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Announcements Innovation Innovation Teams Newsroom Technology

Announcing Expansion of Innovation Teams for Premium Member Institutions

Over the last several years, the eXtension Foundation has worked with several state Cooperative Extension Services, helping them develop Innovation Teams to advance new initiatives, particularly initiatives that involve scaling up and applying uses of new technologies.

The success and study of these Innovation Teams, together with the development of new capabilities within eXtension, has prepared eXtension to now offer Premium Member Institutions of eXtension Foundation an opportunity to form Innovation Teams, with consulting support and services from eXtension, to accelerate their institutions’ adoption of innovations.

Examples of successfully achieved innovation goals include:

  • Oregon State Extension — statewide deployment of Ask an Expert, now advancing to system-wide use of Twitter
  • Ohio State Extension — development of an Education Technology team devoted to helping OSU Extension faculty integrate technology and practice as well as statewide adoption of Ask an Expert
  • University of Delaware — deployment of social media system-wide for Delaware Extension professionals to share success stories with followers and attract new audiences

From studying these and other successes, eXtension has developed an Innovation Team methodology to guide Member Institutions in choosing what innovation(s) to focus on; setting goals; building a team; and planning and integrating tasks into plans of work for implementation success. Regularly scheduled webinars and other special custom-education activities are offered by eXtension to each institution’s leaders, team and team members to advance their institution in achieving its goals with measurable impact.

For more information, visit our Innovations Teams page, or contact Terry Meisenbach at tmeisenbach@extension.org or Jerry Thomas at jthomas@extension.org.

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Announcements Catalog Newsroom Professional Development Tools and Services Webinars

Announcing Catalog: New Clearinghouse for Extension Professionals’ Educational Offerings

The eXtension Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of Catalog, soon to become the gateway to a comprehensive listing of online courses, webinars, workshops, and eBooks available–both for Extension professionals and public learners–throughout the Cooperative Extension System. The initial launch includes approximately 100 courses but will steadily scale up in the immediate term to offer more than 450 free and fee-based courses, webinars, and other educational offerings. All Extension professionals from eXtension Foundation Member Institutions can list their education offerings on Catalog.

The offerings on Catalog cover a wide array of topics and are delivered through several different platforms or technologies. Most of the courses are delivered through eXtension’s online course system, Campus, at campus.extension.org. Originally launched in 2007, Campus offers some 360 courses of varying subject matter, rigor, cost and credit. Course subjects reflect the breadth of the Cooperative Extension System, as Extension educators from about 40 different land-grant universities and involved in various agriculture, family, community and youth programs offer online education through Campus.

Increasingly, these Extension educators are using new ways to deliver education to their respective audiences–particularly webconferencing, or webinars–which allow presenters to enhance their educational offerings with additional resources, opportunities for continued conversation, testing, certification or other extended learning activities. Some webinars may require fees for admission, and Catalog facilitates payment of fees and enrollment in those webinars. A full list of webinars can be found at learn.extension.org.

For more information and a close look at the Catalog, visit catalog.extension.org. Also watch for coming announcements of webinars and other opportunities to learn more about using Catalog. For any questions you may have, please email cataloghelp@extension.org.

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Information Newsroom

eXtension Board, ECOP Seek Restoration of NTAE Funding

On Thursday, February 11, eXtension Foundation learned that the New Technologies in Agricultural Extension (NTAE) budget line which provides eXtension’s base funding was dropped from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) budget submitted to the President’s budget request for FY2017.

eXtension is a part of the Cooperative Extension System that provides a national platform that supports Extension professionals with resources and professional development for advancing science-based knowledge, digital technologies and innovation into local communities of all kinds in the United States.

In 2015, eXtension refocused its mission and added new initiatives to enhance development of Extension professionals’ effectiveness in addressing issues, innovation, and impact. Some issues targeted by eXtension and Extension professionals are food, agriculture, health, and energy.

Upon learning of the removal of NTAE’s baseline funding for extension, the leadership of eXtension, eXtension’s Board of Directors, and the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP)–the representative leadership and governing body of the Cooperative Extension System nationwide that is part of the Association of Public Land-grant Universities (APLU) Board on Agriculture Assembly (BAA)–came together to develop a request to restore NTAE’s budget line for funding eXtension in FY2017 at the FY2016 level of $1.55 million.

Anyone wishing to support this advocacy effort is invited to join this action using the request document linked above. This action has been approved by the BAA Budget and Advocacy Committee and Policy Board of Directors. As you advocate for this competitive line, please adhere to the guidelines of BAA and the language used in the request document.

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Communications & Marketing Conferences/Meetings Events Meetings & Conferences Newsroom Professional Development Tools and Services

Manage Your NeXC2016 Schedule with a Free Sched Account

eXtension now offers a Sched.org application for the National eXtension Conference 2016 so attendees and speakers can plan and customize their schedules of Professional Development workshops and events. The conference will be held March 22-25, 2016, in San Antonio, Texas, at the Hyatt Regency San Antonio Riverwalk.

Sched allows you to create a customized personal schedule of sessions you want to attend, view your schedule on any platform/device, revise it on the go as needed, network with other attendees and speakers both before and at the conference, and more.

sched.org sampleAn easy-to-use mobile web app built for iOS and Android lets you easily manage your schedule, including calendar syncing with iCal, Google Calendar and Outlook. You can print versions of your schedule, email it, and share it socially with colleagues and other attendees. Once you add your social media links, you will be able to view the schedules of friends and fellow attendees who have added theirs.

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Newsroom

eXtension Announces Speakers for March National Conference

The eXtension Foundation announced today the lineup of speakers who will headline its National eXtension Conference: From Innovation to Impact to be held March 22-25 in San Antonio, Texas. All Extension professionals are invited to attend this conference that offers a rich array of innovation and professional development learning opportunities.

John StepperKeynote speaker on Wednesday, March 23, will be John Stepper, author of Working Out Loud, widely heralded as the new roadmap for working more effectively in our new increasingly digital environment. Says Stepper of his concept, “Working Out Loud starts with making your work visible in such a way that it might help others. When you do that – when you work in a more open, connected way – you can build a purposeful network that makes you more effective and provides access to more opportunities.”
Paul Pangaro, PhDKeynote speaker on Thursday, March 24, will be Paul Pangaro, PhD, Associate Professor and Chair of the MFA Interaction Design program at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. Dr. Pangaro teaches, researches and consults on “designing for conversation” to develop and implement innovations, software and organizational processes. In sessions in both conference tracks, he will show how designing new conversations with the right range of perspectives can take impact to the next level.
Tom FoxCapstone speaker on Friday, March 25, will be Tom Fox, Vice President for Leadership and Innovation at the Partnership for Public Service. He oversees the Partnership’s Center for Government Leadership (CGL) and growing portfolio on innovation in government. He also writes the FedCoach column for The Washington Post. Reflecting innovation, he comments, “…too many people give up too easily. If you’re certain your idea is worth implementation, listen to the feedback you receive and continue improving upon your idea until it prevails.”

Also speaking on Friday morning will be two Cooperative Extension System and ECOP (Extension Committee on Organization and Policy) leaders.

Michelle Rodgers, PhD

Michelle Rodgers, PhD, Chair of the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP) and Associate Director Cooperative Extension and Outreach at the University of Delaware.
Keith L. Smith, PhD

Keith L. Smith, PhD, retired Director of Cooperative Extension at The Ohio State University, a strong advocate for innovation in the Cooperative Extension System and Chair of the new ECOP Innovation Task Force, a follow-up of the Cooperative Extension System Innovation Inventory, which he also chaired.

Together Drs. Rodgers and Smith will launch the new ECOP Innovation Task Force in conjunction with the task force’s first meeting held at the National eXtension Conference. The Innovation Task Force’s objective will be to build on the findings of the Innovation Inventory to develop guidelines for implementing innovation strategies throughout the Extension system.

National eXtension Conference

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Newsroom

eXtension Launches 2016 i-Three Issue Corps

The NEW eXtension is pleased to name the first eXtension i-Three Issue Corps. These 126 individuals comprise 72 projects focused on either food systems or climate. In addition, they represent 31 states and 33 institutions. Over the coming weeks and months, the Corps will collaborate with eXtension staff, key subject matter informants, experts in project design, technology, marketing, and each other to enhance and improve their projects and experiments. During the National eXtension Conference in San Antonio, March 22-25, 2016, the Corps will meet as a group and move through a “design-a-thon” experience to further refine their projects or experiments.

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Newsroom

Peter Aamodt Appointed New CFO of eXtension Foundation

Announced: Tuesday, January 26, 2016

eXtension Foundation CEO Christine Geith, PhD, announced today the appointment of Peter Aamodt as part-time Chief Financial Officer of eXtension Foundation beginning immediately.

Peter has served in a wide range of financial and business officer roles in his career.  He has worked in both large and small organizations and is very experienced at balancing a broad strategic focus with hands-on governance activities.  Most recently he served as Interim Director, Strategic Procurement and Contracting, at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and prior to that was Vice President, Finance, at Thomas More College in Crestview Hills, Kentucky. His work history also includes a progression of increasing financial responsibilities in the University of Tennessee system.

“We are very pleased to have Peter join our team,” said Dr. Geith in announcing the appointment. “He has proven capabilities in delivering a strong focus on institutional compliance and integrity and providing excellent service. He also has a highly effective, collaborative work style based in workgroup-oriented technology, making him a perfect fit for our nationally distributed, virtually connected eXtension team and partners.”

The eXtension Foundation is an integral part of the U.S. Cooperative Extension System and a partner with USDA-NIFA. eXtension’s purpose is to deliver professional development and promote innovation to help Extension professionals increase their visible and measurable impact locally and system wide.