NEDA Leadership Meeting Coming Up in September

Extension Administrators and Directors of the Cooperative Extension Section (CES) will gather for a joint meeting with the Experiment Station Section Directors on September 23-26 in Nashville, TN. The joint ESS/CES-NEDA meeting sessions will provide unique opportunities for professional development, collaborative learning and networking for the leaders of our national Cooperative Extension system. During a portion of this joint meeting, about 3 1/2 hours total, Extension leaders will also hold their annual CES Business Meeting and National Extension Directors and Administrators (NEDA) meeting to focus on CES strategic priorities and the future of Cooperative Extension. The last time the 2 voting bodies of the Board on Agriculture Assembly met was September 2016. Registration and other details will be released in May 2019.

New Book Asks Can Extension Change? - The Innovation Imperative book was developed from a 2016 innovation report submitted to the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP). It is a collection of creative insights from 17 Cooperative Extension leaders and innovations from 12 land grant universities about 1. Innovation in leadership, 2. Innovation in learner engagement, 3. Positive change in Cooperative Extension culture, and 4. Innovation in hiring practices. The purpose of this book is to explore innovation, what it means to Extension, and how Directors and Administrators and their colleagues in leadership can innovate. For more information contact Paul Hill, paul.hill@usu.edu.

NUEC19 - Early Registration Ends Soon - Registration is now open, early-bird registration ends on Earth Day, April 22: https://sites.google.com/view/nuec2019/registration. Three, full-conference registration scholarships (value of $650) are being offered – deadline is tax day, April 15: https://sites.google.com/view/nuec2019/registration/scholarship-application.

• Conference includes: Over 150 presentations, 
• 6 Leading Edge Dialogue spotlight six critical issues facing our universities and our cities, 
• 10 Mobile Learning Workshops (filling up fast, don’t miss out), 
• Green Infrastructure working session and research tour. 

New CYFAR Sustainable Community Projects RFA Released - USDA-NIFA is pleased to announce the release of Requests for Applications (RFA) to fund new projects for the fiscal year 2019 Children, Youth and Families at Risk (CYFAR) Sustainable Community Projects. The mission of the CYFAR Grant Program is to marshal resources of the Land-grant and Cooperative Extension Systems so that, in collaboration with other organizations, they can develop and deliver educational programs that equip youth who are at risk for not meeting basic human needs with the skills they need to lead positive, productive, contributing lives. For the initial year, the maximum funding per grantee will be $80,000 for a single institutional applicant and for joint institutional applications the maximum funding allowed in the initial year is $160,000. Click Here for the RFA details. Applications must be received by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, April 22, 2019.

Census of Agriculture Data Release Coming Soon - Please help NASS share these details about the upcoming Census of Agriculture data release on Thursday, April 11 at noon ET. The data will be available on the NASS website along with several census data highlight publications and videos, maps, and ranking tables. Additional products will follow throughout the year. NASS will host a live Twitter Ask the Census Experts Stat Chat (@usda_nass) for the public on Friday, April 12 at 1 p.m. ET. Pre-release informational videos are available HERE. Already preparing for the 2022 Census of Agriculture, NASS is currently asking for content change suggestions and for new farmers and ranchers to sign up to be counted in future censuses and surveys. 

ECOP Assigns Hadley to National 4-H Congress

Gregg Hadley,
Kansas State University

ECOP thanks Gregg Hadley, Kansas State University Director of Extension, for accepting an appointment to represent the Cooperative Extension Section and to serve high school aged learners on the National 4-H Congress Board of Advisors. The first National 4-H Congress was held almost 100 years ago in Chicago, where over 100 young people met to exchange ideas and receive recognition for individual accomplishments and community service. Congress grew to include exhibits, demonstrations and a parade, with the participation of delegates, Extension staff, volunteers, partner representatives, exhibitors and other friends of 4-H. The event moved to Atlanta in 1998. This year the dates are November 29 – December 3. To learn more about what delegates will experience while participating in 2019 Congress, stay tuned here.

Irrigation Survey Extended Through April - Please let producers know that the deadline for the Irrigation & Water Management Survey was extended through April – every response matters! Producers can respond online or by mail. The Irrigation survey will provide a single source of comprehensive, up-to-date information on irrigation and water use across the agricultural industry; the results will aid efforts to promote efficient irrigation practices. This is the last week to respond to the Census of Aquaculture! This census is the only comprehensive source of information on the aquaculture industry in the nation; the data serve as the baseline for many decisions involving the sustainability and growth of U.S. aquaculture. For more information, visit www.nass.usda.gov/AgCensus or call (202) 690-8123.


Awards Tied to Reporting Land-grant Extension Impacts -

Screenshot of the online submission form for the Extension Diversity Award.

All Extension leaders should know that while submitting a nomination for the National Excellence in Extension or the Diversity Award, nominators must agree to also submit an impact statement into the National Impacts Database www.landgrantimpacts.org. The deadline to submit is 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time, May 1, 2019. For more information contact is Sandy Ruble, sandyruble@extension.org. 

Impact Collaborative Registration Deadline is Approaching - The Cooperative Extension Section is reminded that a national Impact Collaborative Summit, with the benefit of five free registrations for each eXtension membership, is coming on April 30 - May 2, 2019 to Atlanta, GA. The registration deadline is April 7, 2019. The event is the first of two national Impact Collaborative Summits in 2019. Additional project or program teams or team members are welcome to join with payment of a registration fee. Summits are designed to catalyze teams in their various stages of either planning or implementation. This includes individualized support to help propel teams through their journey towards launching their project or program. Click here to learn more or contact CEO Chris Geith, christinegeith@eXtension.org.

Top: Career Impact Awardees: Barbara Brown | Oklahoma State University;
Charlotte Cross | University of New Hampshire (Retired)

Bottom: Early Career Achievement Awardees:
Jacquelyn Benson | University of Missouri-Columbia;
Heather Wallace | University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Family Life Specialists Recognized - Please congratulate four Family Life Extension Specialists who were recognized with awards during the recent Federal Update and Family Life Specialists’ Awards webinar held on February 26, 2019. The National Awards are awarded to state Extension specialists who have made important contributions to the work of Cooperative Extension and who provide clear evidence of program impacts. These awards honor research-based programming that is effective at improving people's quality of life and well-being and are given annually in partnership with NIFA’s Division of Family & Consumer Sciences.

eXtension Website Redesign

eXtension has launched a redesigned version of its website. The new design provides greater clarity to the mission of eXtension, its flagship program - the Impact Collaborative, and other national and supporting resources. With user experience as a primary goal, the new design allows for users to quickly access information and see the most up-to-date content on how eXtension is helping Extension professionals’ effectiveness in addressing issues of importance to the nation. Visit online at eXtension.org.


Cooperative Extension’s Role in e-Connectivity Development in Rural America - The four Regional Rural Development Centers and the National Digital Education Extension Team (contact, Rachel Welborn' rachel.welborn@msstate.edu) are working to lessen the digital divide through assisting communities with strategic planning, advancing digital literacy, establishing partnerships, and conducting vital research. Current initiatives include:

• working on a pilot project with 4-H to strengthen digital skills, 
• evaluating the impacts of broadband infrastructure, 
• identifying ways to increase broadband availability in rural communities, and 
• walking communities through strategic planning efforts such as Stronger Economies Together (SET).

To learn more about the work about e-Connectivity by the Regional Rural Development Centers, see http://rrdc.info/rural-america/eConnectivity-3-1-19.pdf.

Reminder: Professional and Volunteer Development Opportunities at PILD - Extension Directors and Administrators are reminded to register institutional teams, including volunteers, to participate in the Public Issues Leadership Development (PILD) Conference. Early registration ends March 22, but please act sooner so that participants can join an important preparatory pre-Conference webinar to be held on March 14, 2:00 p.m. ET.  The webinar will help team members prepare for a successful conference and Hill visits. Details and purpose of PILD are explained in the January 28 edition of the ECOP Monday Minute or go directly to www.jcep.org/pild. ECOP thanks the Joint Council of Extension Professionals for making this Cooperative Extension specific public issue education opportunity possible each year. To learn more about PILD, stay tuned to the ECOP Monday Minute or email ecopblog@gmail.com, subject, PILD Inquiry.


Opportunity: Learning and Evaluation Consultant for National Rural Assembly - Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Leadership for Better Health and Healthy Communities themes are funding the National Rural Assembly http://ruralassembly.org to help rural leaders find their voices and to help emerging leaders build agency. In the next two years, the Rural Assembly will strengthen relationships with rural leaders who lift up marginalized voices, especially ones working with communities of color, young people, immigrants, and women. In support of the project’s objectives, the intention is to build the agency of rural leaders in their communities and within the Rural Assembly, create shared purpose among leaders, and amplify their stories with a national audience. The Rural Assembly is seeking proposals for consulting services. The consultant will work with project staff and other contractors to develop a framework for measuring sustainable engagement, participation, and communication toward improving the effectiveness of the Assembly. The project duration is July 1, 2019 – November 30, 2020. Proposals are due by April 1, 2019 and questions can be submitted via email to Marty Newell at the Center for Rural Strategies, marty@ruralstrategies.org.

Cooperative Extension Leaders Discuss Strategic Realignment

To listen, go to https://youtu.be/xjOa29KFHAI

ECOP Chair Ed Jones held a conversation with 24 Extension Directors and Administrators representing all 5 regions regarding Strategic Realignment on Friday, 3/1/19, 3-4:00 PM ET. The goal of the conversation was to hear what Extension leaders have to say and gauge the preliminary receptiveness for the concept of Strategic Realignment. Moderators ECOP Budget and Legislative Committee (BLC) Chair Jon Boren, New Mexico State University, and ECOP Executive Director Rick Klemme were be joined by Chuck Hibberd, University of Nebraska, and Mark Latimore, Fort Valley State University, who along with Jon and Rick are members of the Strategic Realignment Committee. The discussion and those occurring by each region, will help inform the BLC which meets on 3/12/18 for approval by the ECOP Executive Committee to prepare an official report to the Budget & Advocacy Committee.

All New Look, All New Data - There are big improvements to the public facing Land-Grant Impacts Website https://landgrantimpacts.org. The site has a fresh new look, better tools and search capabilities, integrated peer review, and more prominently displayed impact stories. All new statements submitted to the database will now undergo peer review before being made public on the site. This new layer of review will insure the highest quality information is being displayed. Statements from the past three years will be archived and available, but not displayed on the public site. Directors and Administrators and their associates are strongly encouraged to review the entire site to find what’s there to generate communication efficiencies and learn what colleagues are doing across the land-grant system.


Award Nomination Eligibility and Winning Words - Cooperative Extension Professionals are individuals with at least 50 percent EFT/FTE university appointment and responsibility for Extension programming. Nonadministrative employees with a minimum of five consecutive years in Extension by May 1, 2019 (deadline for the National Awards), are eligible to be nominated for either the Diversity in Extension or the Excellence in Extension Award www.aplu.org/CESawards. Teams and organizations nominated for the Diversity Award must be fundamentally composed of Cooperative Extension professionals. Re-nominations are strongly encouraged, excluding national winners. Suggestions for optimizing new nominations or re-wording of former nominations can be heard in a 10 minute segment of the Next Generation Extension Learning for Leaders: National Extension Awards beginning at minute 26:00. For more information contact the writer/presenter, Ann Kellett at ann@annkellett.net.

NIFA State Liaison Update - NIFA State liaisons are National Program Leaders who serve as the primary resource and information channel between NIFA and land-grant and other universities and colleges receiving agency funds. Liaisons develop an on-going, productive, and mutually beneficial relationship with cooperative extension and agricultural experiment station directors, and other leadership and faculty at state-based universities and colleges. They identify and maintain contacts with relevant colleges (e.g., agriculture, forestry, human sciences, natural resources, veterinary science, etc.) and other relevant academic organizations. In addition, they provide a timely review of annual plans of work and reports for Hatch, Smith-Lever, Evans-Allen and 1890 extension formula programs, and make recommendations on appropriate agency actions. See the current list at: https://nifa.usda.gov/resource/nifa-state-liaison-assignments.