Top Honors in Extension Excellence and Diversity

The National Excellence in Extension Award is given annually to a Cooperative Extension professional who excels at programming, provides visionary leadership and makes a positive impact on constituents served. Jamie Ellis, recipient of this year's award, is a Professor and Extension Specialist in Agriculture in the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Florida, where he directs the Honey Bee Research and Extension Laboratory. Regional Award winners are listed below. The National Diversity in Extension Award recognizes significant contributions and accomplishments in achieving and sustaining diversity and pluralism. The University of Missouri’s 4-H Center for Youth Development is the recipient in 2020. USDA-NIFA and Cooperative Extension have sponsored the awards since 1991. The awards will be presented virtually on October 28 (Registration will be appear here soon). Click Here to read more including quotes by ECOP Past-chair and Acting NIFA Director and here to learn more about the awards program.

Regional Excellence in Extension Awards 
· 1890s Region: Sanjun Gu, Horticulture Specialist, North Carolina A&T State University, for expansion of horticulture science to all communities.

· North Central Region: Lisa A. Bottomley, Senior Extension Specialist and Manager of Volunteer Services, Michigan State University, for leadership in best practices in volunteer and youth engagement.

· Northeast Region: Jennifer Robertson-Honecker, STEM Specialist, 4-H Youth Development Program, West Virginia University, for innovative programming to educate youth in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

· Southern Region: Hailin Zhang, Nutrient Management Extension Specialist, Oklahoma State University, for using agricultural science to advance public understanding of effective agricultural practices.

· Western Region: Paul Allen Hill, Extension Professor, Applied Sciences and Technical Education, Utah State University, for innovative economic development program empowering rural communities through remote work.

NIFA's New Integrated Reporting System - The New NIFA Reporting System will eventually be home to all research (competitive and capacity) and Extension programs, and enable the new, service-oriented NIFA and Land-Grant Institutions to more fully "tell the story" of how they are working together to advance agricultural research and Extension across the nation. The current phase of work to be released will bring AREERA research and Extension activities together for the first time in a centralized reporting portal equipped with dashboards. Cooperative Extension will have the means to describe their programs in greater detail and offers the expanded format requested for the Plan of Work. NIFA designed the Extension module with representatives from the Land-Grant University System at the table, providing valuable input and guidance. For several months, the Extension Working Group worked with NIFA staff to develop a user-friendly product to collect quality information to serve both NIFA and our partners, while streamlining the overall effort. A similar effort is underway with the Research Working Group to streamline reporting requirements for Hatch, Hatch Multistate, and Evans-Allen. REEport will remain unchanged until the new system is completed and fully operable. Additional guidance will be provided at monthly webinars and on this website. To receive invitations to the project’s monthly webinars, contact pow@usda.gov. 

Planning for NEDA 2021 - Thank you to all (5% rate of response) who have completed the 2020 NEDA Survey so far. For everyone else, please take a few moments to assess this year's virtual NEDA meeting and speak to next year's planning committee. Click Here to begin. 

RFA Announcement - Military Teen Adventure Camps - Due November 5, 2020 - Purdue Extension announces an opportunity to land-grant university colleagues to support military teens by hosting military teen adventure camps during summer, 2021. As part of an ongoing partnership between the Department of Defense, Office of Family Policy, Children & Youth and USDA/NIFA, this project and funding opportunity allows the Extension system to offer to military teens some of the best “adventure” camping opportunities that can be found across the nation. The link to the RFA is here.


Community Learning With Data-Driven Discovery Strategies Webinars - As a follow-up to the ECOP sponsored National Action Dialogue and Day 1 NEDA discussions, Oregon State’s three-state partnership team has developed a six-part webinar series for Extension professionals. Organizers will take the concepts of community learning through data driven discovery and provide strategies to help Extension professionals maximize their time, develop responsive programs using data insights, and foster impact in collaboration with communities. Extension professionals are invited to register for webinar series here.

   October 7, 2020--The Process: Community Learning for Data Driven Decision Making

   October 14, 2020--The Community: Community Capital Framework for Economic Mobility

   October 21, 2020--The Team: Team Science & Working Virtually as a Team

   October 28, 2020--The Discovery: Data Discovery Process

   November 4, 2020--The Culture: Building a Data-Ready Culture

   November 18, 2020--The Action Plan: Finding Insights in Data

USDA-NIFA Planning and Reporting Redesign in Process

In recognition of Memorial Day, ECOP Monday Minute will return on 6.6.16. 

ECOP is pleased to be working with USDA-NIFA on the next steps of the redesign of the planning and reporting process that is required by the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 (AREERA). Following recommendations from an expert panel convened in 2015, which included Cooperative Extension representatives, USDA-NIFA is constituting three working groups as follows: 

• Classification Working Group – to modify and expand the classification schema to better represent Extension’s work, 
• Extension Module Working Group – to develop the requirements and clearly define the type of data NIFA needs to collect for Extension, and 
• Institutional Profile Module Working Group – to develop the requirements and clearly define the type of data that will constitute a plan of work for both Research and Extension. 

Your regional Executive Directors and Administrator have details on the working groups. ECOP Chair Michelle Rodgers encourages you to have conversations with them about recommended personnel for working group membership. The deadline for response to USDA-NIFA through your Executive Director/Administrator is 5.25.16 in order for groups to begin work this summer. 

James Trapp, Oklahoma State University, and
Albert Essel, Lincoln University

Farm Bill 2018 Planning Needs Your Views – With leadership by James Trapp and Albert Essel, members of the APLU Board on Agriculture Assembly Committee on Legislation and Policy (CLP), preparation by Cooperative Extension for the next farm bill, expected in 2018, launches this week. Soon you will receive a communication that provides a survey link for Cooperative Extension directors and administrators to identify priorities for authorizations to be retained, changed, and deleted, along with new proposals, in the next farm bill. Your attention to this matter and response before 6.10.16 is appreciated. Also see http://bit.ly/18FarmBillPrep for an ECOP summary of the overall process of the farm bill planning. Members of the Extension Farm Bill Coordinating Committee led by Trapp (Oklahoma State University) and Essel (Lincoln University) are Rick Klemme (University of Wisconsin), ECOP Budget and Legislative Committee Chair, and Executive Director and Administrator Team members Ron Brown (southern region), L. Washington Lyons (1890 region), and Jane Schuchardt and Sandy Ruble (ECOP National Office).

DOL Overtime Rule Webinar 5.25.16– APLU is partnering with the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources and other higher education organizations on a webinar Wednesday, May 25th from 1-2:30PM ET to assist colleges and universities with understanding the final rule U.S. Department of Labor Overtime Rule. Registration is open to anyone. For additional information on the rule, see fact sheets and guides at https://www.dol.gov/WHD/overtime/final2016/. In response to many of the concerns raised by APLU and its members, including Cooperative Extension, the Department of Labor has released guidance for higher education institutions, including clarity as to the applicability of present exemptions. 

Twitter Town Hall Features Virginia Extension 5.26.16 – Join the Ag Is America Twitter Town Hall Thursday, May 26th 2:30-3:30 PM ET. Featured is Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Virginia Cooperative Extension programming on food safety, nutrition, health and wellness. For more information, see http://agisamerica.org/agisamerica-virginia-techs-college-agriculture-life-sciences-host-twitter-town-hall-2/. 

Paper Clover Campaign Raises Record-Breaking Funds to Support 4-H Extension Programs – Tennessee-based Tractor Supply Company, in partnership with National 4-H Council, recently announced the successful fundraising results of its spring Paper Clover Campaign. The April campaign raised "an astounding $935,351 during the 12-day national in-store fundraiser, " according to TSC. Tractor Supply Company and Del's Feed and Food Supply store customers purchased paper clovers between April 13 and April 24 for $1 or more during checkout. The seven year partnership with National 4-H Council has raised more than $9.2 million. Campaign proceeds support state and local 4-H Cooperative Extension programs. To learn more, click here.