach opportunities of the university. Steve did an excellent job of integrating the value of the CDT model to the members of the interdisciplinary, inter-agency, inter-organizational, public, and private team, and most importantly to the members of the local community.

  The closing article/reflections by Amanda Kims, former Northeast Center intern, illustrates the continuing value of this experience for the Northeast Center and the intern. This experience is enhanced through the tailoring of opportunities for each intern by Eileen Zuber, intern coordinator (among the many other responsibilities she has).

  In-between these articles are the spring progress reports from the PIs who are carrying out the Northeast Center funded research and extension projects. I know you will get ideas for your professional programming from reading these reports. I hestitate to single out any of these for special attention, but I would draw your attention to the following three projects. The first is entitled, "Distance Learning in Extension Programming" by Ann M. Rhinesmith, Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Warren County, New Jersey. This project focuses on the application of interactive TV (ITV) technology. ITV permits Extension to reach larger, more diverse audiences with an increase of expert information. The second project is entitled, "Identifying Factors Leading to Effective Local Conservation Commissions" by Christine Negra and Lois M. Frey, University of Vermont. This study integrates qualiative and quantitative research methods to document successful and unsucessful strategies used by local conservation commissions to conserve natural resources and to integrate community needs into decision-making. The third project is entitled, "Public Issues Education and Collaborative Problem-Solving in the Northeast: Building Cooperative Extension's Capacity Through Partnerships" by a three-University seven member team, an Executive Director of NYSDRA, and an advisory group of several other administrators, faculty and dispute resolution practitioners. This three-phase project includes an environmental scan of ongoing public issues education Cooperative Extension efforts; an intensive data collection, skills building and network development effort in two states; and a workshop to enable participants to evaluate the project results and lessons learned for follow-up work. These three projects involved public and private partnerships and university and field based land-grant faculty from six of the states in the Northeast region. All projects have potential for the entire region and the nation. When you finish reading all of the spring progress reports you will be impressed with the levels of intergrated research and extension efforts and the outstanding array of expertise in rural development in the Northeast region.

The Center has another first for us - two virtual books! The first is the "Pathways From Poverty Educational Network" book. Our supply of 1100 copies of this book in "hard-cover" has been exhausted. Now it is not only on-line, but will continue to grow through semi-annual updates of state team projects. A report by Eileen Zuber on the "Pathways" effort will be included in this issue of the NETWORK and will be added to the virtual book. We are proud to be able to offer this important work area through this format. Our second virtual book was designed especially for this media by Eileen Zuber, Steve Nelson and Al Luloff. This book is "Community: A Biography in Honor of the Life and Work of Ken Wilkinson." As I read through the various sections of the book honoring Ken Wilkinson I was reminded, again and again, of his great compassion for humankind. A reading of the "family' and 'letters" sections repeatedly underscores his compassion and its impact on others. His depth and breadth of scholarship remains inspirational. His ability to synthesize vast amounts of data into understandable illustrations was absolutely exemplary. All of these attributes are reflected in his "writing" and in the accolades from his family, friends, students, and colleagues in the "legacy" section . His influence on all of these diverse groupings of individuals is infinite and deep. As such, Ken will impact his chosen field of study - substantatively and affectively - in a unique and continuing manner. It is a special honor to have been both his friend and colleague. I am especially proud of and indebted to the authors of this virtual book for having permitted the Northeast Center to be the publisher of this extremely valuable and inspiring sociological work-in-progress. It is the ultimate tribute to Ken to have published his contributions through this virtual medium so that others impacted by him can continue building on his solid foundation. Despite his modesty and humbleness, I know he is pleased with this option. Peace!

  We invite your reactions, suggestions, and creative ideas regarding the work of the Center through all of its diverse and rich partnerships.

--Daryl K. Heasley