Dr. Elbert W. (Joe) Friday, Jr.

Passion and Pride Serve Sea Grant Partners

In late October, I had the privilege and pleasure of chairing the quadrennial Performance Assessment of the Michigan Sea Grant Program.

Listening to more than 40 speakers who took part in the program review, one couldn’t help but notice a striking commonality—passion. Whether presenters were academic researchers, outreach partners, educators or Sea Grant staff, all shared a positive outlook that was enthusiastic, if not inspiring. Each took great pride in detailing the importance and success of their programs and initiatives, and conveyed a firm belief that their work enhances the Great Lakes and quality of life for its citizens.

From Great Lakes education to commercial fishing initiatives to Detroit waterfront renewal, stakeholders praised Michigan Sea Grant’s staff and programmatic efforts. In turn, the “service attitude” of the extension agents has clearly produced a responsive and relevant program. Many of the outreach programs are based upon sound research, and involve multiple and varied partners that include government agencies, industry and interest groups. The result is an effective education effort with documented impacts.

Throughout the four-day review period, I was also impressed with Sea Grant’s research, both the written documentation and the many presentations from researchers from several universities. Michigan Sea Grant consistently recruits and builds teams of the best talent available to address important Great Lakes and coastal issues.

I was especially pleased with Michigan Sea Grant’s outstanding response to the 1999 program review, particularly with its expanded focus on partnerships and education, resulting in highly effective programs in metropolitan Detroit, especially urban areas, and other efforts around the state.

The cooperative spirit and effective management within this UM/MSU jointly managed program, along with significant leadership of senior University officials on the Policy Committee is impressive.

Overall, the assessment team gave very high marks to Michigan Sea Grant. The National Sea Grant office will take these results and those of other Sea Grant program reviews into consideration over the next few years. I hope that additional support will be forthcoming to enhance the many successful initiatives already underway in Michigan.

Dr. Elbert W. (Joe) Friday, Jr.
Sea Grant National Review Panel