Monday, May 13, 2019

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 BenefitsDirectors 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.