Posts Tagged: EFNEP

Schneider named Youth, Families and Communities director

We are pleased to announce that Connie Schneider has been selected to be director of the Statewide Youth, Families and Communities Program, effective April 1. As director, Schneider will provide statewide programmatic leadership as well as administrative and operational support to youth development and nutrition education programming.

Chosen from a group of highly qualified applicants, we feel Schneider possesses the unique set of skills and background needed to succeed in this role.  

The new program Schneider will oversee encompasses the 4-H Youth Development Program (4-H YDP) and Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP), as well as other ANR youth, nutrition, family and community programs.

Currently Schneider serves as nutrition family consumer sciences advisor for Fresno County and has been serving as chair of EFNEP Leadership Council since December. She earned a Ph.D. in Nutrition and Food Management from Oregon State University and has over 25 years of experience as a registered dietitian working in program administration, obesity/chronic diseases, and community/public health. Over the past five years as the Fresno County NFCS advisor, she has served in leadership positions including chair of the EFNEP Advisory Committee; co-chair of the FSNEP Evaluation Task Force; chair of the Health and Nutrition Systems Working Group and serves on the Healthy Families & Communities Initiative Panel.

Schneider will be reporting to Barbara Allen-Diaz, associate vice president of Academic Programs and Strategic Initiatives. As director, Schneider will convene and chair the YFC Senior Leadership Team, which is composed of the associate director of 4-H program policy; chair of EFNEP Leadership Council; associate director of 4-H youth development-research; associate director of nutrition-research; associate director of family & communities-research; associate director for development and director of the 4-H Foundation; and YFC management services officer.

Schneider's colleagues praised the announcement.

“Connie's administrative and programmatic skills are real assets for ANR,” said Dave Campbell, incoming leader of the Healthy Families and Communities Strategic Initiative. “I'm very excited about working with her in this new role.”

“I am very confident that Connie's experience coupled with her strong belief in the value of our Cooperative Extension programs will provide her with the tools to lead this program to new levels of success and achievement of our Strategic Vision,” said Sharon Junge, acting 4-H director and HFC Strategic Initiative leader, who will retire March 31.

The Statewide YFC Program works collaboratively with and complements the Healthy Families and Communities Strategic Initiative priorities and other critical issues affecting California youth, families and communities and develops strategies for effective organizational responses. The development of policy, program guidance, outreach, educational curriculum and professional development for ANR’s youth, families and communities programs is consolidated under the newly formed YFC statewide program.

The Statewide YFC Program organizational chart can be viewed athttp://www.ca4h.org/files/70906.pdf.

Executive Working Group

 

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This announcement is also posted and archived on the ANR Update pages.

Youth, families and communities statewide program created

Dear ANR Community,

As you may be aware, each of ANR's statewide programs undergo a five-year review to assess the program's activities and impacts of the past five years, and to make recommendations for the program's future.  In May 2008, the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) underwent a programmatic review conducted by an expert committee. The review committee was charged with assessing EFNEP's program management, resource utilization, decision-making, communication, and impact in California. After lengthy analysis, the committee forwarded a thorough and well-supported recommendation that the statewide program be subject to a major restructuring effort to allow for greater collaboration and to make organizational changes to utilize ANR's resources more effectively and efficiently. Those recommendations and the EFNEP leadership response were discussed at length at Program Council.

During the same period, ANR has experienced an unprecedented reduction in state funds. To adjust to reduced funding, ANR has consistently taken action to reduce administrative overhead, direct a larger portion of available resources to support program delivery, and to maintain core programmatic expertise.  Following the review of EFNEP, a committee was convened this past winter to explore options for restructuring nutrition education, youth and community programs with the goals of improving the communication between county and state offices, identifying new opportunities for collaborative efforts, streamlining administrative functions, maximizing funds and other resources, and realigning the goals of these statewide programs with ANR's Strategic Vision 2025 (http://ucanr.org/files/906.pdf).

In examining different options for restructuring, the committee explored the feasibility of integrating the 4-H Youth Development Program (4-HYDP) and EFNEP.  The committee analyzed both the pros and cons of integration and found ample opportunities for both programmatic growth and administrative efficiencies.  The model that best meets ANR's needs would maintain programmatic functions of 4-HYDP and EFNEP separately, but place fiscal management and administrative functions under a single unit, which will allow for a more sustainable funding model.  Under this structure, integration of 4-HYDP and EFNEP will be housed in a newly created Youth, Families, and Communities statewide program with the goal of strengthening ANR's capacity to support community sustainability; promote collaborations among UC faculty, specialists and county advisors; and identify effective program delivery strategies for youth and families living in California. During this statewide program reorganization, Sharon Junge will be providing leadership to this new program and will guide the transition.

ANR will carry out this program integration through an orderly transition with a target completion date of October 1, 2010.  We recognize that this administrative consolidation will affect many valued ANR employees and acknowledge the dedicated work and valuable contributions that you bring to ANR and to the people of California. We are confident that this new structure will make more resources available to county programs, provide greater accountability, and expand programmatic opportunities.  The timeline and work plan to carry out the functions of this restructuring effort will be widely communicated in the coming months.

We will continue to discuss this transition with ANR leadership, colleagues, and other key stakeholders to implement this plan as efficiently as possible and to realize this opportunity to improve ANR's service to California.

Barbara Allen-Diaz
Associate Vice President for Academic Programs and Strategic Initiatives

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This announcement is also posted and archived on the ANR Update pages.

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