"Deep Concern" Raised Over Moving NIFA Outside of DC - Last Friday the BAA, including the leaders of Cooperative Extension Section/ECOP, responded to the announcement made on August 9th that the land-grant's key partnering agency NIFA will be located outside of DC by the end of 2019. To read the entire letter with 3 important question raised by Policy Board of Directors' Chair Orlando McMeans to USDA Secretary Perdue go to http://www.aplu.org/members/commissions/food-environment-and-renewable-resources/board-on-agriculture-assembly/nifa_ers_letter_august_2018.pdf.
Assessing Communications and Marketing Outcomes - Last week the ECOP Executive Committee voted to place the BAA Policy Board of Directors (PBD) on notice that the Cooperative Extension Section is undertaking an outcome-based assessment to identify the following 4 components of an effective communications and marketing initiative; investments, structure, timing and results. Directors and Administrators will receive a brief survey this week to kick off the effort. The letter to the PBD Chair Orlando McMeans was delivered by Michelle Rodgers, Cooperative Extension Section's representative to that body. The Section commits $133,331 each year (22% of its annual budget) to this type of effort. All Directors and Administrators are asked to participate in 2 events, September 7, 3-4:00 p.m. Zoom Meeting (details to be released by invitation), and the morning of October 2, 2018 in person in Portland, Oregon, (NEDA details are highlighted above) as part of the assessment process.
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| Cooperative Extension Section's ECOP Chair Chuck Hibberd (Left) and 1890s Extension Executive Administrator Albert Essel (Right) engage CES/ESS/NRCS meeting participants. |
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| Jason Henderson, Purdue University |
Extension Mobilizes to Address Urban Programming- Since 2015 the Cooperative Extension Section/ECOP http://bit.ly/UrbanExtension has aligned with the National Urban Extension Leaders (NUEL) and affirmed the organization's good work. NUEL has fostered regional and national collaborations to share resources and grow Extension’s reach into urban communities. As the need for Extension Programming increases, the Section encourages membership in NUEL. NUEL continues to recruit new members into its Regional Caucuses across the five ECOP regions and has made strides in their Action Team work including professional development as they seek to build partnerships with the Joint Council of Extension Professional (JCEP) and eXtension Foundation. NUEL is developing an Urban Extension Implementation Plan to be presented to Extension Directors and Administrators during the October NEDA meeting in Portland, Oregon on October 3, Why Urban Matters to our Future Success. Directors and Administrators are invited to NUEL’s Biannual Network meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina, December 3-5, 2018 with an agenda to assess intersections of collaboration with other colleagues from your region and across the country as NUEL advances urban Extension efforts. For more information contact NUEL Chair Patrick Proden patrick.proden@ces.uwex.edu.
Also, keep in mind the 2019 Semi-Annual National Urban Extension Conference (NUEC), May 20-23, 2019 in Seattle. The relationship of NUEL to ECOP is enhanced by having an ECOP liaison. Chris Boerboom (former North Dakota State University Extension Director) served in this role for several years prior to his retirement. Jason Henderson (Purdue University Extension Director) has recently been named to replace Chris and continue the important liaison relationship.