The Extension Foundation (EXF) is pleased to announce a funding opportunity for Pesticide Safety Education Programs (PSEP) for 2025. This opportunity is made available through a cooperative agreement (X8-84066001) with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to continue the administration of the national subaward program in support of pesticide applicator education, and training for certified applicators of restricted use pesticides. In addition, during this funding period EXF will aid in providing a professional development element of the project and provide additional funding to subawardees through online workshops or webinars to discuss partnerships and/or collaboration with Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to increase their capacity and help to address Environmental Justice (EJ) concerns and initiatives.
Requirements of subawardees for this funding program are as follows:
- Agree to share at least one educational deliverable for the purposes of enhancing PSEP programs both regionally and nationally.
- Submit one final programmatic progress report at the end of the subaward term via a standardized online webform via Wizehive
- Submit invoices and financial reports quarterly to receive reimbursement of funds spent via Wizehive.
- Attend a minimum of one 1-hour training webinar for the online reporting system and/or open office hours.
- Anticipated dates and times (eastern) are: May 5, 2025 at 2 pm; July 14, 2025 at 3 pm; September 29, 2025 at 3 pm and December 8, 2025 at 3:00 pm.
- Additionally there will be open office hours held for applicants to “drop-in” with any questions, concerns, or comments they would like to discuss with the Project Manager. Those dates and times will be communicated at a later date.
- Be sure to check your email for Zoom links for the training and office hours. Additionally, all dates and login information will be posted in the Connect Extension subgroup for this funding program.
Eligibility
In order to be eligible for this funding applicants must be affiliated with an 1862 U.S. Land Grant University (LGU). Only one application per state or territory from each 1862 LGU will be eligible for funding. Please contact psefmp-helpdesk@extension.org if you have any questions regarding eligibility.
Funding Period
The anticipated funding period for this subaward will be January 1, 2025 - December 31, 2025.
Funding Available
Each PSEP will be eligible to apply for a base amount of $19,300.00 USD plus an additional 5% of the funds divided proportionally based on the percentage of the number of certified applicators in each state or territory. The number of certified applicators in a state or territory will be based on the most recent figures of certified applicators as supplied by the EPA. Additional amounts available to the state or territory will be listed in the budget section of the application. Funds will be distributed via a cost reimbursement model and on submission of invoices.
Additionally, EXF will provide a professional development element of the project and provide additional funding to subawardees through online workshops or webinars to discuss partnerships and/or collaboration with Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to increase their capacity and help to address Environmental Justice (EJ) concerns and initiatives. This is in response to continued efforts to help improve the capacity of Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to engage in pesticide safety education training and outreach by encouraging and facilitating (as applicable and appropriate) collaboration with the 1862 LGU PSEP either statewide or regionally. Help in providing educational materials and training opportunities to underserved and marginalized populations in culturally relevant and meaningful ways, ensuring that EJ is consistently addressed throughout the project's scope through specialized additional funding to successful subrecipients. Eligible applicants will have the ability to receive up to an additional $10,000 in funding if within their current program, they will seek to either collaborate or partner with a MSI, to increase the MSIs capacity to engage in pesticide safety education training and outreach either statewide or regionally. There will be a total of six additional awards available to applicants for up to $10,000.00 in additional funding to address this issue specifically, for a total of $60,000.00. These additional funds will be competitively evaluated and only awarded to six programs that show significant impact in working with MSIs and addressing EJ.
EXF will aid in providing professional development training for subrecipients through online workshops or webinars to discuss how they partnered and/or collaborated with MSIs to increase their capacity and help address EJ concerns utilizing the additional funding they received on their subaward.
Key Dates:
Application System Opens: Wednesday, September 11, 2024 at 8 am EST
Live Application Trainings:
- Wednesday, September 11 at 3 pm EST (via Zoom)
- Friday, September 13 at 10 am EST (via Zoom)
Open Office Hours (via Zoom):
- Tuesday, September 17 at 10 am - 1 pm EST
- Wednesday, September 18 at 10 am - 2 pm EST
- Friday, September 20 at 10 am - 12 pm EST
Application Deadline: Monday, November 11, 2024 at 11:59 pm EST
Subaward Notification Announcement: December 20, 2024
Application Review Process:
EXF will use a multi-step approach in the receiving and review of applications for this program. Each application will be reviewed by EXF personnel for programmatic and budget compliance, completeness and potential collaboration with other programs and/or MSIs.
For the additional funding, a multi-step approach will also be utilized in the receiving and review of applications. Each application will be reviewed by third-party reviewers for programmatic and budget compliance, completeness, collaboration and/or partnerships with MSIs and professional development deliverable(s). If you are not interested in the additional funding but would like to be a potential reviewer for these applications, please send an email to psefmp-helpdesk@extension.org.
Application Submission
Applications for this funding opportunity can be accessed via an online portal. The application will go live on September 11, 2024 at 8 am eastern.
Live Application System Trainings:
Potential applicants will receive an invitation via email for an optional training through Zoom for the online application system. During the training, the EXF Program Manager will provide a step by step walk through of the application site, the application and submission. If you are unable to attend a training session, they will be recorded and provided via email the following day of the first training. Additional training sessions can be scheduled on an as needed basis or via special request. Open office hours will also be held in order for applicants to drop in with application questions at their convenience. Please see above for a schedule of training sessions and open office hours. These will also be posted on the calendar within the Connect Extension subgroup.
If you have any questions please send an email to psefmp-helpdesk@extension.org.
Advisory Committee Members
Open to all subawardees, you will have the opportunity to work directly with EXF, to help in making recommendations on improvements to the program, deliverables, collaborations, enhancements, etc. If you are interested in serving on the Advisory Committee please contact Tira Adelman at tiraadelman@extension.org.
About Extension Foundation
The Extension Foundation was formed in 2006 by Extension Directors and Administrators. Today, the Foundation partners with Cooperative Extension through liaison roles and a formal plan of work with the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP) to increase system capacity while providing programmatic services, and helping Extension programs scale and investigate new methods and models for implementing programs.
The Foundation also provides professional development to Cooperative Extension professionals and offers exclusive services to its members. Its purpose is in its mission statement: to help U.S. Cooperative Extension make a more visible, measurable, impact on local issues.
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