United States Department of Agriculture
Natural Resources Conservation Service		 Pacific Islands Area Go to Accessibility Information
Skip to Page Content


Committee Meeting Minutes

Subject: EOP - Civil Rights Action Committee Teleconference Date: December 06, 2007
To: Pacific Islands Civil Rights Action Committee
Lawrence T. Yamamoto, DEOO		File Code: EOP 230
 
  1. Meeting called to order at 9:01 a.m. Guam Standard Time
Attendees:
  Title Name
1) CRAC Chairperson Kurencio B. Ngowakl
2) Disability Emphasis Program Michael Hashimoto
3) Asian American/Pacific Islander Emphasis Program Cheryl Morton
4) American Indian/Alaska Native Emphasis Program Athena Pratt
5) Veteran Emphasis Program Manager Sam Taylor
Sam Taylor – Timekeeper / Note Taker / Minuteman
Old Business:
  1. Minutes from September 19, 2007.
    • Read by Chairperson
    • Cheryl moved to approved
    • Athena seconded the motion
    • Majority voted to approve.
New Business:
  1. Sending CR committee minutes:
    • Athena – Explained that minutes are to be forwarded to each CR member for review and approval by the meeting Note Taker. Also, it was agreed to that approved minutes are to be submitted to Larry by Kurencio.
  2. Report on Career / Job Fairs attended:
    • Kurencio - reported accomplishments of Jolene Lau as submitted:
      • April 12, 2007 - Leeward Community College
      • April 13, 2007 - University of Hawaii at Manoa
      • October 18, 2007 - University of Hawaii at Manoa
      • October 19, 2007 - Hawaii Pacific University in Kaneohe.
    • Big Island, HI (UH Hilo)
      • Cheryl – reported on a career fair she participated in September. Cheryl also reported that they had a significant turnout, spoke with over 200 participants. Majority of the participants have potential for employment with NRCS. The fair was such a great success that the local office in Hilo is still receiving resumes, which are then forwarded to Eileen
      • Cheryl – informed the committed that Eileen maintains an established list of potential individuals for recruitment
      • Cheryl – informed the committee that the two main questions asked by participants were; 1) What jobs were readily available? 2) What was it like to work in the agricultural profession?
    • BYU (Oahu)
      • Cheryl – reported that this particular career fair was not as successful as the Hilo fair. Most participants were not interested in a career in agriculture. About half of the participants were not U.S. citizens. It has been determined from the results of this fair that it will not be a good venue for recruitment in the future.
    • University of Guam
      • Kurencio – reported on a career fair he participated in November. There were 70 individuals that sought information from the NRCS booth. At least four individuals were potential candidates for recruitment, but no vacancies were available with reasonable proximity. However, Kurencio provided information on job vacancies nationally. Kurencio mentioned that fact sheets were very useful and reminded about the importance of a sign-in sheets. Kurencio recommended the following for future career fairs:
        • Attach business cards to fact sheets to provide contact info
        • Provide giveaways to attract participants
        • At a minimum, two personnel are needed to man booths
        • Generate a report after the career fair is completed. Use the report and the sign-in sheets as documentation for accountability.
    • Discuss lists of students from various career fairs
      • Athena - reported that she had also participated in September. 300 individuals signed in at the NRCS booth. Individuals were provided with information regarding Student Career Experience Program (SCEP)
      • Athena – asked if the list of potential recruitment candidates should be forwarded to HR for future SCEP positions. Athena also suggested that lists should be forwarded to other SEPMs or NSEPMs as a recruitment tool. Athena mentioned that Larry plans on recruiting four individuals through SCEP once per year.
    Discussion:

    Members discussed topics related to recruitment. Athena clarified that the appropriate college level for SCEP recruitment are the sophomore and junior levels. Cheryl mentioned that one barrier in recruitment is knowing ahead of time if, funding is available for SCEP recruitment. Cheryl also stated that positions need to be available during recruitment. Athena mentioned that recruitment efforts should focus on recruitment for SCEP or positions in the mainland. Cheryl suggested to follow-up with Larry to determine commitment for SCEP recruitment. Athena mentioned that if there is no commitment for SCEP recruitment, this will limit recruitment efforts to mainland positions. Athena also clarified that potential SCEP participants need to be fully aware that conversion to fulltime status will not be within the recruitment area.

    Conclusion:

    Kurencio will follow up with Larry to discuss recruitment for SCEP.

  3. Follow-up thank you letter
    • Kurencio will generate letters and send accordingly when he returns from his upcoming Civil Rights Training.
  4. Hispanic SEPM and Federal Women’s SEPM
    • The committee discussed upcoming SEPM vacancies. Mike Hashimoto concurred that he has decided to resign as the DEPM. Mike’s decision is not official as of this time. Sam Taylor also reminded the committee that VEPM should be considered vacant as announce in a bulletin. Cheryl mentioned that there were very little responses to the SEPM vacancy announcement (not too many interested employees). Members agreed that support from leadership is needed to set the tone for supervisors to encourage employee participation as SEPMs. The general feedback from supervisors is that they are concerned about the time commitment required of an SEPM.
Discussion:

Athena posed a question as to why an SEPM would resign. She wanted ideas to be used as a tool for retention purposes. Mike voluntarily answered. Mike indicated that his decision is based on projected increase workload. Cheryl requested the committee to formulate ideas to recruit employees for SEPM vacancies. Sam suggested that employees be invited to attend teleconferences to allow them the opportunity to learn about CRAC functions.

Conclusion:

Kurencio will send a letter to the leadership team to garner support and encourage supervisors to support participation of subordinates. Idea formulation for SEPM recruitment deadline set for January 17, 2008 (by next meeting).

  1. CR committee name (terminology issue)
    • Kurencio brought up an issue regarding the acronym; CRAC. He elaborated that this term is not conducive for certain individuals and gave examples. Mike mentioned that the acronym is in the GM. Athena also reminded that the acronym is established in the bylaws. Athena recommended that CRC be used during day to day conversation but, CRAC should be used officially. The committee agreed with her recommendation.
  2. Training needs for SEPMs
    • Kurencio started discussions on training opportunities and venues. Cheryl recommended that a list be developed to outline training availability and opportunities. Cheryl suggested that each SEPM should be afforded the opportunity to attend one SEPM specific and one general EEO/CR training per year. Cheryl also suggested that trainings offered locally should be considered.
  3. Request 30 minutes at the Ops meeting to share the 2007 AEP and collect suggestions for action items that could be pursued for FY2008.
    • Cheryl mentioned that this idea was very receptive from the leadership staff that she had discuss this with. Athena recommended that a CRAC report be presented during the next Ops meeting. Athena suggested that Kurencio be informed of the next Ops meeting. Kurencio will send a letter to Larry requesting an invite to the next Ops meeting (Athena to represent).
  4. Brief Awards Committee report
    • Athena reported that additional training is needed in this area. Employees are overlooked for awards because some supervisors are not fully aware of processing awards. Another item that prevents proper recognition is that in some cases the supervisor is on travel status or leave and an assumption is made that someone else will take care of processing awards. Athena mentioned that training should include writing justification for awards. Athena ended by informing that committee that in terms of disparate treatment in issuing awards is not an issue.
General Discussion:

Mike informed the group that recruitment packets are available for future career fairs. The packets were developed mainly by Mike and it was reviewed and approved by HR. Kurencio requested that an electronic copy be sent to all CRAC members. Mike agreed to do so. Kurencio obtained consensus from the members for the next meeting schedule. Kurencio also reiterated the topics discuss during this meeting to include action items identified. Athena requested for photos taken at career fairs from the members. Photos are to be forwarded to Athena as soon as possible.

Next meeting is scheduled for January 17, 2008.

Meeting adjourned at 10:15 a.m. Guam Standard Time.

< Back to Civil Rights