Cooperative Extension Section/ECOP Leadership Announcement

Dr. Beverly R. Durgan
University of Minnesota

The North Central Cooperative Extension Association (NCCEA), Robin Shepard-Executive Director, has announced that Dr. Beverly R. Durgan will become Chair-elect of the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP). Dr. Durgan has been Dean and Director of University of Minnesota Extension since 2005. She was appointed Director of the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station in 2006 and served in that role until 2012. University of Minnesota Extension is a state-wide organization with over 800 employees located in 87 county offices, 15 regional offices, and six University colleges. Dr. Durgan has served in numerous national leadership roles, including Vice Chair and Chair of the Budget and Advocacy Committee (BAC), one of two standing committees of the APLU Board on Agriculture Assembly's Policy Board of Directors. Dr. Durgan has chaired the North Central Administrative Heads Section (AHS), has served as an administrative liaison to several regional committees and projects and is the current chair of the U.S. Pork Center of Excellence, a national center that is a collaboration between extension, research, pork producers and the pork industry. Prior to her appointment as Dean, Dr. Durgan was Associate Dean for Research and Outreach and Chief Financial Officer in the College of Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Sciences at the University of Minnesota. As Associate Dean, she provided leadership for research and outreach programs of eleven academic departments and six research and outreach centers. Congratulations and thank you Dr. Durgan!



DEI Program Action Team Update - The ECOP Program Committee's Program Action Team on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion led by Vonda Richardson, Florida A&M University, and Rachel Welborn, Southern Rural Development Center, has established year one priorities which include:

• Developing an information sharing system for posting resources such as peer-reviewed policies, procedures, best practices, and examples across the system that advance the efforts, working with Extension Foundation to host.
• Establishing metrics to measure changes in awareness, behavior, and actions toward the goal of system, institutional and program transformations advancing DEI. Help establish a baseline starting point from which we can gauge success.
• Identifying a few promising programs to support as national initiatives – focus on a few things we can do well together, models that work on the programming level.
• Exploring collaborations that work among 1862/1890/1994 – what works, what could be improved? What could set up our system for collaboration rather than competition?
• Developing an Extension DEI community acting on system-wide, institutional, and program actions

Crystal Tyler-Mackey, Virginia Cooperative Extension, has agreed to serve as the DEI Fellow for the project helping to guide efforts toward these priorities. The team consists of Extension administrators and directors as well as specialists throughout Extension with experience in DEI efforts. The team welcomes others to join. Please contact Vonda or Rachel for additional details.

Intent to Establish an Equity Commission and Solicitation of Nominations for Membership on the Equity Commission Advisory Committee and Equity Commission Subcommittee on Agriculture - Section 1006(a)(3) of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 directs the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture to create an Equity Commission to advise the Agency in “addressing historical discrimination and disparities in the agriculture sector,” which includes “funding one or more equity commissions to address racial equity issues within USDA and its programs.” Nominations can be submitted to Dr. Dewayne L. Goldmon, USDA Senior Advisor for Racial Equity, Office of the Secretary, Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Room 6006-S, Washington, DC 20250; or send by email to: EquityCommission@usda.gov. A Federal Official of USDA will acknowledge receipt of nominations. View the Federal Register Notice here.




Invitation to Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research Public Conversation - The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research’s (FFAR) will hold its annual Public Conversation on October 7, 2021, 12:30 -2:00 p.m. ET. The Public Conversation is an opportunity to hear from the Foundation’s leadership. This gathering, held virtually this year, also includes a forum for the public to address FFAR. During the Public Conversation, FFAR will also recognize Executive Director Dr. Sally Rockey in anticipation of her retirement. Learn more about Dr. Rockey’s Retirement here and register for free here. FFAR will accept comments via completion of the registration form or by email at communications@foundationfar.org. Registered participants will receive the Zoom webinar link.

Making it Count: Applying Science to Support Universal Affordable Broadband Adoption - The APLU Office of Economic Development & Community Engagement invites Extension Directors and Administrators a conference on October 27, 2021, at Noon ET featuring presentations on papers that will inform current deliberations over how to structure, monitor, and evaluate the new suite of internet access and adoption programs made available by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 and other federal funding programs. Read what topics will be included and register here and preview the current agenda at here. This opportunity has been made possible thanks to funding by USDA-NIFA.

 

Military Families Learning Network Looking for CES/Afghanistan Refugee Programs - Is your state working with Afghan refugees? Are your counties engaging locally with Afghan families relocating to the United States? The Military Families Learning Network in cooperation with the Department of Defense Office of Military Family Readiness Policy is interested to know how the Cooperative Extension System (CES) is responding to this new refugee influx. CES has successfully responded to immigrant needs in years past with local programs, educational materials, and partnerships with faith-based resources. Please send what your state or counties are doing or planning to do by email to Brigitte Scott, National Program Leader for the Military Families Learning Network, at brigit2@vt.edu by November 1, 2021. A description of these efforts will be shared with Department of Defense colleagues and others across the country.