10.13.14 - Cooperative Extension, USDA-NIFA Announce 2014 Awardees

Cooperative Extension, USDA-NIFA Announce 2014 Awardees – Seven exemplary Cooperative Extension educators will be honored at the 2014 APLU Annual Meeting, November 2-4, 2014 in Orlando, FL. Awards recognizing excellence in programming and celebrating diversity are co-sponsored by ECOP and USDA-NIFA and selected through a competitive process. The National Excellence in Extension Award winner is Robert Kallenbach, Plant Sciences Extension Specialist and Program Leader, University of Missouri. Regional Excellence in Extension Award winners are Henry English, Small Farm Program Director, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff; Rick Funston, Beef Cattle Reproduction Specialist, West Central Research and Extension Center at North Platte, University of Nebraska; Richard VanVranken, County Extension Department Head, Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Atlantic County; John Jacob, Environmental Quality and Coastal Community Development Director, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, and Madeleine Sigman-Grant, Extension Specialist, University of Nevada. The National Extension Diversity Awardee is Cesar Asuaje, Regional Extension Specialist in Agriculture, Farm Labor, Pesticide and Farm Safety Education, University of Florida. 

ECOP to Meet in Lexington, KY – Regional scans kick off the fall ECOP meeting October 15-16 in Lexington, KY, chaired by Jimmy Henning, University of Kentucky. The purpose of the scans is to indicate program and administrative themes where national leadership is warranted. Other key decision points on the agenda are approval of the 2015 ECOP goals and budget, private resource development at the national level, eXtension’s transition to a new model, a health and wellness implementation team, and formalizing a National Impacts Database Committee. 

Excellence Data Due 12.31.14 – The ECOP Measuring Excellence in Extension Implementation Team chaired by Joe Zublena, North Carolina State University, has shifted its call for data input to the fall of each year. While data is appreciated at any time, this shift is designed to coordinate with most university’s fiscal years. In addition to entry of data directly into the system at www.landgrantimpacts.org (formerly excellenceinextension.org), there is an option to fill out a form and the data will be entered for you. The form is available from Scott Cummings at s-cummings@tamu.edu. The database is only valuable if it is complete. 

PILD Save the Date – The Joint Council of Extension Professionals (JCEP) will focus on the 125th anniversary of the passage of the 2nd Morrill Act creating 1890 Land-grant Institutions at the April 12-15, 2015 conference in Crystal City, VA. The 2015 Public Issues Leadership Development (PILD) Conference theme is “Imagining Extension – Eyes to the Future …”. ECOP 2015 Delbert Foster is among the invited keynote speakers. Registration opens 1.12.15 at www.jcep.org. 

National Extension Conference on Volunteerism – This conference, designed for professionals of all disciplines with Cooperative Extension who work with volunteers and/or volunteer programs is May 4-7, 2015 in Portland, ME. Proposals for workshops, research presentations, and the poster showcase are due November 7, 2014. See http://extension.umaine.edu/programs/necv/.

ECOP Monday Minute 7.28.14

ECOP Meets in San Diego – Among action at the meeting 7.22.14 in San Diego, ECOP accepted the interim report of the eXtension Strategic Planning Committee (see next item), approved continuation through 2015 of the AES-CES Communications and Marketing Project, endorsed a Futuring Task Force to be funded and managed by the BAA Policy Board of Directors, and accepted the recommendation by the ECOP National Task Force on Health to establish an implementation team. Votes are in process to approve an ECOP representative to the BAA Committee on Legislation and Policy and to approve a joint ECOP-ESCOP memorandum of understanding with USDA regarding regional climate hubs. Jimmy Henning, ECOP Chair, University of Kentucky, appreciates the strong participation at the meeting and critical national leadership of ECOP.

eXtension Strategic Plan Interim Report – ECOP has accepted the interim report on the eXtension Strategic Planning process chaired by Keith Smith, Ohio State University. See http://bit.ly/InnovStratFrame for a summary of the new Innovation Foundation (working title) designed to augment electronic capabilities of participating institutions. The business model calls for a membership structure in place of the current assessment process. The final report is due to ECOP at its October face-to-face meeting in Lexington, KY.

Power of Excellence in Extension Database (by Deborah J. Maddy, Associate Director, Oregon State University Extension) – You never know when comprehensive data, at your fingertips, might be needed to tell the Extension story to elected officials, to university administrators or to members of your own organization. The Excellence in Extension database provides historical and comparative information for Cooperative Extension systems across all land-grant universities. This important tool designed especially for Extension leaders is most powerful if everyone participates. As of the June 30 data entry due date, only 17 out of 75 Extension organizations had complete or partial data in the database, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Texas, Virginia, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota (partial), Alaska (partial), Oregon, and Wyoming. Special thanks to those who made it a priority to provide Excellence in Extension data by June 30. If the due date slipped by you, it’s not too late to enter 2014 data. The recent program upgrade has many improvements, making entry easy. The data is used to describe the overall scope of Extension, market it as a national system, document Extension’s strengths, and focus on areas of impact.

USDA Announces Foundation for Food and Ag Research – For details about the new Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research (FFAR) and the appointment of its 15-member board of directors, see http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentid=2014/07/0156.xml. The foundation, authorized in the Ag Act of 2014, will leverage public and private resources to increase scientific and technological research, innovation, and partnerships critical to boosting America's agricultural economy. Congress provided $200 million for the Foundation which must be matched by non-federal funds as it identifies and approves projects.

USDA-NIFA Requests Comment on Centers of Excellence – Join a webinar 7.31.14 (1:00-3:00 p.m. ET) about the Centers of Excellence, which will receive priority for funding for competitive research or Extension grant programs. Stakeholder input is welcome at any time, but to be incorporated into planning for the 2015 cycle, must be received by 7.31.14 via email to vbest@nifa.usda.gov (please put “comments” in the subject line) or sign up to speak during the 7.31.14 webinar. NIFA is particularly interested in input on how best to define the scope of a Center of Excellence, whether there are models being used by other federal agencies that might be useful to examine, and at what point in the review/selection process “priority” should be given to applications submitted by Centers of Excellence. For more information, go to http://www.csrees.usda.gov/about/offices/legis/pdfs/excel_stkhold_wbnr_announce.pdf

ECOP Monday Minute 7.15.13

Galaxy IV Early Registration Ends Today – If you plan to join the launch of the Extension Centennial Celebration, co-chaired by ECOP member Bill Woodrum, West Virginia State University, and Frankie Gould, Louisiana AgriLife, taking place at the JCEP Galaxy IV Conference in Pittsburgh, PA, September 16-20, 2013, the reduced rate for early registration at Galaxy ends today. See details by clicking here.

Comment on AFRI Water Challenge Area – USDA-NIFA announces a web-based listening session on the proposed new AFRI challenge area on water resources for FY 2014. The session, 1-3 p.m. ET, Tuesday, July 16, 2013, can be viewed at http://nifa-connect.nifa.usda.gov/afri-water/ or heard by conference call at 888.858.2144, code 1512861#. ECOP Chair Daryl Buchholz, Kansas State University, will provide comment on behalf of Cooperative Extension. Others are encouraged to participate to carry the Cooperative Extension message and can reserve a five-minute slot by contacting Terri Joya at 202.401.1782 or tjoya@nifa.usda.gov. Written comments are due July 30, 2013. For the Federal Register announcement (July 8, 2013, Vol. 78, No. 130, p. 40689), go to http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-07-08/html/2013-16204.htm.

ECOP to Convene at Joint COPs – Chair Daryl Buchholz, Kansas State University, convenes ECOP as part of the Joint COPs meeting next week in Manhattan, KS. Included on the national leadership agenda is the external evaluation of eXtension, regional scans, efforts to enhance capacity funding, and actions of the ECOP 4-H Implementation Team, the National Task Force on Health, and the Extension Centennial Task Force.

EDEN Provides Swine Flu Alert – ECOP liaison to the Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) Nick Place, University of Florida, reminds those involved with county and state fairs to be aware of recent outbreaks of swine flu (influenza H3N2v or variant H3N2) and encourage 4-H exhibitors and attendees to take precautions. See the EDEN Swine Influenza Topic Page for details.

4-H Policy Statement – See https://www.aplu.org/document.doc?id=4640 for USDA-NIFA’s policy statement on international positive youth development and the use of the 4-H Name and Emblem.

USDA-NIFA Releases Impacts –  The new publication, 2008 Farm Bill - Making an Impact through NIFA, is available at http://www.nifa.usda.gov/nea/ag_systems/pdfs/farm_bill_2013.pdf.

ECOP Monday Minute 3.25.2013

NEDA 2013 in Review – Updates on the Smith-Lever Centennial Celebration, the 21st Century Extension Professionals Project, and the Strategic Opportunities and Measuring Excellence effort were some of the highlights of the National Extension Directors and Administrators meeting last week in San Antonio. Presentations and other documents will be shared next week in the ECOP Monday Minute. Attendees have received an evaluation due before April 2. Responses will be used to guide planning for the 2014 meeting March 24-26 in Albuquerque, NM.

ECOP Update – During its meeting last week in San Antonio, the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP), your representative leadership body for Cooperative Extension nationwide, outlined next steps for a 4-H Working Group; reviewed issues before the Board on Agriculture Assembly Policy Board of Directors regarding payment of assessments; considered recommendations for representation to the Board of Directors of LEAD21 and the Journal of Extension, and began discussion about strategies to increase funding for Cooperative Extension programming. Details will be provided in upcoming issues of the ECOP Monday Minute. Daryl Buchholz, ECOP chair, welcomes your comments.

2013 National Urban Extension Conference -- Join nearly 300 Extension professionals at the 2013 National Urban Extension Conference in Overland Park, Kansas, May 6-9, 2013. Details online at  http://www.dce.k-state.edu/conf/urban-extension/. Early registration closes March 31st.

New Nutrition Group for Professionals – The Community Nutrition Education Professional Community of Practice (PCoP) website is now live on eXtension.org.  It is listed in the "Health and Nutrition” resource area. The PCoP was funded through the SNAP-Ed assessment. The website was developed by a University of Maryland Extension team. For more information contact Sandra.jensen@sdstate.edu of the LGU SNAP-Ed System.

Upcoming Drought Webinars -- The EDEN NEIL (National EDEN Issues Leadership) Team is committed to developing and promoting issue and needs based drought webinars. The webinars will be archived and include those from 2012 appropriate to the issues in 2013. The upcoming webinars may be accessed on the EDEN Drought Page on the Program Area Webinar page.

ECOP Monday Minute 2.4.2013

ACTION: Register for NEDA -- “Strong Partnerships, Sustainable Resources” is the theme of the 2013 National Extension Directors and Administrators (NEDA) meeting in San Antonio, March 18-20, 2013 at the Hyatt Regency San Antonio hotel. Registration is now available at: http://www.cvent.com/d/kcq42d. Following guidance from the 2012 NEDA meeting evaluation, a priority for the 2013 meeting will be dialogue among participants.

ECOP January Highlights -- ECOP Chair Daryl Buchholz provides the following update on four priorities. Additional details will be provided at the NEDA meeting.  1) The ECOP National Task Force on Health has been launched with Michelle Rodgers, University of Delaware, and Cindy Reeves, USDA-NIFA co-chairing. 2) The ECOP 4-H Working Group, chaired by Chuck Gay, Utah State University, will provide recommendations from the land-grant institutions perspective. 3) The Smith-Lever Centennial Celebration Working Group, co-chaired by Bill Woodrum, West Virginia State University, and Frankie Gould, Louisiana State University AgCenter, has three major areas of emphasis -- a toolkit of communications materials for states and counties to be launched at the NEDA meeting, a celebration/convocation in Washington, DC aligned with the Public Issues Leadership Development (PILD) 2014 conference, and an advocacy agenda led by the ECOP Budget and Legislative Committee, Rick Klemme, chair.

Henning Named ECOP Chair-elect -- Jimmy Henning, University of Kentucky, has been named ECOP Chair-elect, replacing Paul Coreil, Louisiana State University AgCenter, who has announced his retirement effective mid-year. Additional appointments previously held by Coreil are Board on Agricultural Assembly Committee on Legislation and Policy which will be assumed by Tom Coon, Michigan State University, and the ECOP representative to the National Coalition for Food and Agriculture Research (NC-FAR) Board of Directors which will be filled by Chuck Hibberd, University of Nebraska. ECOP sincerely thanks Coreil for his exemplary, sustained national leadership

4-H Alumni Webinar February 15th (by Andy Ferrin, National 4-H Council) -- 4-H programs in 10 states, National 4-H Council and 4-H National Headquarters have launched a joint, 2-year effort to pilot scalable alumni engagement strategies that will mobilize alumni to stand up for 4-H by giving, volunteering and advocating. The participating state 4-H programs are: CA, DE, FL, IA, KY, LA, MN, NE, NY and VT.  Coordination and communication between 1862 and 1890 institutions in pilot states will be a goal of the program. Strategies and messaging will draw upon findings from a nationwide alumni research survey recently conducted by National 4-H Council. Join a webinar on February 15, 2013 at 3 p.m. ET to hear the in-depth findings of the 4-H alumni research. Go to https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/216484319 to register for the webinar. To join the conference call, dial: 1-866-910-4857, access code 755226#.

Apply for Stronger Economies Together Program (by Bo Beaulieu, Southern Regional Rural Development Center) -- The Stronger Economies Together (SET) program was launched more than three years ago by USDA Rural Development in collaboration with the nation’s four Regional Rural Development Centers and their land-grant university partners.  Applications are now being accepted from states wishing to take part in the next phase of the SET program.  SET provides training and technical assistance to multi-county regional teams in the selected states, helping them assess their regional economic advantages and build a thoughtful regional plan for strategically building on their regional clusters/assets. If you are interested in submitting an application to be part of the next phase of the SET program (Phase IV), please work jointly with your State USDA Rural Development Director to develop a proposal.  Applications are open to any state, including those that may have taken part in past phases of the SET program (i.e., Phases I, II or III).  The application, due March 1, 2013, is at http://srdc.msstate.edu/set/phase4.html.  Questions can be directed to Bo at ljb@srdc.msstate.edu or Rachel Welborn rachelw@srdc.msstate.edu.

APLU Issues 2012 Annual Report -- Cooperative Extension is featured in the section about the Commission on Food, Environment and Natural Resources, of the 2012 APLU Annual Report. See https://www.aplu.org/document.doc?id=4314.