Monday, May 24, 2021

Provocative Learning for Leaders Event June 4

The ECOP Monday Minute will be on hiatus on Memorial Day, May 31, 2021.

Distinguishing Urban Extension in the System Landscape – Thought leaders’ exchange for future planning and policy is the title of the next ECOP Learning for Leaders conversation, Friday, June 4, 2021, 3-4:00 p.m. Explore the basis of administrative and system-oriented aspects of Urban Extension Programming! Experts from NUEL and WCMER are back with members of the Cooperative Extension Section to expand beyond Ag focus and delve deeper into Extension and LGU policy, Staffing Ratios, Solutions and Outcomes! Middle managers and heads of HR may accompany Directors and Administrators to this event. All Directors and Administrators of Extension with interest in system change in Extension Policy and Organization may contribute to and will benefit from the provocative discussion. Contact Sandy Ruble sandyruble@extension.org for connection details.



Volunteer Reviewers Sought for $1.5 Billion in Broadband Connectivity - The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce is soliciting experts to evaluate grant proposals for three broadband connectivity programs that will award over $1.5 billion to further national broadband goals and assist with COVID response and recovery efforts in 3 areas - Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, the Broadband Infrastructure Grants Program, and the Connection Minority Communities Program. To learn more and respond by May 31click here. Help America advance its national objective of broadband access for ALL! - Please spread the word about this opportunity.



Integrated Pest Management Papers Released For Distribution by Extension - The National Integrated Pest Management Coordinating Committee (NIPMCC) has released the following series of papers on IPM and invasive pests. 
  • US Agriculture is Vulnerable to Weeds, Diseases, Insects, and Other Pest Threats (Full-text, April 2021)
  • US Agriculture is Vulnerable (One-Pager)
  • The Growing Threat of Pests Resistant to Pesticides and Other Management Tactics (Full-text, April 2021)
  • The Growing Threat (One-Pager)
  • Invasive Pests: A $120 Billion-a-Year Threat to America’s Farms and Lands (Full-text, April 2021)
  • Invasive Pests (One-Pager)
Thank you to John Lawrence, Iowa State University, who represents the Cooperative Extension Section on the NIPMCC for sharing this information. Additional contact information is found here



Call for BoHS Awards Nominations - The Board on Human Sciences invites nominations of individual, faculty, or staff member for one of four Board on Human Sciences (BoHS) awards presented at APLU's Annual Meeting on November 2021. Deadline is June 28, 2021. Links to more info:
  * Ellen Swallow Richards Public Service Award
  * Lifetime Achievement Award
  * Outstanding Engagement Award
  * Undergraduate Research Mentor Award
Please contact Florencia Drumwright, Senior Associate, or Doug Steele, Vice President for Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources, if you have any questions.


Monday, May 17, 2021

New Advocacy and Education Web Resource for Extension

T
he ECOP Budget and Legislative and Program Committees, along with many experts in Extension, have worked hard to develop the ECOP Advocacy and Education Toolkit advocacy.extension.org. The purpose of the toolkit is to provide ECOP leadership and the Cooperative Extension System (CES) with consistent messaging and resources focused on CES advocacy and education priorities. These resources include priority language, talking points, CES background information, and examples of national program efforts for consistency in messaging with APLU Board on Agriculture Assembly (BAA) Committees and Sections, the BAA Experiment Station Committee on Organization and Policy ESCOP, legislators, partners, University Congressional and Government Affairs staff, and related advocacy groups. Additionally, the SNAP-Ed Program Development Team (PDT) has developed the Nourishing Communities: Nutrition Education That Works website snap-ed.extension.org. The 2 websites are interconnected. These are living resources that will be updated and refined regularly. Advocacy topics will be improved by our experts as we move forward. Comments and suggestions can be submitted to advocacy@extension.org.




Hyde Serves the ECOP Budget and Legislative Committee - Jeff Hyde, Director of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, has joined Southern Region Representatives Gina Eubanks, Louisiana State University, and Rich Bonanno, NC State University on the ECOP Budget and Legislative Committee (BLC). The ECOP BLC establishes federal legislative, budget and advocacy agenda and strategies for the Cooperative Extension System. Members of the BLC from the the other 4 Regions are listed on page 4 of the ECOP Leaders List posted online at www.extension.org/ecop. Welcome to National Leadership with ECOP BLC Jeff, and thank you for serving! 





Systemwide Webinar on the Cooperative Extension’s Framework for Health Equity and Well Being - Individuals who have not yet had an opportunity provide input into Cooperative Extension’s Framework for Health Equity and Well Being are invited to participate in a Zoom meeting at 1:00 PM (Eastern) on Tuesday, May 25. Click here to register and look for confirmation email containing details to connect. This session will be recorded. The Framework is an updated version of the original document developed in 2014 that responds to the realities of today's health ecosystem. This document is a product of ECOP’s Health Innovation Task Force and is being vetted among Cooperative Extension’s various stakeholder groups. To view the Framework in advance, visit www.aplu.org/CES-EqHealth. An Executive Summary can be found at www.aplu.org/CES-EqHealth-ES. The system is encouraged to provide feedback on the documents, at https://tinyurl.com/yne6u9k8.




New Courses from the Military Families Learning Network - The Military Family Readiness Academy courses are FREE and self-paced, include continuing education credit, and offer practical solutions to local problems regarding disaster and hazard readiness. These courses are for Cooperative Extension professionals working with military service members and their families as well as community members interested in disaster preparedness. The Academy course list has added 11 courses from the 2020 - 2021 Disaster and Hazard Readiness series. These courses cover the basics of disaster preparedness, impact and response, and dive deeper into family caregiving, personal finance, the community recovery aspect, and more!

Monday, May 10, 2021

Leaders Examine Potential of the 4-H Equity Strategic Plan

Almost half the LGUs within the Cooperative Extension Section were represented at last Friday's Learning for Leaders - 4-H Equity Strategic Plan. The conversation reinforced and built upon the collective mindset of Extension Leaders that establishes short- and long-range goals for system change for diversity, equity, and inclusion at national, state, and local levels. To review elements of the event, use:
   --> YouTube video (~ 40 min.): youtu.be/LyKIZSMdk7s
   --> Slides
An analysis of the small group discussion is in process to more deeply inform ECOP on next steps. Thank you to everyone who participated. 




SNAP-Ed Program Development Team Meets - The annual meeting of the Land-grant Universities SNAP-Ed Program Development Team (PDT) was held virtually on April 19-21. Representatives from USDA Food Nutrition Service, and National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the Cooperative Extension met with current and incoming members of the PDT. The PDT reviewed progress on the strategic plan and developed goals for the upcoming year. Highlights of the meeting and the past year are now available for review. Nineteen members from the 2020 and 2021 PDT were able to attend by Zoom. The work of the PDT is funded through assessments to Cooperative Extension Services providing education to SNAP recipients.





USDA Hosts First-Ever Virtual Fair on Food Waste Reduction Innovations and Leaders - The USDA will host the first-ever Food Loss and Waste Innovation Fair on May 26 (12 - 4 p.m. ET), to showcase USDA investments and business leadership in reducing food loss and waste throughout the food system. The Innovation Fair will present businesses and research teams that have received USDA funding to research or commercialize cutting-edge food loss and waste solutions. For more information, read the USDA press release.




Act by May 28 NIFA Partnership and Hall of Fame Awards Nominations - All Land-grant Universities and cooperating institutions and organizations supported by NIFA may submit nominations to their 2021 Hall of Fame and/or Partnership Awards Program by May 28, 2021. Links to each:
NIFA Partnership Award website - For outstanding contributions in support of the NIFA mission and USDA Strategic Goals that provide an outcome that positively impacts agriculture, the environment, communities, or people. 
NIFA Hall of Fame Awards website - Former inductees include several Extension Directors and Administrators who have have worked, coordinated, or supported activities exemplifying NIFA’s synergy of excellence in any combination of research, education, and extension approaches on local, regional, national, or international levels and demonstrated a measurable and positive impact on the lives of citizens and NIFA's mission to invest in and advance agricultural research, education, and extension to solve societal challenges.
Winning nominations will be recognized at the NIFA Day of Appreciation on a date to be announced for either June or July 2021.  




Monday, May 3, 2021

EXCITE Project Funding Update

This past week Extension Directors and Administrators of the 1862, 1890, and 1994 Land-grant Universities and Colleges received an update from ECOP on funding for the CDC funded Extension Collaborative on Immunization Teaching and Engagement (EXCITE) project. Activity 1, Immunization Education application deadline is extended to May 7Activity 2, Innovative Precision Programming Pilots, application deadline is May 15. More details are available at extension-5.hubspotpagebuilder.com/cdc.




COVID-19 Public Education Campaign - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched a national public education campaign on April 1, 2021, to increase public confidence in COVID-19 vaccines, while reinforcing basic prevention measures such as mask wearing and social distancing. To achieve these goals, toolkits were developed with tailored information and materials to help share the campaign messages throughout the Country. The USDA is working alongside federal partners to contain the pandemic and get the economy back on track. The goal of sharing of these toolkits with a network of trusted messengers is to produce consistent, fact-based public health messaging, and help the public make informed decisions about their health, and steps they can take to protect themselves and their communities. The toolkit and other material resources can be found at WeCanDoThis.HHS.gov. This toolkit also will be provided by the EXCITE Project Land Grant University Liaisons.




Broadband News - APLU seeks to award up to 18, $1500 stipends to professionals who will author and present papers on how to structure, monitor, and evaluate the new suite of internet access and adoption programs. The goal of the project is to inform the development and management of digital equity and broadband adoption programs. Winning papers will be considered for a special issue of the journal Choices. Please review the full RFP online for more details on topics and criteria for submissions; the deadline to submit an abstract is 11:59 PM EST Fri. May 28.This opportunity has been made possible with funding by USDA/NIFA. Please contact the VP, Economic Development & Community Engagement Sheila Martin with questions or concerns. 



Registration for the 2021 AAFCS Virtual Conference - The 2021 AAFCS Virtual Conference is filled with dozens of educational sessions that are focused on relevant and requested led by Family & Consumer Science experts. The schedule includes panel discussions, education experiences in Minnesota (no travel required), community service project, brain breaks, member recognition and sessions dedicated to diversity and inclusion. Find additional conference details here