ECOP Monday Minute 8.12.13

Communicating Impacts Focus of DC Meeting – The ECOP Measuring Excellence in Extension Implementation Team, chaired by Joe Zublena, North Carolina State University, and the ECOP Program Subcommittee, chaired by Mary Jane Willis, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, met last week in Washington, D.C., together with representatives from the Association for Communications Excellence, ESCOP and USDA-NIFA. The meeting provided a forum to discuss the national Extension system and other land-grant system partners, ideas for how the information gathered can be marketed to a variety of audiences, and how we can deliver training to ensure we gather the highest quality information from across the system. Cooperative Extension directors and administrators are encouraged to enter state impact information and other data at www.excellenceinextension.org. Questions can be directed to Scott Cummings at s-cummings@tamu.edu.

Dan Cotton Resigns, Accepts UNL Position – Dan Cotton, Executive Director of eXtension, has announced his resignation, effective December 31, 2013.  Cotton will rejoin the University of Nebraska –Lincoln’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources as Director of Integrated Technologies for Nebraska Cooperative Extension and Coordinator of Online Education with the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources on January 1, 2014. See http://about.extension.org/2013/08/09/dan-cotton-resigns-accepts-unl-position/.

Funding Opportunity – USDA-NIFA reports that the due date for submission of proposals for the Extension Outreach on the Marketplace Exchanges of the Affordable Care Act (MEACA) has been extended to Aug 15, 2013. The RFA on page 7 indicates the revised amount of $100,000 for the project lead institution. Access to the revised RFA is at http://www.nifa.usda.gov/fo/affordablecareact.cfm or http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/search-grants.html.

APLU Annual Meeting Room Block – Make hotel reservations for the 126th A۰P۰L۰U Annual Meeting scheduled for November 10-12, 2013 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel (2600 Woodley Park Road, NW, Washington, DC  20008) by clicking here. The cut-off date is October 11, 2013.

Climate Extension Summit Report – A workshop organized and conducted by USDA-NIFA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) resulted in the report The Role of Extension in Climate Adaptation in the United States, which highlights current Extension work being done in climate science, educational needs, and next steps recommended for better preparing the next generation of Extension professionals.