Grants to Rapidly Respond to Extreme Weather Events

NIFA staff will host a live FAQ session for the AFRI Rapid Response to Extreme Weather Events Across Food and Agricultural Systems (A1712) program on Tuesday, April 11 at 2:30 p.m. ET. Register here. Programs can either be led by Extension or integrated with research. The grants of up to $300K are designed to rapidly identify and implement strategies to protect the nation’s food and agricultural supply chains and the people who support them during and after extreme weather events. Facts about the opportunity are found here. 



4-H Congressional Breakfast - The National 4-H Council Congressional Breakfast will be held on April 19, 2023, from 8:00–9:30 AM on Capitol Hill, as part of the National 4-H Conference. The event will showcase the 4-H program and appreciation of Congressional champions for support of America’s largest youth development program. The convening brings together 4-H youth and Cooperative Extension 4-H leadership from across the country to meet their members of Congress. Extension Deans, Directors, and Administrators and their institution's top 4-H Specialists may arrange to attend by contacting Eliza Hernandez directly at ehernandez@fourhcouncil.edu.

CYFAR Evaluation Study - The Children, Youth and Families at Risk (CYFAR) Return on Investment Study is a robust cost benefit analysis that explores potential positive returns from the CYFAR Initiative's financial investment. The study was conducted by CYFAR Professional Development and Technical Assistance (PDTA) Center on behalf of NIFA. Among the study revelations include health, factors such as social determinants of health, and healthcare options contribute to individuals’ health. A 1-year investment by CYFAR totaling $348.31 has the potential to produce a net benefit ranging from $725.59 to $2,873.39. 



USDA Seeking Nominations for Advisory Board and Associated Committees - In case the opportunity was missed from a recent NIFA email update, Extension Directors and Administrators might wish to consider seeking membership applications for the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics (NAREEE) Advisory Board and for the board’s committees and subcommittees. The NAREEE Advisory Board and subcommittee contribute valuable professional insight and help shape USDA’s future research and science programming and advises the Secretary of Agriculture, through the Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics and USDA's Chief Scientist on top priorities and policies for food and agricultural research, education, Extension, and economics. It provides stakeholder input and science-backed information to better inform USDA’s program decisions. The application deadline is Wednesday, May 31. For more information and details on how to complete an application, visit the NAREEE Applications web page.

ECOP Monday Minute 8.5.13

Extension Announces 2013 Awardees – Seven exemplary Cooperative Extension educators will be honored at the 2013 APLU Annual Meeting, November 10-12, 2013 in Washington, DC. 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 Jeffrey T. Edwards, Small Grains Extension Specialist, Oklahoma State University. Regional Excellence in Extension Award winners are Marion Simon, Extension Specialist and Interim Division Chair, Kentucky State University; Kimberly Greder, Associate Professor and Extension Specialist, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Iowa State University; Elaine Bowen, Health Promotion Extension Specialist, West Virginia University; Denise Holston-West, Instructor and Smart Bodies Program Director, Louisiana State University AgCenter, and Brian J. Higginbotham, formerly Associate Professor and State Extension Specialist, Department of Family, Consumer, and Human Development, Utah State University. Higginbotham was recently appointed the Associate Vice President and Associate Director, Utah State University Extension. The National Extension Diversity Awardee is Northwest Indian College in Bellingham, WA. The award will be accepted by Susan Givens-Seymour, Director of Outreach and Community Education and Director of Cooperative Extension.

National 4-H Council Names New CEO – Jennifer Sirangelo has been named chief executive officer of the National 4-H Council replacing Don Floyd who retires at the end of 2013. View the press release here.

USDA-NIFA Partnership Awards Nominations Due 9.4.13 – NIFA invites all NIFA-supported land-grant universities and cooperating institutions and organizations to submit nominations for the 2013 NIFA Partnership Awards Program. These awards recognize outstanding contributions aligned with NIFA strategic goals in support of the USDA mission. Awards for this year will recognize excellence in mission integration of research, education, and extension; multistate efforts; innovative programs and projects; effective and efficient use of resources, and program improvement through global engagement. USDA-NIFA accepts nominations for individuals or teams of up to 20 members. Each institution may submit up to two nominations (combined total across all five categories), meaning the entire institution including research, education, and Extension functions. Nominations must follow the specified partnership criteria and be submitted on the 2013 NIFA Partnership Awards Nomination Form. All signed nomination forms must be submitted by September 4, 2013, via email using scanned files saved as .PDF or .JPG files and emailed to Chevon.Gibson@ars.usda.gov, as instructed in the guidelines.

DoD Child Care Proposals Due 8.26.13 – The FY 2013 Department of Defense Child Care Curriculum RFA is at http://www.nifa.usda.gov/fo/childcarecurriculum.cfm. Also on this page are the NIFA Grants.gov application guide, the application package, and abstracts of funded projects. Information also is available at www.grants.gov/search and here.

Membership Solicitation for the NAREEE Advisory Board Extended – USDA has a new deadline of 8.30.13 to make nominations for eight vacancies on the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Economics (NAREEE) Advisory Board. Among slots of particular interest to Cooperative Extension are 1890 Land-grant Colleges and Universities and Rural Economic Development. The NAREEE Advisory Board released a Cooperative Extension report to the Secretary of Agriculture and Congress early this year.

USDA-NIFA Director on Video – Sonny Ramaswamy, USDA-NIFA director, gave a seminar July 25, 2013 at Kansas State University called Setting the Table for a Hotter, Flatter, More Crowded Earth. Watch his recent interview with the North Central Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources Program Leaders here. 

ECOP Monday Minute 5.13.13

REMINDER: Nominate Extension Professionals for Awards – The ECOP Program Subcommittee chair, Mary Jane Willis, Rutgers University, and Personnel Subcommittee co-chair, James Trapp, Oklahoma State University, together with USDA-NIFA, encourage you to submit applications for the 2013 Excellence in Extension and Extension Diversity awards. Awardees will be honored at the November 10-12, 2013 APLU Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. This is an opportunity to celebrate exemplary work of individuals and teams, gain notoriety for your university, and showcase how Cooperative Extension extends knowledge and changes lives. Application deadline is June 1, 2013. Details were sent directly to all directors and administrators and associate directors and administrators in a separate email in order to provide unique access links to the online nomination forms.

National Extension Urban Conference Update – ECOP Chair Daryl Buchholz, Kansas State University, and ECOP member Mary Jane Willis, Rutgers University, were speakers at the National Extension Urban Conference and Pre-conference last week in Overland Park, KS. Many presentations, including one by NACo President Chris Rodgers, Douglas County Nebraska Board of Commissions, called for increased attention by Cooperative Extension to urban programming. Information about presentations will be posted to http://www.dce.k-state.edu/conf/urban-extension/.

Cooperative Extension and MyPlate – ECOP approved making application on behalf of Cooperative Extension as a MyPlate national partner. This action has been completed. ECOP also encourages state Extension Services to be included as a community partner as part of the "MyPlate Strategic Partner Outreach" agenda. MyPlate is a project of the USDA designed to help Americans eat healthier. For more information, see http://www.choosemyplate.gov/partnering-program/national-partners/become-partner.html.

100 Years Celebration Toolkit – The ECOP Centennial Celebration Committee has created a website portal or gateway for resources on the history of the Smith-Lever Act and the development of Cooperative Extension programs, events, news and a toolkit. The URL for this portal is www.extension100years.net. The toolkit is ready for you to use and includes centennial graphic identity, templates and messaging designed for national, state and county Extension groups to tailor for their needs to promote and celebrate the centennial. Just click on the files you need, then right click on the open file to save to your system. The files are JPEGs, editable PDFs or PowerPoint files. Please check this website often because there will be new tools added and updates. Any ideas and suggestions are welcome by the committee co-chairs, Bill Woodrum woodrumw@wvstateu.edu, West Virginia State University, and Frankie Gould FGould@agcenter.lsu.edu, Louisiana State University AgCenter.

Membership Solicitation for the NAREEE Advisory Board – The U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is soliciting nominations to fill the eight vacancies on the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Economics (NAREEE) Advisory Board http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-05-02/pdf/2013-10392.pdf. Nominations are due June 28, 2013. The NAREEE Advisory Board released a Cooperative Extension report to the Secretary of Agriculture and Congress early this year. See http://nareeeab.ree.usda.gov/reports-and-recommendations/2013.

ECOP Monday Minute 4.8.2013

SNAP-Ed Updates – 1) FY2014 Guidance and FY2014 estimates for the state SNAP-Ed allocations are now available here:  http://snap.nal.usda.gov/national-snap-ed/snap-ed-plan-guidance-and-templates  2) Regulations that amend Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to implement Section 28 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, to award grants to States for provision of nutrition education and obesity prevention programs is available here:  http://www.fns.usda.gov/SNAP/rules/Memo/pdfs/SNAP-Ed_Interim_Rule.pdf 3) The SNAP-Ed assessment invoices from APLU have been calculated and sent to the universities by regular mail.

Strategic Opportunities and Measuring Excellence Website and Database Now Open -- As demonstrated in San Antonio at the NEDA meeting, this website and database have been redesigned and rebranded as a joint ECOP effort between the Strategic Opportunities and Measuring Excellence efforts. Updates at http://www.excellenceinextension.org include expanded salary data, the ability to input and retrieve impact statements, and new options for charting data.

ECOP National Task Force on Health Navigator Fact Sheet Now Available -- The ECOP National Task Force on Health would like to share a Navigator Fact Sheet from University of Maryland Cooperative Extension Health Insurance Literacy Initiative. The fact sheet outlines several potential roles of Cooperative Extension related to recent health reform legislation. The document was highlighted at the recent National Extension Directors and Administrators meeting held in San Antonio (see full presentation here).

NAREEE Board Releases Extension Report -- The National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education and Economics (NAREEE) Advisory Board, which makes recommendations to the Secretary of Agriculture and Congress has released its August 27, 2012 report and recommendations about Cooperative Extension. This is based on presentations and discussions at the Spring 2012 meeting of the NAREEE Advisory Board in College Station, TX. The NAREEE Board is authorized through the farm bill. The report is posted at http://nareeeab.ree.usda.gov/reports-and-recommendations-0.

Local Food Systems Dialogue -- Go to http://glennschool.osu.edu/web-dialogue/ to sign up as a participant in the National Extension Web Dialogue on Local Food Systems. All opportunities are in May 2013. The Ohio State University is guiding this work in partnership with the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development.

FEMA Youth Preparedness Council -- Please alert 4-H Program Leaders about this nomination process. Participants, age 12-17, are expected to represent the youth perspective on emergency preparedness and relay information within their communities. Nominations and applications are due April 19, 2013. For details, see www.ready.gov/youth-preparedness.

Webinar on 'Energy 101' course developed by APLU & U.S. Department of Energy 4.10.13 -- The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities joined the U.S. Department of Energy, the University of Maryland and the Environment and Energy Study Institute to unveil an interdisciplinary model curricular framework called 'Energy 101' designed to challenge college students at two and four-year schools to systematically explore the science and social science behind sound energy decision-making. It will also introduce students at an early point in their college experience to a variety of energy careers. The full press release can be found here. A webinar will be held April 10 from 2-4 p.m. (ET) to describe the model framework and its use in the development of a pilot course now being taught at the University of Maryland. Sign up for the webinar here.