ECOP Monday Minute 3.18.2013

Federal, State Partners Keynote NEDA – More than 100 Cooperative Extension Director, Administrators, and partners meet this week in San Antonio to consider the theme Strong Partnerships, Sustainable Resources. Leading the partnerships discussion from the federal government are LeAnn Oliver, U.S. Department of Energy, and Ralph Otto and Brent Elrod, USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Mark O’Connell, Wisconsin Counties Association, joins Rick Klemme, University of Wisconsin Extension Director, to focus on state-county partnerships. Watch the ECOP Monday Minute for NEDA highlights and access to presentations.

ECOP Comments on PCAST Ag Report – ECOP, represented by Jane Schuchardt, Executive Director, provided public comment March 15, 2013 to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology meeting in Washington, DC, about the Report to the President on Agriculture Preparedness and the Agriculture Research Enterprise (December 2012). See https://www.aplu.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=1423 for the brief comments and https://www.aplu.org/document.doc?id=4342 for the full response.

eXtension Critical Success Factors (by Sarah Baughman, eXtension Evaluation & Research Leader) -- eXtension reports annually on Critical Success Factors (CSF). These metrics are based on the 2011-2014 Strategic Roadmap and were formulated by a task force of Extension Directors and Administrators and approved by the eXtension Governing Committee. In 2012, when counting all contracts, sponsorships, donations, course revenue, and grants received, including the New Technologies for Agriculture Extension funding, the Cooperative Extension System received $1.69 of additional funds for each $1 invested through assessments to the 75 institutions in the Cooperative Extension Section. Since eXtension was established, the Cooperative Extension System has received $1.62 of additional funds for each $1 invested. The full report can be found accessed here: http://bit.ly/eXtCSF

Southern Region Releases Agbioscience Study - The executive summary and full report on IMPACT & INNOVATION: Agbioscience in the Southern United States -- The Importance of the Southern Region's Land-grant Extension Service and Experiment Station System is available at:  http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/administration/about_us/chancellors_office/agbioscience/index.htm.

APLU Annual Meeting Registration -- Join more than 1,000 leaders from public higher education at the 126th A۰P۰L۰U Annual Meeting November 10-12, 2013 in Washington, DC.  The 126th Annual Meeting will take place at the Marriott Wardman Park, 2660 Woodley Road NW, Washington, DC. The Cooperative Extension Section meets Monday evening. Register at http://www.aplu.org/page.aspx?pid=1462 by June 30 and save $100.

Bourlaug Award Nominations Due June 30 – The $10,000 Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application, Endowed by the Rockefeller Foundation, recognizes an individual under the age of 40 who has emulated the traits demonstrated by Dr. Borlaug as a young scientist working in the field in the struggle to eliminate global hunger. The criteria and nomination procedure for this prestigious award are available at www.worldfoodprize.org/borlaugfieldaward.