Extension Leaders’ Response to Disasters: Join the Conversation 4/5/19

On Friday, April 5, 2019, 3-4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Directors and Administrators will convene the Next Generation Extension – Learning for Leaders conversation, Extension Leaders’ Response to Disasters: Effectively Utilizing our EDEN Network. ECOP Chair Ed Jones encourages all 76 of his colleagues to please join! ECOP’s Liaison to EDEN, Nick Place, University of Florida, will be on hand to help facilitate the discussion. Connection details:
   • Join Zoom Meeting https://extension.zoom.us/j/129450710 
   • Or join by phone, dial by your location
        646-876-9923 US (New York)
        669-900-6833 US (San Jose)
            Meeting ID: 129 450 710

Award Nominations Deadline 5/1/19 Closes In - There is one month left to draft and submit nominations for the National Extension Awards. Go to www.aplu.org/CESawards to begin. Recipients of either the National Excellence in Extension or the National Extension Diversity Award will be featured in a coordinated national press release (NIFA, ECOP, APLU) and receive $5,000 cash. Typically, a travel stipend is included to attend the APLU Annual Meeting to receive these award. This year the meeting will be held in San Diego. The contact is Assistant Director Sandy Ruble at 202-478-6088.

eXtension Quarterly Report Available - eXtension would like to share with you some of the exciting things they have going on in their first quarter 2019 update. You can find that information in this attachment. This attachment includes:
   • Membership & Funding
   • Training Innovation Facilitators Around the Nation
   • Helping Members Catalyze Innovation Across Their States & Institutions
   • The Impact Collaborative Summit • National Collaborations
   • New Technology



Federal Legislation Re-Introduced to Create Tax Exemption for FFA and 4-H Projects - National 4-H Council wants to make Directors and Administrators aware that legislation (H.R. 1770) to create a tax exemption for the first $5,000 in proceeds on the sale of livestock or agricultural projects by 4-H'ers and FFA participants was re-introduced by Congressmen McCaul (R-TX) and Cuella (D-TX) on March 27 - National Ag Day. The National FFA Organization, the American Farm Bureau Federation and National 4-H Council have supported the Student Agriculture Protection Act since it was first introduced to the House in 2017. The bill has had major bi-partisan support but has never passed the House.



Grant Availability to Decrease Impact of Disasters - Last week USDA-NIFA announced $462,000 in available funding through Smith-Lever Special Needs Competitive Grants Program (SLSNCGP) to decrease the impact of disasters through Cooperative Extension programming. SLSNCGP supports innovative, education-based projects that address disaster or emergency preparedness and specific responses related to natural and human-made disasters. SLSNCGP sponsors targeted projects that enable Cooperative Extension System to assist in preparing for, providing an educational response to, and recovering from disasters. This RFA includes a new component for a Conference Grant or Training Workshop. Eligibility is limited to 1862 Land-grant Institutions in the 50 states and the US territories, American Samoa, Guam, Micronesia, Northern Marianas, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. The deadline for applications is May 28, 2019. See https://nifa.usda.gov/funding-opportunity/smith-lever-special-needs-competitive-grants-program for details.