Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission
Outreach and Education Committee
April 3, 2002
Commission Hearing RoomTexas Parks & Wildlife Department Headquarters Complex
4200 Smith School Road
Austin, TX 78744
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5 BE IT REMEMBERED, that heretofore on the 3rd day
6 of April, 2002, there came to be heard matters under the
7 regulatory authority of the Parks and Wildlife Commission of
8 Texas, in the Commission Hearing Room of the Texas Parks and
9 Wildlife Headquarters Complex, Austin, Texas, beginning at
10 3:30 p.m., to wit:
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12 APPEARANCES:
13 THE PARKS AND WILDLIFE COMMISSION:
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15 EDUCATION AND OUTREACH COMMITTEE:
16 CHAIR: Katharine Armstrong Idsal, San Antonio, Texas
Donato D. Ramos, Laredo, Texas
17 Philip Montgomery, III, Dallas, Texas
Ernest Angelo, Jr., Midland, Texas
18 John Avila, Jr., Fort Worth, Texas
Alvin L. Henry, Houston, Texas, (Absent)
19 Mark E. Watson, Jr., San Antonio, Texas
Joseph Fitzsimons, San Antonio, Texas
20 Kelly W. Rising, M.D., Beaumont, Texas
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23 THE TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE COMMISSION:
Robert L. Cook, Executive Director, and other personnel of
24 the Parks and Wildlife Department
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1 CHAIRMAN IDSAL: The next committee is the
2 Education and Outreach Committee. Do we have minutes to
3 approve from the last minute. Mr. Henry is chairman of the
4 committee. Mr. Henry is still ill unfortunately. So I am
5 standing in for him as chairman of this committee. Do we have
6 minutes to approve from the last meeting?
7 Then the first order of business is the
8 approval of the committee minutes from the previous meeting.
9 Is there a motion for approval?
10 COMMISSIONER RAMOS: So move.
11 COMMISSIONER MONTGOMERY: Second.
12 CHAIRMAN IDSAL: Motion by Commissioner Ramos,
13 second by Commissioner Montgomery. All in favor please say
14 aye.
15 ("AYE.")
16 CHAIRMAN IDSAL: Any opposed? Hearing none,
17 motion carries.
18 The next order of business is the Chairman's
19 Charges. Mr. Cook, would you please make your presentation.
20 MR. COOK: One charge to study and prepare a
21 report on all department outreach and education programs. As
22 part or our natural leaders program, a team of employees have
23 been assigned the task of evaluating the department outreach
24 and education efforts. Leah Huth who is here today, a member
25 of that team will provide you with a status report on that
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1 project today.
2 CHAIRMAN IDSAL: Thank you very much. Would
3 you like to make your presentation?
4 MR. McKINNEY: Yes, we're ready. As with --
5 Larry McKinney, Senior Aquatic Resources. As for Gary, I'm
6 filling in for Steve Hall who is at the International caught
7 in traffic trying to get back. So I'm just here for moral
8 support. Leah, her and her team have done the work and I
9 greatly appreciate what they've been doing. And so Leah.
10 MS. HUTH: Thank you. My name Leah Huth and
11 I'll be providing an overview of the natural leaders team
12 project for education and outreach. This is the second year
13 that the natural leaders training program that provides
14 training and leadership principles and project coordination.
15 The candidates are divided into teams and are assigned a
16 project to complete in order to practice the skills that were
17 being taught. This year each team received a project that
18 relates to recommendation by the Sunset Committee. The
19 education and outreach team members are Charlie Munger, Inland
20 Fisheries; Paul Chaucair, Coastal Fisheries, and myself from
21 Park Operations. Each team receives mentors that guide the
22 candidates in order to facilitate the completion of the
23 project. Our mentors are Bobby Faucher, Inland Fisheries and
24 Jonathan Gray with law enforcement. The teams has access to
25 project advisors who are currently working with our topics.
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1 Our advisors are Cynthia Hancock, Steve Hall and Nancy Herron.
2 The project sponsor is Dr. Larry McKinney. The purpose of our
3 natural leaders project to twofold, to develop
4 responsibilities and authority for each entity in the
5 department that currently supports or conducts education and
6 outreach programs, events and activities. Second, to
7 recommend processes for evaluation. This purpose was
8 condensed from Subsection C added by the Sunset Committee and
9 it contains four parts. 1) To ensure that education and
10 outreach activities are consistent with missions and goals.
11 2) Ensure that activities do not duplicate other efforts by
12 department or entities. 3) The activities provide a cost
13 effective method for reaching participants and 4) The
14 activities be effectively measured.
15 To address the first two parts of Subsection C,
16 responsibilities will be identified for six entities currently
17 involved with education and outreach. Defining rules will
18 provide the ability to meet our mission and goals while
19 avoiding duplication and will lend itself to an organizational
20 structure that will identify specific channels for reporting
21 purposes.
22 In addition to field staff, members of the
23 education branch and interdivisional education and outreach
24 team are currently conducting education and outreach program,
25 events, and activities. Communication and coordination
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1 between these entities is crucial to be able to meet the
2 objectives of Subsection C. Clearly defined rules and
3 responsibilities, organization structure and communication
4 channels is one of the teams project deliverables. The second
5 deliverable provides the foundation for conducting evaluations
6 of education and outreach. Throughout the department
7 symmetrical evaluations and reporting mechanisms can be
8 integrated in order to address the third and fourth part of
9 Subsection C. Based on a predetermined schedule, evaluations
10 are requested as events and activities are reported. A
11 database will be required in order to facilitate scheduling
12 evaluation and for consistent reporting of events and
13 activities. The teams third project deliverable is a sample
14 of how a database can be achieved to achieve cost comparisons
15 and effective measurements. The success of any project
16 depends on the degree of implementation achieved. Our forth
17 project deliverable will be an implementation plan. For the
18 recommended time line for implementing the project rules and
19 responsibilities by September. Evaluation requirement by
20 December and an operating database by March of 2003.
21 Thank you for allowing me to provide an
22 overview of the natural leader education and outreach team
23 project. May I answer any questions?
24 COMMISSIONER FITZSIMONS: Good work.
25 MR. McKINNEY: This a project that is one of
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1 those -- let me start our natural leader program, the project
2 that the natural leaders do are always interested but not
3 necessarily always directly applicable to what we need to get
4 done and we made that change and this is one of the first
5 projects that are not -- that's interesting project but it's
6 really aimed to give some tools and some and we have to come
7 up with and they work with real hard at it in their own
8 schedule just continue with it.
9 MR. COOK: I would like to tell you a little
10 more about Leah. She's our assistance park manager here on
11 McKinney Falls State Park that is immediately next door here
12 and sometime when you're here and have an hour or so I'd
13 encourage you to go over and meet with the folks at the park
14 and tour the park. It is a great park. It fits this mold
15 again that we're talking about of a park in an urban area.
16 Leah is characteristic, great representative of the young
17 people that we have in our leadership program and it is a
18 wonderful program, we're very proud of it and Leah, were proud
19 of you. We thank you for your presentation.
20 MS. HUTH: Thank you.
21 CHAIRMAN IDSAL: Is there any other discussion
22 from the Commission? If not this committee is adjourned.
23 What do we go to now?
24 MR. COOK: We're there, I think.
25 CHAIRMAN IDSAL: Oh boy.
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1 Well, then I declare ourselves adjourned.
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1 THE STATE OF TEXAS )
2 COUNTY OF TRAVIS )
3 I, KIM SEIBERT, a Certified Court Reporter in and for
4 the State of Texas, do hereby certify that the above and
5 foregoing pages constitute a full, true, and correct
6 transcript of the minutes of the Texas Parks and Wildlife
7 Commission on April 3, 2002, in the Commission hearing room
8 of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Headquarters Complex, Austin,
9 Travis County, Texas.
10 I FURTHER CERTIFY that a stenographic record was made by
11 me at the time of the public meeting and said stenographic
12 notes were thereafter reduced to computerized transcription
13 under my supervision and control.
14 WITNESS MY HAND this ____ day of ____________________,
15 2002.
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18 ___________________________
KIM SEIBERT, Texas CSR 4589
19 Expiration Date: 12/2002
3101 Bee Caves Road
20 Suite 220, Centre II
Austin, Texas 78701
21 (512) 328-5557
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4 ___________________________
KATHARINE ARMSTRONG IDSAL, CHAIRMAN
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6 ___________________________
PHILIP MONTGOMERY, III
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8 ___________________________
JOSEPH FITZSIMONS
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10 ___________________________
KELLY W. RISING, M.D.
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12 ___________________________
ERNEST ANGELO, JR.
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14 ___________________________
JOHN AVILA, JR.
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16 ___________________________
ALVIN L. HENRY
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18 ___________________________
DONATO D. RAMOS
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20 ___________________________
MARK E. WATSON, JR.
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