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Rural Innovation Initiative Opportunity
Deadline to apply: November 18, 2019
With support from the Economic Development Administration, Center on Rural Innovation is seeking the second cohort of communities to join the Rural Innovation Initiative. Successful applicants will receive technical assistance to strengthen their approach to entrepreneurship and digital jobs, apply for federal funding, and join a national network of rural innovation communities. Communities should express interest in the program as soon as possible by filling out a brief questionnaire. Rural Innovation Strategies Inc. will host a webinar on October 28 at 2 p.m. ET to provide additional information. Interested communities are encouraged to register for the webinar here.
NIFA National Science Liaisons Announced
NIFA’s program portfolio and contact with stakeholders, partners, and collaborators will continue, uninterrupted, in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. This important function will be led by six science professionals, National Science Liaisons (NSLs), who will support the agency’s national research, education, and extension portfolio; advance NIFA programs; and serve as expert resources. These liaisons are Dr. Carline Crocoll, Dr. Mark Mirando, Dr. Mervalin Morant, Dr. Mat Ngouajio, Dr. Eric Norland, and Bradley Rein, P.E.
Community and Rural Development and the Farming Community: Why are they such a Great Match? – North Carolina State University
It is well known that the agriculture industry represents an important source of economic development in the United States. In North Carolina, agriculture is the largest industry, generating roughly 17 percent of the state’s workforce and gross state product. However, the resources and efforts to support that industry tend to be fragmented. In the case of the farming community, there has been a tendency to focus either on production (farmers and farmers) or on labor (farmworkers). A third growing focus group the Farm Labor Contractors (FLCs). This context is a perfect niche for Community and Rural Development efforts and the foundation of the grant funded N.C. Extension Farmworker Health and Safety Program (Farmworker Program).
The Farmworker Program was developed in 2014 based on the belief that everyone involved in the agriculture industry, which includes farmers/producers, FLCs, farmworkers, and their families is exposed to risk factors and stress; therefore, an education program that recognizes and includes all of them is needed. Additionally, existing video based training is inadequate to change safety behaviors, with farmworkers having little awareness after watching the video that they have been trained. The Farmworker Program model builds and strengthens relationships between all people working on the farm as well as community partners in order to enhance the well-being of the Farm Working Community. The components of the program are: 1) Farmworker on-farm and in Extension Centers Training (90 minute interactive face to face training); 2) Farm Labor Contractors Training; 3) Community Educational Events; 4) Partnership and network development; 5) Extension Cross Programming. The program team is Luis Cruz, Roberto Rosales, Javier Rivera, program educators and Susan Jakes and Cintia Aguilar, program PI and Co-PI. It is currently implemented in 8 N.C. counties.
In 2018 the educators conducted 63 training sessions for a total of 2,095 workers from 101 farms. In addition, 879 farmworkers were trained in partnership with external partners. Twenty-one FLCs attended an educational workshop. Furthermore, 8 community educational events were conducted for a total participation of 160 adults and 137 youth, and 21 community organizations and programs were part of the Farmworker Community Partners Coalition. Post-training survey data shows that 96% of workers understood the key concepts on pesticide, heat stress, and green tobacco sickness safety and prevention.
On a qualitative level, the farming community have praised the program over the years of implementation. In the words of a farmer, I think this program is awesome. My farm has been using it for years. I love that they will come out to the farm, they always work out a good time for me and them. My guys seem to never mind sitting in and learning. I love that they keep it interesting and fun to learn.
Extension Program Leader – Family & Consumer Sciences/4-H, University of Tennessee
Deadline to apply: October 31st, 2019
The Extension Program Leader is responsible to the Regional Director in the Central Region for the planning, development, implementation, evaluation and reporting of county and region Family and Consumer Sciences and 4-H Youth Development programs in 31 counties.
Assistant Professor – Leadership, University of Arkansas
An Assistant/Associate Professor is a non-tenure track faculty member of the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service who provides educational leadership in an area of assigned program responsibility. The position collects, evaluates, interprets, & develops subject matter information for dissemination through the Extension delivery system. The position provides support to field faculty & serves as a recognized reference source for the organization in the area of expertise. Responsible for development, implementation and evaluation of statewide programs in leadership development for external clientele, including the LeadAR and other educational programs.
2020 Extension Leadership Conference: San Antonio, TX
February 12-13, 2020
The Conference Theme will be: 2020 a Vision for the Future. The conference Capnote Speaker will Dr. Scott Reed who will be the Vice Provost for University Outreach and Engagement Emeritus of Oregon State University Extension. The committee is seeking an additional keynote speaker. We will again have Concurrent Sessions that will have the best of Extension presenting leadership development success stories
Public Issues Leadership Development Conference: Arlington, VA
April 5-8, 2020
National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals Annual Conference: Portsmouth, NH
May 31 - June 3, 2020
Southern CRD Webinar Series:
In 2020 the Southern CRD Webinar Series will transition into quarterly high-priority topic sessions. More details coming soon!
Southern CRD Webinar Series:
January: Exploring Ways to Engage Limited Resource Communities in Disaster Education - Strategies from the 1890 EDEN Advisory Group
February: Empowering Minority Students with an Entrepreneurial Mindset
March: Equipping Georgia's New Farmers for Success
April: Building a Regional Coalition for Natural Resource Conservation
May: Community Food Systems: A Space for Ecology, Justice, and Markets
June: Telling the Whole Story: Economic Contribution and Cotton Cooperatives
July: Creating Bridges for the Rural Retail Workforce: Bringing Businesses and Employees Together to Identify Long-Term Employment Solutions for Rural Retail
National CRD Indicators Team Webinar Series:
The “But for” Principle: Getting to Your Impact
Data Visualization: Decision-Making Tools and Methods for Communities
What’s Your Program Worth? Evaluation Strategies for Documenting the Dollar Value of Extension Programs
Evaluating Community Development Impacts Using Qualitative Indicators
Job announcements and other items of interest may be sent to Katherine Spiering for possible inclusion in future issues.
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