Approved by the Governing Committee on October 1, 2009.

Definition: A state affiliate member is a non-Cooperative Extension System institution visually recognized and branded on http://www.extension.org that contributes content and services the eXtension Foundation recognizes as increasing eXtension's value in the knowledge marketplace. A state affiliate member may contribute content to any Community of Practice and they may help lead a Community of Practice in areas of demonstrated program strength.

Prerequisites: eXtension Foundation is an integral part of the national Cooperative Extension System; therefore, a state affiliate member must first be considered a partner in good standing with the CES institution(s) and the Extension programs and services in the state of the potential state affiliate member. A potential state affiliate member must also have demonstrated the addition of significant value to the state CES program.

Qualifications: An institution that produces content and services which the eXtension Foundation believes to be:

• Peer reviewed
• Unbiased
• Research-based

Non research-based institutions may qualify if they are deemed to offer unique content and/or services that the eXtension Foundation believes will enhance the value of eXtension.

Application: An institution interested in becoming a state affiliate member should contact their in-state CES leader(s) (directors and administrators) to express their interest in becoming a state affiliate member.

The potential member should submit a letter of application, signed by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or Chief Operating Officer to the state CES leader(s). Their letter should include:

• A description of the specific content areas (Communities of Practice) to which they wish to contribute and whether they wish to lead a CoP(s) or just contribute content.
• Evidence their content is of high quality (e.g., qualifications of contributors, peer-reviewed, unbiased, research-based).

The state CES leader(s) should either recommend acceptance to the eXtension Foundation Board of Directors within 60 days, or reject it.

If the state CES leader(s) recommend state affiliate membership, they should mail a letter of recommendation to the Director of the eXtension Foundation. The letter (packet) should include, 1) a copy of the institution’s letter of application, 2) an explanation detailing why they believe state affiliate membership should be granted, and 3) an explanation of the nature of the current partnership between the potential member and the state extension service. This is critical since an affiliated member will connect back to the field staff of extension via the state extension service.

The eXtension Foundation will evaluate the state’s recommendation and within 60 days grant state affiliate membership or reject the application. The eXtension Foundation reserves the right to reject an application should the proposed institutional content and programs not represent new and “best of the best” content or if the partnership between the potential affiliate member and the state extension service does not provide a strong connection for the affiliate back to the field staff of extension. During this 60 day period, the Foundation may seek additional information or clarification from the institution seeking state affiliate membership and/or the state CES leader(s); this may cause an extension of the 60 day period.

Cost: An annual fee will be charged to an approved affiliate member that is equal to that charged to the state extension agency of the state in which the affiliate resides. If two or more extension services exist in the state, the fee will equal that of the extension service with the higher assessment. In extraordinary cases, and upon the request of the affiliate and concurrence of the extension service(s) in the state, the Foundation may alter this established fee. In such case the fee will be established with each new or extended Memorandum of Agreement.

Governance: State affiliate members will not be eligible to serve on the eXtension Foundation Board of Directors and/or Governing Committee.

Branding: State affiliate members will be branded as a “super sponsor” which is to say, they will be identified as a secondary brand and branded only in resource areas (CoPs) to which they contribute content and services, and perhaps leadership.

Intellectual Property: Content contributors will retain ownership of their contributions. They will be required to agree to (sign) Individual and Institutional Contributor Agreements.

Terms of Use: State affiliate members will qualify for the same content usage rights as any land grant university regarding content associated with resource areas (CoPs) to which they contribute content and services and for which they provide leadership; however, their use of resources outside of the areas to which they contribute content should be subject to the policies associated with non-land grant university membership.

Memorandum of Agreement: The terms of a state affiliate membership will be described in a State Affiliate Membership Memorandum of Agreement. Membership will be granted for up to two years and is renewable upon request and support by the respective state CES leader(s) and eXtension Foundation.