May 1
is the deadline for nominations for the 2018 National Awards offered in
partnership by ECOP and USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture
(NIFA).
- The ECOP Personnel Committee and Regions seek
nominations Cooperative Extension professionals who excel at Extension
programming, make a positive impact on constituents served, and provide
visionary leadership for the System.
- The ECOP Program Committee seeks the nominations of either
individual Cooperative Extension professionals or teams that are
achieving organizational changes that support diversity, pluralism and
innovation in programs that impact our Extension audiences.
Worksheets for nominations are designed to assist with
preparation. Recipients will receive cash awards and travel
reimbursement to the 2018 APLU Annual Meeting in New Orleans when NIFA
officials present the awards on the national stage. Go to
www.aplu.org/CESAwards to learn more and submit nominations on-line. Direct questions about nominations to ECOP Program Assistant Sandy Ruble
sandyruble@extension.org.
In Support of Pesticide Applicator Education - In September 2017, eXtension Foundation (established to received and administer funds to support the work of eXtension and the Cooperative Extension Section) received a grant (#X8-83698001) from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish and
administer a national subaward program in support of pesticide applicator education, and training for certified applicators of restricted-use pesticides. For fiscal year 2018, eXtension Foundation has awarded $1,073,229.07 for pesticide safety education to 46 institutions. Through collaboration with the National Pesticide Safety Education Center (NPSEC), eXtension Foundation will be able to provide pesticide safety educational products regionally and nationally. For more information on your institution’s participation, contact Tira Adelman
tiraadelman@extension.org
Farmer-to-Farmer Webinar on March 15 - Please join USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to receive information concerning university opportunities in the
USAID-funded Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) program on Thursday, March 15, 2018 at 3:00 pm (eastern)
at Zoom Link:
https://zoom.us/j/854555187. F2F provides technical assistance from U.S. volunteers to farmers, farm groups, agribusinesses and other agriculture sector institutions in developing and transitional countries with the goal of promoting sustainable improvements in such areas as food security and agricultural processing, production, marketing, and youth development. Average length of assignments is three weeks and the program covers all international travel, in-country costs, visas, immunizations, health insurance, etc. Representatives from
USAID and three of the organizations implementing the program (
ACDI-VOCA, Winrock and CNFA) will discuss how programs are developed in host countries, what type of individuals they’re seeking, what it’s like to serve in the field, how to apply, and more. The F2F program is especially interested in attracting extension professionals who have both the technical knowledge and the requisite skills to transfer that expertise to others.