How To

Have you wanted to learn more about climate change yourself, and how to help your clientele address the impacts it can cause? Since we first came together, members of the National Extension Climate Initiative have seen the need for climate training across the Cooperative Extension system. Our formal NECI objective is to: Promote climate education and research throughout the extension system. We have selected the EcoActUs www.EcoActUs.org certificate curriculum for beta testing among...

Hello extension! I'm a systems administrator in Florida supporting our research, teaching, and extension programs. In addition to my regular "sysadmin" duties I've found that I really love teaching our extension agents about the "cloud". Together with my co-worker Joe Gasper we've been holding monthly training sessions for just over three years. In that time much of our university has learned the power of the cloud and ways to use new tools that make your digital life a little bit easier.

Extension educators are in a position to help consumers build financial health. This post describes what financial health is, how to assess it, and twelve steps to achieve it. What Is Financial Health? Financial health is the current state of someone’s finances. It includes both daily financial functioning (e.g., paying bills) and long-term resilience and opportunity. Like physical health, financial health can change over time and needs to be assessed regularly. According to the Financial...

At the request of Cooperative Extension professionals, the Extension Foundation has developed an interactive tool to help Land-grant university professionals get familiarized with the Extension Foundation, its tools, national funded programs, services, and learn how the Foundation can be a partner in making a greater impact on local issues. The Extension Foundation serves all 112 Land-grant universities in the United States regardless of membership. Extension Foundation members receive...

A key theme in investing that never goes out of style is building a diversified portfolio to reduce investment risk. Below are eight key investing concepts for Extension educators to suggest to their clients: Quantify Your Goals - Encourage clients to write down their goals with the projected cost and a time deadline. Doing this will help them select appropriate investments and provide the motivation required today to set money aside for the future. Discuss Risk - Explain that investment...

The Impact Collaborative's new professional development series, Extension Skills , invites members to attend every month to learn new tech skills, processes, and other training from experts in Cooperative Extension. This month's Extension Skills session was “Podcasting Basics: What You Need to Get Started” led by Aaron Weibe . Aaron covered the basics of getting a podcast started including the software and hardware needed, audio editing, and how to upload and broadcast your podcast to...

Save the Date(s) for the 2nd Annual Emergency Preparedness, Response and Recovery Virtual Webinar Series hosted by the Southern University AgCenter. Please share this flyer within your networks and communities. Registration links are forthcoming. #emergencypreparedness #disasterpreparedness #conference #webinar

Save the Date(s) for the 2nd Annual Emergency Preparedness, Response and Recovery Virtual Webinar Series hosted by the Southern University AgCenter. Please share this flyer within your networks and communities. Registration links are forthcoming. #emergencypreparedness #disasterpreparedness #conference #webinar

Families often have leftover holiday debt hanging over their heads like a big dark cloud. What can you do to help these clients? Below are 5 time-tested debt repayment steps to consider using.

Like a medical exam, a review of clients’ finances can identify strategies to improve their “financial fitness” and screen for potential problems, such as a high debt-to-income ratio. This article features 10 diagnostic tools to assess the strengths and weaknesses of a client’s financial situation that can be reviewed in a one-hour appointment.

Extension educators are content creators. Whether they prepare PowerPoint slides for a webinar, write a blog or social media post, prepare for an interview, or assemble a newsletter, they are constantly striving to create content that is current, relevant, and actionable. At a recent online conference, the Plutus™ Impact Summit, the following eight tips for personal finance content creation were shared: Address “Pain Points” and Goals – Help people by addressing topics that are causing them...

A financial check-up is as important as an annual physical with a doctor. Like a medical exam, a review of someone’s personal finances can identify steps to improve “financial fitness” and screen for potential problems.