Thursday, February 27, 2014

ECOP Monday Minute 2.24.14



ACTION: Register for NEDA 2014 – Early registration deadline for NEDA, offered this year in conjunction with the National eXtension Conference March 24-27 in Sacramento, runs through March 3. See http://muconf.missouri.edu/NeXC-NEDA2014/ for details. This is the one opportunity each year for Cooperative Extension Directors and Administrators to engage in a dialogue about national opportunities affecting state and local programming. In addition to joint sessions with eXtension featuring keynote speakers, the NEDA and Cooperative Extension Business Meeting will consider such topics as improving health in America, building Extension’s human capacity, the new 4-H National Leadership Team, resource opportunities, and telling the impact story. The ECOP Executive Committee which plans NEDA under the direction of immediate past ECOP Chair, Daryl Buchholz, encourages representation from all institutions in the Cooperative Extension Section. Join us in Sacramento for Launching Cooperative Extension’s Next 100 Years: Celebrate, Innovate, Engage.

FCS Master Volunteer Program Learn about the Master Family & Consumer Sciences (FCS) Volunteer Program during a webinar  2:00-3:00 p.m. ET, Wednesday, 2.26.14 targeted for FCS program leaders and county educators. See the newly developed website to help plan, implement and evaluate a successful volunteer program, plus preview a 13-lesson series on volunteer development. This program will help build FCS capacity, critical to Cooperative Extension programming nationwide, by using trained volunteers at the local level. The program was developed through a partnership of USDA-NIFA and  Montana State University Extension. Space is limited for the webinar. Pre-registration is required at

“New” eXtension Planning Underway Dennis Calvin, Pennsylvania State University, Chair of the eXtension Governing Committee, and Keith Smith, Ohio State University, Chair of the eXtension Strategic Planning Committee, announce work to set out a plan for the “new” eXtension. Thanks to all Cooperative Extension Directors and Administrators for expressing your views over the last year. The next step is to take action for change. Cascade Center for Community Governance has been contracted to lead the effort. The first meeting, which includes representation from all five Extension regions, is scheduled for March 4-5, 2014 in Washington, DC. An update will be provided at the 2014 NEDA meeting in Sacramento in late March.

ACTION: Impacts Database – Forty-four of 75 Land-grant institutions in the Cooperative Extension Section are represented in the Impacts Database. If your institution is not represented, the ECOP Program Subcommittee requests that you please consider doing so. The impacts are already being used to support funding requests and for various presentations to key influential groups. Go to https://excellence.tamu.edu/database to enter impacts so that your institution and your region can be appropriately recognized.

Celebrating 100 Years Cooperative Extension was well represented at the USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum February 20-21 in Arlington, VA. The forum kicked off with video http://www.usda.gov/oce/forum/friday.htm#celebrating, included an ongoing centennial exhibit, and featured a concurrent session moderated by Krysta Harden, USDA deputy secretary,  called Launching Cooperative Extension’s Next Century. ECOP Chair Jimmy Henning, University of Kentucky, and ECOP Centennial Task Force co-chairs, Doug Steele, Texas A&M University, and Frankie Gould, Louisiana State University, were speakers.

Monday, February 10, 2014

ECOP Monday Minute 2.10.14



In recognition of Presidents’ Day, ECOP Monday Minute will return on 2.24.14.
Centennial Celebration Details Extension Centennial Celebration Task Force co-chairs, Doug Steele, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, and Frankie Gould, LSU AgCenter, would like to share details about the upcoming Centennial celebrations.  There are many exciting opportunities for your University to engage in the celebration of our 100 years of work to improve the lives of people across the United States. They would especially like to point out the 100 Days of Tweets that are currently occurring as well as draw your attention to the Poster Competition and Giving Opportunities in support of the Convocation on May 7-8, 2014.   Please find their letter with details at http://www.lsuagcenter.com/MCMS/RelatedFiles/%7B60CF33C5-6EBF-4798-BD00-4C2E20E2FE71%7D/Centennial-Status-Update--2014-02-07-FINAL.pdf.

See the Smith-Lever Act With thanks to the APLU Council on Government Affairs, the original Smith-Lever Act, the founding legislation of the nationwide Cooperative Extension System, will be on display at the National Archives www.archives.gov/ from April 17 to May 8, 2014, seven days a week, between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5:30 pm. Happy 100th, Cooperative Extension!

“I Believe” – Extension Centennial Celebration Task Force Co-chair, Doug Steele, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension shares this video on Texas Extension professionals reciting the Extension Professionals Creed.  Check it out at http://agvideo.tamu.edu/Creed-ITW/Creed100-YouTube.mov and see www.extension100years.net for a toolkit of communications tools to tell the story of Cooperative Extension’s past, present, and, most importantly, future.
USDA Announces Climate Change Hubs – See http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentidonly=true&contentid=2014/02/0016.xml for locations of regional climate change hubs. University partners, including Cooperative Extension, will help to provide technical support, assessments and forecasts, and outreach and education. For additional information, see http://www.usda.gov/oce/climate_change/regional_hubs.htm.
USDA StrikeForce See www.usda.gov/strikeforce regarding to the USDA StrikeForce for Rural Growth and Opportunity. USDA’s vision is to increase efforts in high-poverty rural areas. Cooperative Extension is encouraged to get involved.

Host Volunteerism Conference The National Extension Conference on Volunteerism on alternate years. The focus is to advance the knowledge and practice of working with Extension volunteer programs. The 8th National Extension Conference on Volunteerism will be in April or May, 2015. Land-grant universities interested in hosting the conference can submit a proposal by 3.2.14. Request instructions from Doug Swanson, USDA-NIFA National Program Leader, 202.690.1227, dswanson@nifa.usda.gov.

Monday, February 3, 2014

ECOP Monday Minute 2.3.14



Celebrate Centennial 100 Days on Twitter Tweets for every day leading up to the Extension Centennial Convocation May 8, 2014 are underway. See the information at http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/administration/about_us/chancellors_office/extension/resources/100-Days-of-Tweeting-the-ext100years.htm and use the hashtag #Ext100Years to begin to connect nationally. This effort will have a unique Twitter # to be used starting on May 8th with a desire to make it trend. For more information, contact Bill Woodrum (extensioncentennial@gmail.com) or Frankie Gould (fgould@agcenter.lsu.edu).

Agricultural Outlook Forum Features Extension Centennial ECOP Chair Jimmy Henning, University of Kentucky, and Centennial Task Force Co-Chairs Doug Steele, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, and Frankie Gould, Louisiana State Ag Center, will speak at the February 20-21, 2014 USDA Ag Outlook Forum in Crystal City, VA. The topic is Launching Cooperative Extension’s Next Century. USDA-NIFA Director Sonny Ramaswamy will moderate the session. The forum, which draws more than 1,000 agriculture leaders in business, government, and other organizations kicks off with remarks by USDA Secretary Vilsack and videos including one featuring the Extension Centennial. Cooperative Extension also will be featured in the exhibitor area. For more information about the forum, see http://www.usda.gov/oce/forum/.

ECOP-ESCOP Strategic Alliance – Following the lead set by 2013 ECOP and ESCOP chairs, Jimmy Henning, University of Kentucky, and Steve Slack, Ohio State University, ECOP and ESCOP 2014 chairs, respectively, will meet with USDA-NIFA top leaders on February 19, 2014. The goal is to show how the research to practice innovation circle is implemented at state and local levels. Critical national leadership by the chairs includes meetings with the USDA-NIFA Science Leadership Council and a seminar for all agency employees with a special focus on increasing knowledge about Land-grant University agricultural research and Extension amongst agency national program leaders.

PILD Registration Opens The 2014 Public Issues Leadership Development (PILD) conference, an annual effort of the Joint Council on Extension Professionals (JCEP), is April 6-10, 2014 in Alexandria, VA.  This conference brings together Extension Directors and Administrators, Extension educators, and volunteers, including youth, to discuss cutting edge issues prior to visits on Capitol Hill and with federal agencies. Plan now to identify your delegation – both volunteers and staff; determine the talking points for your state in order to have effective visits, and confirm registration. A special feature will be the celebration of the Extension Centennial. For details and to register, see http://jcep.org/pild-conference/2014-pild-registration.

SAVE THE DATE: National Urban Conference 2015 Urban Extension Professionals play an important role in the vigor of Extension programming across our nation.   Programming in urban areas must remain dynamic and adaptable to meet the fast pace of urban needs and provide urban communities with reliable research based information from our nation’s top universities. May 4-7, 2015, the National Urban Extension Conference will be in Atlanta, Georgia. Save the date to join urban Extension professionals from across the nation to share emerging issues, be inspired by urban Extension impacts, and look to the future for ways to link urban communities with the research that continues to improve lives. Learn more at http://urbanextension2015.com/.