NTAE 2021-22 Progress Report.docx

March 2022 Progress Report and Prospectus of Work for Year 4 as of March 2022

NTAE 2021-22 Progress Report

Funding Opportunity Number: USDA-NIFA-OP-006747 Award Number: 2019-41595-30123 Awarded to Oklahoma State University Total Award: $3,408,000.00

Reporting Period: September 1, 2021 to February 28, 2022 (Year 2, Quarters 1 and 2) Date Submitted: March 7, 2022

Prepared by: Extension Foundation (Dr. Beverly Coberly, Extension Foundation PI) ℅ Bryan Cave LLP One Kansas City Place 1200 Main Street, Suite 3800

Submitted to:

Dr. Thomas Coon Dr. Damona Doye Oklahoma State University OSU Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources

139 Agricultural Hall Stillwater, OK 74708

I NTRODUCTION

Oklahoma State University (OSU), a Carnegie top-tier research university, is well-known for improving our quality of life by bringing new technologies, processes, and research to the marketplace. Under the leadership of President Burns Hargis, OSU embraces a culture of collaboration and innovation. Continuing that tradition, OSU submits this proposal in partnership with the Extension Foundation (EXF). As a land grant university (LGU), OSU is an eligible entity for the New Technologies for Ag Extension (NTAE) funding opportunity offered by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), and, therefore, serves as lead applicant and fiscal agent for the NTAE project described below. NTAE funding will allow OSU and its partners to advance the following strategic goals established by USDA for 2018-2022: Goal 1: Ensure USDA Programs are delivered efficiently, effectively, with integrity and a focus on customer service. Goal 2: Maximize the ability of American agricultural producers to prosper by feeding and clothing the world.

Goal 3: Promote American agricultural products and exports. Goal 4: Facilitate rural prosperity and economic development.

Goal 5: Strengthen the stewardship of private lands through technology and research. Goal 6: Foster productive and sustainable use of our National Forest System Lands. Goal 7: Provide all Americans access to a safe, nutritious, and secure food supply. In addition to advancing the strategic goals, OSU and its partners are committed to using NTAE funding to enable a technology-conscious nation to make use of the valuable information and education that the CES has to offer. To that end, the proposed Enhancing Electronic Extension (E3) project will expand upon the progress Extension Foundation has achieved during the past twelve years of NIFA-funded initiatives as well as implement innovative strategies that impact the future.

Extension Foundation Organizational History

In 2004, Cooperative Extension directors and administrators established the Extension Foundation with a singular directive: to increase Extension professionals’ effectiveness in addressing issues of importance to the nation. Key strategies to achieve this mission included: advancing the use of technology to engage learners; bringing together existing knowledge and

technology to create new practices and knowledge, and engaging a broader and more diverse learning community across rural and urban settings.

Since July 2006, USDA-NIFA has invested NTAE funding in the Extension Foundation’s national infrastructure, first through the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, then through Michigan State University. OSU’s application for NTAE funding sought to augment the Extension Foundation’s efforts—both within the Cooperative Extension System (CES) and among strategic partners who are positioned to contribute expertise and connect with diverse audiences. Today, the Extension Foundation is a member-based nonprofit virtual network of approximately 35,000 Extension educators. The Extension Foundation is part of the national CES with a board of directors composed of elected CES directors and administrators from each of the six Extension regions, along with ex officio members from the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP) and NIFA. Review of Year 3 Objectives This report is a summary based on the two quarterly reports from Year 3. This report lists activities, outcomes, and outputs by area or project, which result in an integrated progress report rather than an objective-based report. This report will have primary project plans, activities and early outputs as the report are completed with only two quarters of work. Objectives of the NTAE grant are listed below: Objective 1. Foster opportunities for innovation by connecting CES personnel with new and innovative technologies that engage a wide array of learners. a. Enhance and upgrade existing functionalities b. Provide customer support, including help-desk staffing, web hosting, training, and software licenses. c. Provide infrastructure support for technical and architectural standards. Objective 2. Provide professional development opportunities that promote the use of open networked learning and other forms of online-based teaching resources. This work will be done through the mobilization of new talents and networks with projects aligned with the USDA Strategic Goals. a. Mobilizing Talent and Networks b. The Professional Development effort

Objective 3. Build capacity within and across the CES to effectively engage strategic partners so more customers can be reached across multiple platforms in real-time with science/research-based content. a. Building capacity with fellows and strategic partners b. Organizational leadership and capacity

Objective 4. Update existing and develop any new policies that may be needed to support the business aspects.

Objective 5. Develop and implement a comprehensive evaluation, and communications and marketing effort. a. Evaluation b. Competitiveness in the information and education marketplace c. Design of new and exceptional curricula/program resources for traditional and expanded audiences d. Communications and Marketing

Project Narrative Summary

The NTAE project, under the leadership of Oklahoma State University, continues to build upon the strengths and capacities of the Extension Foundation, including its experience providing technology tools for Cooperative Extension professionals and catalyzing professional development innovation in Year 3. NTAE projects are designed to achieve the objectives of the New Technologies for Ag Extension initiative and to align with USDA Strategic Goals and ECOP Program Priorities.

Key Strategies: Technology Learning and Networking Platform NTAE Competitive and NIFA NTAE Preselected Projects

❖ Technology for CES : Partnering with Eduworks and North Carolina State University (NCSU) to enhance existing functionalities to increase the amount of content available and improve access to content. The most significant enhancement involves building Artificial Intelligence into Extension’s Ask Extension tool. The current version, Ask an Expert, is a searchable repository of 50,000 questions posed by the public, and answers supplied by 2,600 Extension educators is now replaced by Ask Extension. Ask Extension is based on open-source software and contains several additional features that allow questions asked by the public to be routed to the state of question origin. ❖ National Program and Asset Registry : Another significant accomplishment is the National Registry of Cooperative Extension Programs and Assets launched to house searchable program information and resources such as presentations, information sheets, and evaluation tools for CES. We are using this tool with a CDC/NIFA program called Extension Collaborative on Immunization Teaching and Engagement (EXCITE) and are expanding the use of the tool to NTAE. This tool will enable Cooperative Extension to create a dynamic geographic map about the incredible work happening system-wide on immunization education and show the strength and value that Cooperative Extension brings to our communities. ❖ Learning and Networking Platform for CES: Connect Extension is a co-learning environment that expands networking and professional development opportunities to all

Land-Grant Universities, NTAE partners, and their constituents. Launched in response to Covid-19 in March 2020, the platform currently has 4,875 Extension users participating in subgroups from Health, Urban Agriculture, to Climate. The accounts represent 4438 from 1862 institutions, 310 from 1890 institutions, 22 from 1994 institutions, 56 from federal agencies (USDA, HHS, EPA, NIH), and three from USDA-NIFA certified NLGCA's. Since September 1, 2021, there were 336,000 users representing 411,000 sessions. 88.5% were new visitors to the platform. 54.5% were on mobile, 43.2% on Desktop and 2.3% were on tablets. They represented a total of 622,672 page views since September 2021. ❖ USDA Related NTAE Projects: Research and Extension Catalysts mobilize talent among networks within Extension and from private- and public sector partners. The Catalysts recruited projects from across the Land Grant system. Project teams submitted an online nomination form. Projects that applied went through an application process where the projects were scored in a vetted rubric by outside reviewers. The final selection for projects rested on the scored rubrics and advice from catalysts about project readiness. All NTAE project topics related to the USDA Strategic Goals. Catalysts provide a lead mentor role with projects. Additionally, in Year 3, NIFA identified a number of preselected projects to fund that are placed in our project accelerator for Catalysts to mentor and Key Information Services to provide additional resources. Catalysts serve as program advisory support and are past senior program or administrative CES personnel. Catalysts have many years of experience with programming and networks across the country. Catalysts are Dr. Scott Reed, Dr. Fred Schlutt, Dr. Rick Klemme, Dr. Chuck Hibberd, Dr. Jimmy Henning, Dr. Dawn Mellion, Dr. Chuck Ross, and Dr. Dyremple Marsh. ❖ Sharing Learning with CES: The curated resources and outputs from NTAE projects are in the Flipping Books format and are now published by the Extension Foundation. Professional development through virtual chats and are also utilized by projects to share information throughout the life of the project. ❖ Communication and Marketing: Targeted communication and marketing strategies ensure resources are available to CES professionals to create a national network of CES involved in a focused effort and provide greater visibility for CES. The Extension Foundation now uses HubSpot as the customer resource management tool and as a platform for communications and email. This represents over 220 organizations including Land Grant Institutions and other organizations engaged with our non-member/public offerings. ❖ NTAE Competitive and Preselected Project Information: These strategies are described at length in this report starting on page 17.

❖ Partnerships for Expansion and Sustainability: Leadership by individual stakeholders is necessary but not sufficient to drive transformational and systemic change. Collective action and collaboration is essential. It is needed among projects themselves, in specific sectors, around specific issues and locations. It is also needed on a cross-sector or multi-stakeholder basis between companies, governments, and organizations like the Cooperative Extension System. The partnership strategy applied to NTAE projects expands current partnerships and organizational networks for the CES system by connecting the fellows to various public, private and corporate partners. Reporting View: This report will share the activities and outcomes for quarters one and two (September 1, 2021. 1 - February 28, 2022) by the key strategies and the specific NTAE projects to provide better context and meaning for the report. (For those wanting to read the Flipping Book Report by each quarter, here is a link to those reports:

● Quarter 1 report can be accessed here. ● Quarter 2 report can be accessed here.

Many of the NTAE accomplishments from Year 2 and part of Year 3 through the Extension Foundation are highlighted in the 2021 Extension Foundation Year-End Report. https://connect.extension.org/blog/extension-foundation-2021-end-of-year-update

Advancing Technology for CES Objective 1. Foster opportunities for innovation by connecting CES personnel with new and innovative technologies that engage a wide array of learners. d. Enhance and upgrade existing functionalities e. Provide customer support, including help-desk staffing, web hosting, training, and software licenses. f. Provide infrastructure support for technical and architectural standards. The key strategies under Objective 1 for achieving project objectives and strategic goals include advancing technology for CES databases and for CES program delivery which is critical for CES professionals to advance on critical issues and educational endeavors throughout the system. ● Ask Extension is redesigned to Ask an Expert . This redesign is built to use artificial intelligence to provide additional power for database searches and the ability to answer

and respond to customer questions across the US. Ask Extension is a national initiative that leverages machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to pull together data sources from the Extension ecosystem to answer questions directly and accurately and connect to local citizens with their local Extension professionals, products, and services. To date, September 2021 through February 2022, the following has been accomplished: ○ Implementation of new question reassignment user interface in Ask Extension ○ Development of containers in Google Cloud to improve security and reliability of infrastructure for Ask Extension ○ Ongoing bug fixes and feature development for Ask Extension ○ Continued development of Extension Chatbot ○ Successfully migrated Ask Extension server from AWS to Google Cloud Platform ○ Implementation and debugging of enhanced expert reassignment in Ask Extension ○ Eduworks has hired someone to help train the AI/chatbot platform on insect/pest image identification ○ Next steps are to: ■ Complete transition of Ask Extension to a new platform. ■ Complete hiring of image labeling intern and begin the labeling work. ● Helpdesk ○ In the specified date range, 339 clients were helped during the second quarter and 283 during the first quarter. The Helpdesk received a 94% satisfaction rating. 44% of the requests were first responded to within 12 of request submission. ● Search.extension.org The search team has met with several vendors over the past few months to compare cognitive search products and pricing. ○ MindBreeze (a cognitive search tool) was selected on December 3 and work has begun on building the custom search engine. ● The Artificial Intelligence work continued with the California Integrated Pest Management. Eduworks is working with California Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to triangulate questions/answers and images used to answer IPM questions, making sure the correct data tags are in place for machine learning. AI efforts are also underway with the University of Georgia Food Preservation NTAE Project. ● Web Hosting continued to be an important aspect of NTAE/Extension for managing access to content through technology. ○ 107 websites are hosted with a new archiving and deletion policy to sunset underperforming and abandoned sites. ○ Twelve sites have been switched to archive status and will be sunsetted in six months.

Learning and Networking Platform for CES

Connect Extension is a co-learning environment that adapts existing Extension technology to expand professional development opportunities to all Land Grant Universities, NTAE partners, and their constituents. Connect Extension was implemented in Year One and is powered by a commercial tool called Crowdstack. The main features include the Learn Calendar for Cooperative Extension to advertise online events to the public, a blog for amplifying the reach of Cooperative Extension professionals, and subgroups (NTAE project groups)for Cooperative Extension to collaborate internally. Minor updates were made to the Connect Extension interface. Learn continues to be a popular tool within Connect Extension. The Extension Foundation also developed project news releases and blogs, promotional pieces, email campaigns, web campaigns, and web announcements that are shared via the Connect Extension platform. Connect Extension will continue to work with national project teams to enhance and scale the use of subgroups across the platform focused on specific program areas.

● Quarter 1 Data:

○ 272,763 Pageviews ○ 219,305 Unique pageviews

○ Publications database: 977 page views/710 unique pageviews, automated 240 emails to database visitors for re-engagement and content distribution. ○ 99 events advertised by Cooperative Extension professionals ○ Campaigns: ○ Connect Extension Weekly Digest: ■ 67,478 email delivered ■ 24,338 opened ■ 2,144 clicks to resources

■ 3,371 sessions ■ 68 new contacts ■ 548 influenced contacts

● Quarter 2 Data:

○ 239K page views

■ 189K unique page views

○ 128K visitors ○ 155K sessions ○ 72 Cooperative Extension events advertised

● National Registry: In quarter 1 the National Registry made advancements. NEAFCS became a partner in

Family and Consumer Science questions, SRDC and the ECOP Broadband Program Action Team became a partner in Broadband and Digital Literacy questions, and work began on questions for the National Extension Tourism network. The registry was updated by the end of December to create a cleaner design at the request of many. A presentation was given to NEAFCS on 12/9/2021 on how they can use the register. Additionally, the National Registry received a significant update in February 2022. This includes enabling accessibility features that bring the platform in compliance with the American Disabilities Act (ADA). The tool now has a badge that says "Accessibility Enabled." Additionally, the front-end design was overhauled to allow for multiple questions per screen rather than a single question per screen based upon feedback from users. Several questions in the Registry were reworked to reduce redundancy and the question logic was improved to ensure users did not receive duplicate questions. The Registry also now includes Tourism, Recreation, and Hospitality Extension questions in partnership with the National Extension Tourism Network (NET). The development of a second version of the submission reviewing table and potentially in ArcGIS or WordPress is planned for Spring 2022.

Quarter 1 Data:

■ 172 programs registered ■ 907 pageviews

● 843 unique pageviews of the registry table

Quarter 2 Data:

○ 199 Submissions ○ 790 front end views of submission form ○ 917 views of registered programs ○ 28 new programs registered

● Social Media Presence: EXF communications channels include a large social media presence. H ere is social media data from September 1 to Present

Social Media

Audience Published Posts

Interactions Clicks

Impressions

Facebook 3385

215

9920

Twitter

2321

362

LinkedIn 1523

253

131

7429

Sessions total 11,968.

● Customer Relationship Management System Integrated inbound and outbound marketing initiatives through implementation of customer relationship management system with ○ Customer acquisition of 24,000 Cooperative Extension professionals with accurate job titles, land-grant and county affiliation, and general demographic information. ○ Conducted targeted communications and email marketing of relevant content: 179K emails sent, 44% open rate, 5.18% click rate. 14.26% CTR.

● Additional exploratory work underway: ○ Working to explore setting up a dashboard with Farm Journal for a pilot.

○ Working with the ECOP DEI team on merging committee and subcommittee working into one spot on the Data Connect Extension Connect Groups. Working to compile the former Community of Practice, Extension Foundation E-field books, the civil dialogue site. Working with a Promising Programs Approach for DEI to also be housed in Connect Extension ○ Working with the NUEL group to find a sustainable option for their website with the constant changeover of leaders ○ Working with one EDA on possibly creating a demo for how other groups can better utilize Connect Extension for organizational work.

NTAE Competitive and NIFA Preselected Projects

USDA-related NTAE Projects and the efforts supporting those projects are best reported under the following objectives:

Objective 2. Provide professional development opportunities that promote the use of open networked learning and other forms of online-based teaching resources. This work will be done through the mobilization of new talents and networks with projects aligned with the USDA Strategic Goals. c. Mobilizing Talent and Networks d. The Professional Development effort Objective 3. Build capacity within and across the CES to effectively engage strategic partners so more customers can be reached across multiple platforms in real-time with science/research-based content. c. Building capacity with fellows and strategic partners d. Organizational leadership and capacity Objective 5. Develop and implement a comprehensive evaluation, and communications and marketing effort. e. Evaluation f. Competitiveness in the information and education marketplace g. Design of new and exceptional curricula/program resources for traditional and expanded audiences h. Communications and Marketing These combined objectives and efforts represent the acceleration of NTAE projects. Projects may use some or all of the NTAE funded resources to accelerate their project. This progress report is being written Year 3 Quarter 2. Projects are working through the acceleration process at this time which typically means in Quarter 1 and Quarter 2 they are developing their plans and starting their project acceleration efforts. NTAE Projects include a total of 20 competitive projects that went through an application selection phase, and projects were preselected by NIFA. Research and Extension Catalysts mobilize talent among networks within Extension and from private and public sector partners. The Catalysts consulted with Land Grant Institutions and their networks to identify topics related to the Strategic Goals, and locate resources that address each topic to encourage applications for the competitive NTAE projects. Project teams submitted a

nomination form, the application was reviewed by a team of outside scorers through the use of a rubric and once applications were selected by the outside team for the NTAE Project, the Catalysts provided insight as to project readiness. Year 3 Catalysts include Dr. Scott Reed, Dr. Fred Schlutt, Dr. Rick Klemme, Dr. Chuck Ross, Dr. Dyremple Marsh, Dr. Jimmy Henning, Dr. Dawn Mellion, and Dr. Chuck Hibberd. In the first two quarters, catalysts assisted with the following: 1) Identifying topics for publishing. 2) Refining unique value statements and project roadmaps for project implementation

3) Providing support for expanding project networks 4) Providing input for selected Fellows for each topic 5) Working with Key Informants and projects:

Identifying key partners and building relationships with projects Conducting surveys and working with the evaluation of projects Advising the Audience Engagement Initiative and projects timing. Connecting team building and leadership building strategies with teams Seeking to embed evaluation into projects Assisting with connecting with digital engagement and professional development strategies with project teams

Selected projects work with the Extension Foundation “Key Informant Services” to enhance, expand, and accelerate the projects. Extension Foundation Key Informant Services include the following: Extension Key Informant Services Extension provides a menu of “key informant services” designed to accelerate innovative projects. The services and Extension lead staff are: ● Program Design and Educational Technology encourages projects to share their processes and products via Connect.Extension.org. Professional development is about a learning process for the projects and CES where Fellows work through digital and online methods to network and share their newly developed content and processes. If a team’s project calls for producing events such as a conference, we can also help with objective and agenda creation. If a team’s project is developing a curriculum (especially an online curriculum), we can also consult on adult learning theory and instructional design. ○ This is led by Molly Immendorf, WI. ● Digital Engagement and Publishing support for digital learning and instruction used by the project is needed and also for Extension professionals to share the process and learnings which are expected to be shared digitally from each project. Each project is

expected to use Connect Extension. The Digital Engagement KI service helps teams use technology tools and strategies to engage, inform, deepen learning, and increase connections. Specific advice around successful ways to engage peers virtually may include developing engagement objectives and outcomes and then matching educational technology tools and techniques to achieve those outcomes. Example tools include Connect Extension Virtual Chats, using Zoom tools effectively, and using third-party engagement tools (Mentimeter, Quizizz, Google Suite, Mural, etc.) ○ This is led by Ashley Griffin, KY, Rose Hayden-Smith, CA, and Heather Martin. ● Leadership and Leadership Development support and training for adaptation to a digital environment are provided (helping Fellows be leaders in a digital environment) as well as team building for each project is a part of this support system. Leadership learning and team building are embedded in many of the NTAE projects. ○ Helps combine the ability of self-awareness with social awareness to think and act strategically. ○ Supports a healthy environment as it relates to interactions between individuals and teams inside the system in which they operate. ○ Assists individuals and teams with challenging environments defined by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. Develop agility for continuous observation, learning, and adjusting. ○ Balances experiential learning includes but is not limited to: ■ Connection to purpose ■ Relating experiences in dialogue and reflection to elevate levels of thinking ■ Work on values/beliefs to support authentic behavior change ■ Leadership as a relationship ■ Positive transformation with sustainable changes in attitudes, behaviors & performance should be the minimum expectation ○ This is led by Karl Bradley, CO. ● Flipping Book/s or epub publishing of resources and processes used by the project are important for sharing content and processes. This publishing process allows the content and process of the project to be documented and researchable by others to support project expansion and project adoption. In year 3, publishing Key Informants, alongside team Catalysts, will identify Published NTAE projects from the recent past can be found on the Extension Foundation Bookshelf. This bookshelf is evolving so updates will be expected. All publications that make the bookshelf have been peer-reviewed. Details in regard to contributor rights for author contributions are summarized from the foundation Terms of Use. A summary for Catalyst convenience and talking points has been compiled in the

Extension Foundation Publication Contributor Terms of Use. This is led by Ashley Griffin, KY. ● Market research, and/or strategic messaging strategies are provided as needed for projects to better understand their audiences and increase participation in their program. Market research, media audits, and strategic communications are a part of this accelerating strategy. The marketing and communication Key Informant service work with projects to identify strategies for better connecting with your target audiences, assessing digital presence, assisting with creative projects, and helping equip teams with skills and tools needed for successful audience engagement and marketing and communication campaigns. ○ This is led by Aaron Weibe, NC, and Melanie Pugsley, TX. ● Partnership and Development work with fellows and projects by assisting with early partner development for co-creation of ideas and implementation where possible. This effort seeks to develop partners for early-stage co-creation and long-term support of the project. Projects develop case statements during the year to be ready for partnership development beyond the NTAE Project year. Partnership and development strategies help strengthen team effectiveness for fostering new partnerships and innovations ○ Prepares teams to engage with key organizations, and successfully cultivate new funding opportunities. ○ Empowers NTAE Teams to develop new program possibilities, new funding, and new partnerships ○ Identifies and shares funding opportunities through grant resources ○ Elevates projects at the national level through internal (to CES) and external organizational collaborations. ○ This is led by Megan Hirschman, MI and Hellina Tadesse, NY. ● Evaluation and Evidence-Based Programming are embedded in each project to help ensure impact data is gathered about the outcomes of the project itself. Evaluation for understanding the growth and development of a project is expected learning of each project. NTAE Team projects/programs that are demonstrating Evidence-based Programming (EBP) to be shared with CES through an ePub publication. Publishing will also consider how integration of digital engagement strategies can enhance these publications, and to incorporate any digital content/assets created through work with the Marketing and Communications and Program Design and Educational Technology. A systematic approach guided the evaluation support for year 3 that began with each team’s Impacts Worksheet submitted during application. From a team’s initial worksheet, in combination with catalysts input and project evolution with Key Informants, the Impacts Worksheet will be updated to guide project evaluation.

○ Support is provided to each team in developing their evaluation methods and instruments with input from evaluation specialists used as reviewers (ie: peer reviewers) to hone these methods and instruments for implementation. Key Informants work with teams in evaluation and bring in assistance and reviewers as needed, based on specialty, to fine-tune instruments and methods for collection. The process of pairing teams with evaluation specialists with appropriate expertise may be expanded whereby assignments to specific teams may occur based on evaluation needs. ○ This is led by Ashley Griffin, KY, Marie Ruemenapp, MI, and Paulina Velez, OK. ● Grant Reporting and Administrative Support is provided by Tira Adelman, NC, and Brenna Kotar, TX.

NTAE Competitive Projects

An Extension Implementation Toolkit for the Diabetes Prevention Program Fellow: Vanessa Da Silva, University of Arizona Roadmap CE-NDPP (specific google sheet for this project roadmap) Fellow Report: The purpose of this project is to develop an NDPP Toolkit for use across CES. The team participated in Impact Collaborative in October 2021 to better develop plans for the project. A listening session was held on Nov 29th with all members of the national Extension Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) working group to learn about what would be helpful to have in a toolkit. The project team joined the subgroup on Connect Extension. The project team submitted a proposal for a session at NHOC to disseminate our toolkit (and/or help inform its development) and the proposal was accepted. The team will present at NHOC in May. Zena Edwards met with WSU Extension Health Economist (Bidisha Mandal) to find a way to use the NDPP Impact Toolkit ( Diabetes Prevention Impact Toolkit - Diabetes Toolkit (cdc.gov)) calculator for estimating Extension program (county, state or national level) health savings based on actual program outcomes. This is still a work in progress but they determined the “Employer” option is likely best for the Diabetes Prevention Impact Toolkit: Employer Input Dashboard - Diabetes Toolkit (cdc.gov). This could be a valuable tool for Extension professionals with well established programs. Jennifer, Soghra and Zena met to develop a “Case for Preventing Diabetes” draft similar to the page on AMA website. The project team created a first draft of an outline for our toolkit and started pulling out a roadmap, both on Google Docs.

Catalysts’ Report: Chuck Hibberd and Rick Klemme

● The team conducted a team health survey which initiated better planning and action on the development of their toolkit. ● The team is working on a publication on approach and methodology

● The team is collaborating with the partnership and development team on funding and partnerships (includes Roger Rennekamp) ● The DPP Toolkit development is now underway. Key Informant Services Reports: Leadership and Leadership Development Team completed the initial Team Health survey based on Google's "Project Aristotle.” The team also had a team effectiveness session on “Busy is a Choice” to better understand how concentration assists in getting work done. Digital Engagement and Publishing The team created and provided to catalysts a publishing/Digital Engagement (DE) readiness rubric, which collected information and assessed the project’s need and readiness for publishing and DE services. The project team will be ready to start writing in Quarter 3 and complete their publication draft. ● The Fellow(s) may meet with the publishing/DE team and catalysts to share information about the project, what the Fellow hopes to accomplish with publishing/DE, and explore publishing/DE possibilities. If support is required, we will initiate writing and/or DE planning processes. ● Project review and brainstorm by the Digital Publishing and Engagement team with the project team and catalysts. This team would like to have a simple EXF-hosted website up and a publication on the shelf prior to their involvement at a national nutrition conference in early May. ● The Digital Publishing and Engagement team has outlined some digital strategy possibilities with the Fellow and project team. ● The Fellow and project team have received writing prompts and an interview has been scheduled with the team. ● Discussion has begun regarding an Extension Foundation hosted website. ● Peer reviewers have been identified ● Publication timeline has been discussed Marketing and Communications This team explored solutions for implementing the online toolkit. At this time we are meeting with Ben MacNeill for the development of the online toolkit through EXF WordPress hosting . Partnership and Development The team discussed potential funding and partnership opportunities with entities such as the Centers for Diseases Control (CDC) and Extension Directors/Administrators across the nation

and discussed creating a one-page case statement and customized documents for various potential funders and partners. The team will create a case statement and work on customized documents to engage potential funders and partners in Quarter 3. Evaluation Evaluation KIs have reviewed team documents for an initial assessment of evaluation needs based on submissions. The team is interested in identifying or developing an instrument to measure participants’ self-efficacy to implement the toolkit. The team will identify or develop an instrument to measure participants’ self-efficacy to implement the toolkit.

Program Evaluation for Farm and Ranch Stress and Suicide Prevention Fellow: Amy Patillo, University of Missouri Roadmap MUEFSPE Fellow Report: The purpose of this project is to evaluate the efficacy of Missouri's Farm Ranch Stress Assistance Center to provide mental health services to agricultural producers and their allies. This will allow improved data collection and data storytelling processes with the (12) partner institutions in the North Central Region (NCR). The team collectively worked to understand the data collection and management challenges and is implementing a data collection portal, working with the data collection process and with Question, Persuade, and Refer suicide prevention program. The process will then be used with the additional mental health programs the project is working on. Here are the project achievements and progress to date: ● Farm Ranch Dashboard has been launched. ● Farm Stress Management programs have consolidated pre/post-surveys and instructor end-of-course reports for Taking Care of You and QPR. ● Implemented the new Master Schedule for all programs to track the number of participants registered, completed, and will implement tracking for the number of program scholarships available. ● Initiated streamlining the quarterly grant reporting process. ● Guide sheets added to Dashboard for MOCode used to clarify programs under 2 simultaneous grants, and a Guide sheet for scheduling programs in the Extension reporting system. ● Video created for Grant team members and instructors to set Dashboard as homepage, to set browser as default browser, and a quick review of updates. ● Three program impact statements have been requested by the University of Missouri Extension Administration to showcase the program value in different settings. ● The Vice-Chancellor of Missouri Extension and Engagement chose the Farm and Ranch Stress program to be showcased in the USDAAnnual Impact Report. ● The Dashboard has improved efficiency and access to data and data reporting which has led to increased collaboration and more timely reporting. ● The Dashboard is being consistently utilized by instructors and team members. ● The team is developing a portal to increase access to the project information and better coordinate data collection and outcomes reporting.

● Consolidating the data collection process in Qualtrics and simplifying the process in coordination with the program directors.

Farm Stress Dashboard can be found here.

Catalyst Report: Jimmy Henning and Dawn Mellion ● The team more than met the benchmarks they set for themselves of creating a farm stress dashboard and getting a handle on data collection. They are looking forward to publishing a document regarding this process. Writing resources have been shared with the project team. ● The project leaders took the Team Health Survey and found it very informative. The plan now is to have the whole team take the Team Health Survey. ● The project team reached out to EXF and the Communications and Marketing KI for help in developing infographics and storytelling using the Taking Care of You data. They are currently thinking perhaps a combination infographic/heat map/dashboard could be used to enhance the information the team is trying to report. ● The team is working on the development of a case statement to aid the team in partnership and resource development. In addition to a one-page case statement, a customized 2nd page that caters to specific audiences was also mentioned as an idea to consider. Questions to be considered would include: What is the vision in regards to funding and partnerships? Short term? Medium-term? Long term? In addition, the team is working to develop a strategic 10-year plan on where the farm stress program goes from here. ● This is another really successful project. The team decided early on to focus on one of the three databases available to them and only used the Taking Care of You curriculum results. They have completed the farm stress dashboard and are working on a 1-page case statement. A team health survey was conducted with mixed reviews. It was observed that the goals of the survey nor the instructions were clear, which presented a few challenges. They will be working with this team to develop an infographic and a heat map. Hopefully from the heat map, the project team can determine if all audiences are being reached, and if not, they will develop strategies to increase the reach of the project across demographic/cultural audiences.

Key Informant Services

with the team.

Digital Engagement and Publishing The Publishing/DE team created a publishing/DE readiness rubric, which collected information and assessed the project’s need and readiness for publishing and DE services. Partnership and Development The project team and the partnership and development team discussed current program grant funders and learned of the specifications of each funder. Evaluation Evaluation Key Informants have reviewed team documents and met with this project to identify areas of support. The identified need was creating infographics and storytelling about this project.

Project Demeter Fellow: Andrew “Drew” Carson, University of the District of Columbia Roadmap Demeter

Fellow Report: The purpose of this project is to: Develop an online certification program to train urban farmers, then help them to establish urban mini-farms following the project year, then help them sell their produce through an app. Key deliverables: ● Urban farming market research interview: Draft completed. ● Food app market research interview: Draft started but not completed. ● Course 1 Soil-Based Systems: Instructor assigned, Draft started, in progress. ● Course 2 Soilless Systems: Instructor assigned but course not started. ● Course 3 Food Safety: Instructor not yet assigned.

● Course 4 Waste Management and Composting: Instructor assigned but not yet started. Course 5 Agribusiness and Marketing: Instructor not yet assigned. Accomplishments to date:

● The Soil-based course is nearing completion, with the first of 8 sessions reviewed and uploaded to the Campus site. The initial course will be synchronous and should launch in early March. The asynchronous version of this course will follow in the summer. ● The Soilless course is in early development, essentially at the gathering materials stage. Although in theory, we should benefit from existing materials previously developed, these materials appear to be insufficient in current form to create a complete course from. We nevertheless hope to launch this course in early March and then keep up with development across its 8 sessions. The asynchronous version of this course will follow in the summer. ● We have obtained internal funding sufficient to pay for the development of the remaining 3 courses. We are pursuing 2 main options for hiring developers/instructors: 1) discussion with staff from Virginia State University; 2) if possible, hiring former staff from CAUSES now working in the local area (having to check with UDC HR and Legal about this). We would seek to launch the courses on a rolling development basis as with the other two courses (essentially pilot programs), with asynchronous versions of the courses to be completed in the summer. ● Introduction to Urban Farming, a one-session course that introduces students to the urban farmer certification program. Design phase completed. Expected to launch in

early March 2022 as a synchronous course, to be transformed to an asynchronous course by May 2022. Market research interview for food app completed. 3rd Quarter Plans: ● Market research interviews to be shared with Aaron Weibe for support in revision. ● Launch synchronous courses for Introduction to Urban Agriculture, Soil-Based Systems, Soilless Systems. ● Contracting for developers to complete Food Safety, Waste Management and Composting, and Agribusiness and Marketing courses ● Complete development and launch of remaining courses in the urban farmer certification program. Obtain evaluation data to suggest ways to improve the courses as they develop into asynchronous courses. ● Complete market research interviews for urban agriculture and food apps. ● Hire instructional design staff and begin the process of creating asynchronous courses in Articulate Storyline 360/Moodle. ● Connect with Black Farmers group in the DC region for interest in participating in the asynchronous certification program. ● Develop YouTube videos to begin developing a subscription base that could later convert to become participants in the asynchronous certification program. ● Create a presence on the UDC CAUSES website in support of the urban farmer certification program, with links to Catalyst’s Report: Dyremple Marsh, Dawn Mellion and Fred Schlutt ● This overall project has a large scope and trying to reduce it to something that can be accomplished in one project year have been challenging. After much dialogue between the Catalysts and the Fellow, it was agreed upon to develop the needed courses for the certification of urban farmers, the first stage of this NTAE project. ● There are plans in place to start working with the Publishing, Marketing, and Professional Development KI teams. A new challenge has emerged in that the Fellow on the project has accepted a position in another department within the university and it is not clear at this point if he will be allowed to continue working with project Demeter. The potential for his vision within an Urban Extension context could be enormous. The potential for his vision within an Urban Extension context could be enormous but is still in early-stage development. ● Additionally, UDC is undergoing a period of transition now so the available faculty to develop a curriculum has shifted. An outline of an Urban Agriculture certification curriculum was shared to use as a guide, suggesting the Fellow contact someone at

Virginia State University, a neighboring school that has a very successful Urban Ag Program to partner with and help him until he can fill in all of the gaps that UDC has.

Key Informant Services:

Leadership and Leadership Development Two informational sessions on our "Team Effectiveness" services including Google's Project Aristotle & Team Health dashboard. A team health survey is planned for Quarter 3. Digital Engagement and Publishing Publishing/DE team created and provided to catalysts a publishing/DE readiness rubric, which collected information and assessed the project’s need and readiness for publishing and DE services. Marketing and Communications Consulted with the team, but believe that this project is still attempting to find its focus and direction. Partnership and Development The partnership and development team discussed potential funding and partnership opportunities. Evaluation Evaluation KIs have reviewed team documents for an initial assessment of evaluation needs based on submissions.

Remote Online Initiative

Fellow: Paul Hill, Utah State University Roadmap USU ROI Fellow Report: The purpose of this project is a specialized remote work training program for rural residents and business leaders. This project is off to a great start and the assigned catalysts are extremely helpful in guiding in the process of scaling my ROI program nationally. Deliverables and plans for the year are in place, but the project can pivot as circumstances change. The objective is to (1) Establish an Onboarding Plan for affiliates of the ROI program, (2) Develop program communication content, (3) Execute a targeted marketing campaign to reach the project goal of (4) 10 approved aliates by end of August 2022.

The program pitch video: https://usu.box.com/s/1zbmm7ocztxzk3wn8o8e7s5bhswql8ml

At this time the project is working with the University of Kentucky as a potential affiliate. They are a finalist for the Build Back Better federal funding through the Economic Development Administration (EDA) and plan to use the funding for a remote work training program for people in rural counties with plans to use the ROI program for curriculum. The goal is to have 10 program affiliates by August 2022. At the end of Quarter 1, this project was already working with 4 approved affiliates with 4 more interested. Leaders at land grant institutions are asking for more information. Catalysts’ Report: Dyremple Marsh and Rick Klemme ● The Remote Online Initiative is a mature project that receives support from the university administration along with state and local governments. The project is working on developing marketing strategies that should increase the number of project affiliates. These include both land grant universities and non-land grant universities. To date, the onboarding of new affiliates has been increasing steadily, the ROI has used several of the KI services available with the main emphasis on professional development, team growth, publication, and marketing. The project is positioned for significant expansion and needs to plan how this will be managed in the near future. The project’s sustainability is guaranteed by funds from the state government. The ROI is supported by a fully staffed team and a fellow who has built relationships with both state and local officials. ● The Team Health Survey was conducted and reviewed.

● Follow-up sessions on personal values assessment and from me to we trust workshops conducted on 2/28 and 3/7, respectively. ● The Digital Engagement and Publishing Team engaged with the team on a publication highlighting the Utah experience. ● The Evaluation KI has engaged with the team. ● The Communications and Marketing KI engaged with the team on promotional, marketing materials to advance the affiliates. ● The Partnership and Development KIs engaged with the team on potential partner/funding opportunities. ● The Catalysts engaged with the team on scaling discussions.

Key Informant Services Reports:

Leadership and Leadership Development Two informational sessions on our “Team Effectiveness” services including Google’s Project Aristotle & Team Health survey dashboard. A team health survey is planned for Quarter 3. Digital Engagement and Publishing The Publishing/DE team created and provided to catalysts a publishing/DE readiness rubric, which collected information and assessed the project’s need and readiness for publishing and DE services. The Publishing/DE team has reviewed project materials, brainstormed ideas, and has a good understanding of the project. ● Publishing/DE readiness assessed ● Project review and brainstorm by publishing/Digital Engagement team ● Interview with the Fellow for ghostwriting project ● Writing has begun ● Peer reviewers identified ● Focused discussion on digital engagement, including the use of video content. ● The Fellow would like some social media training ● With catalysts, facilitate the introduction of the Fellow to the Broadband NTAE team due to the Fellow’s overlapping work. Marketing and Communications Current needs for this project are more consistent with Educational Technology and Digital Engagement.

Partnership and Development The partnership and development team reviewed the pitch video and provided feedback on how

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