Budget Webinar Today 10.5.15

ECOP Budget and Legislative Committee Chair Rick Klemme, University of Wisconsin, and Vice-chair Doug Steele, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, remind you of the webinar today at 1:00 p.m. ET on Understanding the Federal Budget Process. See www.bit.ly/ECOPFedWays for details. For best results, please use Firefox or Internet Explorer, not Chrome, as your web browser. 

Join Twitter Town Hall 10.14.15 – Extension educators and researchers from the University of the District of Columbia, North Dakota State University, Kansas State University, and the Southern University Ag Center (Louisiana) will partner with Agriculture Is America, a national communications initiative aimed at highlighting the nation’s land-grant institutions, to host a joint Twitter Town Hall on Wednesday, 10.14.15 from 10:30 – 11:00 a.m. ET. The experts will answer questions regarding youth development, gardening, nutrition, and unmanned aerial systems, among other agricultural topics. The University of the District of Columbia sponsors Urban Food Hubs, which tests the feasibility of small-scale food systems in urban communities in order to address food insecurity in our nation’s capital and beyond. Kansas State University helps rural and minority families connect with 4-H and Extension offices to learn more about higher education and join community clubs. North Dakota State University is one of six FAA national test sites for unmanned aerial systems, and university research and Extension specialists are performing field tests to assess crop and livestock sensing and monitoring. Southern University hosts a fast track gardening program that gives incarcerated youth the opportunity to use gardening as a tool to learn more about agriculture and nutrition. The four projects will be acknowledged at the 2015 National Extension Directors and Administrators (NEDA) and Cooperative Extension Section Annual Business Meeting next week in St. Louis. A Twitter Town Hall, like a public meeting or seminar, gives the opportunity for live question and answer periods. To follow the conversation or submit a question, include the hashtag #agischat in your tweet. All agriculture-related organizations, industry leaders, friends, and supporters are invited to join the discussion. The participating Twitter handles include: @agisamerica, @KState, @suagcenter, @UDC_CAUSES, and @NDSUExt. 

$9.8 Million Award to Support 4-H National Mentoring Program – 4-H symbol The U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has awarded National 4-H Council $9.8 million for implementation of the 4-H National Mentoring Program. This marks the sixth consecutive year that Council has received this important funding which is a testament to 4-H and the Cooperative Extension System's success in providing one-to-one and group mentoring services to youth. This new award brings the total investment from OJJDP in Cooperative Extension's 4-H program to $43 million since 2010. A special thanks to National 4-H Council Trustee Delbert Foster for his important role in helping to secure this funding by representing all of Cooperative Extension in his role as ECOP Chair. Through this award, land-grants across the country will have the opportunity to continue, enhance and expand mentoring services to at-risk, high-risk, and/or underserved populations through the replication of three successful Cooperative Extension youth mentoring programs. All three programs were brought to full implementation through USDA-NIFA's Children, Youth and Families at Risk Program. 

Health Conference Proposals Due 10.16.15 – You are invited to submit a presentation proposal for the 2016 National Health Outreach Conference hosted by Virginia Cooperative Extension and coordinated by a multistate planning team. The goal of the conference is to build a collaborative approach among organizations and agencies to achieve a healthier and safer America by promoting health and wellness, advancing health equity and reducing health disparities. For more information, see www.nationalhealthoutreach.org. Submit proposals at https://osu.az1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_3fW18frku1WJwWN. 

Cooperative Extension at North Carolina A&T State and North Carolina State
universities are part of the Plants for Human Health Institute
centered at the Kannapolis Research Campus near Charlotte, NC.

Experiment Station Leaders Meet in Charlotte – Water security and plant breeding were key topics of discussion at the annual meeting of Experiment Station directors/administrators last week in Charlotte, NC. Included in the event was a tour of the Kannapolis Research Campus, which houses research efforts of various universities including land-grants North Carolina A&T State and North Carolina State universities. Bev Durgan, University of Minnesota, is the ECOP liaison to the Experiment Station Committee on Organization and Policy (ESCOP).