SNAP-ED FY 2016 Guidance, Proposal Assistance

SNAP-ED FY 2016 Guidance, Proposal Assistance – The FY 2016 SNAP Ed Guidance released by USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) on March 31, 2015 http://snap.nal.usda.gov/snap/Guidance/FinalFY2016SNAP-EdGuidance.pdf includes recommendations solicited from the Land-grant Program Development Team and others. Among the changes are clarity on Policy, Systems, and Environment (PSE) interventions, targeting individuals living in low-income communities, and behavioral outcomes on portion control, increased water consumption, and reduced sodium consumption. Proposals are due to USDA-FNS by 8.15.15. State-level deadlines may be earlier. Of the approximately $411 million allocated for FY 2016 http://snap.nal.usda.gov/snap/Guidance/FY2016EstimatedAllocations.pdf, land-grant universities often are awarded a significant portion. To assist land-grant universities in developing proposals, particularly to address the PSE requirements, ECOP has endorsed a SNAP-ED Technical Assistance Team led by Paula Peters, Kansas State University, ppeters@ksu.edu, and Jo Britt-Rankin, University of Missouri, britt-rankinj@missouri.edu. Contact Peters or Britt-Rankin for a phone consultation and/or face-to-face meeting. Travel expenses are the responsibility of the requesting institution. 

L-R, Kristina Boone, Christine Geith, Craig Wood
Candidates for eXtension CEO

eXtension Announces CEO Finalists – Dennis Calvin, chair, eXtension Foundation Board of Directors, announces three finalists for the eXtension chief executive officer position. The finalists are Kristina Boone, Manhattan, KS; Christine Geith, Okemos, MI, and Craig Wood, Lexington, KY. The next step in the selection process is face-to-face interviews with the eXtension Board in Chicago on May 13, 2015. Comments about the candidates may be made by contacting any member of the Board – Dennis Calvin, Pennsylvania State University; Doug Steele, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension; Fred Schlutt, University of Alaska; Vernon Jones, Langston University; Jason Henderson, Purdue University; Jane Clary Loveless, USDA-NIFA, and Jane Schuchardt, ECOP National Office. 

L-R,Muquarrab Qureshi, USDA-NIFA; Michelle Rodgers, University of Delaware;
Jennifer Sirangelo, National 4-H Council; Dan Glickman, former Secretary of Agriculture,
and Sonny Ramaswamy, USDA-NIFA

Cooperative Extension Highlighted at Congressional Breakfast – ECOP Chair-elect and 4-H alumna Michelle Rodgers, University of Delaware, put a spotlight on Cooperative Extension’s 4-H positive youth development program during her remarks at the 4.15.15 National 4-H Council Congressional Breakfast on Capitol Hill. The event attracted more than 250 attendees including Extension directors and administrators, government and Congressional leaders, including 19 members of Congress. Karol Mason, assistant attorney general, Office of Justice Programs, and Sonny Ramaswamy, director, USDA-NIFA, stressed the importance of young people learning essential life skills through 4-H. In addition, leaders from 4-H National Headquarters at USDA, land-grant universities, youth, 4-H professionals and National 4-H Council Trustees and staff thanked members of Congress and government leaders for their support of 4-H and recognized Congressional 4-H alumni. To see photos, click here. http://www.4-h.org/congressionalbreakfastphotos/. 

Vulnerable Youth Populations Webinar 4.28.15 – USDA-NIFA invites participants to the initial national rollout of Vulnerable Populations Program during a 2:00 – 3:15 ET webinar Tuesday. Engagement and inclusion of new youth audiences is important to the Extension System. Specific populations, including those growing up in low income households, diverse racial and ethnic groups, immigrants and children of immigrants, and others, under-served by 4-H. These same populations -- which comprise a large and growing percentage of our country’s young people -- disproportionately contend with conditions that often compromise healthy development and access to support for it, even as they carry rich cultural resources and cultivate strength and insight through adversity. Registration for the webinar is required at http://www.evite.com/event/0012YOGLZQJTCAVGQEPE4OEUFIEIUE. Connect to the session at http://nifa-connect.nifa.usda.gov/r75cfyw2nuh/. The call in number is 888-844-9905, access code 2056866. 

Extension Award Nominations Due 6.1.15 – ECOP and USDA-NIFA announces the 2015 nomination process for the national Excellence in Extension and Diversity awards. The due date for nominations is June 1st at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time. Nominations, submitted online, must be completed by this date and time. Regions are subject to announcing earlier deadlines for their purposes. CLICK HERE for contact information by Region. For details and to access the online nomination forms go to: http://www.aplu.org/CESAwards. Questions can be directed to Sandy Ruble sandy.ruble@extension.org, ECOP Staff Associate.