Cooperative Extension, USDA-NIFA Announce 2014 Awardees – Seven exemplary Cooperative Extension educators will be honored at the 2014 APLU Annual Meeting, November 2-4, 2014 in Orlando, FL. 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 Robert Kallenbach, Plant Sciences Extension Specialist and Program Leader, University of Missouri. Regional Excellence in Extension Award winners are Henry English, Small Farm Program Director, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff; Rick Funston, Beef Cattle Reproduction Specialist, West Central Research and Extension Center at North Platte, University of Nebraska; Richard VanVranken, County Extension Department Head, Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Atlantic County; John Jacob, Environmental Quality and Coastal Community Development Director, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, and Madeleine Sigman-Grant, Extension Specialist, University of Nevada. The National Extension Diversity Awardee is Cesar Asuaje, Regional Extension Specialist in Agriculture, Farm Labor, Pesticide and Farm Safety Education, University of Florida.
ECOP to Meet in Lexington, KY – Regional scans kick off the fall ECOP meeting October 15-16 in Lexington, KY, chaired by Jimmy Henning, University of Kentucky. The purpose of the scans is to indicate program and administrative themes where national leadership is warranted. Other key decision points on the agenda are approval of the 2015 ECOP goals and budget, private resource development at the national level, eXtension’s transition to a new model, a health and wellness implementation team, and formalizing a National Impacts Database Committee.
Excellence Data Due 12.31.14 – The ECOP Measuring Excellence in Extension Implementation Team chaired by Joe Zublena, North Carolina State University, has shifted its call for data input to the fall of each year. While data is appreciated at any time, this shift is designed to coordinate with most university’s fiscal years. In addition to entry of data directly into the system at www.landgrantimpacts.org (formerly excellenceinextension.org), there is an option to fill out a form and the data will be entered for you. The form is available from Scott Cummings at s-cummings@tamu.edu. The database is only valuable if it is complete.
PILD Save the Date – The Joint Council of Extension Professionals (JCEP) will focus on the 125th anniversary of the passage of the 2nd Morrill Act creating 1890 Land-grant Institutions at the April 12-15, 2015 conference in Crystal City, VA. The 2015 Public Issues Leadership Development (PILD) Conference theme is “Imagining Extension – Eyes to the Future …”. ECOP 2015 Delbert Foster is among the invited keynote speakers. Registration opens 1.12.15 at www.jcep.org.
National Extension Conference on Volunteerism – This conference, designed for professionals of all disciplines with Cooperative Extension who work with volunteers and/or volunteer programs is May 4-7, 2015 in Portland, ME. Proposals for workshops, research presentations, and the poster showcase are due November 7, 2014. See http://extension.umaine.edu/programs/necv/.
