Actions Taken

Agenda Item - Presenter

•            The attendees introduced themselves and the minutes of the ESCOP meeting on November 15, 2010 were approved.  The agenda for the February 28^th meeting was approved after adding Nancy Cox to report on N-CFAR as its ESCOP representative.

   

• Dr. Beachy has been visiting campuses and announcing awards of CAP grants. Major intent of funding CAP grants is to increase partnerships. Examples of new CAP awards include genomic work , modeling for climate change, bio-power/bio-mass grants. The CAP teams are from both land grant and non-land grant universities, may have 50+ faculty members from a variety of disciplines (including social sciences), and the lead university does not necessarily receive the largest share of the money. Since the annual NIFA budget is dependent on yearly appropriations, the CAP grant funding may fluctuate from year to year or any of them could be discontinued if not managed well or if too little progress is shown. Also, if NIFA receives too little in a given year, to maintain the CAPs and still offer new awards, the CAPs' funding could be decreased to accommodate the funding for both new and continuing awards.
• NIFA is seeking an increase in the Indirect Cost rate to 30% and hopes to receive support for this by the System. While initiatives like the Water Quality Program and IPM are recommended to be put into NIFA Institutes and no longer seen as distinct lines, the intent is to manage them more effectively, not eliminate them. It is NIFA's hope that earmarks being eliminated will go into competitive funding categories; stakeholders can help determine the objectives of these newly relocated funds in AFRI so that critical programs are not lost to them.
• Dr. Beachy was asked how ESCOP could assist with growing AFRI and capacity funds. He asked for help to market NIFA. For example, use NIFA/USDA logos when talking about programs that the USDA is funding. How else would grass-root individuals (who are university stakeholders) know that some of the research or services they are provided are funded by the USDA. He then reminded the audience that advocacy can be thwarted if we do not speak with one voice. When those on the Hill ask about what NIFA is doing for his/her state, include how NIFA is funding teams of the nation's best scientists and that his/her state has scientists participating on these exceptional teams who are making a difference nationally. Do not always go asking for increases because we are "needy." Instead go in to talk about challenges that need to be addressed and to relate that to land grant institutions' food and agricultural teams have the best science available to provide solutions to global challenges. Currently so much of the advocacy being done is related to just our individual universities, or special interests or different commodities. The one voice message could be unification of message that says getting more money into AFRI equates to funding for great and much needed science. The System should also project itself better as global change agents, not narrowing capabilities to states and regions.
• NIFA is attempting to leverage more funds by partnering with NSF and NIH, i.e. post genomic science research and improving the healthfulness of food. Dr. Beachy also stated his disappointment in hearing university presidents say they can no longer continue to invest in agricultural fields on their campuses. Other comments surfaced mentioning the low perception of agriculture on many campuses which has been an historical problem and that crossing boundaries on campuses to collaborate and integrate work sometimes helps alleviate some of this. It was also suggested to Roger that since some of those new to Congress are not open to understanding the value of expanding education and science so the U.S. can remain a world leader, maybe NIFA needs to speak out more to explain why "You cannot afford NOT to invest" and also speak to food security, global competitiveness, etc. Roger stated that there are some areas to which the USDA cannot be speaking. What is needed is a neutral alliance to talk about holistic and positive things relating to the agricultural sciences. Also, it was stated that we need to infiltrate beyond our own circles. We seem to primarily tell our story to those who already know of our importance; we need to start convincing those who know our story and don't believe us. In conclusion the suggestion is that there is much self reflection needed that relates to the comments made and that thinking must be broader than simply thinking about the needs of individual campuses.

• The Policy Board of Directors meetings have focused much of its time on the federal budgets. It is appreciated that university assessments are being paid and that attempts continue to get the FSLI and LEAD21 leadership programs to find ways to link initiatives.

Communication & Marketing - John Scofield/Gerald Arkin/Arlen Leholm

The ESCOP Communications and Marketing Committee met on Sunday, February 27, from 4 to 6 PM in Washington, DC, as part of the CARET meetings. Given the projected austere federal budgets for Fiscal years 2011 and 2012, the focus of the meeting was on marketing strategies that would best meet the needs of ESCOP going forward, given the major change in Congress and its focus on deficit reduction.

The current focus on Op Ed articles has been successful with many key placements in the past year. The Communications and Marketing Committee recommended that some effort continue with placement of Op Ed articles. A discussion was held on the merits of using social media tools with carefully crafted messages as the new primary focus to better meet the needs of the current fiscal environment in Congress. Key issues discussed at this meeting included:

·         A social media marketing strategy will take a coordinated effort from ESCOP, ECOP, and AHS.  Multiple marketing efforts can exist as long as there is a consistent message.

·         To help with consistent messaging, the ESCOP Communications and Marketing Committee will invite two Extension Directors to join the Committee as liaisons.

·         Closer coordination with university communication faculty.

·         Facilitate grassroots educational marketing campaigns with action outcomes.

·         Leverage Op Ed articles through social media outlets.

John Scofield of Podesta and Hunt Shipman of Cornerstone agreed to develop an implementation strategy document for a revised marketing effort. The draft strategy document will be shared with Jerry Arkin and Arlen Leholm and then the ESCOP Executive Directors. The strategy document will be reviewed by the ESCOP Communications and Marketing Committee on a conference call March 17.  The ESCOP Chairs Advisory Committee will act on the revised strategy document during their upcoming conference call.

ESCOP approved this Communications and Marketing strategy/evaluation and development processes on February 28. 

  In meeting discussion:

• In the current political and fiscal environment the nation is facing, the old strategy of utilizing the guidance of this committee for educating those who had the most affect on the NIFA budgets is not enough. While not discontinuing the use of op-eds, because they are still useful, new tactics are needed. The new strategies must be more nimble, timely and flexible. It is thought that instead of choosing themes and messages by a top-down approach, the use of social media may be more effective. It is very important to carry a uniform message that includes both research and extension in areas where there is common ground. The next steps are: Add university communication staff and Extension liaison(s) to the C&M Committee. Become integrated with grass roots efforts. Get support from AHS and to the extent possible, university presidents. Process: A) In two weeks Podesta and Cornerstone will bring forth a white paper with proposed new tactics. B) The paper will go out to the C&M Committee and EDs prior to their conference call on March 17th. Therefore the focus of the call will be the white paper. All are invited to be on the call and so information will be sent out accordingly. C) With revisions to the process , it will then be sent to the regional EDs for further fine tuning. It will also be discussed on the next ESCOP Chair's Advisory Council conference call in March. These steps should make it possible to begin this new approach for the 2012 budget. It will probably start as a pilot to work out the kinks. The pilot system should use universities in states with key appropriators and strong communications staff. Vote was taken and the attendees voted to accept the directions proposed by the committee. The op-eds will continue because they do have a positive impact. There are some strong ones being developed now and also the op-eds can be edited to get into social media.

• Nancy has been asked to vote on whether an Ag. Research Charitable Organization should be established. There are tax code problems that would have to be overcome to do this. The only comment she has heard was from AHS saying since we already raise money on our campuses for agriculture, make sure that a newly established organization would co-exist but not compete with the universities. The group consensus was that there was no objection as long as these conditions were met.

Budget & Legislative Committee - Mike Harrington

The current B&L Committee membership is shown below; with Steve Slack serving as chair, the NCRA will need to appoint an additional member.

Steve Slack and Mike Harrington represented this committee at the regular BAA - Budget and Advocacy Committee (BAC) meeting held in Washington DC, Feb, 10-11, 2011. During this meeting both the 2011 CR and 2012 budget, the details of which were unknown at that time, were discussed In fact, the CR was a moving target, with substantially larger cuts being mandated, during the course of the BAC meeting.

The B&L committee typically meets by monthly conference calls. A special call was held on Tuesday Feb 15, during which Jim Richards provided an overview of the budget situation for 2011 and 2012. There was also a special BAC call, open to all interested parties, held on Thursday Feb. 17 to discuss the 2011 CR and President's Budget. The BAC did not change discussion from the DC meeting, but did decide to focus the upcoming AHS-CARET efforts only on FY2011 to minimize confusion over the President's FY2012 recommendations.

FY2011 Priorities: 1) restore S-L cut of ~$30M and 2) restore AFRI cut. Hatch is not part of this discussion due to House cut structure and all continue to agree that discussion of special grants is a moot point. This is the reason for the Extension groundswell right now. Real target may be Senate and possible joint House-Senate reconciliation committee as process continues.

FY2012 Priorities: will be taken up after the real numbers for FY2011 are known. This will likely require reengagement of the Experiment Stations. The 2011 budget resolution may well have adverse effects on the 2012 budget.

In meeting discussion:

• A member needs to be appointed to the committee from the North Central Region. The national BAC is focusing on the 2011 budget and will focus on 2012 at the appropriate time. The ESS priorities are seek modest increases in or maintain capacity funding and to grow AFRI. Since AFRI grants are also received by those who are not affiliated with land grant universities, they too should be playing a role in advocacy to grow AFRI.

• At both the face-to-face meetings in Dallas and DC, section recommendations have been reviewed and endorsed or rejected. Because of the political climate, the overriding suggestion has been that this is not a good time to introduce new, different or even innovative things into the Farm Bill, so primarily only minor changes are being proposed.

1. Committee Membership:
   • Chair
     • William Ravlin (NCRA)
   • Delegates
     • John Liu (SAAESD)
     • John Russin (SAAESD)
     • Mike Hoffmann (NERA)
     • Tom Brady (NERA)
     • Steve Meredith (ARD) - Vice Chair
     • ____________ (ARD)
     • Larry Curtis (WAAESD)
     • ____________ (WAAESD)
     • Jozef Kokini (NCRA)
     • Abel Ponce de Leon (NCRA)
   • Executive Vice-Chair
     • Dan Rossi (NERA, Executive Director)
   • NIFA Representative
     • Muquarrab Qureshi
   • ERS Representative
     • Terry Nelsen
   • Social Science Subcommittee Representative
     • Travis Park
   • Pest Management Strategies Subcommittee Representative
     • Frank Zalom
   • Liaisons
     • Cliff Gabriel (Office of Science and Technology Policy)
     • Edwin Price (ICOP)
2. Meetings The Committee met on November 15, 2010 in Dallas, TX. The next face-to-face meeting of the committee has not yet been scheduled. A conference call will be scheduled for May to review and recommend a 2011 Multistate Research Award winner.
3. Multistate Research Award The announcement for the next round of awards was sent out to directors and participants in the NIMSS System on December 10, 2010. Nominations are due at offices of the Executive Directors on February 26, 2011. The regional associations will review the nominations and forward their recommendations to the Committee by April 30. The Committee will review the regional nominations and forward their recommendation for a national winner to the ESCOP Executive Committee by May 21. The Executive Committee will forward their selection of the national winner to APLU by July 1 and the award will be made at the November APLU meeting.
   
   We have received an inquiry concerning the 2008 winner - NC-229, "Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Disease: Methods for the Integrated Control, Prevention and Elimination of PRRS in United States Swine Herds." This team did not receive a $15,000 award as did the 2009 and 2010 winners as ESS had not yet decided to provide financial awards at that time. ESCOP needs to decide whether a recommendation for funding should be brought to the ESS meeting. As the travel to the APLU meeting was provided to the award winner, the decision would be concerning the $10,000 provided to support the Committee's activities.
4. Science Roadmap The Science Roadmap for Food and Agriculture report is now completed and has been distributed electronically as links to a print-ready pdf on the ESCOP, regional association and APLU websites. A limited number of hard copies will be printed to stress the fact that the Roadmap should be a "living" document. The leadership of the Science and Technology Committee is working with the Communications and Marketing Committee, John Scofield of Podesta, Hunt Shipman of Cornerstone and Simon Tripp of Battelle to develop a marketing strategy. Elements of the marketing strategy under discussion include an article in Science; potential editorials; endorsements from the private sector; an executive summary; one- pagers for the overall document and each of the individual challenge areas; and coordination with NC-FAR to hold possible "Lunch~N~Learn' Hill Seminars" around the challenge areas.
   
   Committee Chair Bill Ravlin and Executive Vice-Chair Dan Rossi also met with the ESCOP Social Science Subcommittee their involvement in marketing and the social science component of the seven challenges. Members of the SSSC will review the entire document and identify opportunities for the social sciences.
   
   We have received the final invoices for the editorial and design services used in the production of the Roadmap. ESCOP originally approved $4,900 for those services. However, the estimate was based on a 75 page document. As the document ended up being 26 pages longer than estimated, we have received an invoice for an additional $1699. We are requesting approval of the additional funds.

• The committee is working with the C&M Committee, John Scofield, Hunt Shipman, Simon Tripp and the ESCOP Social Sciences subcommittee to develop a marketing strategy using elements of the completed Science Roadmap. Examples of ideas are seen in the agenda brief. The attendees voted unanimously to approve an additional $4700 to print 150 hard copies (to give out strategically; most of the roadmap will be acquired electronically) of the roadmap and for additional editorial services.
• Another vote was taken on whether or not to provide $10,000 to the 2008 Multistate Award winners. Starting in 2009, the award winners have received $15,000 and the 2008 winners, who received $5,000, wanted to receive the same amount others received since the award increased after their winning year. The vote was negative and so no additional money was approved for the 2008 winners. Finally, the nominations for the next round of The Multistate Award ended February 26, 2011.

• For an update on this initiative. ESCOP has tried to be a good partner in this initiative and drafts are still being developed related to avenues for 1) restructuring/redirecting the intent of Section 406, 2) utilizing multistate regional committees for support and leadership to Section 406 programs, and 3) merging the 406 lines into Smith-Lever 3(d). The task force is delayed in giving attention to this effort because of urgent work concerning restoring Smith-Lever funds that were cut by the House in the CR.

New National Executive Director Team

Jane Schuchardt, Ph.D., has been selected as national executive director of the Extension Section, reporting to the Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP), the governing committee for the nation’s Cooperative Extension System. She began her new role on January 3, 2011.

She, along with the Executive Director/Administrator team (which includes 25% FTE of each of the Regional Extension Executive Directors/Administrator), is charged with ensuring visibility, creating new program and resource opportunities, and demonstrating accountability for Cooperative Extension.  She will be located in the offices of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. Her e-mail address is jane.schuchardt@extension.org . CES is in the process of hiring a staff associate to work with the ED/A national team. This will fully staff the new staffing model.

ECOP Led Efforts

ECOP Chair, Doug Lantagne, University of Vermont, met with NIFA and other agency leaders January 4-6, 2011, to further solidify CES roles and expectations as the federal government enters a new era. Several units requested an “Extension 101” follow up session. Dr. Lantagne has additional DC visits scheduled to focus primarily on building relationships with each of the four newly-staffed NIFA Institutes.

The eXtension Initiative continues to grow, now supporting almost 60 Communities of Practice, with 36 publically launched. A progress review will be reported at the National Extension Directors and Administrators meeting in March, as will a new strategic plan that was developed this earlier this year. Later in the year, CES will vote on continuing an assessment to support eXtension.

eXtension held a webinar to unveil a new effort connected to the FY11 Continuing Resolution situation. With close to 600 individuals participating in the webinar, strategies were suggested for how to effectively use social media tools to educate policy makers about the value of Extension and the need for federal funding support for research and Extension programs.

The ECOP Measuring Excellence in Extension Implementation Committee recently provided a webinar on new features that have been integrated into the CES database.  Most institutions are now participating in the database and are finding it useful for budget and other discussions with policy makers and developing or modifying staffing plans. Webinar leaders were Nancy K. Franz, Iowa State University, Chair; Nick Place, University of Maryland, William Miller, University of Massachusetts; and Scott Cummings, Texas AgriLife Extension. Although the database is password-protected, other information is available at http://excellence.tamu.edu/ .

The ECOP Leadership Advisory Council (LAC) event for 2011 is planned for late spring and will be held as a virtual collaboration rather than as a face-to-face meeting. ECOP Chair-elect, Linda Kirk Fox, Washington State University will chair this event.

The ECOP Personnel Subcommittee is chaired in 2011 by Chuck Hibberd, Purdue University. Activities will include the Excellence in Extension Awards process, new Extension Director/Administrator orientation prior to the NEDA conference, and consideration of a study to identify the expectations and competencies of future Extension professionals.

The ECOP Program Subcommittee, again in 2011, is chaired by Thomas G. Coon, Michigan State University. Among the activities for this subcommittee in 2011 will be developing procedures for extending the Strategic Opportunities and priority setting in CES.

The ECOP Budget and Legislative Committee is chaired in 2011 by Duane Hauck, North Dakota State University. The committee is focusing on the FY11 CR and on FY12 funding priorities as set by the Regions and ECOP

The Task Force on Section 406, chaired by Duane Hauck, is continuing its work.  The Task Force was charged with how to best protect, enhance and expand the budget lines of “concern” with Integrated Programs (Section 406/Authority).  ESCOP members on the Task Force are Nancy Cox, University of Kentucky, and Wendy Winterstein, Iowa State University.  In addition the Task Force has CES representation from each of the five regions.  The Task Force is evaluating options for the future of Section 406 funds and the programs they support.  A preliminary update is expected in late March and a full report is anticipated at the Joint COPS meeting in July.  Recommendations of the Task Force are primarily focused on changes that could take effect with the next Farm Bill.

The Marketing and Communications Task Force, chaired by Doug Steele, Montana State University, has recommended strategies for implementing recommendations from the general market study. Based on the study, the following “brand value” was developed: “Extension is a resource people can trust. When you use Extension, you can be confident that experts have reviewed and developed programs to ensure that you receive the best information for your needs. Through Extension, you have access to programs developed by a network of universities throughout the country. Extension employees and volunteers work hard at improving the quality of life for their communities.” A final proposal and budget for implementation will be considered this Spring.

Coming National Events

The National Extension Directors and Administrators (NEDA 2011) meeting is scheduled for March 15-17, 2011, in Scottsdale, Arizona, followed by the spring meeting for ECOP members, March 17-19.         

• Ed agreed that research and extension should work to speak with one voice to leverage NIFA funding. He stated that his role is to take back messages, requests and information to Extension, therefore please provide him with what he needs to do so.

Identify key issues in the next five years where Extension and the Experiment Stations could benefit from joint work efforts?
• For each of the key issues consider how collaboration through funding, staffing, public engagement, and joint work efforts could be designed to produce enhanced results

• What specific issues or knowledge areas require research/extension to produce a joint work product?
• What opportunities exist for multi-state collaboration?
• Should regional grant training be advanced for integrated proposals?

• It was requested that within regions, discussions should ensue prior to a proposed joint meeting in July that would identify key issues where Extension and ESS could benefit from joint work efforts. In these discussions, the regions should consider issues of funding, staffing, and public engagement. The North Central Region will have a joint session on partnerships at their mini-land grant meeting. Some related issues recommended for discussion are how to improve upon the quality of integrated proposals and how to improve upon integrated Plan of Work reports.

• Click here for PowerPoint on "Future of the Biotech Seed Trait Industry"  The main question raised was why there are no standing committees that include the academic sector. Dr. Dunkle indicated that there is a plan to engage the academic community and draft documents will be circulated soon to get feedback. He will take the message back that it is important that the consortium should have both university and private sector representation.

• This took place in New Orleans Feb. 22-24th. Input on national indicators and outcomes was provided by extension and research representation reviewing NIFA's five national priorities, and the information will eventually be circulated to the system for buy-in.

2011 ESS/SAES/ARD Meeting and Workshop Update - Lee Sommers/Mike Harrington

The 2011 ESS – ARD Annual Meeting and Workshop will be held at the historic Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, CO, September 26-29.  Estes Park is just minutes away from Rocky Mountain National Park.   A special meeting transportation rate/from the meeting venue has also been arranged through Estes Park Shuttle.

The meeting will commence with regional meetings on Monday afternoon followed by a reception with heavy hors d' oeuvres.  The ESS Meeting and Workshop will proceed as in the past on Tuesday and Wednesday.  There will be a hosted dinner on Tuesday evening.   The meeting will end at approximately 5:00 pm on Wednesday Sept 28, followed by dinner on your own in Estes Park.

The special hotel rate is $209/night plus 9.7% tax.  The hotel will honor this rate for 3 days before and after the meeting.  Due to the high demand for the hotel during this season, reservations will need to be made by Friday, August 26, 2011 to be assured of the negotiated room rate.  Note: The regular room rate is $399/night during the fall season.

All contracts are in place and the conference and hotel registration websites are in final testing stages.  We will be sending the first announcement in the very near future.

In meeting discussion:

• This meeting will take place September 26-29,2011 in Estes Park, CO at the Stanley Hotel and the website for registering and making hotel reservations will go live soon. There may be no assistance that can be provided for those who do not make hotel reservations on or before the deadline.

• The symposium will take place April 9 - 13th at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. At least 700 have registered so far.

Adjourn

Meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Carolyn B. Brooks