The December news roundup highlights several webinar recordings on the Horizon Report and about webinar production. We also look at the three different Issue Corps programs and update on each of those. We hope your new year is off to a productive and happy start!

Looking Ahead

Don’t miss this exciting event coming in January 2017!

Informatics Webinar. Jeff Piestrak, Cornell University is wrapping up his yearlong eXtension fellowship by writing a series of blog posts and presenting a webinar on January 19 at noon EST. The topic of the webinar is “Land Grant Informatics: Linking People Technology, and Information In Support of Healthy People, Communities, and Food Systems. More on the webinar…

News Roundup

First Issue Corps Reaps Dividends

Six impact stories from the first Issue Corps have been developed. These stories emphasize some of the challenges Issue Corps members faced during their projects and how they sought information and expertise to help them make changes or expand their reach. Learning what worked for these educators is also helping to shape the offerings made to future Issue Corps projects. Check out the Issue Corps impact stories…

Celebrating a Decade of Financial Education

The Financial Security for All (FSA) Community of Practice celebrated their first decade of providing research-informed information on personal finance by publishing an article on their history, accomplishments, and future. The article, in The Forum for Family and Consumer Issues, not only focuses on past accomplishments but future direction. Dr. Elizabeth Kiss commented, “We are proud to be members of this pioneer eXtension community and are pleased that we were able to document our history in this way.”

Congratulations to FSA for this milestone! Read the article…

Horizon Report Featured In Five Events

A series of events focused on the Horizon Report for Cooperative Extension have concluded. These events provided an overview of the report and featured panels of Extension professionals showcasing how they are already using these “horizon technologies” in their programming. Find each recording at the links below.

The Horizon Report: An Overview
Cooperative Extension Time to Adoption Horizon: One Year or Less (Maker Movement)
Horizon Report for Cooperative Extension #EdTechLN TweetUp
Cooperative Extension Time to Adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years (Drones)
Cooperative Extension Time to Adoption Horizon: Four to Five Years (Internet of Things and Wearables)

You can directly access the Horizon Report on the New Media Consortium website by following this link.

Ask an Expert

Changes are coming to the Ask an Expert (AaE) system! In December, two events were held to describe the changes and to highlight innovative ways different states are using the AaE system. The recordings for both are available at the links below.

AaE – Sharing Plans for Change (December 13, 2016)
AaE Panel – Better Use of Ask and Expert (December 15, 2016)

eXtension Conducts Designathon at Community Issue Corps Event

The second Issue Corps program, the Community Issue Corps, launched in December with a Designathon. In all, eight projects from 28+ states were represented at the event. The projects ranged from innovative health insurance education and outreach to preparing for disasters, women farmers, and more. See who is part of the Community Issue Corps…

Diversity & Inclusion Issue Corps Projects Are Selected

More than 40 projects representing 30+ institutions have been selected for the third eXtension Issue Corps program. This call focused on diversity and inclusion and will include programs about cultural competency for youth, food insecurity, civic engagement, and more. Representatives of each project will meet in Cincinnati, Ohio on February 14-15, 2017 for the program launch and Designathon. More on the Diversity & Inclusion Corps launch…

WoW! (Webinars on Webinars) Series Is Well-Received

More than 190 people attended a series of three webinars focused on…what else?…producing webinars. The series was a collaboration of a group of veteran webinar developers and sought to provide a blueprint and forum for sharing lessons learned and recommended practices. The recordings of the three sessions are listed below:

If You Miss a Webinar You Wanted to Attend…

Webinar recordings and related resources that have been shared are posted on the link for that webinar in Learn, often within 24 hours after the webinar ends.

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.