Tag Archive for: newsletter

The EXCITE Newsletter: August 27th, 2021

Should you need any accommodations to participate in EXCITE programming, please contact Melanie Pugsley at melaniepugsley@extension.org. We recognize accommodation needs may change and we will do our best to accommodate such changes as they occur.

Link to EXCITE Website 

A2 Pilot Project Survey Question Bank and Reporting Tools

Please check out the newly created bank of survey questions available to use for evaluating EXCITE results. Two survey banks are available, one for COVID-19 vaccine education projects and the other for projects focused on other adult immunizations. Please use the survey questions that are most pertinent to your project’s intended results. These surveys will remain under the reporting heading on the EXCITE website for future reference. As a reminder, the A2 reporting form and the user guide are also available on the EXCITE website.
FDA Messaging Resources on Pfizer Vaccine Approval

FDA grants full approval of the Pfizer vaccine as of August 23, 2021 for people age 16 years and up. See more information in the press release. The de Beaumont Foundation created a one-page document with messaging strategies around FDA approval, and an Answers to Tough Questions page.

Resources for Ivermectin Misinformation

Misinformation continues to spread in many states about the use of Ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19. Please see these official U.S. health organization recommendations on this topic. The CDC also released a statement with recommendations on public messaging on August 26, 2021.

Making EXCITE Project Personnel and Budget Changes

We understand that many of you may need to change project staff, including PIs, and budgets throughout the duration of the project. We have updated documents under the support heading on the website with instructions on how to enact those changes with the EXCITE program administration. If you need to simply add a contact to your team to receive communications, please email Melanie Pugsley, melaniepugsley@extension.org with the name and email address of the team members to be added. Any team member can also sign up to receive the EXCITE newsletter by filling out the form on the website located below the leadership section.

EXCITE Standard Language, Funding Sources, and Credit

We have created a document with standard language detailing the EXCITE Project, funding sources and partners, and other information that we request you use in future press releases. Having our funders mentioned in the article is a great way to secure our partnership. The statements are on the website under the support heading for your future reference. As a reminder, please send any press releases or other media reports to Michelle Rogers, michellerogers@extension.org to help us keep track of and share success stories. Please also upload these as assets in your project reports.

Project Reminders:

Aug. 31st – Activity 1 Vaccinate with Confidence Monthly reports due, submitted via web form

Aug. 31st – Activity 2 Pilot projects First Quarterly Report due, submitted via web form 

Sep. 2nd 3:00 – 4:30 PM ET, Spotlight Session for all A1 and A2 teams

Follow Up from the Ad Council August Spotlight Presentation

The CNN Español programs referenced by the Ad Council in their August presentation will be online shortly in their Hispanic Toolkit. Please note they were produced before the Delta variant surge so it does not include info on the Delta variant. The Ad Council is also producing a weekly newsletter with Hispanic outreach updates. To be added, please send an email to kpatel@adcouncil.org
Two parts of the program are available below:

Part 1

Part 2

CDC Back to School Webinar

The CDC is hosting a back-to-school webinar for rural educators on Tuesday, Aug 31st 7 PM ET. See this flyer for more information.

Thanks for your continued work on your projects, please let us know if you have any questions or how we can best serve you.

 

Best,

 

Michelle Rodgers

Associate Dean and Director

University of Delaware

EXCITE Project Director
michellerodgers@extension.org

 

Kathryn “Katie” Stofer, PhD

Assistant Project Director for Immunization Education, EXCITE

Research Associate Professor and Extension Specialist

University of Florida

katiestofer@extension.org
/0 Comments/by

The EXCITE Newsletter: August 19th, 2021

Should you need any accommodations to participate in EXCITE programming, please contact Melanie Pugsley at melaniepugsley@extension.org. We recognize accommodation needs may change and we will do our best to accommodate such changes as they occur.

Link to EXCITE Website 

CDC County-level Tracker

 

As the Covid delta variant spikes across the U.S., we want to remind you to be checking the CDC County-level tracker to ensure you are targeting the high-need areas in your state. If the data suggests you need to address different populations or regions, and would like assistance with that please reach out to the team – we’re here to help!

CDC’s Fall Influenza Guide

The CDC has released their Fall Influenza Frequently Asked Questions for the 2021-22 flu season. We suggest reading the top line bullet points at a minimum, but the guide addresses COVID and Flu vaccine administration timing among flu-related questions and concerns.

September Spotlight

The September 2nd Spotlight event will focus on our own internal Land Grant University vaccine hesitancy and pushback Extension has faced on COVID and other vaccination education. We will have breakout discussion groups based on the particular barriers people reported in the poll that was sent out last week. Look for the Spotlight agenda shortly on the website.

COVID-19 Vaccines While Pregnant or Breastfeeding

 

Another resource for you- the CDC released key talking points and messages related to COVID-19 vaccine and pregnant women.

Thanks for your continued work on your projects, please let us know if you have any questions or how we can best serve you.

Best,

Michelle Rodgers

Associate Dean and Director

University of Delaware

EXCITE Project Director
michellerodgers@extension.org

Kathryn “Katie” Stofer, PhD

Assistant Project Director for Immunization Education, EXCITE

Research Associate Professor and Extension Specialist

University of Florida

katiestofer@extension.org
/0 Comments/by

The EXCITE Newsletter: August 5th, 2021

Should you need any accommodations to participate in EXCITE programming, please contact Melanie Pugsley at melaniepugsley@extension.org. We recognize accommodation needs may change, even in the moment, and we will do our best to accommodate such changes as they occur.

National Registry and Geographic Map Tutorial Videos

National Registry: https://use.vg/RLDYix
Geographic Map: https://use.vg/GpzZdv

Please take advantage of the information shared in these two videos created by Aaron Weibe that will help us to utilize the National Registry of Cooperative Extension Programs and Assets and the Geographic Map resources. These short videos guide you through how to publish your program findings, and how to search for other programs and assets similar to your needs so we can be quickly responsive and employ our shared resources.

Aaron will also be offering open office hours to answer questions and support your interest in using these tools on August 16th, 23rd, and 30th from 3 PM – 4:30 PM ET
Join Aaron Weibe’s Zoom meeting here- https://extension.zoom.us/j/98269246491

Insight Agenda for A2 teams

 

The A2 Insight meeting agenda is posted on the Excite website. The first part of the meeting will include program and reporting information and the second portion will be time for coaches and individual teams to meet. This new format will help return some time to you and provides individual coaching time that you requested.  Please check out the agenda to know when you will meet with your coach.

 

The Ad Council Rural Tool Kit

 

The Ad Council Rural tool kit has been updated based on their marketing research. Take a look here.

Quarterly Reports

At this time all awarded Activity 1 and Activity 2 colleges have received a financial budget report that was pre-populated with their approved budget. The Q1 Activity 1 financial report due is on August 15th. A quarterly budget report sample has been posted to the website for your reference. Please note that the costs entered on each quarterly report should be inception-to-date costs that have been incurred for the project as of the end of the grant quarter.
If you have any questions relating to the form or financial reporting for the EXCITE Activity 1 or 2 awards, please contact Cece Manoochehri, ceceliam@extension.org.
The completed quarterly reports should be certified and sent to:
1862 Institutions to Peter Aamodt, peteraamodt@extension.org
1890 Institutions to Antonio McLaren, amclaren@1890foundation.org
1994 Institutions to Maggie Grandon, mgrandon@aihec.org

Thanks for your continued work on your projects, please let us know if you have any questions or how we can best serve you.

Best,

Michelle Rodgers

Associate Dean and Director

University of Delaware

EXCITE Project Director
michellerodgers@extension.org

Kathryn “Katie” Stofer, PhD

Assistant Project Director for Immunization Education, EXCITE

Research Associate Professor and Extension Specialist

University of Florida

katiestofer@extension.org
/0 Comments/by

The EXCITE Newsletter: July 29th, 2021

Clarification on Spotlight, Insight, and Strategy Events

We recognize a need to clarify the Spotlight and Insight events so I hope this will be concise and helpful. We also are committed to sharing the agenda in the newsletter and on the EXCITE webpage.

 

Spotlight

Who:

  • A minimum of 1 representative from each Activity 1 Project (3-4:30 pm ET)
  • A minimum of 1 representative from each Activity 2 Project (3-5 pm ET)

When:

  • First Thursday for each month

What:

  • Agenda includes a spotlight on organizational updates and tools, a spotlight on partner resources, and a spotlight on Extension projects as well as sharing among teams with common target populations

Insight

 

Who:

  • A minimum of 1 representative from each Activity 2 project

When:

  • Third Thursday 3-5pm Eastern

What:

  • Agenda includes coaching check in with team questions around roadmap and activities, market research, evaluation, and team building and topics requested by teams

Strategy Sessions:

 

Who:

  • A minimum of 1 representative from each Activity 2 project.

When:

  • Quarterly 11:30-3:30 Eastern

What:

  • In-depth coaching and training opportunities developed by team input

Registration for these events is available on the EXCITE website, or directly here. When you register for Spotlight, Strategy, or Insights – you are automatically registered for the entire series. Therefore, you only need to register once. There’s no need to register each month.

Roadmap Request!

Having a good plan is the key to getting where you are going whether driving a car or leading a grant.  Activity 1 and Activity 2 teams are requested to provide a draft of a  1-year plan by completing the roadmaps document on the website.  Because of the short timeframe, A1 plans are requested as soon as possible and A2 teams are encouraged to have a first draft of year 1 ready for discussion at the August Spotlight.

 

New Funding Opportunities

 

Our CDC partners alerted us to a new funding opportunity that could be able to support your Vaccinate with Confidence or pilot project efforts! Due August 17, it involves partnership with regional HHS offices and rural communities. See more here: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=332874.

Activity 1 Reports Due July 31!

Activity 1 reports due July 31 through the same reporting portal as before, password excitea1. Thanks to everyone for completing their June reports!

Thanks for your continued work on your projects, please let us know if you have any questions or how we can best serve you.

Best,

Michelle Rodgers

Associate Dean and Director

University of Delaware

EXCITE Project Director
michellerodgers@extension.org

Kathryn “Katie” Stofer, PhD

Assistant Project Director for Immunization Education, EXCITE

Research Associate Professor and Extension Specialist

University of Florida

katiestofer@extension.org
/0 Comments/by

The EXCITE Newsletter: July 22nd, 2021

Good afternoon,

We just have a few updates to share this week, please see below. Thank you all for your continued efforts in getting your reports to us on time and attending the online engagements. We’ve been so excited to see the amazing work you are all doing to support immunization education in your states and communities.

My best,

Michelle Rodgers

Associate Dean and Director

University of Delaware

EXCITE Project Director
michellerodgers@extension.org

Kathryn “Katie” Stofer, PhD

Assistant Project Director for Immunization Education, EXCITE

Research Associate Professor and Extension Specialist

University of Florida

katiestofer@extension.org

Reminders

Activity 1 Projects:

It’s coming up fast – your second monthly report for Activity 1 is due July 31! If you have any questions, please reach out.
Activity 2 Projects:
If you need assistance, please use our Activity 2 Assistance Tool to get you in touch with the best person to assist.
/0 Comments/by

The EXCITE Newsletter: July 8th, 2021

Good afternoon,

We hope that you had a wonderful holiday weekend this past week, and we are enjoying hearing about all the incredible work that you all are doing in service to your communities around immunization education.

We have several updates this week to share! Please see below.

My best,

Michelle Rodgers

Associate Dean and Director

University of Delaware

EXCITE Project Director
michellerodgers@extension.org

Kathryn “Katie” Stofer, PhD

Assistant Project Director for Immunization Education, EXCITE

Research Associate Professor and Extension Specialist

University of Florida

katiestofer@extension.org

July Spotlight Recording

 

The July Spotlight recording is now available on the EXCITE webpage. If you missed the session be sure to put listening to this recording on your task list.  This is a fast moving project and it is tough to keep everyone on the same page, so tuning into these sessions regularly is required and helpful to moving us forward as a system.

 

New Activity 1 Roadmap Required

 

New for Activity 1 Vaccinate with Confidence is a required “Roadmap” document.  This document is a planning tool to help provide a “roadmap” for implementation and completion of your project.

 

We want you to be successful and this is one tool that completed this month with your team will assure success in a one year timeframe.  Roadmaps are due July 31.

 

The Roadmaps were created in Google Sheets. You simply need to access your roadmap and fill it out. Google Sheets autosaves your work, so there is no action beyond filling it out required. Simply completing it in Google Sheets is equivalent to submitting it.

 

You can access the Roadmaps on the EXCITE Website under Quicklinks. It will prompt you for a password, which is excite2021. 

 

Aaron Weibe with the Extension Foundation put together a short video that shows you how to access those roadmaps and use Google Sheets to complete them. That video is available here.

 

Activity 2 Pilot Project will be working through their Roadmaps as part of the this month’s Insight session so no work is needed on Activity 2 roadmaps yet.

Dates and Deadlines

 

If you are trying to keep track of all EXCITE meetings and deadlines, we have created a dates and deadlines tool for your use. It is also available on the website.  Simply click on the correct tab as an A1, A2 or both team and all the dates are provided by month for you in one easy location.

Newsletter Archive

 

In an effort to keep communication flowing, we are posting the newsletters archived in this location on the EXCITE webpage so if you need to retrieve any prior information, you can find it!  Let us know what other tools/solutions would be helpful as you implement EXCITE.  We are here to support you.

Reminders

  • We just have a few outstanding Activity 1 Vaccinate with Confidence reports for June that are missing.  We hope that if you have not done so, you can get it in right away.  If you have forgotten the password, it is excitea1
  • If you are part of Activity 2 Pilot Programs, this is a reminder that we will have our first Insight session on July 15 from 3-5 pm Eastern. Register for this and all insight sessions on the website or directly here.  Both Spotlight and Insight sessions are required by the PI and or a representative, and all team members are encouraged to participate. With vacation schedules, please be sure that your team is represented.
/0 Comments/by

The EXCITE Newsletter: July 2nd, 2021

Good Morning,

We wish all of you a restful and enjoyable holiday weekend. We have some EXCITing updates for you this week!

Followup from yesterday’s Spotlight session: We were so pleased to hear so much interest in the Russell Group’s assets including videos and fact sheets. We know there were a lot of questions to be followed up on and requests for new content. We will be sharing those here and on the web site as we get them! Please keep the questions coming!

My best,

Michelle Rodgers

Associate Dean and Director

University of Delaware

EXCITE Project Director
michellerodgers@extension.org

Kathryn “Katie” Stofer, PhD

Assistant Project Director for Immunization Education, EXCITE

Research Associate Professor and Extension Specialist

University of Florida

katiestofer@extension.org

Activity 2 Teams: How Can We Help?

For Activity 2 Teams with questions or needing support, we’ve created a tool that will help connect you to the best person to assist. This tool is available on the website, and you can access it directly here.
/0 Comments/by

The EXCITE Newsletter: June 17th, 2021

Good Afternoon!

We have some very exciting updates this morning:

Reporting Tool for Activity 1 Now Available

The reporting tool for Activity 1 is now available and has been posted to the website along with a user’s guide. Both the form and the user’s guide for Activity 1 are under ‘Quick Links’ at the top of the webpage at excite.org/immunization. This is just a reminder that June 30th is the deadline for June 2021 Activity 1 reports. We are aware that largely your report for this month will include the demographic data about your project.

Activity 2 Grantee Kickoff Event Reminder
June 23rd, 2 PM – 4 PM Eastern

This is for PIs and project personnel who are involved in both Activity 1 and 2; please make plans to attend. We will have further details on project evaluation and support from the EXCITE program team. This will be different information than what you received in the Activity 1 Grantee Kickoff events! Each team member planning to attend should register. REGISTER HERE.

Guidance on EXCITE Project-related University Press Releases

We are thrilled to hear of your institutions’ interest in publicizing your great work! At this link, you will find some standard language we suggest you incorporate. You are not required to use EXCITE or Extension Foundation logos on any materials you produce for EXCITE. If you have questions about press releases, please email excite@extension.org.

Resources from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:

https://wecandothis.hhs.gov has materials for 9 different audiences, 7 formats, English and Spanish for many, 1 Chinese language piece, covering 5 different vaccine topics.

My best,

Michelle Rodgers

Associate Dean and Director

University of Delaware

EXCITE Project Director
michellerodgers@extension.org

Kathryn “Katie” Stofer, PhD

Assistant Project Director for Immunization Education, EXCITE

Research Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist

University of Florida

katiestofer@extension.org

Upcoming Events

EXCITE Activity 2 Grantee Kickoff

June 23rd

2 PM – 4 PM Eastern

 

For PIs and project personnel who are involved in both Activity 1 and 2, please do make plans to attend Activity 2 kickoff. We will have further details on project evaluation and support from the EXCITE program team. This will be different information from the Activity 1 kickoffs! Please register each team member who will attend separately. REGISTER HERE

EXCITE Spotlight

July 1st

3 PM – 4 PM Eastern

This month we will feature the Russell Group, a national advertising group who has created targeted messages to rural populations and has current market research related to rural audiences.

If you have a success story or a struggle you’d like to highlight, please email katiestofer@extension.org 

REGISTER HERE
/0 Comments/by

The EXCITE Newsletter: June 10th, 2021

Good morning,

We have a few items this week. The first is a reminder about the Activity 1 and Activity 2 Grantee Kickoff Events (registration below). As a reminder, Activity 1 projects can join June 10th OR June 14th for their kickoff event. Activity 2 Projects should join on June 23rd. We ask that you help us ensure that all of your team members that plan on participating register for the appropriate event(s).

As with the rest of the EXCITE project, our website (extension.org/immunization) is a rapidly-moving work-in-progress. Aaron Weibe (Extension Foundation) has made some recent updates to reorganize content for us. Namely, links to upcoming events are now up top alongside quick links to the salient reporting broken out by project type. The Landscape reporting link continues to be a place to upload and share resources and programs created with capacity funds, and soon we’ll have direct links for EXCITE Activity 1 and 2 reporting.

Lastly, the CDC has provided additional COVID-19 resources that are listed below.

My best,

Michelle Rodgers

Associate Dean and Director

University of Delaware

EXCITE Project Director
michellerodgers@extension.org

Kathryn “Katie” Stofer, PhD

Assistant Project Director for Immunization Education, EXCITE

Research Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist

University of Florida

katiestofer@extension.org

Upcoming Events

EXCITE Activity 1 Grantee Kickoff

June 10th OR June 14th

2 PM – 4 PM Eastern

REGISTER HERE

EXCITE Activity 2 Grantee Kickoff

June 23rd

2 PM – 4 PM Eastern

REGISTER HERE

CDC COVID-19 Resources

Updated as of June 9, 2021

CDC Connections

COVID-19 Vaccine Guidance

Communication Toolkits, Social Media, & Other Resources

COVID-19 Publications

CDC Partnerships

Other Rural Resources
/0 Comments/by

The EXCITE Newsletter: May 7th, 2021

Good afternoon,

This will be a short newsletter this week, but we do have some important announcements:

  • The Activity 1 Application deadline has been extended to May 14th at 11:59 PM ET.
  • For clarification, the Activity 2 Application deadline is also May 14th at 11:59 PM ET.

Thank you to those that joined us for the monthly EXCITE Huddle yesterday. If you could not join us, the following resources are available to you:

In the EXCITE Huddle yesterday, we highlighted existing immunization education programs that registered their work to the National Registry of Cooperative Extension Programs and Assets. Please remember, we request that any existing Cooperative Extension Immunization Education projects and programs be added to the registry. Additionally, a new interactive map of programs submitted to the registry along with State LGU Contacts for Immunization Education is now available. The registry and the map are both available in the EXCITE Portal.

My best,

Michelle Rodgers

Associate Dean and Director

University of Delaware

EXCITE Project Director
michellerodgers@extension.org

Kathryn “Katie” Stofer, PhD

Assistant Project Director for Immunization Education, EXCITE

Research Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist

University of Florida

katiestofer@extension.org

Upcoming Events

Application Assist Workshop

May 11th, 2021

4 PM – 5 PM ET

Register to get any questions answered about Activity 1 and Activity 2 Applications. Register Here.
/0 Comments/by
Extension Foundation

This website was developed with support from the Extension Foundation.

This work is supported through an Interagency Agreement (IAA) with the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

AWARD NO: 2021-77041-34831

Skip to content