Countdown to Awards

The following is a brief timeline associated with the National Cooperative Extension Awards:
      • May 1 – Deadline to receive nominations for Excellence in Extension and Diversity Awards.
      • July 15 – All nominees and nominators receive notice within a few business days of this date of the outcome of the selection process.
      • November 12 – Honorees receive their awards at the APLU Annual Meeting at the Board on Agriculture Assembly Awards program. Click Here to review the list of former recipients. Read more about the criteria and nomination process for all awards at www.aplu.org/CESAwards. Direct questions about nominations to ECOP Program Assistant Sandy Ruble sandyruble@extension.org.

Applying for Building a Culture of Health Pilot - As reported earlier, applications are currently being accepted for the pilot phase for the anticipated launch of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/Cooperative Extension partnership to build a Culture of Health. Helpful links:
      • Partnership Overview Webinar held on March 9 
      • Updated FAQ from March 9 webinar
      • Tips for completing the RFA
      • Register for April 6 webinar: Applying for the Pilot Program
Partnership questions may directed to National 4-H Council’s Director of Healthy Living Programs and Foundations, JoAnne Leatherman at jleatherman@fourhcouncil.edu.

Digital Green eXtension Fellowship Opportunity - Extension faculty with skills in technology and with an interest in exploring Extension models that have been successful in other countries should consider applying for the Digital Green eXtension fellowship. Applications will be accepted until April 24, 2017. The selected Fellow will work closely with the Food Systems Issue Corps to pilot test the technology and share their findings with the Cooperative Extension System. https://extension.org/call-for-applications-digital-green-extension-fellowship/


County Health Rankings - The County Health Rankings, a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, were released on March 29. These rankings compare counties within each state on more than 30 factors that impact health, including such social determinants as education, jobs, housing, exercise, commuting times and more. The 2016 county health rankings compare health differences on a broad range of differences among almost every county in the country. The report shows dramatic differences between rural and urban counties on several measures, most notably premature death rates. Nearly 1 in 5 rural counties saw rises in premature deaths over the past decade while most large urban counties experienced consistent improvement. Rural counties have higher rates of smoking, obesity, child poverty, and teen births, and higher numbers of uninsured adults than their urban counterparts. The report can be found at www.countyhealthrankings.org.

NIFA Annual Report - NIFA recently published its annual report: “Today’s Science, Tomorrow’s Solutions.” The agency’s annual report highlights the transformative research, education and extension progress being made by NIFA grantees toward solving our nation’s most pressing concerns in the areas of food safety and security, nutrition and public health, natural resource stewardship, the bioeconomy, job growth, and economic health.