Monday, December 17, 2018

ECOP Monday Minute - New Farm Bill

The ECOP Monday Minute will return January 7, 2019.
Enjoy a thirty-second video celebrating the work of ECOP in 2018. 



By overwhelming margins, the farm bill passed was passed by Congress last week. Many are looking for language regarding the House nutrition education provision moving Cooperative Extension into the lead role in providing nutrition education (combining EFNEP and SNAP-Ed). The short answer is that the conference committee included the essentially status quo Senate provision, leaving these programs as they are administered, with increased accountability for reporting and coordination across nutrition education programs. ECOP Chair Ed Jones notes, “Although the farm bill did not include the House’s Nutrition Education Provision, it contains much of what we sought for the 1890s and the inclusion of the 1994s in CYFAR and FRTEP. We look forward to working with NIFA on the Farm Bill implementation.”
     CLICK HERE for summary provided by consultant Cornerstone Government Affairs
     CLICK HERE for media release by APLU.


SAVE THE DATE: Next Generation Extension - Learning for Leaders 1/4/19 - Growing Reach and Relevance Through a Strong 4-H Brand is the title of the first Learning for Leaders session for 2019. On Friday, January 4, 3:00-4:00 p.m. ET, Extension Directors and Administrators receive the opportunity to renew their appreciation for 4-H Grows as well as share comments and questions on the value of a unified 4-H brand and national marketing program. Please join ECOP Chair Ed Jones and Jen McIver, Vice President, Field Marketing and Partnerships, National 4-H Council, and other colleagues from the Section. Stay tuned to email for Zoom connection detail.


National Experiment Station Section Diversity and Inclusion Award - ESCOP is seeking nominations for the National Experiment Station Section Diversity and Inclusion Award. Extension Directors and Administrators are encouraged to share this announcement widely. The award recognizes experiment station research initiatives that support the creation of diverse and inclusive efforts and is dedicated to individuals, teams or organizations that go beyond meeting EEO/AA program requirements. CLICK HERE to view/download nomination detail. The award comes with paid travel to the Annual ESS/SAES/ARD meeting, recognition with a commemorative plaque and a $1,000 cash award. Questions about the nomination should be forwarded to Rick Rhodes, Executive Vice Chair, ESCOP Diversity Catalyst Committee (rcrhodes@uri.edu or 401-874-2468). Rick is accepting nominations by 8:00 PM EDT on March 29, 2019 at the email address provided.



CYFAR Annual Report Available - The Children, Youth, and Families At-Risk (CYFAR) Program is funded by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to support collaborative programming with the nation’s land-grant college and university system. Although 1862 and 1890 land-grant colleges and universities are eligible, the institutions within the land-grant system collaborated with some 1994 land-grant colleges. This collaborative programming provided positive outcomes for children, youth, and families placed at risk and served by those institutions. The 2017 CYFAR Annual Report features the highlights of these programmatic activities, outcomes, and impacts. 

Monday, December 10, 2018

Learning for Leaders - Spotlight on Engagement

Economic Engagement: Benefits of Collaboration among Extension and Campus-Based Outreach is a natural progression from our NEDA session on engagement. The newly formed APLU Commission on Economic and Community Engagement (CECE) provides opportunities for collaboration between Cooperative Extension and CECE member institutions, both land-grant and public. On 12/7/18 Sheila Martin, VP for Economic Development and Community Engagement, met online with 21+ Extension Directors and Administrators. ECOP Executive Committee member Scott Reed (Oregon State University) moderated a discussion of Extension leaders discussing their engagement experiences, unique to each institution. Dawn Mellion-Patin (Southern University), Marshall Stewart (University of Missouri) and Ashley Stokes (Colorado State University) served as panelists. Click Here to view PowerPoint and here for the YouTube version of the recording. Send questions, comments and other ideas for sharing on this topic or any of those listed in the Next Generation Extension - Learning for Leaders archive to ecopblog@gmail.com.

SAVE THE DATE: Next Generation Extension - Learning for Leaders, featuring 4-H Grows!, will take place 3-4:00 p.m. ET, Friday, January 4, 2019.


Campus Engagement Tool for Extension - Thinking of ramping up efforts to enhance campus engagement in 2019? Check out the summary of the work of the Section from NEDA. There are 12 categories that include Relevant Action, Challenges and Opportunities and Resources Needed. ECOP thanks Marshall Stewart, University of Missouri, for this excellent summary to share across the System as one of four Big Ideas from 2018. The archive of all materials from 2018 NEDA in Portland are available at https://ecopmondayminute.blogspot.com/p/2018-neda-meeting.html.


Cooperative Extension Moves Forward on Big Ideas - During 2018, ECOP Past-chair, Chuck Hibberd, worked with the ECOP Executive Committee (includes the past chair and the chair elect and a representative of every region) on four Big Ideas to both mobilize and build capacity for Cooperative Extension Administrators and Directors. The March and July 2018 ECOP meetings focused on dialogue on current capacity and future directions in four areas of adding value to campus mission, private resource mobilization/development, developing and leveraging reporting themes, and internationalizing extension. Stay tuned over the next few weeks to the ECOP Monday Minute to provide updates on the latter three big ideas.


Focus on Mental Health Training: Getting involved in the solution - eXtension Foundation Behavior Health Co-fellows Courtney Cuthbertson, Michigan State University, and Jami Dellifield, Ohio State University, request the assistance of Directors and Administrators to respond to an important 5-10 minute survey by specialists. The survey will help to identify individuals who are working in Mental Health First Aid (MHFA)®/Youth MHFA®, Trauma,  a Trauma Informed Approach, or Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). The survey also will help identify how many Cooperative Extension professionals have attended training or are interested in one of the content areas. Results will be used to help build a national support network and expand or enhance multi-state and individual state efforts. Please forward this request as appropriate. The survey and contact information can be found here.

The eXtension Foundation integrates Fellows to forward their mission of helping Cooperative Extension professionals find more innovative ways to generate local impact. Fellows spend one year advancing knowledge on applied innovation in specific topic areas that move Cooperative Extension professionals & Impact Collaborative project teams forward.


Joint ESS/CES-NEDA Planning Committee: L-R, Chuck Hibberd, Co-chair for CES (ECOP Past-chair),
George Hopper, Co-chair for ESS (ESCOP Chair-elect), Rosalind Dale, representing 1890s,
and Jody Jellison, representing 1862s
Topics for the Joint ESS/CES-NEDA Meeting: September 23-26, 2019 - The Planning Committee thanks all who participated in a recent survey to help identify the topics for the 2019 Joint Section meeting. Click Here to view the summary. Members of the committee are reviewing these result to narrow down the possibilities and come up with a theme. The next meeting is set for December 19. Administrative support is provided by Executive Directors Rick Klemme, Eric Young, Alton Thompson, Robin Shepard, Mike Harrington, Executive Administrator Albert Essel, and Assistant Director Sandy Ruble.

Monday, December 3, 2018

New Report: Social Mobility in Rural America

Social mobility is often determined by where you’re born: 43% of children born into families at the lowest income levels remain at those income levels as adults. A newly released joint study, Social Mobility in Rural America, by The Bridgespan Group and National 4-H Council, in partnership with Cooperative Extension, offers a close-up view of rural communities whose young people are climbing the income ladder. It reveals six common factors that seem to support young people’s economic advancement in these high-opportunity places—factors that other communities might build on.


Deadline Approaching for Comment Period for 2020 Capacity Budget - The USDA-NIFA Office of Budget and Management (OMB) seeks feedback and comments from land-grant institution stakeholders by 5:00 p.m. ET December 15, 2018. This is a follow up to the letter from Rick Klemme sent on November 13. Extension Directors and Administrator are strongly encouraged to respond! CLICK HERE to learn more. OMB contacts for this effort are Erin Daly (edaly@nifa.usda.gov) or Maggie Ewell (Margaret.ewell@nifa.usda.gov).


eXtension Facilitation Training and Development - Registration is now open for the January 2019 Impact Collaborative Innovation Facilitator Training & Development. This eXtension member benefit allows for each Director or Administrator to appoint one individual from your institution to be trained in the Impact Collaborative innovation skill-building process. Registration, travel, lodging, meals/per diem are provided by eXtension. Deadline for registration is December 21, 2018 and institutions must have membership status for 2019. Facilitators help bring new state-wide contextualized innovation to the Cooperative Extension System. The invitation with a promo code for the one free registration was released to members recently. Contact Aaron Weibe at aaronweibe@eXtension.org if your institution did not receive one. Go to the website for more information.


Unlocking Potential Webinar: Engaging young people in community change -
When? December 11 at 3:00 PM ET
How? Register Here
Young people are key players leading community change to achieve greater results. Directors and Administrators are invited to join co-hosts from the Well Connected Communities initiative (including our colleagues from County Health Rankings & Roadmaps) to learn how communities across the country are forming youth-adult partnerships to facilitate innovative ideas to improve health and advance equity. During this webinar youth and field experts will share ways in which young people are informing decisions and taking action. Well Connected Communities is a nationwide effort to cultivate wellness led by the Cooperative Extension System in partnership with National 4-H Council and support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.


USDA-NASS Census Special Studies – Please help spread the word to Producers: two Census of Agriculture Special Studies will be conducted this winter. As part of the Census of Agriculture program, both are conducted once every five years. Everyone who receives a report form is required to respond (Title 7 USC 2204(g) Public Law 105-113), even if they did not operate a farm in 2018. The 2018 Census of Aquaculture expands on the data collected during the Census of Agriculture and provides a comprehensive picture of the aquaculture sector. The Census of Aquaculture mails out December 17. Deadline for response is January 14. The Irrigation and Water Management Survey (formerly the Farm and Ranch Irrigation Survey) will be mailed on January 3 to a sample of farmers who indicated on their Census of Agriculture that they use irrigation on their operation and has a deadline to respond by February 15. For more information and/or promotion tools, visit www.nass.usda.gov/AgCensus.