ECOP Monday Minute 2.4.2013

ACTION: Register for NEDA -- “Strong Partnerships, Sustainable Resources” is the theme of the 2013 National Extension Directors and Administrators (NEDA) meeting in San Antonio, March 18-20, 2013 at the Hyatt Regency San Antonio hotel. Registration is now available at: http://www.cvent.com/d/kcq42d. Following guidance from the 2012 NEDA meeting evaluation, a priority for the 2013 meeting will be dialogue among participants.

ECOP January Highlights -- ECOP Chair Daryl Buchholz provides the following update on four priorities. Additional details will be provided at the NEDA meeting.  1) The ECOP National Task Force on Health has been launched with Michelle Rodgers, University of Delaware, and Cindy Reeves, USDA-NIFA co-chairing. 2) The ECOP 4-H Working Group, chaired by Chuck Gay, Utah State University, will provide recommendations from the land-grant institutions perspective. 3) The Smith-Lever Centennial Celebration Working Group, co-chaired by Bill Woodrum, West Virginia State University, and Frankie Gould, Louisiana State University AgCenter, has three major areas of emphasis -- a toolkit of communications materials for states and counties to be launched at the NEDA meeting, a celebration/convocation in Washington, DC aligned with the Public Issues Leadership Development (PILD) 2014 conference, and an advocacy agenda led by the ECOP Budget and Legislative Committee, Rick Klemme, chair.

Henning Named ECOP Chair-elect -- Jimmy Henning, University of Kentucky, has been named ECOP Chair-elect, replacing Paul Coreil, Louisiana State University AgCenter, who has announced his retirement effective mid-year. Additional appointments previously held by Coreil are Board on Agricultural Assembly Committee on Legislation and Policy which will be assumed by Tom Coon, Michigan State University, and the ECOP representative to the National Coalition for Food and Agriculture Research (NC-FAR) Board of Directors which will be filled by Chuck Hibberd, University of Nebraska. ECOP sincerely thanks Coreil for his exemplary, sustained national leadership

4-H Alumni Webinar February 15th (by Andy Ferrin, National 4-H Council) -- 4-H programs in 10 states, National 4-H Council and 4-H National Headquarters have launched a joint, 2-year effort to pilot scalable alumni engagement strategies that will mobilize alumni to stand up for 4-H by giving, volunteering and advocating. The participating state 4-H programs are: CA, DE, FL, IA, KY, LA, MN, NE, NY and VT.  Coordination and communication between 1862 and 1890 institutions in pilot states will be a goal of the program. Strategies and messaging will draw upon findings from a nationwide alumni research survey recently conducted by National 4-H Council. Join a webinar on February 15, 2013 at 3 p.m. ET to hear the in-depth findings of the 4-H alumni research. Go to https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/216484319 to register for the webinar. To join the conference call, dial: 1-866-910-4857, access code 755226#.

Apply for Stronger Economies Together Program (by Bo Beaulieu, Southern Regional Rural Development Center) -- The Stronger Economies Together (SET) program was launched more than three years ago by USDA Rural Development in collaboration with the nation’s four Regional Rural Development Centers and their land-grant university partners.  Applications are now being accepted from states wishing to take part in the next phase of the SET program.  SET provides training and technical assistance to multi-county regional teams in the selected states, helping them assess their regional economic advantages and build a thoughtful regional plan for strategically building on their regional clusters/assets. If you are interested in submitting an application to be part of the next phase of the SET program (Phase IV), please work jointly with your State USDA Rural Development Director to develop a proposal.  Applications are open to any state, including those that may have taken part in past phases of the SET program (i.e., Phases I, II or III).  The application, due March 1, 2013, is at http://srdc.msstate.edu/set/phase4.html.  Questions can be directed to Bo at ljb@srdc.msstate.edu or Rachel Welborn rachelw@srdc.msstate.edu.

APLU Issues 2012 Annual Report -- Cooperative Extension is featured in the section about the Commission on Food, Environment and Natural Resources, of the 2012 APLU Annual Report. See https://www.aplu.org/document.doc?id=4314.