Award Nominations Reminder

Now is a good time to check in on the status of preparing nominations for the three categories of National Cooperative Extension Awards offered by ECOP and USDA-NIFA. The deadline to submit nominations online is less than a month away, May 1, 2024. Letters from respective members of Section are required for the individual and team Excellence in Extension award nominations. The gateway to all of the details may be found at awards.extension.org. Questions about these awards may be directed to Sandy Ruble, Assistant Director, Cooperative Extension System/ECOP at sandyruble@extension.org. The value of the prizes exceed $38,000 annually.

Hales Returns to Serve ECOP Through 2027 - The Western Extension Directors Association has appointed Dr. Brent Hales (picture left) is Associate Vice President of the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) to serve on ECOP. The required 4-year term ends in the fall of 2027. Brent returns to ECOP after serving for the Association of Northeast Extension Directors from 2020-2023 when he was Associate Dean, College of Agricultural Sciences and Director of Penn State Extension. In addition, Brent returns to the ECOP Program Committee which he chaired in his earlier term. More about Brent is found here. Thank you and welcome back to Dr. Brent Hales!

First Friday Event on Cooperative Extension’s Growing Health Infrastructure - Last Friday, the Extension Health Director Roger Rennekamp and researchers from the Center for Community Health and Evaluation (CCHE) at Kaiser Permanente in Seattle, reported that Cooperative Extension has made great strides in building its capacity for health-related work over the past five years. According to the fifty-one responding land-grant institutions, 81% indicated that they had increased external funding for health-related programming. The total amount of external funding received by these institutions was approximately $140 million (excluding EFNEP and SNAP-Ed). Elements from the presentation are available at the following links:

• The 19-page report summary
• The Slide Deck
• The video is available on ECOP's YouTube Channel - 

EDEN Mini-Grant RFA Deadline is May 10 - The deadline for the EDEN Mini-Grants program RFA Advancing Disaster Education in America is set for May 10. The goal of the grants program is to fuel the development of creative educational resources and Extension initiatives. These resources will empower EDEN's mission and the broader land-grant and sea-grant systems to effectively address all phases of disaster management: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.




Partnering Opportunities with Cities - Land-grant University research and Extension professionals are invited to participate in a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) by Washington State University Extension's National Urban Research & Extension Center (NUREC) to determine where the opportunities lie for partnership and collaboration with the National League of Cities. NUREC will utilize RFEI data to assess interest and gather information to create projects, build project teams and/or craft responses to RFP’s. Learn more here.

EXCITE Bridge Access Project RFA

 The EXCITE program has a fully executed agreement for an additional $6 million for the purpose of increasing awareness of the Bridge Access program for COVID-19 vaccine for uninsured and underinsured individuals. The Request for Application (RFA) for Implementation teams and EFNEP is announced HERE is open to ALL institutions receiving EFNEP funding and to existing EXCITE implementation teams. 

The downloadable RFA guide is found HERE. The deadline to apply is April 24. Michelle Rodgers, EXCITE Program Director, calls attention to the requirement of a letter from Extension Directors or Administrators to accompany each application, and expresses deep gratitude to ECOP, CDC, NIFA and Extension Foundation for the continued support. 

There is a multi-pronged approach in place.

• Current EXCITE Implementation teams can apply for $30,000 to augment their ongoing work;
  
  
• EFNEP programs at each LGU can apply for $70,000 to incorporate an awareness campaign regarding the free Bridge vaccination program;
  
  
• 1994 Institutions will coordinate with Ruth Hursman, 1994 Engagement Coordinator, to participate a mixed media campaign designed for tribal communities; and
  
  
• A social media campaign regarding Bridge vaccinations will be provided to targeted areas of the states not covered by any of the above efforts through a national marketing firm.

With this funding, EXCITE Immunization Education which is a part of the Health and Well-Being PAT, has received $23 million dollars. The impact of this funding is stated in the Extension Foundation annual report.




Food Waste Prevention Week Webinar - This week is Food Waste Prevention Week, an annual week committed to educating and encouraging culture change around wasted food. On Tuesday, April 2, 2024, from noon to 1:00 pm ET, USDA will host its own webinar titled, USDA Programs, Investments, and Innovations to Prevent and Reduce Food Loss and Waste, to learn about some of the different ways USDA is advancing and engaging with food loss and waste prevention and/or reduction efforts. Registration for the webinar is required.

ECOP Liaison to EDEN Executive Committee - The ECOP Executive Committee recently appointed Amanda Marney (pictured left) as the Section’s representative to the Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) Executive Committee. Dr. Marney, “Mandy,” has served as the Associate Director of University of Wyoming Extension since January of 2000. She previously served as district director for research and extension at Kansas State University and a program Director for the University of Missouri’s Agricultural Experiment Station. The ECOP National Office engages with Mandy and many others with national appointments with partnering entities at least three times annually to help fulfill their liaison roles and responsibilities. 

Soils in the City Webinar - The National Urban Research & Extension Center (NUREC) invites interested parties to attend the Urban Underground: Agroecological Functions of Soils in the City Webinar to be presented on April 17 at 12:00 PM ET. Attendance is free and registration here is required. To learn more, visit the webinar announcement here.

National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals Annual Meeting - Registration is now open for the 2024 NACDEP Annual Conference, which will take place June 17-20, 2024, in Houston, TX. Hosted by Prairie View A&M University Extension in collaboration with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, this conference offers a unique opportunity for community development extension professionals to collaborate, grow professionally, and network. Held in downtown Houston at the prestigious Marriott Marquis-Houston, TX, attendees can expect engaging sessions and discussions focused on leveraging "The Power of Together" to enhance the impact of land-grant institutions on research, teaching, and Extension.

Extension Foundation 2023 Annual Report Available

Since 2006, the Extension Foundation has been a steadfast partner to the Cooperative Extension System. Through innovative technology solutions, professional development, and strategic collaborations, the Foundation has helped Extension programs scale, adopt new models, and make a more visible and measurable impact on local issues across the nation. The Extension Foundation partners with Cooperative Extension through liaison roles and a formal plan of work with the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP) to increase system capacity. Learn more about the organization and our work by reading the Extension Foundation’s 2023 Annual Report.

Reminder for 2024 PILD Participants - The ECOP Program Committee asks Extension Directors and Administrators with delegations attending the PILD Conference to raise awareness of the concurrent sessions by the ECOP Program Action Teams (PATs) slated for the 8:15-10:00 a.m., April 16, 2024 as described in the final 2024 PILD Conference program. This will be an excellent opportunity for PILD attendees to understand how various PATs work, what they do, and account for the benefits locally. 

Also, please be mindful that Extension Directors and Administrators who are attending the PILD Conference should mark their calendar to attend their in-person meeting on, Monday April 15, 2:00 p.m.




National Cooperative Extension Awards Nominations Reminder - Now is a good time to check in on the status of preparing nominations for the three categories of National Cooperative Extension Awards offered by ECOP and USDA-NIFA. The deadline to submit nominations online is about five weeks away, May 1, 2024. Letters from respective members of Section are required for the individual and team Excellence in Extension award nominations. The gateway to all of the details may be found at awards.extension.org. Questions about these awards may be directed to Sandy Ruble, Assistant Director, Cooperative Extension System/ECOP at sandyruble@extension.org. The value of the prizes exceed $38,000 annually. 

JCEP Excellence in Extension Engagement Award Applications Due May 31 - JCEP’s Excellence in Extension Engagement Award recognizes high-quality, evidence-based Extension work with documented outstanding outcomes and impacts. The award is for an individual or a team, members of these seven JCEP organizations, whose programs are driven by local needs, grounded in scholarly practice, adequately evaluated, showing adoption beyond initial audiences, within or across states, and bringing innovation to Extension. First place is $750 and includes being an invited speaker at ELC 2025 with registration waived. Honorable mention receives $250 and ELC 2025 registration is waived. Applications open at PILD and are due by May 31. Details and application are at www.jcep.org/awards. Also online is a synopsis of The Remote Online Initiative from our 2024 winner, Dr. Paul Hill, Extension Professor & Program Director, Utah State University.




Demystifying the Panel Review Process for Grant Funding - NIFA offers several technical assistance events to help prospective applicants understand NIFA funding opportunities. Supporting material from these events — which also provide guidance on grant development and grant management — is available here. The next session, that may be of interest is Demystifying the Panel Review Process for Grant Funding on May 2, 2024, 12:00 PM ET. Click here to register to attend and submit questions ahead of time. While this session is conducted by NIFA, the concepts taught in the session will be transferrable to other granting agencies.

USDA Outlines Vision to Strengthen the American Bioeconomy Through a More Resilient Biomass Supply Chain - USDA has released a plan that will boost biomass supply chain resiliency for domestic biobased product manufacturing, while also advancing environmental sustainability and market opportunities for small and mid-sized producers. The report — Building a Resilient Biomass Supply: A Plan to Enable the Bioeconomy in America — calls for three broad areas of activity: (1) research, development, and demonstration for innovation in newly emerging biomass supply systems; (2) capacity building to expand existing biomass supply systems; and (3) market development and assessment to match biomass supply to demand for the biobased products. Read more here on how this roadmap will strengthen biomass production and preprocessing systems.

National Program Leadership, Partnerships and Capacity

Members and liaisons to the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP) assembled in Oklahoma City last week. During the day-and-a-half-long meeting the group addressed support for sustainable Program Leadership, partnership enrichment, and the approach to increasing capacity funding for Cooperative Extension. The ECOP agreed to continue meeting in-person three times per year around strategic directions and Annual Action Plan.

Blayne Arthur, Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture, President of the Oklahoma State Board of Agriculture, and President of NASDA Foundation Board of Directors warmly welcomed ECOP members March 13, 2024.

The delegation of voting members, EDA Team, Liaisons and guests at the Sheraton OKC Downtown.

Oklahoma State Extension hosted, Oklahoma Farm Bureau sponsored dinner at the Petroleum Club.

(L-R) ECOP Chair Damona Doye presented Laura Perry Johnson (University of Georgia), with an engraved clock, for service to ECOP since 2021. Laura will retire in April 2024. Damona also led a standing ovation for Southern Region Executive Director Ron Brown for his service to ECOP for the past two decades. Ron will retire at the end of June 2024. 

Resolution Passed by the Section - Eighty-three percent of the membership of the Cooperative Extension Section participated during the two-week voting period last month. The final tally, 61 yeses, 2 no's, was recorded in the minutes of the 2024 ECOP Spring Meeting to approve the following. Billing for ECOP by APLU in 2024 (April) will remain the same dating back to 2019. The temporary, three-year resolution will be implemented in 2025.

Resolved: ECOP assessments for state-based 1862 institutions will be proportionally based on the amount that each institution receives in capacity funds (Smith Lever 3.b&c, Smith Lever Special Needs, EFNEP and RREA), calculated using a three-year rolling average. Assessments for 1890 institutions, American Samoa Community College, University of Guam, Northern Marianas College, College of Micronesia, Puerto Rico Agricultural Extension, University of the Virgin Islands, and the University of the District of Columbia will remain at 2024 baseline levels. This calculation method will remain in effect through the 2027 assessment year, at which time the issue will be reevaluated. If the total ECOP budget changes, this will proportionally change the assessment for all 76 institutions.

4-H Work Readiness Reaches 10M+ in USA Today Special Edition - On March 15, USA TODAY published a U.S. Department of Agriculture Special Edition that included a National 4-H Council full-page ad (page 79) to bring visibility to 4-H among corporate prospects, farmers, growers & ranchers, highlighting how 4-H is preparing youth to be work ready. In addition, 100,000 hard copies of the publication was sent directly to key officials at USDA. 

Registration for the 2024 Urban Food Systems Symposium - On June 11-13, The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) hosts the Urban Food Systems Symposium in Columbus, Ohio. The event includes keynotes, a grower panel, 40 presentations, a reception with approximately 50 posters, a choice of six off-site educational tours, and dinner at The Waterman Agricultural and Natural Resources Laboratory. This symposium brings together a national and international audience of academic, non-profit, government, and research-oriented professionals to share and gain knowledge on how we can build coalitions to adapt to this changing world and how urban food systems contribute to these solutions. Please share now to take advantage of early registration prices through April 13. Visit UrbanFoodSystemsSymposium.org for complete information.




Globalizing Extension Innovation Network Seeks Participation - The Globalizing Extension Innovation Network (GEIN), accessible through Connect Extension, is open to Cooperative Extension and other Land-grant University professionals, their community partners, and federal partners, as a network of professionals interested in globalizing Extension innovation. GEIN shares and develops best practices for augmenting extension programs through cross-cultural and international experiences. The network supports the engagement of extension professionals through educational programs emphasizing understanding of global dynamics and using cultural knowledge. shares and develops best practices for augmenting extension programs through cross-cultural and international experiences. GEIN leadership team represents over a dozen extension systems, and is committed to connecting and supporting the global engagement of extension professionals. Extension Directors and Administrators are invited to nominate someone from their system to participate in GEIN if there isn't already a participating member. GEIN Council currently meets monthly on Tuesdays at 2:00 p.m. ET. For more information, contact GEIN Chair, Taryn Devereux, Affiliate, University of Maryland, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.