February 8, 2008

 

SUBJECT:  MGT – Indiana Field Employees Council 

 

 

TO:  All NRCS Employees                                                                         File Code: 330-0

 

 

In December 2005, I established an Indiana Field Employees Council (IFEC).  We have had three successful years, and I plan to continue using this venue to maintain open communications between the field and the State Conservationist.

 

I want to recognize last year’s members whose terms have ended and thank them for a job well done.  They are:  Ruth Montgomery, Russell Baker, Mike Hughes, MaryJo Woodruff, Pat Larr, Tammy Swihart and Jerry Lake.

 

The new IFEC members are: 

 

Joe O’Donnell, DC, Delphi                                             Doris Scully, DC, Brazil

Sam St. Clair, DC, Warsaw                                           Terry Roser, CET, Huntington TST

Tim Bomba, DC, Huntington                                          Jeremy Palmer, SC, Albion TST

Bill Harting, DC, Shelbyville                                           Keela Deaton, SC, Rockport

Tim Schwipps, DC, Versailles

 

The returning IFEC members are:

 

Andrew Brown,            DC, Covington                                     Terry Cornwell, CET, Salem

Bill Norfleet, DC, Mount Vernon                                    Dale, Ficklin, CET, Washington

Michaela Stout, CET, Rensselear

 

The purpose of the IFEC is to:

 

·         Provide a venue for constructive two-way feedback between the Indiana Leadership Team and field staff. 

·         Provide the State Office with an opportunity to run issues; such as structural shifts, program and/or policy introduction or modification, and new ranking rollout to field staff for constructive analysis. 

·         Provide a mechanism by which field staff could seek representation of critical issues in a neutral venue for consideration by the Leadership Team via the State Conservationist.

·         Provide feedback to STC on issues with the Partnership.

·         Make recommendations to STC as to who would be best suited in the field for testing of new concepts and tools.

 

The team will carry out their charge by meeting quarterly, bringing issues and concerns to the State Conservationist, and organizing pertinent information and strategies for leadership team consideration.

I encourage you to communicate your issues and ideas with any of these members of the council.

 

The contribution of this team to date has been to provide open dialog and communication between the Indiana Leadership Team and our field employees.  It is proving to be important to the continued success of Indiana NRCS.

 

 

/s/

 

JANE E.  HARDISTY

State Conservationist 

 

cc:  ASTC FO