Yellow – Sustainability: How do we ensure the long-term sustainability of the process and strategies? How do we ensure accountability to the community? How do we measure our progress?

 

Our groups attendance was composed of County Mosquito, Municipal and Health, and Rutgers attendees.

 

Our charge was to consider the sustainability and accountability of the Centers Mission and methods to measure its progress.

 

Sustainability translates into funding and the group considered all of those sources.  Included were the state (State Mosquito Commission; State Experiment Station line-item in the state budget), the federal government (programs and grants), international grants, private funds (i.e. tuition for an M.P.H. student) and industrial sources (chemical or pharmaceutical companies).

 

Of significance is getting the message to the public.  Linkages and partnerships with other organizations, agencies, and associations are critical to that outreach.

 

A lobbying effort is an important endeavor to pursue: at the state level for the Experiment Stations budget; at the federal level for increased Hatch Funds or those that support IR 4.

 

A suggestion was put forward to create a "steering committee" which would form the goals of the Center that would appeal to granting agencies.  Such a committee would be composed of individuals from all levels of involvement (local, national and international vector community members).  The local members would be a significant component to establish an idea of the Centers posture or image in the eye of the public and public agencies.

 

In that vein, a public poll was suggested to investigate the public perception of the Center and the needs of the general public.  The Rutgers Eagleton Institute or Monmouth University was suggested as agencies to approach for this.

 

With regard to the international community and how to reach out to it, how to extract grant funding and how to involve it in initiatives, most session participants at first felt unfamiliar with the topic.  After conversation commenced, however, each realized that by way of AMCA, military contacts and professional associations (i.e. SOVE) that there are in fact mechanisms which can be utilized to develop and build international partnerships.

 

With regard to faculty to be added to the Center, three general disciplines were highlighted: an urban entomologist, an epidemiologist and a wetlands specialist or hydrologist.  It was learned that an urban entomologist is about to be added to the faculty's Department of Entomology.

 

A basic and applied mosquito control expert was also mentioned as a need of the community.  An expert in chemical and biological control was defined.

 

Concluding the conversation regarding faculty it was then settled that in order to prioritize the need for faculty a communications, public policy, or public relations expert should be approached in order to (once again) consider the public perception (value) of the discipline of vector control.

 

With regard to accountability and measurability of the Center (as time ran short) the participants felt that publications, products (students and graduated employees launching into the field of vector biology and control), visibility to the public, and evidence that vectors are under control were instruments by which progress may be measured.