Monday, August 26, 2013

ECOP Monday Minute 8.26.13



In observance of Labor Day, ECOP Monday Minute returns 9.9.13

ECOP Chair Meets with OMB – Daryl Buchholz, ECOP Chair, together with Mike Hoffmann, ESCOP Chair, and Cornerstone Government Affairs representatives, met last week with the U.S. Office of Management and Budget in Washington, DC. The purpose was to continue the advocacy messaging related to the “both-and” of competitive and capacity funds. Buchholz used the 2012 ECOP handout on capacity funds, the 2013 ECOP handout, and a new piece developed by the ECOP Budget and Legislative Committee on the Top 10 Reasons Why Capacity Funding Is Essential. Cooperative Extension Directors and Administrators are welcome to use any of these handouts in state-level work.

FY 2014 and SNAP-Ed Funding Update – Rick Klemme, ECOP Budget and Legislative Committee Chair, University of Wisconsin Extension, worked with Cornerstone Government Affairs to provide the document Current Status of USDA-NIFA and SNAP-Ed Funding (August 2013). This is adapted from a communications used in Wisconsin to answer questions from Cooperative Extension colleagues and their statewide advocacy group. Directors and Administrators are welcome to use the document.

Cooperative Extension at APLU Annual Meeting – Cooperative Extension Directors and Administrators attending the 2013 APLU Annual Meeting in Washington, DC can use the preliminary Board on Agriculture Assembly schedule. Of particular interest are the awards presentations, the 4-H luncheon, and the Monday evening Cooperative Extension dinner which will include recognition for national leadership. Registration details can be found here.

GCHERA Conference in China – Ian Maw, APLU Vice President for Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources, encourages attendance at the Global Confederation of Higher Education Associations for the Agricultural and Life Sciences (GCHERA) October 20-22, 2013 in Nanjing, China. The program includes the inaugural GCHERA World Agriculture Prize Ceremony www.gchera-wap.org to acknowledge excellence in academic leadership in agricultural and life science universities and an international seminar on sustainable rural development. Registration through the Nanjing Agricultural University is available at http://wap.njau.edu.cn/.

Sign up for Ag is America Newsletter – Contact Jenny Nuber, jenny.nuber@kglobal.com, to get this weekly newsletter which highlights impacts of Cooperative Extension and agricultural research. This is part of the work led by the AES-CES Communications and Marketing Committee co-chaired by Scott Reed, Oregon State University. You also may wish to follow Ag is America on Twitter at @AgIsAmerica.

Monday, August 19, 2013

ECOP Monday Minute 8.19.13



SAVE THE DATE: eXtension External Evaluation Webinar – ECOP will host a webinar on The eXtension External Evaluation: Charting Next Steps 1-2 p.m. ET, Monday, 9.9.13. Connect at https://connect.extension.iastate.edu/ecop. This is another opportunity for Cooperative Extension Directors and Administrators to engage in a discussion about the future direction of eXtension. The report can be found here. The deadline for responding to the related survey at http://bit.ly/eXtDASurvey is 8.28.13.

New EFNEP Policies Document – USDA-NIFA has updated the USDA Extension Service October 1983 Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program Policies (August 2013).  See http://www.nifa.usda.gov/nea/food/efnep/resources.html.

Help Tell the Agriculture Story – The Smithsonian Institutions is asking the public to help preserve the recent history of farming and ranching by sharing their stories about the technologies and innovations in agriculture in the Agriculture Innovation and Heritage Archive. The archive stories and artifacts will be used for Smithsonian exhibitions like American Enterprise, which will open in May 2015. Submit a story through the link on the home page at http://americanenterprise.si.edu/introduction/agricultural-innovation-and-heritage-archive/.

Women in Agriculture Learning Network – The CHS Foundation, a farmer-owned cooperative, has funded eXtension to develop and implement a new national online Women in Agriculture National Learning Network. The network will help women who operate and manage farms improve their quality of life by providing resources to make better business decisions while maintaining a balance with family and personal obligations.  Women now own about half of all farm land in the U.S. Many focus on organic agriculture and value-added farming and raise small livestock.  The new network will help women operate profitable farming operations and take on leadership roles in agriculture. One of the key resource areas planned is farm financial management. Topics will include beginning farming skills, financial and business planning, time management, government programs, insurance, labor management, legal issues, risk management, transition planning, organic farming, sustainable agriculture, and conservation practices.  The Women in Ag Network is expected to go online by December 2014.

Monday, August 12, 2013

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 AÛ°PÛ°LÛ°U 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.

ECOP Monday Minute 8.5.13



Extension Announces 2013 Awardees – Seven exemplary Cooperative Extension educators will be honored at the 2013 APLU Annual Meeting, November 10-12, 2013 in Washington, DC. Awards recognizing excellence in programming and celebrating diversity are co-sponsored by ECOP and USDA-NIFA and selected through a competitive process. The National Excellence in Extension Award winner is Jeffrey T. Edwards, Small Grains Extension Specialist, Oklahoma State University. Regional Excellence in Extension Award winners are Marion Simon, Extension Specialist and Interim Division Chair, Kentucky State University; Kimberly Greder, Associate Professor and Extension Specialist, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Iowa State University; Elaine Bowen, Health Promotion Extension Specialist, West Virginia University; Denise Holston-West, Instructor and Smart Bodies Program Director, Louisiana State University AgCenter, and Brian J. Higginbotham, formerly Associate Professor and State Extension Specialist, Department of Family, Consumer, and Human Development, Utah State University. Higginbotham was recently appointed the Associate Vice President and Associate Director, Utah State University Extension. The National Extension Diversity Awardee is Northwest Indian College in Bellingham, WA. The award will be accepted by Susan Givens-Seymour, Director of Outreach and Community Education and Director of Cooperative Extension.

National 4-H Council Names New CEO – Jennifer Sirangelo has been named chief executive officer of the National 4-H Council replacing Don Floyd who retires at the end of 2013. View the press release here.

USDA-NIFA Partnership Awards Nominations Due 9.4.13 – NIFA invites all NIFA-supported land-grant universities and cooperating institutions and organizations to submit nominations for the 2013 NIFA Partnership Awards Program. These awards recognize outstanding contributions aligned with NIFA strategic goals in support of the USDA mission. Awards for this year will recognize excellence in mission integration of research, education, and extension; multistate efforts; innovative programs and projects; effective and efficient use of resources, and program improvement through global engagement. USDA-NIFA accepts nominations for individuals or teams of up to 20 members. Each institution may submit up to two nominations (combined total across all five categories), meaning the entire institution including research, education, and Extension functions. Nominations must follow the specified partnership criteria and be submitted on the 2013 NIFA Partnership Awards Nomination Form. All signed nomination forms must be submitted by September 4, 2013, via email using scanned files saved as .PDF or .JPG files and emailed to Chevon.Gibson@ars.usda.gov, as instructed in the guidelines.

DoD Child Care Proposals Due 8.26.13 – The FY 2013 Department of Defense Child Care Curriculum RFA is at http://www.nifa.usda.gov/fo/childcarecurriculum.cfm. Also on this page are the NIFA Grants.gov application guide, the application package, and abstracts of funded projects. Information also is available at www.grants.gov/search and here.

Membership Solicitation for the NAREEE Advisory Board Extended – USDA has a new deadline of 8.30.13 to make nominations for eight vacancies on the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Economics (NAREEE) Advisory Board. Among slots of particular interest to Cooperative Extension are 1890 Land-grant Colleges and Universities and Rural Economic Development. The NAREEE Advisory Board released a Cooperative Extension report to the Secretary of Agriculture and Congress early this year.

USDA-NIFA Director on Video – Sonny Ramaswamy, USDA-NIFA director, gave a seminar July 25, 2013 at Kansas State University called Setting the Table for a Hotter, Flatter, More Crowded Earth. Watch his recent interview with the North Central Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources Program Leaders here