The Society of American Foresters has just released a video about the need to work more closely with other natural resource professionals to increase the membership and effectiveness. This initiative can have an effect on forest technician education that we should be considering.
In 2008 CEFTS had a very successful meeting hosted by Itasca Community College in Minnesota. (Click here for photos.) Now there is an immediate opening for a forestry instructor. A pdf of the announcement is here.
The 2012 CEFTS meeting will be at the Bartlett Tree Research Laboratory in Charlotte, NC from August 1-4. Download the registration form here in pdf or Word document forms. We hope to see you there!
Preliminary Schedule
Council of Eastern Forest Technology Schools (CEFTS) Meeting
August 1-4, 2012
Bartlett Tree Research Laboratory
Charlotte, NC
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Arrive and check in to HYATT PLACE Charlotte/Arrowood
7900 Forest Point Blvd.
Charlotte, NC 28273
704.522.8400 x5104 (office)| 704.522.8489 (fax)|www.hyattplacecharlottearrowood.com. Steve Resh will make shuttle trips to the airport as necessary during the day. A group of rooms has been reserved for the CEFTS / Bartlett Tree group. You should call in to make your own reservations.
Instructions for making reservations:
You have 2 ways of booking your reservations:
You must make your reservations by 7/6/12.
7:00 pm Welcome Reception at the Research lab. Allegany College of Maryland will sponsor the reception which will be comprised of liquid refreshment and heavy hors d’oeuvres. Transportation from the hotel will be provided.
8:30 Vans will return participants to the hotel and the Executive Committee will meet at the hotel. All award nominations should be submitted to the appropriate individual prior to this meeting. (Grad. For Tech. Achievement Award, other) Remainder of the participants can have the evening free.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Continental breakfast at the hotel.
8:00 am Vans will leave the hotel and travel to the lab.
8:30 Outdoor activities and lab tours. Bartlett Tree Experts conduct many research projects at the lab and we will see as many as time permits. The following come highly recommended: Insect and Diseases diagnostic clinic, planting study, bio char soil additive study, extensive arboretum, tree preservation study in a construction area, planting-root system study.
12:00 Lunch at the lab. We will include the cost of the lunches in the registration fee.
1:00 Continue with outdoor tours/activities.
5:30 Van will return guests to the hotel
6:30 Evening meal will be on your own. We can van pool to a spot agreeable to all or simply agree to go our own way.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Continental breakfast at the hotel.
8:00 am Van will leave the hotel and travel to the lab.
Indoor activities today.
8:30 am Business Meeting CEFTS
10:00 am Tree Inventory and GIS presentation from Bartlett employees
12:00 Catered lunch at the lab. Fee included in registration costs.
1:00 pm Curriculum Discussion: How can “Urban Forestry skills” be incorporated into the traditional forest management curriculum so graduates are prepared to take advantage of these job opportunities. John Jastrzembski, Steve Resh, Lab personnel.
3:00 pm Cracker Barrel Discussion.
We will allow time to discuss various topics as presented by the members of CEFTS. These have ranged from recruiting, to Accreditation to grant sources to educating young faculty members. I will poll the membership and ask for topics.
5:00 Van returns members to the hotel.
6:00 Closing Dinner and Scholarship Auction.
Bartlett Tree Expert Corporation will host our closing banquet at the lab. Following the dinner, we will hold our annual scholarship auction. Please bring something to donate which will entice the membership to bid. Proceeds will benefit the scholarship fund. We have tried to keep the cost of this meeting as low as possible in order to encourage your participation. But now is not the time to be cheap!
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Shuttle service from the hotel to the airport will be provided as necessary.
Click to see a pdf or Word Document of this announcement.
Three foresters were awarded the Graduate Forest Technician Achievement Award at the annual meeting in Fredericton, NB Canada on August 4. Nominations came from CEFTS member schools in recognition of exceptional professional accomplishments and service.
This year’s winners include:
Congratulations to the honorees!
Based on the response received, this year’s topic for discussion will be
Recruitment and Retention
Below you will find a series of questions intended to start the discussion of student recruitment and retention:
That being said, Harry Hutchins brought forward another topic for discussion which I felt was very appropriate. Harry talked about the importance of being able to transfer wisdom to the next generation of teachers. Specifically he talked about the importance of specific sites for labs, contacts for field trips, what works and what doesn’t. On behalf of Harry, I am mentioning this for future consideration.
from David McDonald
The Annual Meeting is fast approaching, so we are sending you an updated Schedule of Events. We have heard from some of you, on what you would like to discuss during the Cracker Barrel discussions. We are always open to more suggestions. We are also looking at an optional fly fishing trip with guides (limited to 6 participants) before the Annual Meeting. Or maybe you would prefer a canoe jaunt on the St. John/Nashwaak Rivers.
Almost everyone flew into the Fredericton airport for the last meeting, but you can also fly into the Saint John airport, or Moncton airport (we will arrange pick-up from these points if requested). We have arranged for lodging at one of our residences, which is located at our College – alternate accommodations at the Fredericton Inn – summer rates.
Some of you may prefer to fly into Bangor or Portland, Maine in which case perhaps Steve Resh or others attending may be able to co-ordinate a ride.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Monday, August 1st, 2011
5:00 – 6:00 pm Early check-in
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
6:00 am Leave Forestry complex for fly fishing trip (confirmed fly fishing attendees only)
8:00 am Leave Forestry complex for canoe jaunt on Saint John river (confirmed attendees only)
12:00 – 6:00 p.m. Annual Meeting check in – Hugh John Flemming Forestry Complex Lobby
7:00 p.m. Supper (BBQ)
7:45 p.m Welcome, Aboriginal Ceremony, Intro to the Maritimes (drinks and discourse in the Social Courtyard)
8:30 p.m. Executive Committee meeting
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 {Hardhats will be provided if required}
7:00 a.m. Breakfast (provided)
8:00 a.m. Tour of MCFT and HJFFC and Teaching Forest
12:00 -1:00 p.m. Lunch (provided)
1:00 p.m. Depart for Tour (Odell Park and Urban forestry tour)
5:00 p.m. Supper – Maritime fare – Racine’s (sponsored)
7:30 p.m. Cracker Barrel – possible topics Recruitment and Retention, The Unwritten Lessons, Threats to Teaching Forests…
Thursday, August 4, 2011 {Hardhats will be provided if required
7:00 a.m. Breakfast
8:00 a.m. Depart for Tour – Gagetown Army base
1: 00 p.m. Lunch (downtown Fredericton or in the field [sponsored])
2:00 p.m.- 4:00 p.m. Kings Landing Historical site.
5:00 p.m. Supper – Acadian fare (sponsored)
6:00 p.m. Business meeting
8:00 p.m. Aboriginal ceremony, Auction, Drinks, and social discussion
Friday, August 5, 2011
7:00 a.m. Breakfast
8:00 a.m. Depart for home or various activities
Contact Information: Heather Flinn is my Administrative Assistant, and can be reached at 506 458 0199, or her e-mail address is hflinn@mcft.ca. I can be reached at 506 458 5124 or at dmcdonald@mcft.ca
** The tours that we are looking at are an Urban Forestry guided walk-about, and then a tour of Forestry on the largest Military Base in the Commonwealth.
Note: A number of you have indicated that you may like to extend your stay to appreciate some of what the Maritimes has to offer. We will be sending information packages out to those who plan on attending which will give a very good idea of what there is going on.
Fair warning to y’all, once you’ve been here you’ll never want to leave.
Dave
Last month, after some three years of planning, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia approved ABAC’s request to offer a Bachelor of Applied Science (B.A.S.) degree in Natural Resource Management (NRM) with separate majors in Forestry and in Wildlife Management. This degree is fundamentally different from the Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree offered by universities in that the Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree is the foundation for the baccalaureate degree. Our students go through the appropriate A.A.S. degree program (Forest Technology or Wildlife Technology) on their way to the desired BAS-NRM major (Forestry or Wildlife Management).
Students who target a standard B.S. program typically take few if any forestry or wildlife courses the first two years. After completing their Associate of Science (A.S.) degree, if they are unable to continue on for the B.S. degree they have only a generic associate’s degree which has not specifically prepared them to work in the natural resource field. The failure to continue on for the B.S. degree may be due to financial considerations, or may be the result of failure to achieve the minimum grade point average (GPA) for transfer to a university program. In our state, the minimum GPA for entrance to the Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources at the University of Georgia has risen substantially in recent years as the University practices “population control” through rising admission standards. Warnell is unable to admit many students that they would like to have, and in the past these students have had no other in-state path to a baccalaureate degree in the field of natural resources.
We think that our BAS degree is attractive for the following reasons. If students in the BAS-NRM program decide to enter the workforce after the first two years, they have a marketable degree (AAS in Forestry or Wildlife) that is prized by employers and prepares them for a career in their chosen field. If they do continue on for the BAS degree they have had the same “hands-on” field-oriented education that employers have always appreciated in our AAS graduates.
Students in Forest Technology or Wildlife Technology programs at other institutions are welcome to apply to ABAC to pursue the BAS-NRM degree. Those coming from Southern Regional Education Board undergraduate Academic Common Market states (Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia) should be able to attend at in-state tuition rates. Those from other states may be able to get an out-of-state tuition waiver (and thus pay tuition at in-state rates), especially if they are excellent students. We would be glad to work out articulation agreements with any institutions that are interested.
Dr. Rod Brown, Head
Department of Forest Resources
The conference is several months away, and I know that some of you may be planning for your summer. This is a tentative schedule. We are looking at an optional fly fishing trip with guides (limited to 6 participants) before the conference. A possible canoe jaunt on the St. John/Nashwaak Rivers and a third possibility is an urban forestry walkabout (we have a very well established and far sighted urban forestry program in Fredericton).
Almost everyone flew into the Fredericton airport for the last meeting, but you can also come into Saint John airport, or Moncton airport. We have arranged for lodging at one of our residences, which is located at our College (alternate accommodations at the Fredericton Inn – summer rates). If I have forgotten any business events, or if they need to be rescheduled, please let me know.
Some of you may prefer to fly into Bangor or Portland, Maine in which case perhaps Steve Resh or others attending may be able to co-ordinate a ride.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 {Hardhats will be provided if required}
Thursday, August 4, 2011 {If Hard Hat required we will supply}
Friday, August 5, 2011
Contact Information:
Heather Flinn is Administrative Assistant to the Instructors and field Instructors, and she can be reached at 506 458 0199, her e-mail address is hflinn@mcft.ca. I can be reached at 506 458 5124 or at dmcdonald@mcft.ca
** The tours that we are looking at are to a Value Added facility; that in part has work done by disabled persons, and then a tour of Forestry on the largest Military Base in the Commonwealth.
Note: A number of you have indicated that you may like to extend your stay to appreciate some of what the Maritimes has to offer. We will be sending information packages out to those who plan on attending which will give a very good idea of what there is going on.
Fair warning to y’all, once you’ve been here you’ll never want to leave.