Development and External Relations Update

The Development and External Relations office UPDATE is a monthly summary of activities in the section and is published for your general information. If you have questions, please contact Jim Goit or call at (902) 893-7950

• Jim attended a meeting of AFCC, ACCC officials and people from the 18 Community Colleges and Universities that have Agricultural programs across Canada. This is the second such meeting and the APF was the main topic of discussion. Ag. Colleges are seen as a prime vehicle for the delivery of programs under the renewal portion of the APF. The other pillars of the program were discussed as well. NSAC is well positioned to take advantage of programs as they develop.
• The NS Federation of Agriculture had their annual meeting Dec 6-7. Several NSAC staff including Jim attended part of the sessions renewing connections with industry contacts.
• Jim organized a meeting of representatives of commodity groups, researchers from NSAC and officials from CCRA to talk about the SR&ED tax credit. Under this new program, farmers can get a direct tax credit from CCRA for contributions made to research programs through commodity group check offs. There are special requirements, however, that the groups must meet before it can be implemented. Jill, Bruce and Jim outlined the research program at NSAC and the relationship to the commodity groups. We hope to increase the amount of activity in this area.
• One of the significant facts uncovered during the session with CCRA is that contributions to Research Chairs are now eligible for SR&ED Tax credits. Jim asked for clarification on contributions to capital infrastructure (like the Poultry Research Center). If the answer is positive this will be the first time that farmers will be able to collectively to benefit from contributing to our research programs. It will be a 50 per cent tax credit rather than a 20 per cent charitable contribution.
• The Development and Alumni Relations office has been doing an annual report for Executive since the Spring of 2002. In December, Jim converted them to web format and put them on-line for the rest of the campus community to view. This UPDATE provides a summary of the month's activities for the section.
• The month was VERY active for finding Lost Sheep. These are alumni that have fallen off the mailing list for one reason or another. A request was sent out for help from the campus community and a total of 44 were found and added. Jo-Anne called many of them personally to get their new information.
• Jim made a presentation to the new NSAC advisory committee on Dec.19th concerning the Marketing Study and the actions that we have taken in that regard. The competiton for the Marketing Coordinator postion closed on December 24th.
• Donations to the annual appeal continued to come in during September. Typically, December is a busy month for charitable deductions because of the calander year end.
• Stephanie worked with Sarah Macdonald of Continuing & Distance Education to prepare for Graduation exercises for students of Millbrook First Nation who successfully completed the 32 week aquaculture and horticulture training program. Graduation was held December 5th in the Riverview room with nine students receiving certificates of achievement.
• Stephanie organized a campus tour for members of the NSAC Advisory Board who met on campus for the first time on December 19th. A release was also drafted and distributed to Atlantic media outlets.
• The December issue of the NSAC Post is available online at the following link: www.nsac.ns.ca/news/ac_post/2002/_Post,_Dec,2002.pdf In an effort to reduce printing costs and time spent in distributing the newsletter, the December issue of the Post was only sent electronically to campus staff. Those off-campus will continue to receive a hard copy. If you have concerns with this, please let Stephanie know at srogers@nsac.ns.ca
• Work continues on the Agricola News and will be printed and distributed in January/February.
• Stephanie met with Susan Corning, her PR counterpart at Environment Canada. Publicity efforts were discussed for the NSAC Climate chair and other upcoming events.
• Stephanie, Jim and Garth met with Karen Wilson, a local artist, regarding potential promotional items for the College's centennial celebration.