Secretary's Speech Praises and Charges Land-grant Research, Education, and Extension

On January 8, 2024, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack visited the University of New Hampshire. ECOP Member Ken La Valley was particularly impressed with the Secretary’s talk, which featured the important role of Land-grant University research, education, and extension. The Secretary gave a similar presentation at the APLU Annual Meeting in November 2023. The presentation, starting at the point when Extension was referenced, is captured below.

New 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development Impact - Many may be familiar with the 10-year longitudinal study, The 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development, conducted by Tufts University and sponsored by the National 4-H Council, which concluded in 2011. This research has been a tremendous asset for 4-H and helped the Cooperative Extension System tell a powerful story nationally and locally.

Council recently funded a follow up study to replicate the research with new youth, as well as reconnect with original study original participants who are now adults.

This Replication and Reconnection Study confirms the original, powerful outcomes: 4-H helps youth thrive, now and into adulthood. Here is the top line:

Compared to their peers, 4-H participants are:

• 4X more likely to make a positive contribution to their communities

• 2X more likely to participate in out-of-school-time science programs

• 2X more likely to make healthier choices

• 2X more likely to report feeling competent

• 2X more likely to feel positive about their wellbeing

4-H alumni are:

• 3X more likely to participate in community service

• 2X more likely to report living life with intentionality and purpose

• 2X more likely to have the goal of being a leader

Updating Economic Engagement Framework - This APLU Commission on Economic and Community Engagement developed framework is the foundation of a number of APLU projects and programs in economic and community engagement including the Innovation & Economic Prosperity Program. The new Principals of Practice for Higher Education’s Engagement in Inclusive Economic Engagement Strategies updated the 2015 previous framework “Foundations for Strategy and Practice” and articulates the values public and land-grant campuses can bring to this work, illustrates a theory of change showing that inclusive growth and social mobility are possible, and offers principles of practice for campuses to consider.




Revealing Article on Microcredentials - A new survey found training partnerships between employers and four-year colleges fell between 2022 and 2023 while instruction provided by third-party providers rose. The Inside Higher Ed article that quotes this statistic cites a new report released Tuesday by Collegis Education, an online program support company, and UPCEA, the organization previously known as the University Professional and Continuing Education Association. In 2023, 40 percent of organizations surveyed had partnerships or relationships with four-year colleges and universities, which was a nine-percentage-point drop compared to the previous year’s inaugural survey. Partnerships between employers and LinkedIn Learning, however, rose from 44 percent in 2022 to 52 percent in 2023. A quick search shows that several Cooperative Extension Services have a presence on Linkedin.

Webinar Addresses Farmers and Ranchers Health-related Risks

Health, access to care, and health insurance, affect the vitality of agricultural enterprises and farm and ranch families, according to results from a national research project funded by the USDA. A free webinar taking place on October 10, 1:30-3:30 p.m. ET is designed for Extension, tax, loan, health and other agricultural advisors. Connecting Health Insurance & Ag Viability will provide an overview of the research findings to help farmers and ranchers make informed decisions for their businesses and households. The webinar will be hosted by Scott Loveridge (North Central Regional Center for Rural Development). Shoshanah Inwood (The Ohio State University), Bonnie Braun (University of Maryland Extension), Maria Pippidis (University of Delaware), and Bob Parsons and Jake Jacobs (University of Vermont Extension) will also present. Webinar participants will understand the intersection of health and agricultural business viability, grounded in 2016-2017 national research finding; receive tools they can use in their work farmers, including worksheets, videos and other informational resources, and questions to ask farmers and ranchers to help incorporate health costs into farm enterprise and risk management planning.


Apply Now For the Creative Counties Placemaking Challenge! - National Association of Counties (NACo) – in partnership with Americans for the Arts and with support from the National Endowment for the Arts – has launched the Creative Counties Placemaking Challenge to train local leaders from rural and mid-sized counties on how to advance arts-based economic and community development to address local challenges. NACo invites counties with populations of less than 250,000 to form multidisciplinary teams to apply. Recognizing the intimate working relationships extension networks have with rural counties, NACo welcomes applications that feature county extension agents as team members. Selected teams will attend a training and peer exchange workshop on March 28-30, 2018. Deadline: Friday, October 13, 2017. Questions? Contact Jenna Moran at jmoran@naco.org; 202-942-4224. Twitter announcement: https://twitter.com/NACoTweets/status/907264996555542529.


Fostering Positive Youth Development - Positive youth development is an intentional approach to promote positive outcomes for young people through family and community youth engagement for the benefit of society. Positive youth development focuses on building relationships while delivering learning content, ultimately giving youth the skillsets they need to navigate socially: respect, teamwork, and self-care. NIFA prioritizes positive youth development programming to ensure the future employability of America’s children and support our nation’s economy. See https://nifa.usda.gov/sites/default/files/resource/Fostering-Positive-Youth-Development.pdf for more on this informative infographic.

ECOP Monday Minute 4.8.2013

SNAP-Ed Updates – 1) FY2014 Guidance and FY2014 estimates for the state SNAP-Ed allocations are now available here:  http://snap.nal.usda.gov/national-snap-ed/snap-ed-plan-guidance-and-templates  2) Regulations that amend Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to implement Section 28 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, to award grants to States for provision of nutrition education and obesity prevention programs is available here:  http://www.fns.usda.gov/SNAP/rules/Memo/pdfs/SNAP-Ed_Interim_Rule.pdf 3) The SNAP-Ed assessment invoices from APLU have been calculated and sent to the universities by regular mail.

Strategic Opportunities and Measuring Excellence Website and Database Now Open -- As demonstrated in San Antonio at the NEDA meeting, this website and database have been redesigned and rebranded as a joint ECOP effort between the Strategic Opportunities and Measuring Excellence efforts. Updates at http://www.excellenceinextension.org include expanded salary data, the ability to input and retrieve impact statements, and new options for charting data.

ECOP National Task Force on Health Navigator Fact Sheet Now Available -- The ECOP National Task Force on Health would like to share a Navigator Fact Sheet from University of Maryland Cooperative Extension Health Insurance Literacy Initiative. The fact sheet outlines several potential roles of Cooperative Extension related to recent health reform legislation. The document was highlighted at the recent National Extension Directors and Administrators meeting held in San Antonio (see full presentation here).

NAREEE Board Releases Extension Report -- The National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education and Economics (NAREEE) Advisory Board, which makes recommendations to the Secretary of Agriculture and Congress has released its August 27, 2012 report and recommendations about Cooperative Extension. This is based on presentations and discussions at the Spring 2012 meeting of the NAREEE Advisory Board in College Station, TX. The NAREEE Board is authorized through the farm bill. The report is posted at http://nareeeab.ree.usda.gov/reports-and-recommendations-0.

Local Food Systems Dialogue -- Go to http://glennschool.osu.edu/web-dialogue/ to sign up as a participant in the National Extension Web Dialogue on Local Food Systems. All opportunities are in May 2013. The Ohio State University is guiding this work in partnership with the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development.

FEMA Youth Preparedness Council -- Please alert 4-H Program Leaders about this nomination process. Participants, age 12-17, are expected to represent the youth perspective on emergency preparedness and relay information within their communities. Nominations and applications are due April 19, 2013. For details, see www.ready.gov/youth-preparedness.

Webinar on 'Energy 101' course developed by APLU & U.S. Department of Energy 4.10.13 -- The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities joined the U.S. Department of Energy, the University of Maryland and the Environment and Energy Study Institute to unveil an interdisciplinary model curricular framework called 'Energy 101' designed to challenge college students at two and four-year schools to systematically explore the science and social science behind sound energy decision-making. It will also introduce students at an early point in their college experience to a variety of energy careers. The full press release can be found here. A webinar will be held April 10 from 2-4 p.m. (ET) to describe the model framework and its use in the development of a pilot course now being taught at the University of Maryland. Sign up for the webinar here.