Board on Agriculture Assembly Launches Farm Bill Planning

Jane Schuchardt, ECOP National Office; Albert Essell-Lincoln University,
Ron Brown-Assoc. of Southern Region Extension Directors; Rick Klemme,
University of Wisconsin; L. Washington Lyons, Assoc. of Extension Administrators;
James Trapp, Oklahoma State University, and Sandy Ruble, ECOP National Office.

The Extension Farm Bill Coordinating Committee co-chaired by James Trapp, Oklahoma State University, and Albert Essel, Lincoln University, appreciates participation by Cooperative Extension directors and administrators in a recent farm bill survey. Results were contributed to the work of the APLU Board on Agriculture Assembly (BAA) Committee on Legislation and Policy (CLP), Greg Bohach, Chair, Mississippi State University, last week in Washington, DC. In preparation for the next farm bill, expected in 2018, CLP reports to the BAA Policy Board of Directors chaired by Jay Akridge, Purdue University, on reauthorizations as is or with change, plus any new ideas. The PBD makes decisions about the direction of BAA advocacy on behalf of all members, including Cooperative Extension, Experiment Stations, insular universities, non-land grant agriculture programs, academic programs, international programs, veterinary medicine, and human sciences. Consistent with advocacy for appropriations, Cooperative Extension’s primary platform is expansion of capacity funds along with support for competitive funds. Discussions about funding infrastructure for science and education (e.g. deferred maintenance) also is supported as long as there is no negative effect on capacity and competitive funds. 

Scott Reed, Oregon State University

Private Resource Mobilization Discussion Continues – ECOP Private Resource Mobilization Chair, Scott Reed, Oregon State University, welcomes your participation in a webinar 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. ET, Wednesday, November 2, 2016. Connect either at https://extension.zoom.us/j/879208803. The purpose of the session is to continue discussion about ECOP’s leadership for private fund raising to complement public funding. During electronic voting at the Cooperative Extension Section meeting in mid-September in Wyoming, more than 90 percent of respondents (41 states represented) voted in support of seeking private resources as long as the effort is not in competition with specific active efforts at universities, and does not require additional assessments in the first year. On the webinar, the task force will seek your opinion on a case statement, a three-year development plan, membership and responsibilities of a coordinating committee, an “institutional home,” and estimated start-up costs. 

eXtension Announces Web Meeting on Proposed Changes to Ask an Expert – Recently eXtension led an assessment of Ask an Expert, the question and answer system which allows Cooperative Extension professionals (referred to as experts within the application) to engage with the public through the ask.extension.org website. Over the last eight years Ask an Expert has been an important client-serving application for some Extension groups and institutions. On Wednesday, October 12, 2016, at 3:00 p.m. ET, eXtension will host a web meeting to discuss the findings and seek get feedback on the recommended changes found at Recommendation for Ask an Expert Changes. For more information, to register for this web meeting, and to add this event to your calendar, visit learn.extension.org/events/2853. 

New 4-H National Mentoring Program Funding Announced – The U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has awarded National 4-H Council $7 million for the 4-H National Mentoring Program, which comes as a direct result of Cooperative Extension’s success in providing youth mentoring services through local 4-H programs. Council is now formalizing the process with OJJDP and scaling the pre-award land-grant university applications to the amount of the award. Letters of Intent will be distributed to each awarded applicant in late October 2016. Contact Nina Lovelace nlovelace@fourhcouncil.edu with questions. 

Jimmy Henning, University of Kentucky

Henning Named Liaison to ESCOP – Former ECOP Chair, Jimmy Henning, University of Kentucky, has been named liaison to the Experiment Station Committee on Legislation and Policy (ESCOP). Henning will attend ESCOP meetings as needed, report on ECOP national leadership on behalf of Cooperative Extension state and local programming, and strengthen the strategic alliance between the Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Sections of the APLU Board on Agriculture Assembly. Henning replaces Tony Windham, former Extension Director, University of Arkansas.

ECOP Monday Minute 2.3.14

Celebrate Centennial 100 Days on Twitter – Tweets for every day leading up to the Extension Centennial Convocation May 8, 2014 are underway. See the information at http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/administration/about_us/chancellors_office/extension/resources/100-Days-of-Tweeting-the-ext100years.htm and use the hashtag #Ext100Years to begin to connect nationally. This effort will have a unique Twitter # to be used starting on May 8th with a desire to make it trend. For more information, contact Bill Woodrum (extensioncentennial@gmail.com) or Frankie Gould (fgould@agcenter.lsu.edu).

Agricultural Outlook Forum Features Extension Centennial – ECOP Chair Jimmy Henning, University of Kentucky, and Centennial Task Force Co-Chairs Doug Steele, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, and Frankie Gould, Louisiana State Ag Center, will speak at the February 20-21, 2014 USDA Ag Outlook Forum in Crystal City, VA. The topic is Launching Cooperative Extension’s Next Century. USDA-NIFA Director Sonny Ramaswamy will moderate the session. The forum, which draws more than 1,000 agriculture leaders in business, government, and other organizations kicks off with remarks by USDA Secretary Vilsack and videos including one featuring the Extension Centennial. Cooperative Extension also will be featured in the exhibitor area. For more information about the forum, see http://www.usda.gov/oce/forum/.

ECOP-ESCOP Strategic Alliance – Following the lead set by 2013 ECOP and ESCOP chairs, Jimmy Henning, University of Kentucky, and Steve Slack, Ohio State University, ECOP and ESCOP 2014 chairs, respectively, will meet with USDA-NIFA top leaders on February 19, 2014. The goal is to show how the research to practice innovation circle is implemented at state and local levels. Critical national leadership by the chairs includes meetings with the USDA-NIFA Science Leadership Council and a seminar for all agency employees with a special focus on increasing knowledge about Land-grant University agricultural research and Extension amongst agency national program leaders.

PILD Registration Opens – The 2014 Public Issues Leadership Development (PILD) conference, an annual effort of the Joint Council on Extension Professionals (JCEP), is April 6-10, 2014 in Alexandria, VA.  This conference brings together Extension Directors and Administrators, Extension educators, and volunteers, including youth, to discuss cutting edge issues prior to visits on Capitol Hill and with federal agencies. Plan now to identify your delegation – both volunteers and staff; determine the talking points for your state in order to have effective visits, and confirm registration. A special feature will be the celebration of the Extension Centennial. For details and to register, see http://jcep.org/pild-conference/2014-pild-registration.

SAVE THE DATE: National Urban Conference 2015 – Urban Extension Professionals play an important role in the vigor of Extension programming across our nation.   Programming in urban areas must remain dynamic and adaptable to meet the fast pace of urban needs and provide urban communities with reliable research based information from our nation’s top universities. May 4-7, 2015, the National Urban Extension Conference will be in Atlanta, Georgia. Save the date to join urban Extension professionals from across the nation to share emerging issues, be inspired by urban Extension impacts, and look to the future for ways to link urban communities with the research that continues to improve lives. Learn more at http://urbanextension2015.com/.  

ECOP Monday Minute 11.4.13

ACTION: Send Centennial Message with Every E-Mail – The ECOP Extension Centennial Celebration Task Force encourages you to celebrate Extension’s 100 years with every e-mail message you send. See www.extension100years.net for details on how to add the centennial logo on your e-mail signature line and connect to the toolkit. Also encourage Extension colleagues and others to engage in the Centennial discussion on social media: Twitter (twitter.com/ext100years), Facebook (facebook.com/Extension100Years), Pinterest (pinterest.com/ext100years/pins).

ACTION: Need Program Impacts – To date, 43 institutions have entered data in the Measuring Excellence system at www.excellenceinextension.org and 31 institutions have entered impact statements. Joe Zublena, North Carolina State University, chair of the ECOP Measuring Excellence in Extension Implementation Team, and Mary Jane Willis, Rutgers University, chair of the ECOP Program Subcommittee, encourage 100 percent participation in both systems in order to provide the most complete picture of the nationwide Cooperative Extension System. Impact statements are especially important now as Cooperative Extension gears up for advocacy related to federal budget deliberations. For assistance, contact Scott Cummings, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, at s-cummings@tamu.edu.

USDA Ag Outlook Forum Features Centennial – “Launching Cooperative Extension’s Next Century” is the theme of a session accepted for presentation at the 2014 USDA Ag Outlook Forum http://www.usda.gov/oce/forum/ February 20-21 near Washington, DC. Working with USDA-NIFA, the Cooperative Extension centennial also will be featured in the display area.

ESCOP Update – Steve Slack, Ohio State University, chair of the Experiment Station Committee on Organization and Policy (ESCOP), encourages Cooperative Extension colleagues to view presentations at http://escop.ncsu.edu/ from the recent Experiment Station System meeting in Columbus, Ohio. Amongst topics addressed are water quality, global climate change, and budget management strategies.

National Student Competition – Student team entries are due February 28, 2014 for the National Agricultural Innovation Prize. The competition encourages the development of real-world plans to address social and agricultural challenges within food systems to improve the standard of living and quality of life for the world’s population. For details, see http://agprize.com and http://www.40Chances.com.

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 6.3.13

ECOP Webinar 6.20.13 – ECOP member Chuck Hibberd, University of Nebraska, encourages a broad audience of Extension professionals and partners to the 2-3 pm ET, Thursday, June 20, 2013 webinar on the 21st Century Extension Professionals Project. The flier found here can be used for publicity. To participate, go to https://connect.extension.iastate.edu/ecop.

Expanded Salary Data – The Excellence in Extension Implementation Team, chaired by Joe Zublena, North Carolina State University, announces expanded salary data now at www.excellenceinextension.org under the “personnel tab”. The goal is to replicate the salary survey previously conducted by USDA-NIFA. This data includes low, average, and high salary data points, and other important aspects for various Cooperative Extension positions. The data can be used to benchmark your institution against others similar in size and structure.

eXtension Impacts (by Sarah Baughman, eXtension Evaluation and Research Leader) –  To remain relevant, Cooperative Extension needs to reach and engage with the generation born in the digital age.  Ninety-one percent of those born between 1982 and 2004 are internet users who access information, entertainment and learning resources in vastly different formats than previous generations. eXtension leverages the resources of the CES to reach an online audience and engage with them through social media, Ask an Expert and various mobile applications. In 2012, eXtension and its Communities of Practice reached 25,493 people via online professional development, 378,202 people via Facebook, and 6,938,325 page views. eXtension engaged with users by answering 37,138 questions submitted via Ask an Expert, interacting on social media with 3,574,454 contacts, providing online course completion certificates to 10,958 people, providing 214 webinars for 14,539 participants and hosting 7,000 visitors in Second Life.

ESCOP Responds to PCAST Report – ESCOP Chair Mike Hoffmann, Cornell University, brings to your attention the ESCOP response to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) Report on Agricultural Preparedness and the Agriculture Research Enterprise. The response can be found here.

On Agriculture Research – The US Government Accountability Office GAO Report prepared a report, released April 3013, for the US Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry on Agricultural Research – Two USDA Agencies Can Enhance Safeguards against Project Duplication and Strengthen Collaborative Planning. See http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/653752.pdf.