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eXtension RFP for Climate/Extreme Weather Fellowship

 

Cooperative Extension is positioned to be the leading national resource with the most experience with on-the-ground implementation of conservation-based programming. The eXtension Climate Coalition proposes creating a Fellowship effort as a short-term project dedicated to the compilation of program data across the Cooperative Extension System (CES).  The fellow(s), which could be one or two, will identify programming that is currently being implemented that aligns with Project Drawdown, other frameworks, and generally accepted conservation practices. Using eXtension support, the Fellow(s) will develop a repository for this information that can help the CES develop a narrative around the work being performed across the US. The repository will be dynamic, accessible, and easy for specialists, program leaders, agents and educators to update and add to. Information will include programs, success factors, and adoption rates. It will be used to help: 

  • Identify gaps in conservation/climate programming
  • Identify areas of greatest impact (or identify trends)
  • Help us identify measurements of acceleration
  • Focus CES interests on identified climate/extreme weather actions (solutions)
  • Help us tell our story around climate/extreme weather action (we will have an opportunity to seek funding and partners based on our current and future capacity)
  • Help identify where we are accelerating our impact the most
  • Empower CES Educators to align with these actions and their strengths
  • Allow for some longitudinal analysis
  • Create some continuity in our programming across the country

Deliverables: 

The Fellow(s) will lead: 

  • Offering of at least one synchronous online professional development opportunity and use of the connect.eXtension.org social intranet platform. 
  • Development and population of the Climate/Extreme Weather repository
  • Documenting current CES programs and practices in Climate/Extreme Weather and
  • Serve as the editor of Version 1 of the Real-Time Programmatic Inventory in Extension Education ePub to be published with eXtension no later than September 1, 2020. The eXtension ePub plus Connect.extension.org is a digital platform for aggregating content, tools and engagement available to all professionals in Cooperative Extension.

Responsibilities:

  • Serve in the role of editor of the ePub Version 1 and identify a review group and authors/contributors and follow the publication guidelines of eXtension. eXtension provides technical assistance and serves as publisher of the ePub. 
  • Work with eXtension to establish a 6-8 person working group of professionals within and outside Cooperative Extension to serve as an advisory committee/editorial board. Schedule the working group to help gather and curate existing research, programs and best practices using eXtension technologies.
  • Develop a timeline with milestones for the project. A suggested time frame for this project is May through August. Aiming to have the final draft completed by September 1 for broader sharing and feedback. 
  • Report on progress to eXtension regularly.
  • Offer at least 1 online professional development opportunity in the form of a webinar for Extension professionals.
  • Establish a group in Connect Extension and use it to keep in touch with the working group, the Advisory Committee and eFieldbook contributors.
  • eXtension provides technical assistance and serves as the publisher of the ePub, and data repository development and implementation. eXtension also provides technical support and marketing for professional development offerings.  

Compensation:   Proposals should address how they will utilize $20,000 in the Climate/Extreme Weather Fellowship effort to support the overall work.  The $20K will be to accomplish the deliverables.  Examples of possibilities include two faculty/specialists applying together and receiving stipends of $10K each to share the effort (this could be faculty at one or two institutions); one faculty/specialist receiving a stipend of 5K to oversee and guide the work of a doctoral or master’s candidate who would receive a $15K stipend. 

Reporting: The Fellow(s) will report to Megan Hirschman, eXtension Partnership and Development Specialist.  eXtension will provide $20,000 in total to support this work to the Fellow or the Fellow’s institution, depending on the best way to handle the funds for the institution. 

Timeline: 

Deadline for proposals: May 6, 2020

Start Date: May 20, 2020.

Project End Date: September 30, 2020.  This project is not static, and the philosophy will be to have 80-90% completion by September 1, and have an opportunity to introduce it to the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP) at that time.  

Submit proposals (500 words or less)  and supporting documentation (resume) to:

@Megan HirschmanPartnership and Development Specialist
eXtension Foundation
Cell: 989-330-1265
meganhirschman@extension.org

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About the 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 provides professional development to Cooperative Extension professionals and offers exclusive services to its members. In 2020 and 2021, the Extension Foundation has awarded 85% of its direct funding back to the Cooperative Extension System, 100% of funds are used to support Cooperative Extension initiatives. 

This technology is supported in part by New Technologies for Ag Extension (funding opportunity no. USDA-NIFA-OP-010186), grant no. 2023-41595-41325 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or the Extension Foundation. For more information, please visit extension.org. You can view the terms of useat extension.org/terms.

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