Secretary's Speech Praises and Charges Land-grant Research, Education, and Extension

On January 8, 2024, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack visited the University of New Hampshire. ECOP Member Ken La Valley was particularly impressed with the Secretary’s talk, which featured the important role of Land-grant University research, education, and extension. The Secretary gave a similar presentation at the APLU Annual Meeting in November 2023. The presentation, starting at the point when Extension was referenced, is captured below.

New 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development Impact - Many may be familiar with the 10-year longitudinal study, The 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development, conducted by Tufts University and sponsored by the National 4-H Council, which concluded in 2011. This research has been a tremendous asset for 4-H and helped the Cooperative Extension System tell a powerful story nationally and locally.

Council recently funded a follow up study to replicate the research with new youth, as well as reconnect with original study original participants who are now adults.

This Replication and Reconnection Study confirms the original, powerful outcomes: 4-H helps youth thrive, now and into adulthood. Here is the top line:

Compared to their peers, 4-H participants are:

• 4X more likely to make a positive contribution to their communities

• 2X more likely to participate in out-of-school-time science programs

• 2X more likely to make healthier choices

• 2X more likely to report feeling competent

• 2X more likely to feel positive about their wellbeing

4-H alumni are:

• 3X more likely to participate in community service

• 2X more likely to report living life with intentionality and purpose

• 2X more likely to have the goal of being a leader

Updating Economic Engagement Framework - This APLU Commission on Economic and Community Engagement developed framework is the foundation of a number of APLU projects and programs in economic and community engagement including the Innovation & Economic Prosperity Program. The new Principals of Practice for Higher Education’s Engagement in Inclusive Economic Engagement Strategies updated the 2015 previous framework “Foundations for Strategy and Practice” and articulates the values public and land-grant campuses can bring to this work, illustrates a theory of change showing that inclusive growth and social mobility are possible, and offers principles of practice for campuses to consider.




Revealing Article on Microcredentials - A new survey found training partnerships between employers and four-year colleges fell between 2022 and 2023 while instruction provided by third-party providers rose. The Inside Higher Ed article that quotes this statistic cites a new report released Tuesday by Collegis Education, an online program support company, and UPCEA, the organization previously known as the University Professional and Continuing Education Association. In 2023, 40 percent of organizations surveyed had partnerships or relationships with four-year colleges and universities, which was a nine-percentage-point drop compared to the previous year’s inaugural survey. Partnerships between employers and LinkedIn Learning, however, rose from 44 percent in 2022 to 52 percent in 2023. A quick search shows that several Cooperative Extension Services have a presence on Linkedin.

New NIFA Director Announced

Today, USDA announced the new director of  NIFA. The full press released is found at 
https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2023/04/24/usda-announces-new-national-institute-food-and-agriculture-director. Dr. Manjit K. Misra will start his new role on Monday, May 8, 2023. Please join ECOP in congratulating Dr. Misra and the agency!

ECOP Spring Meeting This Week  - This week members of ECOP, the representative voting body of the Cooperative Extension System, will meet in Bloomington-Minneapolis, Minnesota for their annual Spring Meeting. ECOP Chair Bev Durgan, University of Minnesota, will preside. In addition to answering the question, Who will lead the National Office and cultivate new partnerships?, ECOP will consider:

  --  Collaborations with Academic Program Section

  --  The Future Cooperative Extension Section Membership Assessments

  --  ECOP Program Committee's Action Teams

  --  2023-2024 ECOP Action Plan

One of the roles of ECOP voting member's is to report back and engage their regions from these important meetings. 

Higher Ed Economic & Community Engagement Summer Meeting -  Extension Directors and Administrators who are members of APLU's Commission on Economic and Community Engagement (CECE) are eligible to attend the Annual CECE Summer Meeting. With the theme of Cracking the Community Connection Code, the event will take place in Duluth, Minnesota, June 4-6. To learn more about the event, click here. To become a member of the CECE, click here.

2023 Administrators Conference Touchpoint - April 30-May 3, Extension and Research Administrative Officers will convene in Nashville for 2023 NERAOC. The annual professional development conference is an opportunity to share and exchange current and relevant best practices, discuss policy, obtain definitive interpretation of regulations, and discuss future issues pertinent to operating the Land-grant University system and other cooperating institutions. Participants will spend the first full day with NIFA Directors Office and conducting Regional business. The last 2 days are devoted to learning along several tracks, Diversity & Inclusion, Finance/Capacity Funding, Grants, HR/Organizational Development, and Minority-Serving Program Reporting & Accountability. What is learned during the conference may be of interest to members of Cooperative Extension Section in light of the new NIFA Reporting System. Members of the Section who are unavailable to attend themselves are encouraged to arrange for post-conference briefings with administrators in attendance.

Extension Leaders Sought by APLU

Please note that the ECOP Monday Minute will be on hiatus until November 7.

Extension Leaders Sought by APLU - The APLU’s Commission on Economic and Community Engagement (CECE) invites members of Cooperative Extension Section to join them. And CECE is seeking 8 new engaged faculty for their Executive Committee. The term is for 3-years. As a standing commission alongside CFERR, CECE strives to provide a national dialogue on universities and their impacts in community and economic engagement. Through conferences, initiatives, and by supporting grantsmanship of this office, CECE promotes best practices, connects colleagues on challenges/opportunities, and advocates for meaningful partnerships which empower communities, advance industry collaboration, and informs the scholarship of faculty and students. For members of the Section to learn more about CECE, click here. To become a member of the CECE, click here. Applications for the Executive Committee are being accepted through November 4. Click here to review the application form & apply.

EXCITE Project Shares Impact Infographics - Coordinators of the EXCITE Project want Extension Directors and Administrators to know that regional and national impact statements are now available.  The files are organized as 1890s Region, 1994s Tribal Institutions, North Central Region, Northeast Region, Southern Region, and Western Region. The data used to produce these infographic elements are from the EXCITE monthly reports as of the end of July 2022. There is space on back page where individual land-grants can brand and communicate their unique project information. Each downloadable zip file folder at this link contains images of the front and back design, an Adobe InDesign File, and a PDF version and ready for Extension professionals to share widely. Contact Melanie Pugsley if there are any questions.

NASS Data Users’ Meeting - USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will hold its biannual Data Users’ Meeting virtually November 15 from noon-3:30 p.m. ET. The Data Users’ Meeting is held to share recent and pending statistical program changes with the public and to solicit input on these and other programs important to agriculture. The event is organized in cooperation with the World Agricultural Outlook Board, Farm Service Agency, Economic Research Service, Agricultural Marketing Service, Foreign Agricultural Service, and U.S. Census Bureau. The meeting is free and open to the public. Visit the NASS webpage to review the 2022 Spring Data Users' Meeting Materials and/or contact NASS Public Affairs Director for more details for the November 15 Meeting. The link to register is anticipated to be released here by the end of this week.

Senate Confirms USDA REE Under Secretary

The ECOP Monday Minute will be on hiatus on June 20, 2022, to commemorate Juneteenth, the day the news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, in 1865.

Senate Confirms USDA REE Under Secretary - ECOP and the Cooperative Extension Section congratulates Dr. Chavonda Jacobs-Young on her U.S. Senate confirmation to serve as Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics (REE) at the United States Department of Agriculture. Dr. Jacobs-Young recently served as the Acting Deputy Under Secretary of the REE mission area. Previously, she served as Agricultural Research Service Associate Administrator, where she led the Office of National Programs which manages the research objectives of the Agency. See more information here.



Celebrating 30 Years of SNAP-Ed - May 2022 marked 30 years of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – Education (SNAP-Ed). ECOP and the Cooperative Extension Section joins the USDA to celebrate SNAP-Ed for providing evidence-based nutrition education and obesity prevention interventions and projects for those eligible for SNAP benefits. Through complementary direct education, multi-level interventions, and community and public health approaches to improve nutritional health of historically underserved populations, this federally funded grant program has impacted lives for three decades. See SNAP-Ed Works from USDA-Food Nutrition Service and the NIFA Blog that highlights the 30 years of SNAP-Ed. For a good number of years, ECOP has maintained a valuable alliance with a program development team in support of land-grant university Extension led SNAP-Ed programs and its impact evaluation. 



Advocacy Updates from Lewis-Burke Associates - APLU Office of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources (FANR) is stepping up efforts to provide regular advocacy updates to the land-grant university system. Last week Doug Steele, APLU Vice-president of FANR,  announced that Lewis-Burke Associates will provide a monthly summary of highlights and key points to be included in his FANR Focus email messages. The most prominent updates in the last five months are the passage of fiscal year (FY) 2022 appropriations in March; the release of the President’s FY 2023 Budget Request a few weeks later; ongoing Congressional negotiations on the FY 2023 budget, and the official start of the 2023 Farm Bill process. To view the June update available at www.land-grant.org, please go here. If you are not receiving Doug's messages and would like to sign up, email Suzette Robinson at srobinson@aplu.org with your contact information.

2022 CECE-CGA Summer Meeting - The APLU Commission on Economic & Community Engagement (CECE) summer meeting, themed Inclusive Community and Economic Engagement: The Path to Social Mobility, will be held from August 2-5 in Detroit, Michigan. Cooperative Extension leaders who are members of CECE are invited to join senior university economic development and community engagement administrators, presidents and chancellors, provosts, senior research officers, and communications administrators at The Westin Book Cadillac Detroit. Participants will look to the future and collaborate on expansive efforts promoting equity–both in process and outcomes–amongst  practitioners’ work. The event agenda features tours of local economic growth engines, interactive sessions, and special programming for Innovation and Economic Prosperity (IEP) Universities. Professionals employed by APLU member institutions may join CECE for free here and then proceed to register here. 

ECOP Standing Committees Insight

Since the adoption of the 2020-2023 Strategic Directions for ECOP and CES and the 2020-2021 Annual Action Plan and Ongoing Priorities for the Cooperative Extension Section (CES), much work has been accomplished by ECOP’s Standing Committees to align national-level efforts with CES priorities. From these plans, the ECOP Budget and Legislative Committee (BLC) with Jon Boren, New Mexico State University as Chair, has led the development of the Advocacy and Education Toolkit to provide ECOP leadership and CES with consistent messaging and resources focused on national advocacy and education priorities, including diversity, equity, and inclusion; climate mitigation, resiliency, and adaptation; economic and workforce development; health equity and well-being; 4-H and positive youth development; urban programs; broadband access and digital skills; and community nutrition education. The ECOP Program Committee, with Ivory Lyles, University of Nevada-Reno, as Chair, has developed Program Action Teams (PATs) for each of the priority areas, bringing together Extension experts to advance programmatic resources and partnerships. Each of the PATs has an Extension Foundation Catalyst and NIFA Liaison assigned to them. A strong partnership between the ECOP 4-H Leadership Committee and National 4-H Council leads the 4-H positive youth development priority area, as well as advancements in the health arena. Through the New Technologies for Ag Extension Program, NIFA has provided supplemental funding to the Extension Foundation around ECOP/CES national priorities. Additionally, there is interest from other partners and agencies in providing national-level support. Stay tuned for further news from the Standing Committees, BLC, Program, and 4-H Leadership to advance Extension's visibility, communications, programs, impacts, and demonstrate the value of ECOP's investment of Cooperative Extension Section assessments.



Energy and Sustainability Summits Registration Open - The 2021 National Extension Energy Summit & National Sustainability Summit, a joint effort of the National Extension Energy Initiative (NEEI), National Network for Sustainable Living Education (NNSLE), and National Extension Climate Initiative (NECI), will take place October 4-6, 2021 at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center on the campus of Penn State University. Registration is now open here.



Applying Science to Support Universal Affordable Broadband Adoption - Save the Date for the October 27, 2021 conference Making it Count: Applying Science to Support Universal Affordable Broadband Adoption. This conference by APLU's Commission on Economic and Community Engagement (CECE) will feature 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. Topics Include: Investments in Digital Literacy, Rural Broadband Business Models and Execution, Federal-State Policy and Funding Interaction, Data and Models to Support Program Evaluation and Labor Market Effects and Response. To receive complete details on registration, APLU Members can sign up for CECE free of charge here. 

Choices Magazine Special Issue Focuses on COVID-19 Impacts on Rural America - Choices magazine, which covers food, farms and resource use and is published by the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA), has just released a special themed issue on Rural Development Implications One Year After COVID-19. The issue contains eight peer-reviewed papers that explore the pandemic’s effects on aspects of rural life ranging from employment and childcare to recreational trail use and farming. Access to the quarterly can be found here.

National Impact Database Team Becoming a Subcommittee of the CMC

On July 22, 2021, ECOP voted to move the National Impact Database Team, whose duty it is to implement and maintain the website landgrantimpacts.org, to become a joint sub-committee of the Communications and Marketing Committee (CMC). The transition will occur over a 1-year period. Also, Karla Trautman, Chair of the CMC, Director of Extension at South Dakota State University, said, "One of hallmarks of CMC's strategic communications roadmap is a monthly calendar of events.” Monthly suggestions for engagement like this are sent to university communicators. To either verify or add contacts for Extension to that list, please contact Rick Rhodes at rcrhodes@uri.edu. 

On the same day, ECOP members met Andrea Putman (pictured here),  APLU's new Assistant Vice President, Communications and External Partnerships, Food, Agriculture & Natural Resources. The Cooperative Extension Section is equally invested with Experiment Station and the Academic Heads Sections of the Board on Agriculture Assembly in Andrea's work through 2022. Extension Directors and Administrators should be aware of their multi-dimensional role with the Strategic Communications Roadmap Plan that Andrea is now hired to lead and implement. Please join the Cooperative Extension National Office staff, Caroline Henney and Sandy Ruble, and ECOP to welcome Andrea!



NIFA Offers Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Program Webinar - Learn about NIFA’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) in an upcoming webinar on Wednesday, July 28 from 2 - 3:00 p.m. ET. The virtual session will be led by program experts and grant awardees as they share their knowledge and personal experiences with the BFRDP program. Attendees are highly encouraged to ask questions during the live question and answer segment. Register online for this webinar. This event is the second installment of NIFA’s new monthly Nutrition Security Webinar Series. The series is set to feature a broad range of topics and speakers focused on prioritizing nutrition security during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

Economic Development and Community Engagement Leadership Opportunity - Applications for seats on the Commission on Economic and Community Engagement (CECE) Executive Committee are being accepted through Friday, August 6. CECE (No cost to join here with APLU membership) is seeking 8 new members to serve a 3-year term as the Class of 2024. As a standing commission of APLU, CECE strives to provide a national dialogue on universities and their impacts in community and economic engagement. Through conferences, initiatives, and by supporting grantsmanship of APLU’s Office of Economic Development & Community Engagement (OEDCE). Three cheers for colleagues, Marshall Stewart, University of Missouri, Shelly Nickols-Richardson, University of Illinois, and Ashley Stokes, University of Tennessee, for serving in the Class of 2021! Who will be next to join Mike Gaffney, Washington State University, Class of 2023, and Jorge Atiles, West Virginia University, Class of 2022, from the Cooperative Extension Section? Apply here.




International Rural Exchange Experience Announcement for Young Adults - Applications for the 2022 IFYE Experience will be accepting applications beginning August 1, 2021. Founded in 1948, IFYE has continued its founding promise by providing international cultural exchange programming that places young adults, age 19 and above with multiple, rural based host families for two- three- or six-month programs in countries around the world to become immersed in the country’s culture by living it on a daily basis. Interested parties should visit the IFYE website at https://ifyeusa.org/foreign-exchange-program. The IFYE motto of “Peace Through Understanding” continues to touch the lives of people around the world. To learn more visit www.ifyeusa.org. 

Conveying Land-grant Mission Impact

Current stories and talking points that document and demonstrate the value and collective impact of the national system of land-grant universities mission areas, teaching, research and Extension, were released in the National Impact Database (NIDB) landgrantimpacts.org last month. ECOP thanks the Communications Writing team for the numerous products - stories, summary factsheets, and a video - that highlight impacts that entered into the database by many of the 76 institutions. Use the Areas of Impact and Associated Impacts menus to browse the product titles. Two summaries related to COVID-19 response are found here and here. To begin using the Search dashboard, pause 20-30 seconds to load. The "Resources" menu is helpful for knowing best practices for entering data. The NIDB is an enterprise of ECOP, ESCOP and USDA-NIFA.

2021 County Health Rankings - The annual update to County Health Rankings is available at www.countyhealthrankings.org. The information is based on more than 30 factors which influence health and show that where people live influences how well and how long they live. An easy-to-use snapshot, the Rankings compare the health of all counties within states and call attention to the differences in opportunity to live long and well from one county to the next. In addition to the county-level data, the Rankings also features What Works for Health, a database of more than 400 evidence-informed strategies to support local changemakers as they take steps toward expanding opportunities. The Take Action Center also provides valuable guidance for communities who want to move to action with data . The data is released every year by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute with Extension's funding partner on health, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.



Globalizing Extension Innovation Network (GEIN) - GEIN connects professionals interested in Extension innovation in a global context. The network shares and develops best practices for augmenting Extension programs through cross-cultural and international experiences and supports the engagement of Extension professionals through international programs emphasizing global dynamics and cultural knowledge. GEIN can be followed on Connect Extension, a service of the Extension Foundation and is an open sub-group accessible to anyone within the Cooperative Extension System. Visit GEIN for more information. A Connect Extension Account is required. 



Community Engagement Scholarship Awards - APLU’s Commission on Economic and Community Engagement (CECE) invites all CECE members, Extension professionals, and the broader APLU membership to apply for the 2021 Community Engagement Scholarship Awards cycle. Both the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the C. Peter Magrath Community Engagement Scholarship Awards provide recognition for the outstanding community-university engagement work of public universities. Prizes range from $5,000 to the grand prize of $20,000 for the national C. Peter Magrath Award. The deadline for applications is April 30th.

Virtual NEDA Meeting Breaks Record

Registration for this week’s National Extension Directors and Administrators (NEDA) Meeting, Leading in a Time of Social, Economic and Political Disruption, September 23-24, 2020, has broken records of all previous years for face-to-face meetings. The average participation is 104 colleagues from 64 of a possible 76 land-grant institutions. At last count, there will be 154 participants from 71 universities participating this week! Last week everyone was invited to read materials posted in the "Prepare" menu (upper right) at neda.extension.org. Stay tuned to the ECOP Monday Minute for the release of meaningful outcomes from this historic meeting!

Communications and Marketing Roadmap Draft Framework Available for Review/Comment - The Board on Agriculture Assembly, Cooperative Extension, Experiment Station and Administrative Heads Sections has engaged Forbes Tate Partners to develop a new strategic communications plan roadmap. The draft of the initial framework of that roadmap includes an overview of the plan objective, strategy, a sample menu of potential tactics, and some information on best practices for the BAA to ultimately, fully realize and execute a plan. This outline is representative of what needs to be considered in developing the final plan and building a communications process – it is not intended to be the plan itself. As such, the message frames and communications tactics are examples, and are not meant to be exhaustive or exclude additional ideas. Rather, it is a guide that will allow the BAA to build a comprehensive, effective messaging effort to support its advocacy goals. Private comments on the draft can be sent to FT-BAA@forbes-tate.com. 

FANR Meetings Schedule During the APLU Annual Meeting - The 2020 APLU Annual Meeting will be held virtually. The office of Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources (FANR) continues to work on the agenda’s, minutes, speakers, and special events that are typically a part of the APLU Annual Meeting. Information on various meetings, some of which involves participation of Cooperative Extension Section membership, and events that are associated with the APLU Annual Meeting are located at this link. Invitation(s) to register coming soon from the FANR Office and the APLU Office of the President.

  

May 2021 National Urban Extension Virtual Summit - After discussion and thoughtful consideration, the National Urban Extension Leaders (NUEL) has decided to postpone the May 2021 National Urban Extension Conference (NUEC), until May of 2022. Details on the 2022 NUEC will be forthcoming. In lieu of holding the conference face-to-face, NUEL will host a National Urban Extension Virtual Summit on May 18-20, 2021. Please save the dates! A detailed agenda and registration information will be released in early 2021.

Economic Development & Community Engagement RFP for 2021 Summer Meeting - Please Save the Date, June 14-16, 2021, and Submit Session Proposals for APLU’s 2021 CECE Summer Meeting, to be held in Pittsburgh, PA. Meeting registration will open in  January 2021. The theme is Maximizing Public Value through Partnerships and will allow Extension Directors and Administrators and their colleagues opportunities to reflect and strategize around how the “engagement” mission of public research universities can advance the economic and societal good in meaningful, intentional and substantive ways. The deadline for proposals is Friday, October, 2, 2020, 5:00 PM PST. Questions regarding the RFP process or the meeting may be directed to APLU’s Milan Ephraim.

NIFA Releases Projected FY21 RFA Publication Timeline - NIFA has released the Projected RFA Publication Timeline for fiscal year (FY) 2021 for non-AFRI competitive programs. These are target timelines only and are subject to change until the RFAs are published in Grants.gov. The current list applies to new RFAs, continuations, directed and multi-year solicitations. Bookmark this list and check back often for updates as target dates draw near. A new notification will signal when AFRI RFAs are added to the schedule. Questions regarding this timeline, should be directed to the NPL with the associated program or email policy@usda.gov.

COVID-19 Proposal and Ideas for Rapid Response for Funding in the Future

On, April 7, 2020, ECOP Budget & Legislative Committee Chair Jon Boren moderated a virtual conversation with Directors and Administrators during PILD. Click here to listen to the 25 minute, to-the-point conversation, COVID-19 Proposal and Ideas for Rapid Response for Funding in the Future; reasons why the proposal was was made; the need to collect impact data and tell stories of Extension's response to crisis; ideas for ECOP to consider on to rapidly respond to budget and legislative initiatives in the future. At the end, Jon Boren invites his colleagues to send him feedback.





Economic and Community Engagement 2020 Webinar Series - The founder of the Rural Learning Exchange Forum, APLU’s Commission on Economic and Community Engagement (CECE) is proud to announce the 2020 CECE Webinar Series Green Economies and Community Engagement. Cooperative Extension Section members who serve on the CECE Executive Committee and the Commission welcome Cooperative Extension colleagues members to join the free webinar series. In an era where climate change, energy innovation, and sustainability initiatives are poised to be an integral part of economic development, the agenda will feature sessions developed by CECE members and their partners addressing a wide variety of programs, projects, and strategies universities deploy to address these particular needs of their economies and communities. The webinar series will take place the second Thursday of every Month from 2:00-3:15 PM EST June-November. Click Here to sign up.



Answering the Call - The Role of Extension After an Emergency - Last week, with the historic Louisiana Flood of August 2016 as their conceptual lens, a Team of Extension Professionals described how their land-grant institution responded to help mitigate future losses and much more. The recording of the highly instructive webinar by Southern University Ag Research and Extension Center is available here. The Team participated in the Impact Collaborative Summit in October 2019 and received a $5,000 grant from eXtension to support their recovery efforts.



Addressing Kids’ Needs During COVID-19 - 55 million school children have been impacted by school closures and need help, especially the 7 million who do not have internet access in the United States. To respond to these Kids needs for a sense of belonging and caring adult mentors, The Fourward Fund was launched to inspire donors and consumers to support Cooperative Extension as it responds to COVID-19. More information can be found through this FOURWARD Fund FAQ document. Assuming the minimum funding level is reached by June 1, Institutions and 4-H Foundations may apply for funding.

Welcome New ECOP Members

New ECOP Members, L-R - Debby Sheely, University of Rhode Island; John Lawrence,
Iowa State University; Nick Place, University of Florida

ECOP Chair Mark Latimore, Jr., Fort Valley State University, welcomes the newest members of ECOP. Deborah "Debby" Sheely, Associate Associate Director, Cooperative Extension, University of Rhode Island, was appointed by the Northeast Region Directors, John Lawrence, Vice President of Extension and Outreach, Iowa State University, by the North Central Region Directors, and Nick Place, Dean, Extension Director, University of Florida, by the Southern Region Directors. One term of office is four years. Click here to view/download the 2020 lists of Cooperative Extension/ECOP National leadership. Contact Assistant Director Sandy Ruble sandyruble@extension.org to provide updates.

National Impacts Database (NIDB) Opportunity - Steve Loring, Communications and Marketing Committee Chair, New Mexico State University, recently requested that impact statements be submitted by December 11, 2019, to the National Impacts Database https://landgrantimpacts.org. This database is a repository of the Extension and Research impacts that Land-Grant Universities associated with the Board on Agriculture Assembly. The database is used by NIFA and advocating stakeholders of the Land-Grant system to make the case for the value of and increased investment in capacity and competitive funding for institutions and colleagues across the country. Direct technical questions to Impact Team expert, Scott Cummings, Texas A&M University. Direct all other questions regarding the Communications and Marketing Committee to Extension Director colleague and Impact Team Co-chair Karla Trautman, South Dakota State University.

L-R: Class of 2022 - Jorge Atiles, Associate Dean, Extension and Engagement, Oklahoma State University
Class of 2021 - Shelly Nickols-Richardson, Associate Dean and Director of Extension, University of Illinois;
Ashley Stokes, Associate Vice President for Engagement and Extension, Colorado State University, and
Marshall Stewart, Vice Chancellor for Extension and Engagement, University of Missouri.

Cooperative Extension Leadership on APLU Commission - Earlier this month, Sheila Martin, Vice President for Economic Development and Community Engagement, APLU, proudly announced the latest update to the Commission on Economic and Community Engagement (CECE) Executive Committee; broadly representative of the chief economic and community engagement leaders across the diverse perspectives and missions of APLU member institutions. Shelia says, “We are confident that this Executive Committee will help APLU to demonstrate and elevate the importance of university efforts to strengthening our communities. We look forward to working with these talented leaders .” ECOP congratulates colleagues Jorge Atiles, Shelly Nickols-Richardson, Ashley Stokes, and Marshall Stewart and thanks them for communicating the Cooperative Extension, land-grant perspective to CECE!

NACo County News Available On Line - The National Association of Counties represents 3,069 county governments across the country. These county governments provide essential services for our nation’s residents, often including funding for our boots on the ground colleagues. County governments frequently partner on developing educational programs to address issues important to county clientele. One way to keep up with what the national organization (NACo) is doing to is to follow the bi-weekly publication, County News, available on line at https://www.naco.org/news.

NIFA National Science Liaisons Announced

NIFA’s program portfolio and contact with stakeholders, partners, and collaborators will continue, uninterrupted, in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. This important function will be led by six science professionals, National Science Liaisons (NSLs), who will support the agency’s national research, education, and extension portfolio; advance NIFA programs; and serve as expert resources. Go here for biographies and contact links.

Opportunity to Inform the Future System-wide Training Available to Extension Professionals - Through funding from a USDA-NIFA Cooperative Agreement, eXtension will provide professional development across Cooperative Extension System for all land-grant universities, and continue to strengthen technology delivery. eXtension is in the process of picking four topics to build professional development training and eFieldbooks, geared towards USDA strategic goals. eXtension seeks early-stage, effective program feedback on the topics of Climate Smart Agriculture, Prevention and Mitigation of Ag Pests/Disease/IPM, Prevention of Food Borne Illness and Protection of Public Safety, and Safe and Nutritious Food for Low-Income Individuals. Start survey here. Please respond by October 25, 2019. A summary of the results will be shared in a future Monday Minute.

Extension Participation Encouraged - The APLUs' Commission on Economic and Community Engagement (CECE) has announced that the 2020 Summer Meeting will take place in New York City on June 9-11. Hosted by Cornell University & the State University of New York (SUNY) System, the meeting will convene administrators in economic development and community engagement under the theme "Green Economies and Community Engagement". CECE seeks session proposals submitted by November 1 HERE covering a wide range of economic and community development topics relating to theme. Contact APLU’s Shalin Jyotishi, sjyotishi@aplu.org, for more information.


Last Chance for 4-H’ers to Apply for Youth in Action Awards - 4-H’ers ages 15-19 are invited to apply for the 4-H Youth in Action Awards for a chance to win a $5,000 scholarship and a trip to Washington D.C. for National 4-H Council’s Legacy Awards. The program recognizes four confident young leaders in the areas of Agriculture, Civic Engagement, Healthy Living and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics), giving winners the chance to share how 4-H changed their lives and how they have used the skills they gained in Cooperative Extension 4- H to impact the lives of others. Applications close on Monday October 21. Visit www.4-H.org/YouthinAction to learn more and submit your application. Please direct any questions to YouthinAction@4-H.org.


Opportunity to Design the 2020 4-H National Youth Science Day Challenge - Cooperative Extension faculty and staff at all land-grant universities are invited to submit a proposal detailing an innovative 2020 4-H National Youth Science Day experience. The 2020 focus is Mission to Mars, with the land-grant university that submits the winning application to receive a $50,000 award. In order for 4-H NYSD to continue to grow and reach new audiences, National 4-H Council has streamlined the application and development processes. Click here to apply for the opportunity to impact thousands of youth across the country. Applications close on Monday November 18, 2019. Please direct any questions to Janet Golden at jgolden@fourhcouncil.edu or 301-204-6841.

Coming Together for Racial Understanding Update

The Coming Together for Racial Understanding project team is launching its second train-the-trainer cohort on October 7-11, 2019, in Bloomington, MN. Teams of three per state are invited to participate, with priority given to states that did not participate in the first event last August. A preview webinar is scheduled for August 13, at 11:00 a.m. ET. Key topics will include ideal team characteristics, participant commitments, travel assistance for 1890/1994 employees, and highlighted learnings from the first cohort. The webinar link is https://msstateextension.zoom.us/j/6623255885 or join by phone: dial: +1 408 638 0968 (US Toll) Meeting ID: 662 325 5885. The project site is: http://srdc.msstate.edu/civildialogue/. For more information, contact Rachel Welborn, Southern Rural Development Center, rachel.welborn@msstate.edu.

APLU Annual Meeting - All CES Members are invited/encouraged to attend the APLU Annual Meeting. There are no formal ECOP meetings planned to take place there at this time. There will be a BAA Awards presentations (including Cooperative Extension) early on Sunday morning, November 9 and a BAA Business Meeting on Monday morning, November 10. Cooperative Extension is co-sponsoring sessions consistent with the theme, In Service, throughout the meeting; details forthcoming! The link to begin registration and reserve a hotel room is found here, noting that the hotel reservations are encouraged ASAP. Dates/locations 2020-2023 for this meeting can be found here.

Cooperative Extension, Public Outreach Unite to Increase Funding for Agricultural Research and Education - The Charles Valentine Riley Memorial Foundation (RMF) partnered with Land-Grant institutions, Non-Land Grant Colleges of Agriculture (NLGCA), and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to showcase how turning research into practical applications advances agricultural enterprises, strengthens the nation’s food security and improves the health of residents in rural and urban communities. The new RMF publication, Cooperative Extension and Public Outreach: Advancing Agriculture and Improving Lives, features 22 success stories that outline the array of programs and services extension and public outreach offer. For more information read the entire report, Cooperative Extension and Public Outreach: Advancing Agriculture and Improving Lives, the Overview Brochure, and the News Release.

Connecting Economic Prosperity and Cooperative Extension – APLU's Commission on Economic and Community Engagement (CECE) invites Extension leaders to become involved in their university’s pursuit of Innovation & Economic Prosperity (IEP) University designation. The program was established by and for CECE members (Directors and Administrators may join for free) to help universities more effectively know, measure, and tell their economic engagement impact while providing due recognition for universities that have demonstrated an institution-wide, sustainable, and substantive commitment to holistic economic and community engagement. Since 2013, 21 land-grant universities of more than 65 institutions, including non-landgrants, large and small, rural and urban, have earned this distinction and strengthened their institution’s economic and community engagement enterprise through the IEP process. Another 7-10 land-grants are in either in a start-up cohort or have expressed interest in applying. To apply, presidents/chancellors must submit a letter of intent (template provided) to APLU President Peter McPherson. Learn more by visiting APLU.org/IEP and contact Shalin Jyotishi sjyotishi@aplu.org for deeper inquiry. Deadline to receive letters of intent is 10/31. 

Rural Program Funding Opportunity for Cooperative Extension ONLY: Opioids

The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), building on a collaboration with USDA, is accepting applications for fiscal year 2019 Rural Opioid Technical Assistance Grants (Short Title: ROTA). The purpose of this program is to develop and disseminate training and technical assistance for rural communities adversely affected by opioid use disorder (OUD). USDA Cooperative Extension Service grantees will facilitate the identification of model programs, develop and update materials related to the prevention, treatment and recovery activities for OUD, and ensure that high-quality training is provided. ROTA grant applications are due by June 7, 2019. Note: FY18 ROTA grantees are not eligible to apply. See https://www.samhsa.gov/grants/grant-announcements/ti-19-010 for more details.

Register for the CECE-CoR Joint Summer Meeting - Cooperative Extension Directors and Administrators are encouraged to attend the APLU Commission on Economic and Community Engagement (CECE) Summer Meeting, June 16-19, 2019. This meeting is an excellent opportunity to learn more about mutually beneficial Extension-CECE partnerships and the Council on Research (APLU VPs for research). The keynote speaker will be Antoine Van Agtmael, co-author of The Smartest Places on Earth: Why Rustbelts are the Emerging Hotspots of Global Innovation. In the book, Van Agtmael shows how onetime rust-belt areas in the U.S. and Europe are emerging as new centers for innovation - including sharing between research universities and corporations, physical spaces that encourage collaboration, and environments that attract talent. APLU’s 6th Annual Innovation & Economic Prosperity Universities workshop will also take place during the meeting. Learn more and register here.

Coming Together for Racial Understanding Pilot Initiative Survey Results - As reported earlier, on August 27-31, 2018, teams of three from 20 states participated in the first cohort group of Coming Together for Racial Understanding. The purpose of the training is to build capacity within Cooperative Extension Service (CES) to help communities engage in civil dialogues around racial issues. The week-long training was designed to prepare participants to build capacity within their home states’ CES, working across the borders of the Land-Grant Universities within a given state (where there are multiple LGUs within a state). Plans for a second workshop are underway; tentatively set for October 2019. Click Here for review survey results. This training initiative is endorsed and co-funded by ECOP ($12,000 spent in 2018; up to $20,000 pledged in 2019).

Land-Grant Impact Database Product Showcased - This week, ECOP showcases Minimizing Pesticides to Maximize Crop, Land Benefits. Directors and Administrators are encouraged to download and share this fact sheet for institutional, state, and local marketing and communication efforts in communities that care about this topic. This fact sheet was developed from the impact statements that are submitted by the Land-Grant University Extension and Research community. "Environmental Stewardship" is just 1 of 6 areas of impact areas found on the website. An equally important way to maximize the investment into the Impact Database  ($15,000/year by Cooperative Extension Section; matched by Experiment Station Section) is to ensure that impact statements are submitted into the database. An excellent overview and training resource of how to do this is available at https://youtu.be/FNrU_qNXvk8.

eXtension Hosts National Impact Collaborative Summit - Twenty-eight Project and Program teams across Cooperative Extension representing 36 institutions attended the Impact Collaborative in Atlanta for a unique opportunity to create impactful results at the local level by increasing Cooperative Extension's organizational readiness and capacity for innovation and change. Teams were connected with skills, tools, resources, and partners that helped expand and deepen their impact. Six teams received pre-approved applications for a $5,000 grant to bring new capacity to their projects, and 22 teams have been invited to apply for a separate $5,000 grant. The next Impact Collaborative Summit will be held from October 15th - 17th, 2019 in Atlanta, GA. Stay tuned to the ECOP Monday Minute and eXtension.org/summit to learn more.

Award Opportunities – Time is Limited

Excellence and Diversity in Cooperative Extension
awaits recognition by the Nation in San Diego in November 2019.

Luckily, Directors and Administrators and their associates can use a new leaders’ resource to organize and prepare nominations for the National Cooperative Extension Awards. Award-winning nominators strongly recommend starting the process well before the May 1 deadline. Go to www.aplu.org/CESawards to begin.  Please share this message widely and contact ECOP Assistant Director Sandy Ruble at 202-478-6088 for more information.

And speaking of awards...

New! 2019 Culture of Health Awards - The Well Connected Communities initiative is pleased to offer three Culture of Health awards to one youth volunteer, an adult volunteer, and a Land-grant University, that have been leaders in healthy living programming in their communities. All land-grant universities are invited to nominate, including those involved with the Well Connected Communities initiative. T. his work should have a focus on health equity and inclusion, address one or more of the social determinants of health, and successfully engage in youth-adult partnerships. Visit the Culture of Health Awards website to download and submit your applications by March 15, 2019. For more information, contact Shay McNeil at smcneil@fourhcouncil.edu.

4-H Council Strategic Plan Approved - National 4-H Council’s Board of Trustees approved a new three-year strategic plan for Council operations at its quarterly meeting in December. The plan, which covers fiscal years 2019-2021, was developed in collaboration with the ECOP 4-H Leadership Committee and looks to accelerate private sector support for Extension’s high-quality 4-H positive youth development programming. The plan maintains Council’s focus on creating public-private partnerships to generate funds and on telling the story of today’s 4-H. In this next phase of its 10-year vision, Council intends to highlight the positive impact that Extension and 4-H have on economic prosperity, equity and upward mobility for all young people. To read the plan and review Council’s accomplishments over the last three years, go to www.4-h.org/outcomes.

eXtension Member Events - Spring 2019. Registration for our April Impact Collaborative Summit is open. Each member institution receives five free registrations to send a project or program team to the Summit. More info can be found here. Also, State and Institutional Events are being scheduled, designed alongside leadership teams, to help with building skills in innovation. Contact Chris Geith at christinegeith@eXtension.org for more information.

Cooperative Extension Partnering with APLU Commission on Economic and Community Engagement (CECE) on Learning More About e-Connectivity in Rural America - Marshall Stewart, University of Missouri, and Ashley Stokes, Colorado State University, colleagues who are currently serving on the CECE’s Executive Committee encourage Directors and Administrators to participate in an online survey.

"There is no question that rural residents and businesses need access to high-speed internet service," says Sheila Martin, contact for the effort. "APLU knows its member institutions are already working in this area; however, we are certain we do not have the complete story of what our member institutions are doing to promote rural digital inclusion. APLU is requesting information from its members regarding their institution’s contributions to rural community’s access to the benefits of high-speed internet. We invite you to view read the white paper e-Connectivity in Rural America: Public Research Universities Advancing Digital Inclusion and share your institution’s contributions to expanding high-speed internet access in rural communities by taking this online survey by Sunday, March 10^th. Our staff will review responses and make the relevant contacts at your institution to understand the full picture of your work in this area. The final product will articulate practices making a difference for rural communities based on your responses."

Reminder: Extension Administrators and Directors and/or their economic development/community engagement associates may join CECE at no cost at this link.