Earlier this week, Mid Hudson News removed an article from its website and web archive; the article celebrated the Dutchess County Master Gardener Program (republished on 3/14/24) and announced its recruitment of new program volunteers. We write in the hope that the topic of the Dutchess County Master Gardener Volunteer Program will be revisited and a more nuanced portrait of the program, which has recently seen a mass exodus of long-time volunteers, will be published.
The original article was not wrong in its characterization of the Dutchess County Master Gardener Volunteer (MGV) Program as a successful and impactful community service program. As volunteers, our mission is to help home gardeners create, enjoy, and manage a more environmentally sustainable landscape by sharing Cornell-researched best practices. But in the past few months, the program has come apart. At least half of its 74 volunteers have resigned in protest of the new program leadership’s inflexible, disrespectful management of the program, their misrepresentation of the current crisis to the CCE, and their deceitful if not libelous representations of volunteer behavior.
None of us who resigned took the decision lightly, and none wanted to resign from a program that we love and have loved serving – as volunteers. Neither volunteers nor employees should be subjected to a hostile work environment characterized by punitive dismissals, ridiculous and unsubstantiated charges of misbehavior, and a refusal to discuss sudden and substantial changes to a long-standing agreement between volunteers and the program. Efforts by volunteers to draw Cornell Cooperative Extension’s attention and aid have been met with resounding silence: among others, Ashley Helmholdt and Andrew Turner, CCE Director, were cc’d on resignation letters.
Here are some of the reasons why this mass resignation has happened:
1. The new management team has created a hostile work environment, characterized by punitive responses to any comment deemed critical. Committed master gardeners – from emeritus to intern – have been chastised for any attempt to engage the new management in discussion.
2. They have established new rules governing the nature of our volunteer commitments and refused to explain the reasons for the change. One reason cited in meeting minutes is that the change would bring our requirements into line with other programs in the state – and yet a review of volunteer requirements from other counties shows no evidence of uniformity across programs. Moreover, changing the nature of our volunteer contract would make more sense if done gradually – with the next group of interns. The training program for Master Gardeners is a significant investment of time and effort – and not just from the program, but from the folks who undertake the 15-week training and commit to the program through our volunteer service. The Dutchess County MGV program’s volunteer staff are an impressive group of Dutchess County residents – retired and still working, professionals from all manner of fields, bringing with them decades of knowledge about and experience with running businesses, teaching young people, leading organizations, managing staff, AND gardening. We have invested our labor and our skills into the program – these skills are diverse and valuable. To refuse any discussion of program changes ignores and indeed dismisses this investment and the value of our service. It is behavior that jeopardizes the very foundation of the Cornell Cooperative Extension: its reliance on volunteer labor and knowledge and its cultivation of community service by community members.
3. The new management has summarily dismissed several master gardeners making spurious allegations of misbehavior. Since those dismissed or suspended have been the very master gardeners who, concerned about the future of the program in our county, attempted to engage management in a discussion, we regard these dismissals as an attempt to silence criticism and compel compliance.
4. Efforts to engage the management team in dialogue and efforts to trigger the CCE’s conflict resolution protocols were ignored and rebuffed.
5. Master gardeners were presented with new CCEDC volunteer forms and told that anyone who did not complete and return the form by February 1 would be “removed from the CCEDC master gardener program active roster.” Included in the items on the “Volunteer Code of Conduct” section of the form is this “rule”: “refrain from gossiping to others, in- person, on the phone or by email.” There is no evidence that any other county’s MG program requires accepting such an obnoxious proviso, but if it is in use elsewhere, it should be reconsidered immediately. This “rule” is disrespectful and suggests a gender bias based on a stereotypical portrayal of women as gossips – a suggestion that was not lost on the women who overwhelmingly populate the master gardener program as volunteers. Discussion of program objectives and problems within the program – especially when such discussion has been silenced in meetings – is not gossip. To characterize it as such is misogyny.
In the same volunteer form discussed above, volunteers were told they must “respect and uphold the rights and dignity of all staff, other volunteers and all individuals who participate in CCE programs recognizing that people’s values, beliefs, customs and strengths differ.” Should this not apply to the treatment of volunteers as well? The item below the gossiping rule says all should “encourage participation of and respect for individuals of diverse backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives.” This too should apply to those managing volunteer programs.
We hope that the current direction in Dutchess County can be reversed. And we hope that the CCEDC will consider allowing those who have resigned or who have been dismissed without real cause to rejoin the program. But we also hope that the Mid Hudson News staff will consider investigating the current situation: perhaps shedding light on the current crisis would encourage the CCE to engage current and former volunteers in dialogue rather than ignoring the situation.
Signed,
Tanya Radford, Ph.D., MG Class of 2016
Roseanne Ashby, MG Class of 2001, Emeritus
Sharon Isliker, MG Class of 2005, Emeritus
Emilie Phillips, MG Class of 2006, Emeritus
Durga Soma, MG Class of 2006, Emeritus
Linda LoGiurato, MG Class of 2010, Emeritus
Kathleen Smith, MG Class of 2010, Emeritus
Ann Noone, MG Class of 2010, Emeritus
Linda DiGasper, MG Class of 2012, Emeritus
Chris Ferrero, MG Class of 2012, Emeritus
Mary Gall, MG Class of 2012, Emeritus
Susan Kavy, MG Class of 2012, Emeritus
Gillian Leslie, MG Class of 2012, Emeritus
Marge Arnold, MG Class of 2016
Teresa Carriker-Thayer, MG Class of 2016
Kimberly Collett, MG Class of 2016
Rosemary Daniels, MG Class of 2016
Gwen Davis, MG Class of 2016
Sharon Gagne, MG Class of 2016
Alice Granger, MG Class 0f 2016
Maura Barrett, Esq., Class of 2018
Anjali Nandedkar, Ph.D., MG Class of 2018
Eileen Webb, Class of 2018
Gloria Goverman, MG Class of 2022
Robin Harbold, MG Class of 2022
Wendy McClenahan, MBA, BSN, RN, MG Class of 2022
Mary Sokolowski, Ph.D., MG Class of 2022
The opinions expressed above are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of Mid-Hudson News.
