Application for eXtension Funds for RREA-Supported Communities of Practice

Section 1. RREA Supported eXtension Communties of Practice Program

1.1. Program Overview

The expectation is that the RREA-Supported Community of Practice (CoP) formed will meet all guidelines and criteria, receive the same in-kind support provided by eXtension, and interact with and serve Communities of Interest on behalf of the Extension System just as CoPs formed by other methods.

The applicant CoP will sign an agreement/contract and follow a scope of work and timeline with in-kind support of the eXtension staff and eXtension system to become a recognized CoP. Once agreement is reached, these CoPs will be integrated in the staff support process along with other developing and existing eXtension CoPs.

All CoPs must become "eXtension certified" within 18 months after the date their application was accepted (see Section 2.5 below) regardless of the method by which they were formed. Once a CoP has become certified, in addition to eXtension resources, the CoP becomes eligible for annual monetary support of $15,000 for CoP leadership and organizational support. (See section 3.2 below).

Once an RREA supported Community of Practice is certified, the guidelines for applying for annual support are provided below.

1.2.General

1.2.1. Funds Available: Once certified, the named RREA-Supported Community of Practice is eligible to apply for funding up to $15,000 per CoP with resources targeted specifically to support CoP Leadership. The request for funds should cover the period of 12 months.

1.2.3. Contact Information: Submit all information in electronic form (PDF or Word Doc and the Excel spreadsheet for budget and budget narrative) with appropriate signatures to:

The Office of Associate Director of Content, eXtension

craig.wood@extension.org

ashley.griffin@extension.org

Phone: 859-323-8472

Section 2. General eXtension Community of Practice Program

2.1. Program and Development Process

eXtension is an evolving, virtual, customer centered educational environment that will provide the most current, objective, research based information from the Land Grant University System for anyone, at any time, on any device, and in any location. eXtension is founded on the fundamental land-grant principles of aiding in the distribution of useful and practical information and represents the entire land-grant system. It will also serve to minimize duplication and to aggregate information through identifying the “best of the best” content on any given subject addressed by a Community of Practice. eXtension will transform the way the Cooperative Extension System nationwide develops and distributes educational programs and products. It will involve a new way of working for employees as programs and products are developed by virtual teams of content specialists and support professionals (Communities of Practice or CoPs) constantly interacting with the clientele served (Communities of Interest or CoIs). These educational products and programs will evolve over time as needed, remaining current and based upon the latest research-based information available. The resources needed to develop these customer-centered, effective, interactive on-line educational products and programs are costly. Individual land-grant institution cannot afford to develop these on-line educational resources for all content areas needed by the clientele they serve. Therefore, in the spirit of cooperation, strength in sharing resources and branding to the local or the client’s preferred land grant institution, eXtension serves as a complement to the work of the Cooperative Extension offices nationwide. The strength of eXtension comes from its nationally shared knowledge base that can be localized so that every customer will have access to the best the system has to offer.

2.2. Community of Practice

A Community of Practice (CoP) is defined as a virtual network of subject-matter content providers consisting of faculty, professional and para-professional staff, county educators, industry experts, and government agency representatives who share knowledge or competence in a specific content area and who are willing to work and learn together over a period of time to further develop and share their knowledge in forms of educational products and programs and electronic interactions with customers. CoP leadership, however, must be land-grant faculty or professional staff with Extension appointments whose institutions are in good standing with eXtension. Specific functions of a CoP include:

• Interactively helping meet the knowledge needs of their respective CoI.
• Stewardship of the available knowledge for their specific content area.
• Best practice development of educational products and programs.
• Innovation in content-area knowledge and delivery.

CoPs are constantly interacting with their CoI. This feedback mechanism allows for the constant improvement of product offerings by the CoP to satisfy CoI needs over time. CoPs must be open to the continual expansion of their membership, as they will have members who move in and out depending on their interest and time availability. Therefore, membership in a CoP is fluid and flexible.

2.3. Guiding Principles of Communities of Practice

CoP membership must subscribe to the eXtension Mission, Vision, Values and Guiding Principles.

2.4. Support provided by eXtension

The eXtension project team will provide a support package of communication (marketing, decision data management, and evaluation, etc.) and technology support services (IT, content design, multimedia specialists, etc.) to all Communities of Practice. This support is valued up to $65,000 per year per Community of Practice.

These services include but are not limited to:

• virtual collaborative work space or environments,
• technological infrastructure to facilitate the work of the CoP,
• team members’ technical competency improvement
• communications, marketing, business, and development resources,
• training for entry and maintenance of content,
• content design/standards for production,
• technical production assistance,
• online evaluation/assessment tools,
• general and overall marketing strategies for CoPs,
• assessment mechanisms to define audiences,
• CoP leadership professional development,
• monthly Web conferencing for the CoP.

2.5. Community of Practice Certification

2.5.1. Overall

eXtension's expectations of CoPs include access to 24/7 interaction with the Community of Interest, stewardship of the content, best practice development for the content area, and innovation. To best accomplish these expectations most productively in the eXtension environment, each CoP is asked to complete and revisit several processes on a recurring basis. Over time, CoP membership will change and content will evolve, making the steps below an important ongoing process for each CoP.

2.5.2 Certification Timelines

All CoPs must become "eXtension Certified" within 18 months of the acceptance of their application. Ongoing CoPs must be eXtension recertified every three years. Follow-up reviews of the CoP will be conducted by an eXtension Review Team for recertification.

2.5.3 Certification Process Checklist

• Once certified a CoP is eligible for annual monetary support for the CoP leadership.

Certification Timelines

• All CoPs should become "eXtension Certified" within 18 months of the acceptance of their application.
• Ongoing CoPs should apply for recertification every three years or the time period designated by their previous certification results.
• Review of CoP certification materials will be conducted by a review team consisting of leadership members from CoPs that have been certified for three years.
• CoP Certification information should be completed by December 1 prior to the calendar year requesting leadership funds.

Certification Process Checklist

To become an eXtension Certified CoP, a CoP is asked to complete each of the following checklist items by providing evidence of the following items:

The CoP:

1. leadership reviews, agrees with, and supports the eXtension mission, vision, values, goals and guiding principles. ____ Yes, ____ No
2. members agree to the eXtension intellectual property and contributor license agreements. ____ Yes, ____ No
3. will operate in accordance with the eXtension Foundation Contributor and Business Agreements and Terms of Use. ____ Yes, ____ No
4. if using a content management system (CMS) other than the eXtension CMS all content must be fed using an ATOM feed to eXtension for publishing at www.extension.org. ____ Agree, ____ Disagree
5. agrees to be published and search indexed solely through www.extension.org to ensure maximum content discoverability by today's search engines. ____ Agree, ____ Disagree
6. leadership members attended the eXtension CoP Workshop. ____ Yes, ____ No
7. will post or provide a link to a CoP General Operating Plan that includes:

• CoP Mission, Vision, and Core Values
• CoP Code of Conduct
• Leadership Plan/Structure (including advisors)
• Team Member Roles and Responsibilities
• Year Operational Plan of Policies and Procedures
• Content Curriculum Plan (content priorities)
• Best of the Best Plan (for identifying existing content and integration)
• Peer Review Policy

2.5.4 CoP Accountability

Brief updates of above submitted plans and reports of accomplishment should be submitted annually (by December 31 of each year) for the first two years of the CoP’s existence. After initial certification of the CoP, periodic reviews and recertification will occur every three years. In addition, CoPs are asked to submit quarterly updates describing current status, membership, and related information regarding the CoP development and transformation processes.

Section 3. General Information on Community of Practice Continuation

3.1. Reporting Requirements

The philosophy underlying this Cooperative Extension System initiative is that CoPs will continue to provide curriculum leadership into the future as long as needs of recognized CoIs are being met. The ultimate success of all CoPs is the continuation of functioning and active CoPs on behalf of the Cooperative Extension System and the positive demonstrable impact on CoIs. Toward that end, successful applicants are asked to provide an annual progress report and six month updates describing current CoP status, membership, activities, progress, transformation processes observed, and achievements of their CoP. The progress report should be submitted by the timeline indicated. Evaluation of the progress report is a key factor in determinating eligibility for subsequent year eXtension support.