Investing in Rural Recovery

Today the nation’s four Regional Rural Development Centers (RRDCs) released Investing in Rural Recovery: Findings from a Rapid Assessment of Stakeholder Priorities for Rural Development from a national survey of rural development stakeholders. Conducted in the fall of 2021, the survey is part of a year-long Listening Session Initiative aimed at identifying key priorities and critical investments for rural communities’ recovery and growth. The questionnaire served as a rapid appraisal of key informants’ perceptions about priorities, capacities, and potential to expand programming in eight critical topic areas. Respondents also reported the types of programs found to be most valuable and the resources, challenges, and opportunities they perceive for rural communities. The report marks the close of the first stage in the consultative feedback process being led by the RRDCs and will provide a basis for a series of facilitated dialogues in the initiative’s second phase in March and April of 2022.

Prioritizing Nutrition Security - Learn about the latest updates to the Cooperative Extension’s National Framework for Health Equity and Well-Being on Tuesday, January 25, 2022 at 3-4:30 p.m. ET. The virtual session will be led by the Framework authors and attendees are highly encouraged to ask questions and provide feedback during the live Q&A segment and the virtual breakout sessions. This event is the sixth installment of NIFA’s new monthly Nutrition Security Webinar Series. To register and for more information, visit the Prioritizing Nutrition Security webinar announcement.

New Deadline for 4-H Executive Position - Extended to Friday, January 28, 2022. The ECOP 4-H Leadership Committee (ECOP 4-H) seeks an Executive Director who is passionate about building partnership and policy foundations for future 4-H Youth Development programs and initiatives nationwide. The Executive Director will support the work of the Committee, including a bold vision and plan for engaging more youth in the 4-H program that also reflects the diversity of youth in the United States. The ideal candidate would be an experienced Extension Director/Administrator or State 4-H Program Leader with demonstrated past success in collaborative leadership and coordination of Extension system resources. Full description is here. To apply, send cover letter and resume to ECOP4-H@4-H.org.

Big Idea on Health Event - The ECOP Health Innovation Taskforce will conduct a "Big Idea" virtual event on February 10, 2022 from 2-4:00 p.m. ET to connect the dots of business, education, and health with the Cooperative Extension System. Please share the opportunity with university's colleges of agriculture, public health, and education, and with health industry leaders, and organizations invested in community development or the education pipeline. Task Force member Dr. Erik Porfeli, College of Education and Human Ecology, The Ohio State University, is providing leadership for the event. Read more and register at pages.extension.org/big-idea. Questions may be directed to Cooperative Extension's Health Director Dr. Roger Rennekamp rogerrennekamp@extension.org, or EDA Team member, Ali Mitchell amitchell@northeastextension.org.

Anyone seeking enlightenment about the nexus of the APLU, the Land-grant University System, the Board on Agriculture Assembly, and USDA-NIFA may register here for an orientation starting February 8 and running through February 10, 2022, from 2:30-5:00 p.m. ET. There is $25 fee to cover the sessions for all three days.

Community Learning through Data-Driven Discovery

Community Learning through Data-Driven Discovery (CLD3): A Paradigm Shift for Working with Communities to Address Critical Needs - Rural communities, towns, cities, counties, and states have entered a new era where communities of all types have access to data in greater quantity, detail, and variety. These communities face the challenge of integrating these data into their decision-making, planning, economic development, and operations. The Cooperative Extension System (CES) can help. CES professionals are poised to become catalysts to bring the data revolution to their communities and help community leaders address some of the most pressing needs of our time. The CES can develop and sustain a national network of Community Learning through Data-Driven Discovery (CLD3) partnerships that integrate data science expertise with CES professionals in the field and the communities they serve. Data-science research partnerships within the CES contribute to shaping and placing data insights directly into the hands of where they are needed most: with local decision-makers. These CLD3 partnerships help to promote civic engagement among a diverse group of Cooperative Extension, universities, local, state, and national stakeholders. Learn more here about successes in igniting this national network. Participate in some self-paced training to get started. Read some case studies and contact the principals for more information about joining in this effort.

ECOP Program Committee Urban Program Action Team Update - The ECOP Urban Program Action Team, led by Dr. Brent Hales, Penn State, is in the process of inviting Directors, Specialists and Partners to be part of the Urban Extension Program Action Team. In the next two months the PAT will host a series of priority-setting meetings. Once priorities have been identified Implementation Teams will coalesce around the top few, and develop next steps. The Urban PAT will also be closely linked with other PATs including Climate; Workforce and Economic Development; Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; 4-H Positive Youth Development and Health.

The Urban PAT, in partnership with NUEL, is also in the process of hiring a National Urban Extension Leaders Communications & Capacity Building Fellow. This Fellowship will help support work moving forward, and engage new partners for the system.

Call for nominations: Implementation Teams, sub-committees of the Action Team, are composed of Extension faculty and specialists from across the nation with the task of identifying Extension programs that are ready to be scaled up and funded at the national level. The Implementation Teams would serve as Extension’s partnering group regarding national urban initiatives for their theme. The implementation team would also be responsible for developing letters of intent or submitting large grants on behalf of ECOP. A second task of the Priority Implementation Team would be to provide content to further develop the advocacy toolkit for urban programs. Initially, these teams would meet monthly. If a faculty and/or staff member is interested in being involved in an Implementation Team, please send contact information to Caroline Henney.

Save the November Dates - Cooperative Extension Directors and Administrators are encouraged to carefully review this list of CFERR/BAA/BoHS Virtual Annual Meeting dates and times recently released by Doug Steele, APLU Vice President, Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources and hold relevant times. Please stay tuned to email to receive connection details from the FANR office. 

Also, APLU President Peter McPherson invites everyone to join Public Higher Education Leaders for the virtual APLU Annual Meeting, November 15-17, 2021, for The New Now: The Promise of Higher Education in a Rapidly Changing World. The registration requiring fees starting at $125 is available here. 

Extension Foundation Announces 2021-2022 New Technologies for Ag Extension Projects - The Extension Foundation will be supporting 20 projects across Cooperative Extension as part of its third year of the New Technologies for Agricultural Extension (NTAE) program. This program is made possible by funding from USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) through a partnership with Oklahoma State University and the Extension Foundation. This program serves all Land-grant Universities in the United States. Year 3 projects include all rural development centers, projects selected through a competitive RFA, projects selected by USDA-NIFA, and ECOP Program Action Teams. The combined award going directly to all projects is approximately $1.26M. A full listing of projects is available here.

Doug Steele Named APLU Vice President for Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources

Peter McPherson, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) President, recently announced that Doug Steele will succeed Ian Maw who is retiring from the position effective December 31, 2018. ECOP Chair Chuck Hibberd commented, “On behalf of the Cooperative Extension Section, I am thrilled that Doug will be the new VP. His rich experience in Cooperative Extension and leadership roles on the Board on Agriculture Assembly and as ECOP Chair will give him the foundation to be a great leader and continued friend of Cooperative Extension.” 

Pioneering the Best Ideas and Methods for Leadership in Portland - The 2018 National Extension Directors and Administrators (NEDA) and Cooperative Extension Section Annual Business Meeting is scheduled for October 1-3 in Portland, Oregon. Cooperative Extension Section Leaders, together with key partners, will convene for deep conversation and collaboration. Participants will:

• understand engagement in a broad context; 
• be comfortable with the concept of building on engagement principles in their own sphere of influence; 
• be motivated to “engage’ in learning more about and practicing engagement; 
• deepen understanding of best practices for evaluating and reporting engagement; 
• contribute to the understanding of an innovative, system-interdependent, solution-based approach to Urban Extension Programming, and 
• collaborate with Director and Administrator colleagues to learn about Urban Extension Programming resources for the System and what leadership resources are needed to develop a system-wide Urban Initiative Implementation Plan.  

Look for the registration materials by email, scheduled for release this week!

Updated NIFA Policy Guide Webinars - Extension Directors and Administrators are invited to webinars to learn about proposed changes to the NIFA Federal Assistance Policy Guide (NIFA Policy Guide or Policy Guide), version dated October 2014. NIFA seeks stakeholder feedback on Draft 2018 NIFA Federal Assistance Policy Guide by 5:00pm ET, Monday, July 30, 2018. The webinars covering the new structure, enhanced navigability features, labeling of sections for audience applicability, and new sections and information (e.g. allowable costs) will be offered to COMPETITIVE grantees (June 26 from 1:30 to 3:00 pm eastern time) and for CAPACITY grantees (June 28 from 1:30 – 3:00 pm eastern time). For complete details go to https://nifa.usda.gov/policy-guide.

Illustration by Jonathan Bartlett

4-H Story Points to Land-grant Approach to Youth Development - Cultivating the Next Gen of 4-H, authored by retired Cooperative Extension/ECOP Executive Director Jane Schuchardt, appeared recently in the Nebraska Quarterly. Through the work of the ECOP 4-H Leadership Committee, the Cooperative Extension Section is committed to increasing participation in 4-H positive youth development through collaboration among Extension Administrators and Directors with USDA-NIFA and National 4-H Council partners. For more information on the 4-H/Cooperative Extension relationship or the Leadership Committee initiatives, contact Sandy Ruble sandyruble@extension.org.