October 2017 ELC – Pushing the Boundaries with Innovation
This autumn’s conference kicked off with Director Chris Watkins sharing the big-picture vision of what has been happening in Extension as he addressed the room of Association Executive Directors and leaders, CCE Administration staff, CCE partners, and faculty who gathered at the Marriott Ithaca on October 11 – 12. From recent attendance at national conference with his Extension peers, it is clear that the challenges we face across the country are similar, but the possibility of forging ahead with creative solutions is driving terrific collaboration and sharing on the national, state, and local level.
Illustrating some successful partnerships in programming were Dr. Chris Smart (CALS School of Integrative Plant Sciences) and Janice Degni (Southern Tier Dairy & Field Crops Team), who shared the evolution of the hemp initiative, and a collaborative approach on watershed quality issues on Owasco Lake by CCE Cayuga Executive Director Doug Ververs and Senior Extension Associate Karl Cyzmmek. There were also several representatives from our Program Work Teams on hand to share some of their latest projects and to engage in informal conversation with the audience.
The evening of the first day capped off with the Internship Reception that highlighted the exciting work done by student interns throughout CCE during the summer. Dean Boor, Dean Mathios, and Vice Provost Judith Appleton lauded the enthusiasm, passion and impact expressed through the students’ projects. Dean Boor later joined the ELC attendees for dinner and inspired us with the college initiatives that will position Cornell University and Cornell Cooperative Extension well to continue being leaders in our fields.
Day two provided an opportunity to focus on broader organizational goals and to reflect upon civil rights from the “letter” to the “spirit” of the law. Basil Safi of the Office of Engaged Initiatives spoke about the ways in which CCE Associations partner with the University on student internships and faculty research proposals. Eskedar Getahun led us through highlights from the survey data and connected these to earlier themes in the strategic planning process. Sarah Dayton previewed some areas within civil rights where we will be focusing in the coming weeks and months.
Eduardo Gonzalez opened a dialogue on how to engage people in discussions on diversity through lessons learned from the 4-H Diversity Inclusion Cohort, which led perfectly into our keynote speaker, Angela Winfield who is the Director of Inclusion and Workforce Diversity at Cornell University. Angela challenged our assumptions and urged us to be vulnerable and to be students of diversity, as this openness will help move us forward.
As always, Julie Suarez brought her experience and energy to cap off our 2-day conference with timely advice and guidance on how to take our mission and translate it into practical action through our 224 increase initiative.
The overarching theme of the conference was to push the boundaries of innovation and to continue to make meaningful connections with individuals in our communities, as well as with partners on campus. Our organization will continue to explore all of these with the unveiling of our Strategic Plan at the ELC on December 7 – 8 in Ithaca.










