MILLBROOK – Days after the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Dutchess County (CCE) sent a press release announcing their 49th annual Master Gardener Volunteer Program, published here, which included quotes from Master Gardeners, several of the volunteer gardeners have resigned. The quotes from the volunteers published in the press release were made several years ago, according to one of the former Master Gardeners.
Former volunteer, Dr. Tanya Radford, told Mid-Hudson News that several volunteers have submitted resignations. “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.”
“As volunteers,” Radford said “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.”
Radford was joined by several others who signed a letter addressed to Mid-Hudson News explaining their interpretation of the issues that brought about the resignations. The letter can be found here.
Included in the letter indicating the reasons behind the exodus of the volunteers, Dr. Radford and the others said “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.”
The five primary reasons for the volunteers leaving can be found in this letter.
Read the full article here