Strategic Opportunities and Measuring Excellence Database – The ECOP database at www.excellenceinextension.org has been rebranded to include expanded salary data, the ability to input and retrieve impact statements, and new options for charting data. Scott Cummings, who manages the database, reports that of the 75 institutions in the Cooperative Extension Section, 35 have reported excellence data and 27 institutions have reported impacts. For more information on how your institution can be represented, contact Scott at s-cummings@tamu.edu.
Galaxy IV Update – Among highlights of the Galaxy IV Conference last week in Pittsburgh, ECOP Chair Daryl Buchholz received the prestigious Ruby Award from Epsilon Sigma Phi http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcIHoc1EUmY; the forward-looking, outwardly-focused Cooperative Extension centennial celebration was launched www.extension100years.net; Chuck Hibberd, ECOP Personnel Subcommittee co-chair, facilitated a discussion of the 21st Century Extension Professional Project, and ECOP chair-elect Jimmy Henning escorted and introduced USDA Secretary Vilsack for a keynote address. ECOP met during Galaxy. Action included approval of the 2014 budget, acceptance of the Cooperative Extension vote to continue the SNAP-Ed assessment for three more years, and a discussion of next steps for eXtension following release of the external review.
Executive Director Search – The Northeast Extension Directors ask your help in identifying qualified candidates for executive director, replacing Linda Kay Benning who retires this year. In the national Cooperative Extension Director and Administrator structure, this position dedicates 25 percent full-time equivalent to national goals of ECOP and other time on regional priorities. The job announcement is available here with review of applications beginning 10.4.13.
FY 2013 Capacity Funds – USDA-NIFA has an updated website providing final allocations for capacity/formula funds. See http://www.nifa.usda.gov/business/awards/formula.html and here for a summary of how the agency calculated the final total funding levels for various FY 2013 programs.
Household Food Security – USDA Economic Research Service has a new release on food security in the United States. Seehttp://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err-economic-research-report/err155.aspx#.UkBo57zlUUs. "Ensuring an abundant and safe food supply for all" is a strategic priority for Cooperative Extension. See http://www.aplu.org/document.doc?id=4096.
