Broadband access and digital skills, vital to quality of life in today's world, is a national programmatic priority as explained in ECOP's Advocacy Toolkit
adovcacy.extension.org. The ECOP Program Committee is pleased to spotlight the work of its Broadband Access and Digital Skills Program Action Team (PAT) consisting of the
National Digital Extension Education Team and Southern Rural Development Center. The PAT welcomes Extension Professionals to join a new
Community of Practice on Extension Foundation’s Connect Extension platform. This virtual space of co-learning is dedicated to helping people thrive in a digital world. The PATs list of goals in 2022 includes implementing Community Planning and Digital Skills Teaching Toolkits, growing a repository for existing Extension efforts, establishing common metrics, and researching impacts of broadband use on quality of life. For more information log into/join the platform or contact Rachel Welborn (
rachel.welborn@msstate.edu) or Kenny Sherin (
kmsherin@ncsu.edu).
Booster for EXCITE Project from CDC - The Acting Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases and the Center’s Deputy Director for Science, has expressed gratitude for the partnership with the U.S. Cooperative Extension System (CES) in
this letter on
the EXCITE project – which CDC is proud to feature as a spotlight on its
Health Equity in Action page. The CDC awarded funds to USDA’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture to partner with CES, because Extension field agents are known to be trusted messengers with the competency to apply knowledge in nearly every county, parish, city, or municipality across the nation, both big and small.
Welcome Lewis-Burke Associates - Please join ECOP, the rest of the Board on Agriculture Assembly, the Board on Human Sciences, and APLU's Office of Food Agriculture and Natural Resources (FANR) to welcome
Lewis-Burke Associates, LLC as our new Washington, DC-based federal relations consulting and lobbying partner for the land-grant university's collective tripartite mission. Lewis-Burke, with a successful 29-year track record in advocacy on behalf of colleges and universities, has a team of experts with extensive experience with House and Senate Agriculture Appropriations as well as the Farm Bill. Lewis-Burke will work in close coordination with FANR to engage with members of Congress, authorizing committees, and staff responsible for funding agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences. The firm will also advocate for increased funding levels for agricultural research, teaching, and Extension in USDA and other federal agencies. This week the ECOP Budget and Legislative Committee will have their first introduction to a Lewis-Burke expert.
Cooperative Extension Highlights from 2021 APLU Annual Report - Check out the following mentions of the important work of Extension recently published the
2021 APLU Annual Report.
- Federal Policy Engagement, page 7
- Driving Equitable Student Success, pages 18 & 19
- Building Prosperous, Equitable, and Vibrant Communities Locally and Globally, page 25
