The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced the names of individuals who will hold senior staff positions in Washington, D.C. Dr. Dionne Toombs will serve as Acting Director of NIFA. With over a decade of USDA service, Dr. Toombs has significantly contributed to USDA’s agricultural research, education and Extension services while serving in various leadership roles. Most recently, she was Director of the Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS). 

Acting Director of NIFA Dr. Dionne Toombs

You are invited to comment on the topic of “Collaboration in the Land-grant System.” USDA asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to appoint a Blue Ribbon Panel to examine how collaboration among Land-grant Institutions can be more impactful in addressing the nation’s needs for a successful, sustainable food and agricultural system, and to recommend ways those institutions can better capture and share the collective outcomes of their collaborations. The panel has posted online 17 preliminary observations about the current state of collaboration, and is seeking feedback from stakeholders that it will use to inform the planning of a virtual workshop, and ultimately, a consensus report to USDA and Congress. You can find a link to the reference document containing the preliminary observations in the online comment form, which also contains a link to the project website with more information about the panel and a place to subscribe to project updates. Please send comments by Friday, May 6.    

As the first step in the development process of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030 (Dietary Guidelines), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and USDA are releasing proposed scientific questions for public comment. The public comment period will be open for 30 days starting April 15 through May 16 at 11:59 PM EDT. HHS and USDA are committed to transparency and providing opportunities for public participation during this five-step process leading up to the release of the Dietary Guidelines in 2025.

From our Friends at National Partnership for Recruiting, Preparing and Supporting FCS Educators

We Want to Feature You in the Say Yes to FCS Spotlight!

North Carolina is excited to host the next NEAFCS Annual Conference! We want to make sure that your time in NC is fruitful, fun and educational. To help us plan an exciting, pre-conference, please complete the brief survey below by January 3, 2022. If you have questions, please contact Carmen Long at [email protected].

Survey link: https://forms.gle/nxvCpXZ9MVqLLSAAA

Diagnosing Online Local Visibility Problems
Thursday, September 16, 2021
2:30 PM Eastern (time converter)

Webinar Overview/Objectives:
Are people able to find you and your programs using THEIR search terms on Google? Do you and your programs show up at the top of the search results or miles below the other search results? Increasing local audiences requires a broad net. No matter what they are looking for or where they search, they need to find your programs and services so they can judge whether you are worth contacting. Join me for an eye-opening look into what your local visibility across websites and social media really looks like. During this interactive presentation you will have the opportunity to take a deep dive into what your audience finds when trying to locate educational services and programs. After you perform a quick self-audit, I will explain technical terms like search engine optimization, social media marketing, and more. Then, I will provide you with a Marketing Prescription that will outline steps for dramatic visibility improvement!

Healthy For Life® Grant Submission Deadline - August 20th
Grant Reviewer Request Deadline - August 20th

The NEAFCS is excited to announce a grant opportunity supporting the Healthy for Life® community nutrition program, an initiative led by Aramark and the American Heart Association (AHA).  The Healthy for Life® evidence-based nutrition education experiences are supported by American Heart Association science and developed by food and nutrition experts. 

Working with Underserved Audiences - July 2021

 Click the image below to watch the recording!
(or copy and paste this link: https://youtu.be/xpJaf8ttH2Q)

University of Central Arkansas is offering a MS in FCS. The master’s program in family and consumer sciences is designed to serve the needs of qualified students preparing for family and consumer sciences careers in business, education, hospitals, industry, government, community agencies, or for entering a doctoral program in family and consumer sciences or a related discipline. For full details on this program, please click here.

Helpful Links:
Graduate School Graduate School – UCA
How to Register for Classes:  https://uca.edu/advising/registering-for-classes/
How to find/use DegreeWorks: https://uca.edu/advising/httpuca-eduadvisingfiles201706degreeworks-and-the-uca-core-pptx/

Conveying Land-grant Mission Impact

Current stories and talking points that document and demonstrate the value and collective impact of the national system of land-grant universities mission areas, teaching, research and Extension, were released in the National Impact Database (NIDB) landgrantimpacts.org last month. ECOP thanks the Communications Writing team for the numerous products - stories, summary factsheets, and a video - that highlight impacts that entered into the database by many of the 76 institutions. Use the Areas of Impact and Associated Impacts menus to browse the product titles. Two summaries related to COVID-19 response are found here and here. To begin using the Search dashboard, pause 20-30 seconds to load. The "Resources" menu is helpful for knowing best practices for entering data. The NIDB is an enterprise of ECOP, ESCOP and USDA-NIFA.

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2021 County Health Rankings - The annual update to County Health Rankings is available at www.countyhealthrankings.org. The information is based on more than 30 factors which influence health and show that where people live influences how well and how long they live. An easy-to-use snapshot, the Rankings compare the health of all counties within states and call attention to the differences in opportunity to live long and well from one county to the next. In addition to the county-level data, the Rankings also features What Works for Health, a database of more than 400 evidence-informed strategies to support local changemakers as they take steps toward expanding opportunities. The Take Action Center also provides valuable guidance for communities who want to move to action with data . The data is released every year by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute with Extension's funding partner on health, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

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Globalizing Extension Innovation Network (GEIN) - GEIN connects professionals interested in Extension innovation in a global context. The network shares and develops best practices for augmenting Extension programs through cross-cultural and international experiences and supports the engagement of Extension professionals through international programs emphasizing global dynamics and cultural knowledge. GEIN can be followed on Connect Extension, a service of the Extension Foundation and is an open sub-group accessible to anyone within the Cooperative Extension System. Visit GEIN for more information. A Connect Extension Account is required. 

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Community Engagement Scholarship Awards - APLU’s Commission on Economic and Community Engagement (CECE) invites all CECE members, Extension professionals, and the broader APLU membership to apply for the 2021 Community Engagement Scholarship Awards cycle. Both the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the C. Peter Magrath Community Engagement Scholarship Awards provide recognition for the outstanding community-university engagement work of public universities. Prizes range from $5,000 to the grand prize of $20,000 for the national C. Peter Magrath Award. The deadline for applications is April 30th.

Chair Chris Watkins, Cornell University, presided at the virtual ECOP Spring Meeting last week. Annual Work Plans by all ECOP standing committees were ratified. The 15-member, national policy-making body endorsed the work of the ECOP 4-H Leadership Committee's National Crisis Communications Playbook for the 4-H System. After reviewing the most recent draft, ECOP voted to have the ECOP Health Innovation Task Force proceed to vet the Cooperative Extension Framework for Health and Well-being at the National Health Outreach Conference (NHOC) in May. At its core, the new framework establishes "Health Equity". Speaking of NHOC...

 

Leaders Encouraging Collaborations with Diverse Communities

Last Friday, ECOP hosted a third in a series of Learning for Leaders conversations with a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion theme. Katie Hartmann, who recently completed her PhD in Education, Equity, and Transformation at Colorado State University, identified what excellence looks like to collaborate with diverse communities. The structures include but are not limited to a Relations Liaison, Inside Collaborator, and a community-specific sense of timing. What can be implemented in the short and long term?

To review Leaders Encouraging Collaborations with Diverse Communities, from March 5:

The next meeting of Extension Directors and Administrators widely known as Learning for Leaders, will take place on Friday, March 5, 2021, 3-4:00 PM Eastern Time. Leaders Encouraging Collaborations with Diverse Communities: Consider the Experiences of Extension Educators, will feature findings from the field and latest literature, and exploration of the characteristics that enable Extension educators and their programs to be successful by looking carefully at challenges that they face. There will be ample time during the hour to discuss what support structures are needed at the institutional and systemic levels. Invitations with Zoom connection details were sent by Sandy Ruble, Assistant Director, Cooperative Extension System/ECOP, on February 18. Email Sandy at [email protected] for more information.

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AAFCS Selects New Executive Director - After an extensive & rigorous national search, we are pleased to announce Nancy Bock as the new Executive Director, effective March 1, 2021. Please join us in congratulating & supporting Nancy in her new role to lead & advance the #FCSsuccess of #AAFCS!

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Extension Directors and Administrators are welcome to share this registration link https://extension.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0uf-6vrjwjEtZz_mAGOQYjvtBj8Ue-xc81 as appropriate for the webinar, Immunization Education - Faculty & Staff, Wednesday, February 24, 2021, 3-4:00 p.m. ET. The hour-long session is led by Michelle Rodgers, University of Delaware. Michelle is the new Project Director for the developing alliance between the Cooperative Extension System and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to promote the immunization education and innovative models for community action. This alliance was launched by the ECOP Health Innovation Task Force.