Q2 Quarterly Reports NTAE Year 4

NTAE 2022-23 Quarterly Reports - Quarter 2

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: December 1, 2022 - February 28, 2023 (Year 4, Quarter 2) Date Submitted: April 24, 2023

Prepared by: Extension Foundation (Dr. Beverly Coberly, Extension Foundation PI and Tira Adelman, Extension Foundation Grants and Program Manager) ℅ 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

Project Narrative Summary

The NTAE project, under the leadership of Oklahoma State University, will continue 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 4. NTAE funding allows OSU and its partners to advance the Strategic Goals and ECOP Program Priorities. Additionally, the NTAE project is designed to achieve the objectives of the New Technologies for Ag Extension initiative and to align with USDA FY22 Priorities which are: A. Addressing Climate Change via Climate Smart Agriculture & Forestry

B. Advancing Racial Justice, Equity and Opportunity C. Creating More and Better Market Opportunities D. Tackling Food and Nutrition Insecurity

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

The key strategies for achieving project objectives and strategic goals include the following:

❖ 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 more than 500,000 questions posed by the public and answers supplied by 2,600 Extension educators is now replaced by Ask Extension. In addition, image recognition capability for things like plants and insects will be available. A chatbot is being developed to increase the impact of human experts by directing users to answers for common questions in existing resources most applicable to their location, season, and conditions. ❖ 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. This tool was developed with a CDC/NIFA program called

Extension Collaborative on Immunization Teaching and Engagement (EXCITE) and enables Cooperative Extension to create a dynamic geographic map about the 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 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 5,971 Land-grant University users participating in subgroups from Health, Urban Agriculture, Workforce to Climate. The accounts represent 5288 from 1862 institutions, 415 from 1890 institutions, 28 from 1994 institutions, 84 from federal agencies (USDA, HHS, EPA, NIH), and four from USDA-NIFA certified NLGCA's. The Hubspot platform was added in Year 3 Quarter 1 to further enhance communication and connectedness with CES. ❖ USDA Related NTAE Projects: Project teams submitted an online application form. Projects that applied went through an application process where the projects were scored in a vetted rubric by outside reviewers. 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. 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, and Dr. Dyremple Marsh. ➢ Communication and Marketing: Targeted communication and marketing strategies to 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. ➢ NTAE Competitive Project Information: These strategies are described in length in this report starting on page 12. ➢ 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. Projects expand current partnerships and organizational networks for the CES system by connecting the fellows to various public, private and corporate partners.

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 all projects to share their processes and products via Connect.Extension.org. Professional development is about a learning process for the projects and CES. Fellows share their learning through social media and virtual Professional Development. This is led by Molly Immendorf, WI. ● Digital Publishing and Engagement 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. Publishing via Flipping Books 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. This is led by Ashley Griffin , KY and Rose Hayden-Smith, CA, and Heather Martin, OH.. ● Leadership and Leadership Development support and training for adaptation to a digital environment is 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 is embedded in each project. This is led by Karl Bradley, CO. ● Marketing and Communication 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. This is led by Aaron Weibe, NC and Melanie Pugsley, TX. ● Partnership and Development works 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. This is led by Megan Hirschman, MI and Hellina Tadesse, NY. ● Evaluation is embedded in each project to help ensure impact data is gathered about the outcomes of the project itself. Evaluation for understanding growth and development of a project is expected learning of each project. This is led by Ashley Griffin, KY, and Julie Halverson, WI. ● Grant Reporting and Administrative Support is provided by Tira Adelman, NC and Brenna Kotar, OR.

Advancing Technology for CES Why is this important? Advancing technology for CES databases and for CES program delivery is critical for CES professionals to have access to newly developed information and to advance on critical issues and educational endeavors. ● Ask Extension and AI is redesigned to replace 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. ● Continued bug fixes and maintenance for Ask Extension. ● For AI work during this period we completed a version of the Chatbot we are calling Extension Bot. (ExtBot) that has access to Ask Extension data as well as Oklahoma State and Oregon data sets. Organizations can deploy either a state or data specific version of the chatbot, or a generalized model that pulls answers from Ask Extension. ○ Significant Results: ■ For this period the major accomplishment was getting an MVP (minimum viable product) in place for the chatbot. ○ Anticipated Work for Next Reporting Period: (Please list the objectives

and goals for the next reporting period which is March 1 - May 31): ■ We have limited funding during this period, but we will make any necessary updates/fixes to Ask Extension. For the ExtensionBot we want to implement a reporting feature that will allow organizations that implement the chatbot to view stats of the number of questions asked through ExTBot as well as view detail and historical data on questions asked.

● Helpdesk ○ In the reporting date range, we helped 420 clients and received a 91% satisfaction rating from those. We resolved 27% of the requests in our first response. This is down 43% from the previous quarter. We typically responded within 33 hours from the time a request was first submitted. ■ Significant Results: ● The first response resolution percentage is down 43% from the

previous quarter. While the first response solution percentage is down, the satisfaction rating was actually up a small percentage (1%). ■ Anticipated Work for Next Reporting Period: (Please list the objectives and goals for the next reporting period which is March 1 - May 31): ● Continue to maintain high-quality service to help desk customers. No other major objectives or goals are needed at this time.

● Search.Extension.org ○ MindBreeze was utilized to build out the custom search engine and provided access. ■ Significant Results: ● Two NTAE staff with North Carolina State, completed the introductory MindBreeze Connector course. ● The Search tool has been embedded on Ask Extension and gathered feedback from users on the effectiveness. ● After implementing Mindbreeze we came to the conclusion that

the technology required too much engineering work to fully implement. However, valuable experience was gathered on implementing Natural Language Processing technology like Mindbreeze and we feel we can use that experience to make both Ask Extension and our developing chatbot technology better. ■ Anticipated work for the next reporting period (March 1 - May 31): ● Ask Extension - maintenance plus minor feature updates with user feedback

● The Artificial Intelligence work continues 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. There are 2 chatbots, one trained for pest management with UC IPM and one we call “generalized” that was trained on all Cooperative Extension resources provided by Oregon State University and Oklahoma State University. ○ California IPM Chatbot - ■ Migrating CA IPM site content to a home-grown CMS, along with JSON exports to add them to the chatbot. This covers updating UC IPM’s registry of resources.

■ Decision will be made at the end of the quarter whether to sunset this project after alpha is stood up for public use and feedback in the Fall. ■ Ingested new JSON exports from UC IPM and Oregon State

● Website Hosting continues to be an important aspect of NTAE/Extension for managing access to content through technology. ○ The current website count on Pressable is 94. During the reporting period archived and deleted 6 unused sites. We have identified 10 underperforming sites and have posted a pending deletion banner on those sites. If no one contacts us the underperforming sites will be backed up and deleted.. ■ Significant Results: ● Sites generated a total of 465,323 views in the reporting period. ■ Anticipated work for the next reporting period (Please list the objectives

and goals for the next reporting period which is March 1 - May 31): ● Backup and delete underperforming sites marked for deletion.

Learning and Networking Platform for CES

Why are these important? A co-learning environment is needed for CES to be a system response for national issues that make impact at the local level. Networking, sharing information through educational offerings (webinars, blog posts) and learning in groups of similar interest advance the development of content, curriculum and processes for CES to utilize across the nation. ● Connect Extension Connect Extension is a closed social media network for Land-grant universities. At this time, we have been administering the platform while Land-grant university professionals deliver content for system- wide collaboration and public advertising. ○ Q2 Progress Achieved:: ■ 5,971 active CES accounts ■ 67 events advertised ■ 124,000 users ■ 150,000 sessions ○ Anticipated work for the next reporting period (Please list the objectives and goals for the next reporting period which is March 1 - May 31): ■ Onboard the USDA People’s Garden Initiative for use with their program participants (unfunded Cooperative Agreement ● National Registry: ○ Progress Achieved:: ■ 10 new submissions ■ 3,354 views. ● Social Media Presence: ○ ExF communication channels include a large social media presence. Here is social media data from December 1 - February 28: ■ 87 social media posts to 2 platforms ■ 160 interactions

■ 220 clicks ■ 30 shares ■ 8,492 impressions ■ 1,029 sessions ■ 10% increase in followers

Social Media

Audience Published Posts

Interactions Clicks

Impressions

Facebook 3722

117

4557

LinkedIn 1715

120

105

4135

NTAE Competitive Projects

Why are these important? NIFA funding allows various types of projects to be developed through teams to serve important local and national issues across the country. Projects are led by Fellows who lead educational efforts regarding the issue. Fellows demonstrate enhanced leadership and advanced project efforts to develop content, curriculum, delivery methods, partnerships and learn about additional methods to understand audiences. They fine tune their marketing strategies and extend the use of federal dollars applied to projects related to USDA and ECOP priorities brought to local issues. This leads to increased impacts of CES efforts across the country. These combined objectives and efforts represent the incubation, acceleration and expansion of NTAE projects. Projects may use some or all of the NTAE funded resources to accelerate their project. NTAE Projects include a total of 39 competitive projects that went through an application selection phase. 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 located 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 4 Catalysts include: Dr. Scott Reed, Dr. Fred Schlutt, Dr. Rick Klemme, Dr. Dyremple Marsh, Dr. Jimmy Henning, Dr. Dawn Mellion and Dr. Chuck Hibberd. 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: ❏ 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. ❏ Molly Immendorf, WI serves as lead. ❏ 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.) ❏ Ashley Griffin, KY; Rose Hayden-Smith, CA; and Heather Martin serve as leads. ❏ Flipping Books 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. NTAE projects from the recent past can be found on the Extension Foundation Publications. 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. ❏ Leadership and Leadership Development support and training for adaptation to a digital environment is 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. ❏ Marketing and Communications 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 works 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 works 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 teams 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 is embedded in each project to help ensure impact data is gathered about the outcomes of the project itself. Evaluation for understanding 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 speciality, 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, and Julie Halverson, WI. ❏ Grant Reporting and Administrative Support is provided by Tira Adelman, NC and Brenna Kotar, OR.

Quarter 2 Reporting Questions

During this reporting period, benchmark questions were asked of the teams since we have reached the six month mark of the funding cycle. To get a pulse on where teams currently in their projects the new questions listed below were asked:

Progress, Impacts, and Barriers Experiences this Quarter:

Thinking about your project work in this quarter, please indicate your progress in the following areas: Completed Ahead of Schedule On Schedule Behind Schedule N/A

Program Planning Program Implementation Program Evaluation Case Statement Extension Foundation Publication(s) Leadership or Team Development Marketing or outreach about your program Developing additional partnerships Other Publications

Please indicate if your program has encountered any of the following barriers in this quarter. (Check all that apply): Project concept is new and/or there are limited existing programs or info to build upon Time constraints for program planning, implementation, or evaluation Staffing needs or changes Funding issues Other (please list): Do you anticipate the project meeting its goals and/or objectives for the upcoming quarter? ● Yes ● No ● Unsure Thinking about the short, mid and long term goals of the project, please indicate your progress toward each this quarter: Lots of Progress

About the amount of progress I expected

Less progress than I would like

Short-term Mid-term Long-term

Have you had opportunities to share information about your program with other Extension professionals this quarter?

● Yes ● No ● Unsure or don’t recall

Please indicate how you have shared information about your project with other Extension professionals: (check all that apply) Webinar Learning circle Conference presentation Meetings Chats Other (please list)

Please indicate the extent to which you engaged with the following Extension Foundation services in this quarter Frequently Occasionally Rarely Never N/A Catalyst Publications Marketing Digital

Engagement Partnership and Development Leadership Development Evaluation Program Design and Educational Technology

Incubation Projects

These projects are still in the idea stage and pre-planning stage. Work on these projects took project leaders through an innovation process designed to help them think through their project ideas, audiences, outcomes, and plans. These projects will plan, test, and create a pilot. The Fellowship amount is $5000.

A Program Team for Multimedia IPM Outreach Fellow: Wayne Buhler, North Carolina State University

Fellow Report: December 2022: Our Program Team submitted a proposal to the Western Integrated Pest Management Grant Program on December 9. (see February 2023 for more details). Stephen Vantassel is the Project Director and Jeff Edwards and Dr. Dana Sanches are Co-PIs representing the Western region. January 2023: Various members (ranging from 5-9 people) of our team participated in the Impact Collaborative Summit, Jan. 17, 18 and 19. We made meaningful progress on the development of our Mural and benefitted from input from several Key Informants as well as our Coach, Molly Soeby. Wayne presented the team’s one-minute pitch on the last day and was extremely pleased that Megan Kruger, Program and Research Evaluation Specialist, West Virginia University, responded to our request for help. Megan met virtually with Wayne for a more complete description of our project. She provided excellent input into the development of our educational needs assessment for Extension personnel and converted the draft into Qualtrics format for electronic delivery. The team has “adopted” her, as well as Molly, as official members. February 2023: We were notified on Feb. 10 that our grant proposal to the Western IPM Center was awarded for funding! The title of our proposal was “Assessing Educator Needs for Content, Format and Delivery of Educational Resources for Integrated Management of Vertebrate Pests.” It provides $30,000 for the period: 3/1/23 - 2/29/24. The majority of funds will be used to defray travel costs for most of our team members to meet face-to-face at the 2023 Pesticide Applicator Certification and Training meeting in Traverse City, MI. The project objectives are listed below: 1. Assess the needs/desires of Extension Educators in the Western region states and territories to determine the content and format of educational resources on integrated vertebrate pest management. 2. Evaluate current IPM educational materials for vertebrate pest management (e.g., fact sheets, videos, etc.), revealed in the needs assessment of Extension Educators or recognized by our team, to determine their merit for wider use, or for

revision/enhancement to address resource shortfalls. 3. Prioritize the greatest needs for educational material. Create the outline for an online course on integrated management of vertebrate pests and conduct a preliminary assessment of its utility with educators. This assessment will include a specific focus on the Pacific Island Territories in collaboration with the Pacific Island Collaboration Team that leverages EPA Region 9 funding. Undoubtedly, we have benefitted from the support and services provided by the Extension Foundation NTAE Team (Molly and Megan, included). One of the grant reviewer’s comments hinted at the strength of our team that was aided by our experience with the ISBE and Impact Collaborative workshops. The reviewer stated, “Overall, this was a very well received and articulated proposal. There is clearly a need for this work, which is stated well by the PDs. The greatest strength of this proposal is the demonstrable support and engagement by the team members, who draw from all over the US, not just the West.” Thinking about your project work in this quarter, please indicate your progress in the following areas: Program planning Completed Program implementation Completed Program evaluation On Schedule Case statement On Schedule Extension Foundation publication(s) On Schedule Leadership or team development On Schedule Marketing or outreach about your program On Schedule Developing additional partnerships On Schedule

Please indicate if your program has encountered any barriers in this quarter: Time constraints for program planning, implementation, or evaluation.

Do you anticipate the project meeting its goals and objectives for the upcoming quarter? Yes

Thinking about the short, mid and long term goals of the project, please indicate your success toward each this quarter: Short-term Lots of progress

Mid-term

About the amount of progress I expected

Long-term

About the amount of progress I expected

Please comment about the project’s progress toward short, mid, and long-term goals: I believe we are on target for achieving our objectives and growing as a team.

Anticipated Work for Next Reporting Period: (Please list the objectives and goals for the next reporting period.) ● We continue to meet bimonthly and are refining the needs assessment in preparation for IRB approval/exemption. Results of the survey should be compiled and prepared for interpretation. I believe we are on target for achieving our objectives and growing as a team. Have you had opportunities to share information about your program with other Extension professionals? Yes Please indicate how you have shared information about your project with other Extension professionals. Meetings Please share other ways in which you have shared information or professional development about your program with Extension professionals: We are expanding our network of Extension wildlife damage specialists. Were you able to meet with your Coach, Catalyst(s) or Key Informants in this quarter? Yes

Please provide any supporting links that you would like to include with this report. ● Western IPM Center grant proposal for $30,000

Box Elder Jr. Livestock Course Fellow: Ashley Longmore, Utah State University

Fellow Report & Significant Results: Our online course is complete and we are working with Utah State University IT department to get it embedded into our website. Thinking about your project work in this quarter, please indicate your progress in the following areas: Program planning Completed Program implementation On schedule Program evaluation On schedule Case statement On schedule Extension Foundation publication(s) On schedule Leadership or team development On schedule Marketing or outreach about your program On schedule Developing additional partnerships On schedule

Please indicate if your program has encountered any barriers in this quarter: Time constraints for program planning, implementation, or evaluation.

Do you anticipate the project meeting its goals and objectives for the upcoming quarter? Yes

Please comment about the project’s progress toward short, mid, and long-term goals:

We are behind our goal of having our project launched in February, but we ran into an IT problem that we are working through.

Anticipated Work for Next Reporting Period: (Please list the objectives and goals for the next reporting period.) ● We hope to have some results and interaction/feedback on the online course. Have you had opportunities to share information about your program with other Extension professionals? Yes

Please indicate how you have shared information about your project with other Extension professionals.

● Webinar ● Meeting ● Chats

Were you able to meet with your Coach, Catalyst(s) or Key Informants in this quarter? Yes

Building Capacity to Address Broadband Access and Digital Skills in NC Cooperative Extension Fellow: Kenneth Sherin, North Carolina State University Fellow Report & Significant Results: Over the past quarter, I had two back surgeries. This has hampered progress on the work. We are gearing back and looking to finish strong. Thinking about your project work in this quarter, please indicate your progress in the following areas: Program planning Behind schedule Program implementation Behind schedule Program evaluation Behind schedule Case statement N/A Extension Foundation publication(s) N/A Leadership or team development Behind schedule Marketing or outreach about your program Behind schedule Developing additional partnerships Behind schedule Please indicate if your program has encountered any barriers in this quarter: Time constraints for program planning, implementation, or evaluation. Staffing needs or changes

Other barriers encountered this quarter: Project lead back surgeries

Do you anticipate the project meeting its goals and objectives for the upcoming quarter? Yes

Thinking about the short, mid and long term goals of the project, please indicate your success toward each this quarter: Short-term Less progress than I would like

Mid-term

About the amount of progress I expected

Long-term

Lots of progress

Please comment about the project’s progress toward short, mid, and long-term goals: The team has not been able to meet regularly, but our long term goal of bringing digital skills education into Extension portfolio has been boosted by a $1.33 Million grant. Anticipated Work for Next Reporting Period: (Please list the objectives and goals for the next reporting period.) ● Bring the team together to work on how to set up the systems to do the digital skills education. Have you had opportunities to share information about your program with other Extension professionals? Yes Please indicate how you have shared information about your project with other Extension professionals. ● Conference presentations ● Meetings ● Chats Were you able to meet with your Coach, Catalyst(s) or Key Informants in this quarter? No

Climate Smart Landscaping Fellow: Hamutahl Cohen, University of Florida

Fellow Report & Significant Results: My team has been working on two publications related to our work. First we are sharing the results of our needs assessment with local industry audiences in a trade journal. Second, we are publishing results for academic audiences in a peer-reviewed manuscript, which we have drafted and begun writing. We have met every month to refine our program planning of lectures and modules and have designed a certification program. Finally, we continue to develop partnerships with our local audiences to obtain feedback and support for our program. Thinking about your project work in this quarter, please indicate your progress in the following areas: Program planning Ahead of schedule Program implementation Behind schedule Program evaluation On schedule Case statement N/A Extension Foundation publication(s) N/A Leadership or team development On schedule Marketing or outreach about your program Behind schedule Developing additional partnerships On schedule

Please indicate if your program has encountered any barriers in this quarter: Time constraints for program planning, implementation or evaluation.

Other barriers encountered this quarter: Time constraints have been challenging, as each participant in our group has other professional obligations and sometimes finding time to meet can be challenging!

Do you anticipate the project meeting its goals and objectives for the upcoming quarter? Yes

Thinking about the short, mid and long term goals of the project, please indicate your success toward each this quarter: Short-term About the amount of progress I expected Mid-term Less progress than I would like Long-term About the amount of progress I expected Please comment about the project’s progress toward short, mid, and long-term goals: We are spinning wheels a little bit when it comes to designing lectures and modules that are part of our certification program. We end up discussing and revisiting the big ideas in our group meetings but should be working on the nitty gritty of drafting the actual classes we want to teach! Anticipated Work for Next Reporting Period: (Please list the objectives and goals for the next reporting period.) ● Working on module 1 for our certification program, connecting with local stakeholders and developing an advisory board for the program, drafting two publications. Have you had opportunities to share information about your program with other Extension professionals? Yes Please indicate how you have shared information about your project with other Extension professionals. ● Meetings ● Chat Please share other ways in which you have shared information or professional development about your program with Extension professionals: Emails, meetings, chats to share about our program and about NTAE opportunities for extension professionals. Were you able to meet with your Coach, Catalyst(s) or Key Informants in this quarter? Yes Experience(s) working with your Coach, Catalysts and/or Key Informants as applicable. Our coach has been available and supportive in our work throughout this period and it has been a pleasure to hear his perspective on our topics!

Creating a Multi-State Meat Consortium for Producers Fellow: Clarissa Harris, Tuskegee University

Fellow Report & Significant Results We are on the right track with creating our program. We are currently working on a survey to identify interest and other relevant information around meat processing. We are making progress and exceeding some of our short term goals. The development stage is fundamental and has been helpful while we develop our strategy. Thinking about your project work in this quarter, please indicate your progress in the following areas: Program planning On Schedule Program implementation On Schedule Program evaluation On Schedule Case statement On Schedule Extension Foundation publication(s) Behind schedule Leadership or team development Ahead of schedule Marketing or outreach about your program On Schedule Developing additional partnerships On Schedule

Please indicate if your program has encountered any barriers in this quarter: Project concept is new and/or there are limited existing programs or info to build upon.

Do you anticipate the project meeting its goals and objectives for the upcoming quarter? Yes

Please comment about the project’s progress toward short, mid, and long-term goals: We are making progress and exceeding some of our short term goals. The development stage is fundamental and has been helpful while we develop our strategy. Anticipated Work for Next Reporting Period: (Please list the objectives and goals for the next reporting period.) ● Continue to add content for use, work with the curriculum platform team to format content. Have you had opportunities to share information about your program with other Extension professionals? Yes Please indicate how you have shared information about your project with other Extension professionals. ● Webinar ● Conference presentation ● Meetings Please share other ways in which you have shared information or professional development about your program with Extension professionals: We have been working on outreach and networking so far. We plan to extend our network within the next month as well. Were you able to meet with your Coach, Catalyst(s) or Key Informants in this quarter? Yes

Experience(s) working with your Coach, Catalysts and/or Key Informants as applicable. I had an amazing coach and she still checks on me!

Cultural Competency for Municipalities Fellow: Tony Michael, West Virginia University

Fellow Report: We did not receive a report from this Fellow and/or Team Lead on their Quarter 2 progress.

*Please note that the NTAE Project Manager will be following up with this team to receive their progress report and emphasize the importance of submitting these required reports on time.

Developing Climate Relevant Content for Extension Programs Fellow: Duane Friend, University of Illinois

Fellow Report & Significant Results: We are in the process of working with online curriculum specialists and have been supplying content for sections in Climate Science, Climate Communication, Resources for specific Extension subject matter areas, and DEIJ content. This is going into a Moodle course platform. Collaborations are in place with the State Climatologist Office, the Midwest Climate Hub, and the departments of Atmospheric Sciences and Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois We have also concluded 6 Zoom interviews with Illinois Extension educators and specialists for their perspectives on climate change programming, which will have sections used throughout the course Thinking about your project work in this quarter, please indicate your progress in the following areas: Program planning Ahead of schedule Program implementation On schedule Program evaluation On schedule Case statement N/A Extension Foundation publication(s) N/A Leadership or team development N/A Marketing or outreach about your program On schedule Developing additional partnerships On schedule

Please indicate if your program has encountered any barriers in this quarter: Time constraints for the program.

Other barriers encountered this quarter: Everyone is busy- this is just one of many projects people are working on.

Do you anticipate the project meeting its goals and objectives for the upcoming quarter? Yes

Thinking about the short, mid and long term goals of the project, please indicate your success toward each this quarter: Short-term Lots of Progress Mid-term About the amount of progress I expected Long-term Less progress than I would like Please comment about the project’s progress toward short, mid, and long-term goals: We would like to have the course ready for use by summer, but time constraints for full development may not allow this to happen. Anticipated Work for Next Reporting Period: (Please list the objectives and goals for the next reporting period.) ● Continue to add content for use, work with the curriculum platform team to format content. Have you had opportunities to share information about your program with other Extension professionals? Yes Please indicate how you have shared information about your project with other Extension professionals. ● Conference presentation ● Chats Please share other ways in which you have shared information or professional development about your program with Extension professionals: Discussions with regional Extension directors for the state.

Were you able to meet with your Coach, Catalyst(s) or Key Informants in this quarter? Yes

Experience(s) working with your Coach, Catalysts and/or Key Informants as applicable. Jessica has been great to work with. She has good ideas for the team to think over.

High Plains Alternative Crops Conference Fellow: Sumit Sharma, Oklahoma State University

Fellow Report & Significant Results: We marketed our conference in this quarter and were able to conduct both conferences. The conference in Oklahoma was attended by 24 participants, and one in Texas was attended by 34 participants. We offered 2.5 CEUs in a conference conducted in Texas. Post program surveys were conducted at both locations. We will analyze the responses to these surveys and prepare a report for our extension administration. Thinking about your project work in this quarter, please indicate your progress in the following areas: Program planning Completed Program implementation Completed Program evaluation On Schedule Case statement On Schedule Extension Foundation publication(s) On Schedule Leadership or team development Completed Marketing or outreach about your program Completed Developing additional partnerships On Schedule

Please indicate if your program has encountered any barriers in this quarter: Project concept is new and/or there are limited existing programs or info to build upon.

Do you anticipate the project meeting its goals and objectives for the upcoming quarter? Yes

Thinking about the short, mid and long term goals of the project, please indicate your success toward each this quarter: Short-term Lots of progress Mid-term About the amount of progress I expected Long-term About the amount of progress I expected

Please comment about the project’s progress toward short, mid, and long-term goals: ● Short term: We have prepared a baseline agenda for the conference. ● Mid-term: We have conducted a conference. ● Long-term: We are still looking for sustained funding sources that will support this conference in future. Anticipated Work for Next Reporting Period: (Please list the objectives and goals for the next reporting period.) ● We will work on survey responses and will prepare a report. We may meet to discuss updating the agenda based on our experience from the first conference, and strategies on procuring further funds to cover logistics of the next conferences. Have you had opportunities to share information about your program with other Extension professionals? Yes Please indicate how you have shared information about your project with other Extension professionals. ● Learning circle ● Meetings ● Chats Please share other ways in which you have shared information or professional development about your program with Extension professionals: The ways are indicated in above list Were you able to meet with your Coach, Catalyst(s) or Key Informants in this quarter? Yes Experience(s) working with your Coach, Catalysts, and/or Key Informants as applicable. My Coach, Dr. Bump, has been very supportive of our project. I must thank her for her patience as she worked around my schedule during my busy schedule. Dr. Bump helped me with the tips she gave us from her extension experience.

Home Internet Adoption: Digital Ambassador Program Fellow: Alison Copeland, University of Missouri

Fellow Report & Significant Results: The curriculum, training, program structure, and communication strategy are nearing completion, slated to be finished by the end of March with pilot sites beginning in April. Our team submitted two digital demonstration planning grants to fund the pilots - one in a rural and one in an urban setting. Thinking about your project work in this quarter, please indicate your progress in the following areas: Program planning On Schedule Program implementation On Schedule Program evaluation On Schedule Case statement Completed Extension Foundation publication(s) On Schedule Leadership or team development Completed Marketing or outreach about your program On Schedule Developing additional partnerships On Schedule

Please indicate if your program has encountered any barriers in this quarter: Time constraints for program planning, implementation, or evaluation.

Other barriers encountered this quarter: Timing for funding to keep the project on track. We anticipate receiving funding but the award timeline may be extended, therefore affecting deliverables and opportunities for future funding.

Do you anticipate the project meeting its goals and objectives for the upcoming quarter? Yes

Thinking about the short, mid and long term goals of the project, please indicate your success toward each this quarter:

Short-term

About the amount of progress I expected

Mid-term

About the amount of progress I expected

Long-term

About the amount of progress I expected

Please comment about the project’s progress toward short, mid, and long-term goals: Curriculum development is the focus for this project and while we're on track for completion. Funding for the pilot sites that will test the curriculum/program is not yet secured (even though we anticipate receiving it). It's the pilot sites and eventual statewide and national scale that is the ultimate goal that the curriculum will help achieve. Anticipated Work for Next Reporting Period: (Please list the objectives and goals for the next reporting period.) ● Launch of pilot sites and beginning reporting - ○ Number of Digital Ambassadors trained ○ Number of training events ○ Number of individuals that receive training from a Digital Ambassador. Have you had opportunities to share information about your program with other Extension professionals? Yes Please indicate how you have shared information about your project with other Extension professionals. ● Meetings ● Chats Please share other ways in which you have shared information or professional development about your program with Extension professionals: Leadership and funder meetings State and local partners Were you able to meet with your Coach, Catalyst(s) or Key Informants in this quarter? Yes

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