ECOP Activity at Spring Meeting

ECOP met last week for its Spring Meeting at Virginia Tech. Highlights:
• Approved updated ECOP Operating Guidelines including a section on Relationships with Partnering Entities.
• Received an update on ECOP’s decision to discontinue funding for kglobal and next steps on investing in communications and marketing.
• Approved moving forward to hire a full-time Executive Director at the end of Rick Klemme's contract in April 2020. ECOP Executive Committee will provide leadership on next steps.
• Initially addressed the Future of Extension by focusing on three questions: What is our relevance (why)?, What is our opportunity (how)?, and What is desired outcome (what)? ECOP Executive Committee will provide leadership on next steps.
• Approved ECOP Executive Committee (budget availability) and Extension Resource Partnership Development Committee (workplan draft) to continue work on private resource mobilization with reports due for May ECOP meeting and a progress conversation at July ECOP meeting.
• Approved ECOP Program Committee’s recommendation that the National Urban Extension Leaders’ Implementation Plan be adopted with minor changes.
• Approved ECOP Professional Development Committee’s plan to develop draft criteria for an Extension team award.
• Established an International Extension workgroup starting with Directors Jon Boren (New Mexico State University), Beverly Durgan (University of Minnesota), Chuck Hibberd (University of Nebraska), and Lou Swanson (Colorado State University).

L-R: NIFA Director Scott Angle, ECOP Chair Ed Jones,
USDA Deputy Secretary Stephen Censky,
and National 4-H Council CEO Jennifer Sirangelo
at 2019 National 4-H Conference, Chevy Chase, MD

4-H National Partners Renew Memorandum of Understanding - Leaders from Cooperative Extension, USDA/NIFA and National 4-H Council strengthened their commitment to our nation’s young people, and each other, by renewing their Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on April 9, 2019 bit.ly/4H_MOU. The MOU runs through 2024 and outlines each partner’s roles and responsibilities, and recognizes our shared goal to reach millions more youth with Extension’s high-quality 4-H programming. Representing each of the national 4-H partners in signing were: USDA Deputy Secretary Stephen Censky, NIFA Director Scott Angle, ECOP Chair Ed Jones and National 4-H Council CEO Jennifer Sirangelo. The signing was held during last week’s National 4-H Conference at the National 4-H Conference Center in Chevy Chase, MD and was appropriately witnessed by hundreds of young 4-H leaders from across the nation.



SoAR Retaking the Field - The Supporters of Agricultural Research (SoAR) Foundation recently released the fourth volume in the Retaking the Field series, which celebrates the advances and explores the potential of food and agricultural sciences. Retaking the Field: Science Breakthroughs for Thriving Farms and a Healthier Nation highlights research projects in the areas that the National Academies identified as the most important fields to advance in agriculture by the year 2030: genomics, microbiomes, sensors, data and informatics, and transdisciplinary research. SoAR leads a non-partisan coalition that advocates for full funding of the USDA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative. SoAR also coordinates FedByScience, a collaboration of 20 universities with the goal of securing increases in congressional appropriations for USDA NIFA’s capacity, extension, and competitive funding.


Rural Health and Safety Education Competitive Grant Program RFA - The NIFA recently released the 2019 Request for Applications (RFA) for Rural Health and Safety Education Competitive Grant Program. The Application Deadline is June 10, 2019. NIFA anticipates 8-10 awards with funding amount per award up to $350,000 over a 2-year project period. The Funding Opportunity Page can be found at:

• NIFA – https://nifa.usda.gov/funding-opportunity/rural-health-and-safety-education-competitive-grants-program-rhse  
• Grants.gov - https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=314715 

Interested institutions may join a webinar on April 25, 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET that will focus on general guidelines for the program, the RFA, and the application process. Click here for more webinar information and add to calendar.