ECOP Spring Meeting Highlights

Chair Chris Watkins, Cornell University, presided at the virtual ECOP Spring Meeting last week. Annual Work Plans by all ECOP standing committees were ratified. The 15-member, national policy-making body endorsed the work of the ECOP 4-H Leadership Committee's National Crisis Communications Playbook for the 4-H System. After reviewing the most recent draft, ECOP voted to have the ECOP Health Innovation Task Force proceed to vet the Cooperative Extension Framework for Health and Well-being at the National Health Outreach Conference (NHOC) in May. At its core, the new framework establishes "Health Equity". Speaking of NHOC...

2021 National Health Outreach Conference Update - This year's NHOC will be held virtually May 3-7, 2021. With the theme of The Grand Challenge: Building a Healthy Future for All, there will be sessions related to health equity, effective behavior-change messaging, policy system and environmental change, health behavior, and pandemic response programming. Keynote speakers, concurrent and posters sessions will be relevant for professionals who address health, nutrition, youth development, workforce development, and human development. See https://cvent.me/Ygg1N0 for additional details about the conference and note that early registration ends April 2, 2021.



Feeding the Economy Report Released - A coalition of agriculture groups has released Feeding the Economy, a study on the role of agriculture in the U.S. economy. According to the study, one-fifth of the nation’s economy and one-quarter of American jobs are linked to the food and agriculture sectors, either directly or indirectly. Key findings include:
▪ 40,714,808 total jobs
▪ $2.04 trillion total wages
▪ $797.22 billion total taxes
▪ $155.58 billion exports
▪ $6.975 trillion total food and industry economic impact

Military Family Readiness Academy Capstone - The Military Family Readiness Academy draws to a close with this Capstone event on Wednesday, March 31 from 11:00 am-12:30 pm ET. Resilience and recovery for military families depends on the social connection and collaborations existing within their communities. Service providers and Extension Educators are critical actors in making connections and forging collaborations to address family and community needs. Registration is free and results continuing education credits are available. Please share this link https://militaryfamilieslearningnetwork.org/event/92165 widely!

FANR FOCUS News Subscription - Doug Steele, APLU VP of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources (FANR), routinely sends a recurring FANR FOCUS update to provide timely, relevant information and action items to the membership of the Commission on Food, Environment, and Renewable Resources (CFERR) and its member boards and sections. A few highlights from last week:
  -  Eddie Gouge's Virtual Retirement Celebration March 30, 2021 at 4:00-5:00 p.m. (ET)
  -  Call for Nominations for the APLU Food Systems Leadership Award 
  - Joint COPs Summer Meeting Schedule
  - SAVE THE DATE: Register here: Earth Day April 22, 2021 at 3:00-4:30 p.m. (ET)
Extension Directors and Administrators with interest in receiving FOCUS should contact Suzette Robinson at srobinson@aplu.org to subscribe.

Climate Change Forum for Extension

Climate Change in Extension: Elevating and Amplifying Action, a virtual 3-day forum will take place April 19-21, 2021, starting at noon ET each day. The event will bring together Extension faculty, staff, federal representatives, administrators, interested partners, and constituents to address the question: What can/should the Cooperative Extension System do to advance climate change programming? USDA-NIFA’s Director Carrie Castille and Cooperative Extension System/ECOP Executive Director Caroline Henney will be panelists on April 19. On April 20 Obahdiah Njue, University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff; Rich Bonanno (ECOP), NC State University, Karl Martin (North Central), University of Wisconsin, Brian Schilling, Rutgers University, and Ken White, Utah State University, empanel a leadership deep dive.  Please share detailed registration link widely to encourage participation. For more information on the Initiative go online to the National Extension Climate Initiative.

NASS Launches Data Matters Blog - A new blog, Data Matters: Inside the Census of Agriculture, by the USDA’s National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) started recently. Please share the insightful series which begins with Preparing for the 2022 Census of Agriculture, with a behind-the-scenes look at the Content Test, an integral part of the scientific collection of agricultural data. The next in the series will examine the Sign Up to Be Counted initiative for the 2022 Census of Agriculture with an explanation as to why the Census is important to producers of $1,000 or more of agricultural products in a given year. The monthly posts appear at the bottom of on the Ag Census website and will be included in the ECOP Monday Minute. Please be reminded that the Cooperative Extension Section’s MOU (2018-2023) with NASS is found here. 



New Tool Establishes Baseline on Immunization Education Initiative - The Extension Foundation, the Cooperative Extension System's innovation collaboration partner, is debuting a new tool called the National Registry of Cooperative Extension Programs & Assets (NRCEPA) and its portal Extension Collaborative on Immunization Teaching & Engagement (EXCITE). The platform tool evolved out of the need to collect resources for the Immunization Education initiative with CDC that was announced last month. EXCITE is free on the connect.extension.org Health and Well-Being Subgroup. Extension faculty and staff will contribute existing Immunization Education activity and search existing resources. The goal of the tool is to establish a baseline of all existing work in immunization education on capacity funds across the Cooperative Extension System. Metrics will be collected around Activity 1 funded projects and Activity 2 funded pilots. A step-by-step 23-minute video walkthrough is found here. 



Assistant VP, FANR Communications and External Partnerships Position Announcement - APLU’s Board on Agriculture Assembly (BAA) - the Cooperative Extension, Experiment Station, and Administrative Heads Sections -  seeks a Assistant Vice President, Food Agriculture and Natural Resources (FANR) Communications and External Partnerships. Interested individuals may send a cover letter and resume to APLU’s Human Resources Department at resume@aplu.org with the subject line: Assistant Vice President, FANR CEP. Applications will be reviewed as received and continue to be reviewed until the position is filled with preference given to those received prior to April 1, 2021. For a full position description, please visit the APLU Jobs Page. 

Extension Featured in Capital Hill Series

On Tuesday, March 16, 1:00 p.m. ET the National Coalition for Food and Agriculture Research (NCFAR) hosts part 1 of a 3-part virtual Hill series designed to help leaders become acquainted with USDA's research agencies, understand what they do, and why they are important. The 45-minute webinar, will feature land-grant university research, education, the Cooperative Extension System. Please copy/paste and rush send the following opportunity with encouragement for Congressional staffers to REGISTER and attend for this one or all three. ECOP is a member of NCFAR. The webinar recording will be archived at www.ncfar.org/Hill_Seminar_Series.asp.

Through land-grant universities, the Cooperative Extension System works with farmers, ranchers, and communities of all sizes, catalyzes adaption to changing technology, improvements in nutrition and food safety, preparedness for and respond to emergencies, and better the environment. 4-H provides experiences for young people to learn by doing. Don't miss this important webinar, National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) - Tuesday, on March 16, 2021, at 1:00 PM ET. Registration is required here with the option of attending 2 more webinars: Agricultural Research Service (ARS) - Monday, March 22, 2021, 1:00 PM ET, Economic Research Service (ERS)/National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) - Tuesday, April 6, 2021, at 1:00 PM ET.

Food Systems Summit-Opportunities for U. S. Engagement - USDA will host a Zoom webinar on Wednesday, March 17 at 1:00 p.m. (EDT) about United Nations Food Systems Summit: Opportunities for U. S. Engagement slated for September 2021. The stated goal of the Summit is to transform the way the world produces, consumes, and thinks about food in order to contribute to meeting the challenges of poverty, food security, malnutrition, population growth, climate change, and natural resource degradation. Join USDA for a webinar to find out more and how to get involved. Click here to register!

Countdown on Award Nominations - Please remind Extension Administration leadership teams that May 1 is the deadline for nominations for the National Cooperative Extension Awards program, is just over 6 weeks way. Winning nominations may take several weeks to develop. Nominees, must be an active Cooperative Extension System professionals with at least 50 percent EFT/FTE university appointment in Extension. Honorees will receive cash awards, an engraved memento, and a stipend to attend the annual ceremonial presentation at the APLU Annual Meeting. ECOP and USDA-NIFA are the co-sponsors of these awards. Go to www.aplu.org/CESawards to learn more or contact Sandy Ruble at sandyruble@extension.org. Thank you.

Call for Abstracts for Extension Energy and Sustainability Summit - Now through May 3, 2021, Extension professionals, researchers, graduate students, formal and informal educators, practitioners, and community partners are invited and encouraged to submit proposals for the joint National Extension Energy Summit + National Sustainability Summit. Read the Call for Abstracts here. Learn about the event to be held October 4-6, the host, sponsors, location and much more, at https://www.nationalextensionsummits.com.

Leaders Encouraging Collaborations with Diverse Communities

Last Friday, ECOP hosted a third in a series of Learning for Leaders conversations with a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion theme. Katie Hartmann, who recently completed her PhD in Education, Equity, and Transformation at Colorado State University, identified what excellence looks like to collaborate with diverse communities. The structures include but are not limited to a Relations Liaison, Inside Collaborator, and a community-specific sense of timing. What can be implemented in the short and long term?

To review Leaders Encouraging Collaborations with Diverse Communities, from March 5:

     -- View recording at https://youtu.be/KR2kUsUJgjM

     -- Click here to view/download slides

Extension Directors and Administrators are invited to closely follow the DEI series and complete this survey by Friday, March 12. Check out archives of the following here.

     -- Improving Inclusivity in Our Institutions and ECOP, February 5
     -- Inclusive and Equitable Organizations – An Evidence Based Model, January 8

SAVE THE DATE - The next Learning for Leaders is set for Friday, May 7, 3-4 p.m. ET. Topic/title are yet to be determined.  

eXtension is Now the Extension Foundation - eXtension’s mission has evolved over the past several years, from being an organization focused on creating technology solutions for the Cooperative Extension System, to a focus on helping Cooperative Extension faculty and staff find new and innovative ways to deliver their projects and programs, and helping Cooperative Extension make a greater impact in communities. Realizing that continuing the eXtension name might be a source of confusion for many, as it is reminiscent of the organization’s past, the Board of Directors announces that eXtension is now the Extension Foundation. Over the coming weeks, digital presence changes will be made to better reflect the mission and vision of the Extension Foundation and its role in Cooperative Extension. For more information, visit extension.org.

Net Inclusion 2021 Webinar Series - The Net Inclusion Conference has been a staple in the Digital Inclusion community since 2016, bringing hundreds of practitioners, advocates, academics, internet service providers, and policymakers together to share their knowledge. With social distancing still in place, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance will once again hold an online version of Net Inclusion to substitute the in-person conference. This Series will include eight one-hour webinars, every Wednesday from April 7 - May 26, 2021, at 1 PM ET. All webinars include an additional 30-minute wrap-up for conversation and Q&A with panelists and fellow participants. Find the topics, schedule, and register here.



HealthCare.gov Special Enrollment Period 2021 Now Open - Last week Health Extension Director, Roger Rennekamp, shared the following update with the Extension Institutional Contacts for Health and Well-Being.

The Department of Health and Human Services requests assistance in getting the word out about a special enrollment period for those in need of health insurance. This special enrollment period is now open through HealthCare.Gov, where there is information about programs and tools to help existing and new Health Insurance Marketplace participants. The deadline for enrollment is May 15, 2021. For more information, go to HealthCare.Gov.

Encouraging Collaborations with Diverse Communities

The next meeting of Extension Directors and Administrators widely known as Learning for Leaders, will take place on Friday, March 5, 2021, 3-4:00 PM Eastern Time. Leaders Encouraging Collaborations with Diverse Communities: Consider the Experiences of Extension Educators, will feature findings from the field and latest literature, and exploration of the characteristics that enable Extension educators and their programs to be successful by looking carefully at challenges that they face. There will be ample time during the hour to discuss what support structures are needed at the institutional and systemic levels. Invitations with Zoom connection details were sent by Sandy Ruble, Assistant Director, Cooperative Extension System/ECOP, on February 18. Email Sandy at sandyruble@extension.org for more information.

NEDA Planning Committee Takes Next Step -  October 12-14, 2021, are the dates for the 2021 National Extension Directors and Administrators (NEDA) Meeting! The Planning Committee is chaired by Immediate-past President of ECOP, Mark Latimore, Fort Valley State University (1890s Region), and joined by Jorge Atiles, West Virginia University (Northeast Region), Shelly Nickols-Richardson, University of Illinois (North Central Region), Laura Stephenson, University of Kentucky (Southern Region), and Barbara Petty, University of Idaho (ECOP Member from the Western Region). At their most recent meeting, the group examined surveys by the Regional Associations and established some bright ideas with a focus on the limitless possibilities for the future of Extension. Stay tuned for more details for what is sure to become and productive and motivating virtual event. Registration will begin in May 2021. 

ECOP Spring Meeting Topics - The Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP) serves as the executive board and representative body (15 voting members, 3 from 5 regions) of the Cooperative Extension System and typically meets face-to-face 3 times each year. The Spring Meeting, March 23-25, will consist of 4, 90-minute virtual sessions. The agenda includes, 4-H Reputation Management, an update to the Cooperative Extension Framework for Health, NIFA Partnerships and Opportunities, and the role of the Executive Directors and Administrator Team (EDA Team). For more information contact Executive Director Caroline (Crocoll) Henney carolinecrocoll@extension.org or Assistant Director Sandy Ruble. Thank you.

Military Family Readiness Academy Continues Free Sessions - The Military Families Learning Network continues its 2021 Military Family Readiness Academy series, Disaster and Hazard Readiness in Action focusing on the skills, contexts, and situations military family service providers and Extension educators may draw from and navigate to manage disasters and emergencies. Weekly sessions will cover the readiness and wellbeing of military families as they connect with communities, caregiving, children and family needs, and nutrition. Sessions will guide providers on how to work with families during disasters and hazards, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dialogue will be central in this series—lessons learned, resources, and insights will be shared by panelists, speakers, and participants. All sessions are free and several continuing education credits will be available. To register and get more information go to: https://militaryfamilieslearningnetwork.org/mfra2021/