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

Annual Passing of Gavel and 2020 Report!

At the 2020 NEDA Cooperative Extension Section meeting on September 24^th, the ECOP Chair gavel was officially passed from Mark Latimore, Jr., Associate Dean for Extension at Fort Valley State University to Christopher Watkins, Professor and Director of Cornell Cooperative Extension. Dr. Watkins’ vision as ECOP Chair is to ensure that the ECOP Strategic Directions is a living document that guides the Committee in a fashion that enhances relevance to its membership, and provides outcomes for the Cooperative Extension System that advance the goals of delivering evidence-based education to all U.S. citizens. Our sincere appreciation for the outstanding leadership and commitment to the mission of Extension by Dr. Latimore over the past year. 

A year in review was provided by Dr. Latimore. The complete 4-page 2020 Cooperative Extension Section Annual Report is available here to view and download. Watch for progress of the detailed 2021 Action Plan by Dr. Watkins here in the ECOP Monday Minute throughout the year.

Carolyn Williams, Prairie View A&M University, and Ed Jones, Virginia Tech, were recognized for their service to ECOP, the body of decision makers for the Cooperative Extension System. Please welcome 3 new members of ECOP. Left - Right below are Rosalind Dale, North Carolina A&T State University, Brent Hales, Penn State, and Laura Perry Johnson, University of Georgia:

The complete list of ECOP members is located here. 

Invitation to the Mental/Behavioral Health - A National Summit and Resource Gathering Opportunity for CFERR Members and their Stakeholders: In this unprecedented time, we are witnessing mental health challenges playing out across our nation, impacting all communities and creating stress and hardship across all sectors of society. Making available science-based mental health resources to our communities and institutions has never been more important. On behalf of Noelle Cockett, President, Utah State University and Commission on Food, Environment and Renewable Resources Executive Committee Chair, you are invited to attend the CFERR National Virtual Mental Health Summit on Oct. 1 from 11:00 AM-12:30 PM ET with a focus on what the five CFERR Boards are doing within their disciplines to address concerns about mental health and well-being across their sectors. Please register and join us for this important and timely event.



Association of Extension Administrators (AEA) Executive Committee Launches Newsletter - Extension Today is a monthly newsletter that highlights Cooperative Extension and provides updates across the 1890 land-grant system. It is published by the Association of Extension Administrators and the Marketing and Communications Committee. Contact communications@1890aea.org for more information, or to join the mailing list.

Virtual NEDA Meeting Breaks Record

Registration for this week’s National Extension Directors and Administrators (NEDA) Meeting, Leading in a Time of Social, Economic and Political Disruption, September 23-24, 2020, has broken records of all previous years for face-to-face meetings. The average participation is 104 colleagues from 64 of a possible 76 land-grant institutions. At last count, there will be 154 participants from 71 universities participating this week! Last week everyone was invited to read materials posted in the "Prepare" menu (upper right) at neda.extension.org. Stay tuned to the ECOP Monday Minute for the release of meaningful outcomes from this historic meeting!

Communications and Marketing Roadmap Draft Framework Available for Review/Comment - The Board on Agriculture Assembly, Cooperative Extension, Experiment Station and Administrative Heads Sections has engaged Forbes Tate Partners to develop a new strategic communications plan roadmap. The draft of the initial framework of that roadmap includes an overview of the plan objective, strategy, a sample menu of potential tactics, and some information on best practices for the BAA to ultimately, fully realize and execute a plan. This outline is representative of what needs to be considered in developing the final plan and building a communications process – it is not intended to be the plan itself. As such, the message frames and communications tactics are examples, and are not meant to be exhaustive or exclude additional ideas. Rather, it is a guide that will allow the BAA to build a comprehensive, effective messaging effort to support its advocacy goals. Private comments on the draft can be sent to FT-BAA@forbes-tate.com. 

FANR Meetings Schedule During the APLU Annual Meeting - The 2020 APLU Annual Meeting will be held virtually. The office of Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources (FANR) continues to work on the agenda’s, minutes, speakers, and special events that are typically a part of the APLU Annual Meeting. Information on various meetings, some of which involves participation of Cooperative Extension Section membership, and events that are associated with the APLU Annual Meeting are located at this link. Invitation(s) to register coming soon from the FANR Office and the APLU Office of the President.

  

May 2021 National Urban Extension Virtual Summit - After discussion and thoughtful consideration, the National Urban Extension Leaders (NUEL) has decided to postpone the May 2021 National Urban Extension Conference (NUEC), until May of 2022. Details on the 2022 NUEC will be forthcoming. In lieu of holding the conference face-to-face, NUEL will host a National Urban Extension Virtual Summit on May 18-20, 2021. Please save the dates! A detailed agenda and registration information will be released in early 2021.

Economic Development & Community Engagement RFP for 2021 Summer Meeting - Please Save the Date, June 14-16, 2021, and Submit Session Proposals for APLU’s 2021 CECE Summer Meeting, to be held in Pittsburgh, PA. Meeting registration will open in  January 2021. The theme is Maximizing Public Value through Partnerships and will allow Extension Directors and Administrators and their colleagues opportunities to reflect and strategize around how the “engagement” mission of public research universities can advance the economic and societal good in meaningful, intentional and substantive ways. The deadline for proposals is Friday, October, 2, 2020, 5:00 PM PST. Questions regarding the RFP process or the meeting may be directed to APLU’s Milan Ephraim.

NIFA Releases Projected FY21 RFA Publication Timeline - NIFA has released the Projected RFA Publication Timeline for fiscal year (FY) 2021 for non-AFRI competitive programs. These are target timelines only and are subject to change until the RFAs are published in Grants.gov. The current list applies to new RFAs, continuations, directed and multi-year solicitations. Bookmark this list and check back often for updates as target dates draw near. A new notification will signal when AFRI RFAs are added to the schedule. Questions regarding this timeline, should be directed to the NPL with the associated program or email policy@usda.gov.

Agency Related Survey Action Request

On behalf of the leadership of  National Coalition for Food and Agriculture Research (NCFAR), the insight of the ECOP as a member and/or sponsor is requested. ECOP Monday Minute readers are asked to share how their institutions value USDA programs in the research, extension and education (REE) mission area. Toward that end, please take a moment to complete a short survey at https://aavmc.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4TqsGbJPVlwo6qx. For more information, go to www.ncfar.org. 

Rural Broadband and Digital Tools in Ag Conference Opportunity - APLU’s Office of Economic Development & Community Engagement is currently soliciting Expressions of Interest from researchers and Extension professionals working at the intersection of community broadband access and the application of digital tools in agriculture to participate in an online conference. Extension Directors and Administrators and their associates are invited to complete this online form to express your interest. The deadline is 11:59 p.m. ET on September 30.

4-H Congressional Staff Briefing - In 2019, ECOP approved the formation of a subcommittee of the ECOP Budget and Legislative Committee (BLC) to increase government funding for Extension/4-H from sources other than USDA. On September 8, 2020, the ECOP BLC Subcommittee for 4-H partnered with the 4-H Congressional Caucus to host a virtual 4-H Congressional Staff Briefing to raise awareness of the diversity and relevance of today’s Cooperative Extension’s 4-H program and to thank Congress for their support of 4-H funding through 1890 Extension and Smith-Lever, the 4-H Mentoring (OJJDP) funding, and other opportunities. Speakers included ECOP Budget & Legilsative Committee Chair, Jon Boren (New Mexico State University), Jennifer Sirangelo (National 4-H Council), Clyde Van Dyke (4-H Member from NY) and Congressman Mike Conaway (TX).

eXtension Foundation Meeting Invitation - The eXtension Foundation invites all Extension Directors and Administrators to attend the eXtension Foundation Meeting on September 24th from 2:15 PM - 3:45 PM ET, as part of NEDA. During this meeting, eXtension and ECOP will be facilitating a discussion on the results of the National Action Dialogue for Extension Futures including infrastructure needs, training needs, and other emerging themes. The eXtension Climate Fellows will also provide a report to the CES section on their work followed by a short presentation on how the eXtension Foundation has been serving the system through its New Technologies for Ag Extension Accelerator Program and its Impact Collaborative program. NEDA registration and details are available at neda.extension.org.  

NIFA 1890 Centers of Excellence Program Opportunity - Nineteen Land-grant Universities associated with the Cooperative Extension System  are eligible to apply for NIFA Centers of Excellence Program. Originally established in 2015 in conjunction with the 125th Anniversary of the Second Morrill Act of 1890, he 1890 COEs goals are: 1) increasing profitability and rural prosperity in underserved farming communities; 2) addressing critical needs for enhanced international training and development; and 3) increasing diversity in the science, technology, engineering, agriculture and mathematics (STEAM) pipeline. Read RFA/Apply here. Last year's recipients are found here.

Military Family Readiness Academy: Disaster & Hazard Readiness 101 - The Military Family Readiness Academy opens its 2020 series on September 16 with a session entitled Disaster and Hazard Readiness 101 from 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. ET.  The session will provide a bird’s-eye view of disasters and hazards. Dr. Angie Lindsey, University of Florida/IFAS, begins with a high-level overview addressing terminology, phases of management, and types of disasters and hazards. Dr. Lindsey will also provide insights into significant research guiding disaster and hazard readiness and response, as well as the role and impact of media, and emergent conversations around the COVID-19 pandemic. The 90-minute session is free and several continuing education credits are also available. For more information and to register go to:   https://militaryfamilieslearningnetwork.org/event/mfra2020