Monday, May 19, 2014

ECOP Monday Minute 5.19.14

In observance of Memorial Day, ECOP Monday Minute will return on 6.2.14. 

Extension Centennial Convocation Video and Photos – The ECOP Extension Centennial Force, Doug Steele, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, and Frankie Gould, Louisiana State University AgCenter, encourage you to continue the celebration by: 
• Viewing key segments of the May 8th convocation in Washington, DC at http://www.windrosemedia.com/windstream/ext100years/ and photos at https://flic.kr/s/aHsjY2FQZW
• Watching the 4-H Clovers & Company from Georgia perform at the reception May 7th in Washington, DC at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVPKAIhslyY&list=UUjNa4QiDEehsw74V0pMfQMQ and viewing the reception photos at www.Facebook.com/aplunews.
• Checking the video prepared by the University of Missouri at http://youtu.be/MDwv5JOVQYU

Search the Monday Minute – The ECOP Monday Minute is designed to be a quick communications summary for Cooperative Extension Directors and Administrators on key actions and announcements of interest. In addition to the direct mailing to your e-box, the Monday Minute is posted to a searchable blog at http://ecopmondayminute.blogspot.com/. The search function is located in the upper right. 

USDA-ERS Focuses on Extension CentennialChoices, an on-line magazine produced by USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) posted an article to mark the centennial of the Smith-Lever Act. See http://www.choicesmagazine.org/choices-magazine/submitted-articles/cooperative-extension-system-trends-and-economic-impacts-on-us-agriculture. Additional articles are planned in the next couple of weeks related to land-grant universities and rural issues. To subscribe to the free publication, use the tab at the top at the web site. 

Extension Volunteerism Conference – Doug Swanson, USDA-NIFA National Program Leader for Professional Development for Staff and Volunteers, asks you to save the date for the 2015 National Extension Conference on Volunteerism May 4-7, 2015 in Portland, ME. This conference is for any Extension professional that works with volunteers or manages volunteer programs. A call for proposals will come out later this year. 

Natural Resources RoadmapSee www.aplu.org/NaturalResourcesRoadmap for the new release of six grand challenges facing the United States for sustainability, water, climate change, agriculture, energy and education. A team of 35 scientists authored the roadmap after receiving significant feedback from researchers at public and land-grant institutions across the country. The U.S. Department of Agriculture sponsored the report through a grant to Oregon State University, working in partnership with APLU.

Monday, May 12, 2014

ECOP Monday Minute 5.12.14

Cooperative Extension, USDA-NIFA, and National 4-H Council Sign Agreement – Surrounded by 4-H members, Cooperative Extension, USDA-NIFA and National 4-H Council showed united support of positive youth development by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) (https://www.aplu.org/document.doc?id=5187) clarifying the roles and responsibilities of each party. ECOP Chair-elect Delbert Foster, South Carolina State University, who signed the MOU on behalf of ECOP Chair Jimmy Henning, University of Kentucky, indicated its purpose was to encourage collaborative and enhanced communication and management of national 4-H policies and procedures affecting state and local programs. USDA-NIFA Director Sonny Ramaswamy also signed the document together with National 4-H Council President and Chief Executive Officer Jennifer Sirangelo. The signing took place as part of the historic Cooperative Extension Centennial Convocation May 8, 2014 in Washington, DC. The convocation commemorated the Smith-Lever Act signed on the same day 100 years ago establishing Cooperative Extension nationwide through the Land-grant University System. A video recording of the event, including the signing of the MOU, will be available later this week at http://www.windrosemedia.com/windstream/ext100years/. In addition to honoring the legacy of Cooperative Extension, speakers provided a compelling vision for another 100 years of Extension educational excellence by extending knowledge and changing lives. About the MOU, Henning said, “The 4-H program, designed, delivered and evaluated nationwide by Cooperative Extension in cooperation with USDA-NIFA and with support from the National 4-H Council, will continue to be one of our flagship programs as we work diligently to grow a new generation of leaders for our Nation and the world.”
L-R at the table - National 4-H Council President and Chief Executive Officer Jennifer Sirangelo; USDA-NIFA Director Sonny Ramaswamy; ECOP Chair-elect Delbert Foster, South Carolina State University, on behalf of ECOP Chair Jimmy Henning, University of Kentucky.


Virtual Centennial Festivities – Cooperative Extension’s Centennial is an eXtension featured event this month in the online virtual world Second Life. Access to the event is at http://secondlife.com/destination/extension-centennial-celebration. The celebration includes a Virtual State Fair decorated with a Centennial theme, live musical performances, educational exhibits, live stream of the Centennial Convocation on May 8th, and a fun video recorded entirely on eXtension’s Morrill regions, where 86,000 unique visitors enjoyed a variety of virtual learning environments in 2013. View the four-minute video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EadsygNwc48.

USDA Celebrates Extension – USDA honored the 100th anniversary of Cooperative Extension with highlights at This Week at USDA (2nd part of news clip).
Secretary Tom Vilsack spoke at the May 8th convocation, along with USDA Chief Scientist Catherine Woteki and USDA-NIFA Director Sonny Ramaswamy, all of whom challenged Cooperative Extension to be innovative in the next 100 years.

Congratulations from President Carter – Watch the two-minute video message from President Jimmy Carter first aired at the centennial convocation on May 8th
The 89-year-old is a 4-H'er, peanut farmer, public servant and statesman. He comments on the importance of Cooperative Extension in his family and his life as well as the important role Extension will play in the future to feed the world. The video, made possible by the University of Georgia, is view only. There is an additional charge to use anything other than the produced piece shown at the Convocation.

APLU Celebrates Centennial – President Peter McPherson wrote an essay http://www.aplu.org/page.aspx?pid=2962 and spoke at the May 8th convocation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsE5Fudyb7Y&list=UUjNa4QiDEehsw74V0pMfQMQ. APLU staff posed with Smith, Lever and Knapp, cut-outs made available by the University of Florida Extension http://aplublog.blogspot.com/2014/05/slideshow-aplu-hangs-out-smith-lever.html.

Extension Award Nominations Due 5.30.14 – Take time now to submit nominations for the Excellence in Extension and Diversity Awards. To prepare a nomination for submission, use the handy pdf version which includes criteria found at https://www.aplu.org/document.doc?id=5116. Then submit the nomination at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ECOPAwards2014. For questions, contact Sandy Ruble at sandy.ruble@extension.org. Supporting documents for Diversity and Excellence awards are available at https://www.aplu.org/document.doc?id=5165 and https://www.aplu.org/document.doc?id=5166, respectively.

Monday, May 5, 2014

ECOP Monday Minute - 5.5.14

Marking 100 Years – While the Cooperative Extension Centennial Celebration lasts all this year, the BIG DAY is May 8th when the founding legislation, the Smith-Lever Act, was signed in 1914. For those heading to DC for the Extension Centennial Convocation, be sure to stop by the National Archives, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, to see the original document in the East Rotunda Gallery, open seven days a week 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. If you are not in DC, the convocation can be viewed live and via recording for three months at http://www.windrosemedia.com/windstream/ext100years/. ECOP sincerely appreciates the efforts of the Centennial Task Force Doug Steele, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, and Frankie Gould, Louisiana State University AgCenter, co-chairs; Chrystal Checketts, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension; Jimmy Henning, University of Kentucky; Judy Rude and Bill Hoffman, USDA-NIFA; Bill Woodrum, contractor, and Sandy Ruble and Jane Schuchardt, ECOP National Office.

ECOP Names 4-H National Leadership Committee – The Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP), Jimmy Henning, Chair, University of Kentucky, has named five directors/administrators, five 4-H program leaders, and representatives from USDA-NIFA and the National 4-H Council to its new 4-H National Leadership Committee. The purpose of the committee is to discuss issues of national importance to the 4-H youth development program and make recommendations to ECOP. Initial topics for discussion might include how to expand the 4-H program to reach more urban and rural underserved audiences; how to recruit a more diverse 4-H workforce; how to increase the cultural competency of existing paid staff and volunteers, and how to develop sustainable, new resources to support the expansion of the 4-H program.

ECOP member Charlotte Eberlein, University of Idaho, will convene the committee until co-chairs can be named. Committee members are North Centrol Region – Cathann Kress, Iowa State University, and Renee McKee, Purdue University; 1890s Institutions – Edmund Buchner, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, and Woodie Hughes, Jr., Fort Valley State University; Southern Region – Ed Jones, Virginia Tech, and Chris Boleman, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension; Western Region, Glen Whipple, University of Wyoming, and Deb Jones, University of Alaska; Northeast Region, Steve Bonanno, West Virginia University, and Christy Bartley, Pennsylvania State University; USDA-NIFA – Lisa Lauxman, and National 4-H Council, Jennifer Sirangelo. Extension Executive Directors working with the committee are Lyla Houglum, Western Extension Directors Association, and Nancy Bull, Northeast Extension Directors.

The Memorandum of Understanding designed to establish a structure for identifying and openly communicating about issues of importance to the 4-H program by all partners is scheduled to be signed by Cooperative Extension Section/ECOP, USDA-NIFA and National 4-H Council officials during the Extension Convocation May 8, 2014 in Washington, DC. Details will appear in the next issue of the ECOP Monday Minute.

Extension Award Nominations Due 5.30.14 – Take time now to submit nominations for the Excellence in Extension and Diversity Awards. To prepare a nomination for submission, use the handy pdf version which includes criteria found at https://www.aplu.org/document.doc?id=5116. Then submit the nomination at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ECOPAwards2014. For questions, contact Sandy Ruble at sandy.ruble@extension.org. Supporting documents for Diversity and Excellence awards are available at https://www.aplu.org/document.doc?id=5165 and https://www.aplu.org/document.doc?id=5166, respectively.

Executive Directors/Administrators Meet in DC – APLU Vice President for Food, Agriculture and the Environment Ian Maw called a meeting of the AES and CES Executive Directors and Administrators this week in Washington, DC. Among agenda items were joint marketing and impacts projects, alignment of support for federal budget priorities, and orientation for new deans/directors/administrators. The ECOP Executive Directors and Administrative Team met separately and engaged in discussion with NACo, USDA-NIFA community development and family and consumer sciences, and USDA climate hub representatives.

Borlaug Award Nominations Due 6.30.14 – Nominate an individual less than 40 years of age for the 2014 Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application endowed by the Rockefeller Foundation. Please click on this link to learn more.

California Science Project Notes Centennial – In celebration of Cooperative Extension’s 100 years on May 8, University of California is inviting everyone in the state to a participate in a one-day science project. Go to http://100.ucanr.edu/Day_of_Science_and_Service/ and answer three questions: • How many pollinators do you see? • How are you conserving water? • Where is food grown in your community? On May 8, data maps will automatically populate with answers from all over the state at beascientist.ucanr.edu. Help spread the word by joining our Facebook event and pledging a social media update with Thunderclap campaign. For information or questions, contact Marissa Stein, UCCE Centennial Coordinator, at mpstein@ucanr.edu.