Ag Is America Campaign: Highlighting the Diversity and Necessity of Land-grant Universities

ECOP Monday Minute will return on July 10, 2017.

Have a happy, safe Independence Day.

Agriculture Is America has launched a new video campaign highlighting the diversity and necessity of land-grant universities and Cooperative Extension in modern agriculture. The video, Redefining American Agriculture for the 21st Century, is part of a system-wide effort to support advocacy for additional funds in the upcoming Farm Bill.

To help spread the message, Agriculture Is America is asking for your support by:

1. Visiting AgAction.org to contact your local legislator 
2. Sharing the video on Facebook and Twitter
   o Sample Facebook copy: We research today, to impact your tomorrow. Watch this video
      showing the importance of #LGUimpact: bit.ly/agaction2017
   o Sample Twitter copy: We research today, to impact your tomorrow. Check out this video
      highlighting our #LGUimpact: bit.ly/agaction2017 #agaction 
3. Including the video in your weekly eNewsletters or websites 

Visit the Ag Is America website for more information.

Culture of Health Partnership with Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Professional Development RFP Due June 30 - Don’t forget to apply for the latest funding opportunity related to Cooperative Extension's anticipated multi-year partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, an initiative that began in early 2016 with the Cooperative Extension System and the National 4-H Council . The goal of the Request for Proposals is to identify one land-grant university to lead professional development for the five pilot program states spearheading the Building a Culture of Health initiative. Want to learn more? Click here to access an on-demand recording of the live Q&A webinar. The RFP application deadline is June 30 at 11:59 PM ET. Click here to log-in to Webgrants to access the RFP and download the FAQ sheet. For more information, contact Joanne Leatherman at jleatherman@fourhcouncil.edu.

NIFA infographic: Nutrition Education Programming in America - NIFA is committed to improving health and reducing hunger and poverty in America through nutrition education programming. Low-income families develop healthy habits in eating, physical activity, food handling, and food storage through peer educator-led training using credible, research-based nutrition information. NIFA and its predecessor agencies have partnered with the Cooperative Extension System to provide nearly 50 years of federal leadership in nutrition education programming through the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP). We need to ensure that such programming is commensurate with demographic, social, and technological change. See https://nifa.usda.gov/resource/nutrition-education-programming-america for an infographic on this topic.



Connecting Large Amounts of Qualitative Data to Impact Stories - Evaluating large amounts of qualitative data is important to telling the impact story of Extension. What if there was a way to systematize the analysis and harness the collective power of many people using the same platform? Christian Schmieder, University of Wisconsin and eXtension fellow envisions that in his fellowship final report “Responding to the Data Imperative in Extension”.

Walk for 1890 Universities and Wellness

Walk for 1890 Universities and Wellness – Take time this week, 4.23.15, to join students, faculty, supporters, and all friends of 1890 universities to celebrate 125 years of stepping forward. Walk or run 1.89 miles and donate to support the Justin Morrill Scholarship Fund. For details, CLICK HERE. To find out how to donate, see www.1890universities.org/giving. 

White House Meeting Marks Historic Day for 4-H – Eight 4-H youth met with President Barack Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack at the White House on April 13. The 4-H'ers highlighted the Cooperative Extension programs they are engaged in to improve their communities in healthy living, food security and STEM education. The youth from Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Maryland and Utah were invited to the Oval Office by Secretary Vilsack as part of the White House Rural Council’s ongoing effort to turn the tide against rural poverty. The meeting with President Obama continues a tradition started in the early 1900’s. Since President William Taft, every sitting U.S. President has met with a delegation of 4-H youth at the White House. 

Eight 4-H youth, President Barack Obama, and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack
The White House, April 13, 2015

BAA Releases Message Testing Report – See http://bit.ly/1chVuY6 for a summary of the recent message testing project conducted by kglobal. This information supports the work of the AHS-ESCOP-ECOP Communications and Marketing Committee, chaired by Scott Reed, Oregon State University. From November 2014 – February 2015, kglobal conducted five regional focus groups and one national survey, to gather qualitative and quantitative data about public sentiment towards the primary goals, messages, messengers, and media of the Agriculture is America www.agisamerica.org campaign. Some findings are: The majority of focus group participants and survey respondents supported the land-grant mission, especially as it relates to Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension; scientists are regarded as the most credible messengers of information, especially related to focus topics of water security and nutrition and health, and online news sites were the most popular for obtaining information. It is recommended that deans, directors, and administrators review the findings in this report with communicators and encourage them to incorporate the results into their communications strategies as they find appropriate. 

ECOP BLC Leads Budget Informational Session – ECOP Budget and Legislative Committee (BLC) Vice-Chair Doug Steele, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, led a session last week associated with the Public Issues Leadership Development Conference in Crystal City, VA. Steele, at right in photo, was joined by, left to right, BLC Chair Rick Klemme, University of Wisconsin; Hunt Shipman, Cornerstone Government Affairs, and Rick Mertens, Texas A&M AgriLife Federal Relations. Extension directors and administrators got an overview of how federal budget priorities are established by the APLU Board on Agriculture Assembly, including strategies for interaction with USDA and the White House Office of Management and Budget.

Nominate Justin Morrill Lecturer – June 10, 2015 is the deadline for submitting nominations for Justin Smith Morrill lecture, sponsored by USDA-NIFA and APLU. The lecture, delivered at the 2015 APLU Annual Meeting November 15-17 in Indianapolis http://www.aplu.org/meetings-and-events/annual-meeting/ honors outstanding contemporary leadership in teaching and significant contributions as an educator. In the nomination, include the name of the nominee, title, address, telephone number, and e-mail address and topic that could be discussed. Send to Kimberly Whittet at kwhittet@nifa.usda.gov. 

Extension Award Nominations Due 6.1.15 – ECOP and USDA-NIFA announces the 2015 nomination process for the national Excellence in Extension and Diversity awards. The due date for nominations is June 1st at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time. Nominations, submitted online, must be completed by this date and time. Regions are subject to announcing earlier deadlines for their purposes. CLICK HERE for contact information by Region. For details and to access the online nomination forms go to: http://www.aplu.org/CESAwards. Questions can be directed to Sandy Ruble sandy.ruble@extension.org, ECOP Staff Associate.

ECOP Monday Minute 8.26.13

In observance of Labor Day, ECOP Monday Minute returns 9.9.13

ECOP Chair Meets with OMB – Daryl Buchholz, ECOP Chair, together with Mike Hoffmann, ESCOP Chair, and Cornerstone Government Affairs representatives, met last week with the U.S. Office of Management and Budget in Washington, DC. The purpose was to continue the advocacy messaging related to the “both-and” of competitive and capacity funds. Buchholz used the 2012 ECOP handout on capacity funds, the 2013 ECOP handout, and a new piece developed by the ECOP Budget and Legislative Committee on the Top 10 Reasons Why Capacity Funding Is Essential. Cooperative Extension Directors and Administrators are welcome to use any of these handouts in state-level work.

FY 2014 and SNAP-Ed Funding Update – Rick Klemme, ECOP Budget and Legislative Committee Chair, University of Wisconsin Extension, worked with Cornerstone Government Affairs to provide the document Current Status of USDA-NIFA and SNAP-Ed Funding (August 2013). This is adapted from a communications used in Wisconsin to answer questions from Cooperative Extension colleagues and their statewide advocacy group. Directors and Administrators are welcome to use the document.

Cooperative Extension at APLU Annual Meeting – Cooperative Extension Directors and Administrators attending the 2013 APLU Annual Meeting in Washington, DC can use the preliminary Board on Agriculture Assembly schedule. Of particular interest are the awards presentations, the 4-H luncheon, and the Monday evening Cooperative Extension dinner which will include recognition for national leadership. Registration details can be found here.

GCHERA Conference in China – Ian Maw, APLU Vice President for Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources, encourages attendance at the Global Confederation of Higher Education Associations for the Agricultural and Life Sciences (GCHERA) October 20-22, 2013 in Nanjing, China. The program includes the inaugural GCHERA World Agriculture Prize Ceremony www.gchera-wap.org to acknowledge excellence in academic leadership in agricultural and life science universities and an international seminar on sustainable rural development. Registration through the Nanjing Agricultural University is available at http://wap.njau.edu.cn/.

Sign up for Ag is America Newsletter – Contact Jenny Nuber, jenny.nuber@kglobal.com, to get this weekly newsletter which highlights impacts of Cooperative Extension and agricultural research. This is part of the work led by the AES-CES Communications and Marketing Committee co-chaired by Scott Reed, Oregon State University. You also may wish to follow Ag is America on Twitter at @AgIsAmerica.

ECOP Monday Minute 5.20.13

In observance of Memorial Day, the next issue will be 6.3.13.

SAVE THE DATE: New Directors and Administrators Orientation – Plans are underway for an orientation for new directors and administrators December 3-5, 2013 in the Washington, DC area. The meeting begins with a reception on Tuesday evening, continues through noon on Thursday, and concludes with optional section meetings Thursday afternoon. ECOP will plan to provide a Thursday afternoon session to update participants on national leadership priorities of the Cooperative Extension Section. More details will be provided as available.

New ECOP Communications Tool – See https://www.aplu.org/document.doc?id=4508 for the new handout ECOP is using at various meetings to explain how Cooperative Extension works, outline strategic opportunities, summarize impacts, and announce the 100th anniversary of the Smith-Lever Act. The handout is available for your use.

Subscribe to AgIsAmerica Newsletter – "Why Ag Matters" is a weekly, internal (ECOP and ESCOP recipients only) e-newsletter highlighting some of the stories featured on the Ag Is America website (www.agisamerica.org), Twitter feed and Facebook page. The Ag Is America campaign is part of the AES-CES Communications and Marketing Project, designed to inform federal decision-makers about the measurable values of Research and Extension. Part of this campaign, the newsletter is designed to demonstrate — to ECOP and ESCOP marketing & communications professionals —the types of stories that resonate with a legislative audience as well as the general public. Please email Jenny Nuber (jenny.nuber@kglobal.com) to subscribe to this email or to submit a story that demonstrates the impact of Cooperative Extension on jobs, the economy, national security, or health and nutrition.

SNAP-ED Uses Socioecological Model – A webinar sponsored by the LGU SNAP-Ed Program Development Team “Using the Socioecological Model to Enhance Nutrition Education” on 5.19.13 drew more than 100 representatives from USDA FNS and NIFA, LGU SNAP-Ed and EFNEP Coordinators and FCS Leaders, and other nutrition education partners. The model provides a framework for program planning, reporting, and accountability and for meeting legislative requirements. David Ginsburg of UC Davis and Jamie Dollahite of Cornell presented the information with an introduction by Helen Chipman of USDA-NIFA. The recording can be found here.

More 'Digital Information Broker' Sessions Ahead – eXtension will offer four more train-the-trainer sessions to help support staff become "Digital Information Brokers" through learning to use eXtension tools. Since the training was first offered in 2012 more than 16 states have participated. For more information and to sign up for future sessions you can go to: http://bit.ly/147KrXW.