Urban Professional Development Summit
February 5, 2019
Overview
The Urban Professional Development Summit, a core activity for applied research fellowship and Deep Dive, led by Dr. Julie Fox, (Ohio State University), built upon the National Urban Extension framework and implementation plan and helped initiate a process of Extension organizations working to address professional development priorities related to the growing urban influence in our country and urban-suburban-rural interdependencies. Held in conjunction with the 2019 JCEP Leadership Conference, this by-invitation summit brought together key individuals working in professional development from JCEP membership organizations, ECOP regions, NUEL, eXtension, and JOE to:
- Initiate conversations and engagement with JCEP member organizations, and professional development leadership within member organizations.
- Determine interest in establishing a collective PD effort, outcomes, timelines, and next steps.
- Benefit from economies of scale by collaborating on focused efforts that leverage national Extension network strengths.
Post-Summit activities have included a Zoom meeting to review summit activities and clarify next steps, review of the full report of the 2017 Survey on Urban Extension Professional Development, Communication Resources and a Leading Edge Dialogue at the National Urban Extension Conference titled Staffing: preparing the Urban Extension Workforce . Planned next steps include continued collaboration with the JCEP board, and with two NUEL and eXtension fellows: one developing an a eFieldbook, and the other working with EduWorks on a Competency Framework Development (CFD) for both program professionals (educators, agents, specialists, managers, coordinators, assistants) and project professionals (paid or volunteer consultants). This project will also help WCMER determine our value-add in urban professional development.
