Andy Turner Joins ECOP

The Association of Northeast Extension Directors (NEED) has selected Andy Turner (pictured above/left), Ed.D., Associate Dean and Director, Cornell Cooperative Extension, to serve ECOP for a term ending in the fall of 2025. Turner, who also joins the ECOP Professional Development Committee, began his term as Associate Dean and Director of Extension at Cornell in December 2023. He leads a team of thirty-four in Extension Administration at Cornell and provides leadership for Cornell Cooperative Extension, one of the largest and most decentralized Extension systems in the USA. Prior to this appointment, Andy served as the New York State 4-H Program Leader (2014 - 2023) and has 35 years of experience in Extension overall. He attended Cornell as an undergraduate and graduate student and holds a Doctorate in Education from St. John Fisher College, developing a study that examined disruptive innovation and change leadership in Extension. Andy has provided leadership for change and evolution in Extension as Co-Chair of the ECOP 4-H Leadership Committee (2017 - 2021), and Co-Chair of the former ECOP 4-H Leadership Committee's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion design team. Welcome, Andy Turner!

New NIFA Extension Master Gardener Impact Update - For over 50 years, the Extension Master Gardeners (EMG) program has been training volunteers across the nation who have a passion for horticulture and assisting with gardening education in their community. Today, EMG programs are established in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. This work is supported in part by the USDA-NIFA’s capacity funding. Read more in a recent write-up about the program, which features capacity funding’s role.

2024 Urban Food Systems Symposium - The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) hosts the 2024 Urban Food Systems Symposium in Columbus, Ohio on June 11-13. The event includes keynotes, a grower panel, 40 presentations, a reception with more than 30 posters, a choice of off-site educational tours, and dinner at The Waterman Agricultural and Natural Resources Laboratory, a unique 261-acre university facility for teaching, research, and community engagement. Registration prices increase on May 25 and hotel reservations close May 21.

USDA-NIFA Annual Report Highlights Programs and Projects - USDA-NIFA provides leadership and funding for innovative programs that feed people and fuel progress advancing agricultural sciences. It was created to spur scientific innovation, education and Extension programs enhancing the work carried out by colleges and universities across the USA. NIFA’s investments play a critical role in inspiring innovations and providing the crucial funding needed to pursue those innovations. Read more about NIFA’s work across six broad topic areas in the FY2023 Annual Report. This year’s Annual Report highlights how the agency is funding collaborative projects that are delivering real solutions and making a difference in the lives of the people of the United States and the world.

The ECOP Monday Minute is on hiatus until June, 3, 2024. Wishing all a safe Memorial Day weekend.

Health Literacy an Extension Priority

Clockwise-Sonja Koukel, New Mexico State University; Sarah Bercaw,
University of Delaware; Belinda Letto, University of Tennessee; Nancy
Crevier, University of Wisconsin; Linda Quade, South Dakota State University;
Lisa Barlage, Ohio State University; Cathy Newkirk, Michigan State University;
Jatunn Gibson, Auburn University;
Fatemeh Malekian, Southern University A&M University

It is estimated that about nine out of 10 adults in the United States lack the skills to manage their health and prevent disease. The Health Literacy Action Team, a part of the ECOP-ESCOP Health Implementation Team, uses this statistic to drive it’s work to raise awareness of health literacy amongst Extension professionals and encourage making health literacy programming a priority. For more information, see http://go.osu.edu/HealthLit, which provides a survey link to share ideas and resources. Sonja Koukel, New Mexico State University, chairs the team working with colleagues from Ohio State University, University of Delaware, University of Wisconsin, Auburn University, University of Tennessee, Southern University, Michigan State University, and South Dakota State University. In process is a toolkit to assist Extension educators and professionals who work within the health system to integrate health literacy into programming. The goal is to address social determinants of health, improve the collective public health, and increase the number of Americans who are healthy at every stage of life. 

4-H National Youth Science Day Challenge 10.5.16 – National 4-H Council and 4-H National Headquarters at USDA-NIFA announce the ninth annual 4-H National Youth Science Day (NYSD), this year focused on drone discovery. Developed by Cornell University Cooperative Extension, the engineering design challenge will explore how remote sensing can be used to solve real world problems while learning concepts such as flight dynamics, forces of flight, basic computer coding, as well as following federal regulations while operating drones. The 9th annual 4-H NYSD brings 4-H'ers together from around the nation to complete this single, innovative activity. The 4-H NYSD Challenge kit will be available for pre-sale on the 4-H Mall website starting May 18. The new and improved 4-H National Youth Science Day website www.4-H.org/NYSD will launch this month where you can find engaging STEM content, register for a local 4-H NYSD event and access resources and materials. 

Extension Launches “Horizon” Effort – The eXtension Foundation and the ECOP Innovation Task Force are partnering with The New Media Consortium to develop a custom Horizon Report for Cooperative Extension. A panel of 56 experts will look out five years to identify key emerging technologies and methodologies and their impact on Extension. Leadership of this initiative is shared by Jerry Thomas and Christine Geith of eXtension and Keith Smith, Chair of the ECOP Innovation Task Force. The panelists will spend the summer collaborating on the report in a wiki environment (a website that allows for collaborative editing) with a report scheduled for completion in September 2016. More information about the process is at http://bit.ly/1QfyN7u.

APLU to Focus on “Feed the World” – Helping to ensure domestic and global food security by 2050 is the goal of a new APLU commission launched last week http://www.aplu.org/news-and-media/News/aplu-launches-commission-to-align--guide-public-research-universities-role-in-ensuring-global-food-security-by-2050. The commission, called The Challenge of Change: Engaging Public Universities to Feed the World, combines leadership from the APLU Office of Food, Environment and Natural Resources Programs, of which the Cooperative Extension Section is a part, and the APLU Office of International Programs. The commission is tasked with identifying the research, education and engagement efforts public universities should develop to ensure the three pillars of food security – access, availability and utilization – are met throughout the world. Randy Woodson, Chancellor, North Carolina State University, chairs the effort, designed for completion with a report in early 2017 to align with the new presidential administration. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation provided financial support for the commission’s work. 

Extension Master Gardener Program Shows Public Value – The Extension Master Gardener National Committee reports more than 80,000 volunteers contributed time valued at $122 million in 38 states reporting in 2014. It is estimated Master Gardeners donate 1,382 tons of fresh produce to food banks and pantries annually and are involved in 6,000 community gardens. To find out more about the impacts of this Extension program, operating in 49 states, go to http://articles.extension.org/sites/default/files/EMG%20Infocard%202016_0.pdf.

9.15.14 - ECOP Chair to Address FCS Program Leaders

ECOP Chair to Address FCS Program Leaders – Community and Rural Vitality, Health and Wellness will be the focus of the 2014 Family & Consumer Sciences State Program Leaders Meeting at the Annual Session of the National Extension Association of Family & Consumer Sciences (NEAFCS), September 17-18, 2014 in Lexington, KY. ECOP Chair Jimmy Henning, University of Kentucky, will speak at the opening session. Representatives of the Board on Human Sciences, Council of Administrators for Family and Consumer Sciences, and the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences will attend. USDA NIFA’s Division of Family & Consumer Sciences, under the leadership of Caroline Crocoll, coordinates the two-day annual meeting of state leaders. Regional Rural Development Center Directors will also participate. 

Bioproducts World Conference in Ohio – Keith Smith, Extension Director, Ohio State University, encourages colleagues to take advantage of a special academic rate of $125 for the Bioproducts World 2014 Showcase and Conference October 5-8, 2014 in Columbus, OH. To register, go to http://bioproductsworld.org/general_registration.php and note the special rate. For a schedule of events, see http://bioproductsworld.org/schedule_of_events.php. 

WVU Announces Centennial Celebration – West Virginia University will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Smith-Lever Act with a two-day symposium September 24-25, 2014 focusing on the future of Cooperative Extension. A presidential panel features three WVU presidents — Gordon Gee, David Hardesty and Peter Magrath — who will each give their unique perspective and insight on the role Cooperative Extension plays in fulfilling the land-grant mission. See http://go.wvu.edu/ZeKCE0 for more information. 

Blog Post Features Cooperative Extension’s Next Century – ECOP chairs Daryl Buchholz, Kansas State University; Jimmy Henning, University of Kentucky, and Doug Steele, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, and other leaders were featured in the PEW Charitable Trusts article Cooperative Extension Reinvents Itself for the 21st Century. See http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2014/09/09/cooperative-extension-reinvents-itself-for-the-21st-century. 

NRC Completes AFRI Review – The National Research Council (NRC) has completed its review of AFRI and provides the report Spurring Innovation in Food and Agriculture: A Review of the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Program http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=18652. Reference to Cooperative Extension is found in Recommendations 2-A and 3-B. 

USDA-NIFA Director Speaks at Centennial Celebration – Extension in the 21st Century was the theme of Sonny Ramaswamy’s presentation at the USDA Cooperative Extension Centennial celebration last week in Washington, DC. View his presentation at http://nifa-connect.nifa.usda.gov/p3n5jte2826/.