UVM Extension Director Roy Beckford announced that at the 2022 joint meeting of the Extension/Research Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, he was nominated to serve on the ECOP executive committee.
ECOP (Extension Committee on Organization and Policy), is the representative leadership and governing body of the Cooperative Extension System and focuses on four core themes:
- Build partnerships and acquire resources.
- Increase strategic marketing and communications.
- Enhance leadership and professional development.
- Strengthen organizational functioning.
Among the core activities of the ECOP Executive Committee are:
- Provide central oversight to ECOPs annual goals and action plans, guided by ECOPs mission, vision, and values.
- Respond to issues and requests that require immediate action when ECOP is not in session.
- Develop, monitor, and account for the ECOP budget. Make recommendations for improvements and investments
- Support the ECOP Chair in advancing activities that support ECOPs annual areas of focus.
- Appoint, coordinate, monitor, and dismiss working groups, for defined purposes and time periods, as needed to conduct the work of the Executive Committee.
Beckford stated, “I have little doubt that serving in this capacity will provide opportunities to UVM Extension, and enable an elevated understanding of those mechanisms that contribute to our organizational growth and development.”