An Update of Activities: August 2001

Strategic Plan FY2001

Strategic Planning Process  Actively engaged the Southern Region Rural Development Consortium  Sampled 150 persons from the consortium  Did or telephone surveys  Participants provided input on six key questions  Results were closely studied by the SRDC TAC in the Fall of 2000  TAC provided input on the Center’s five new goals  Goals approved by the Board January 2001

Revising Our Mission Statement  Current Mission The SRDC serves as a proactive leader and primary facilitator of rural development research, education and policy dialogue that will improve the socioeconomic conditions of the Southern region. The SRDC fosters innovative and creative approaches to sustainable rural development and serves as a key player in building collaborative networks that reach across agencies, institutions and communities.  New Mission The Southern Rural Development Center seeks to strengthen the capacity of the region’s 29 land- grant institutions to address critical contemporary rural development issues impacting the well-being of people and communities in the rural South. It does so by: vstimulating the formation of multi- state research teams vcoordinating the development of educational materials vorganizing and delivering research and educational workshops/conferences vpreparing science-based reports  building partnerships

New SRDC Goals  Strengthen the engagement of rural people and organizations in the civic life of their communities  Promote sound rural economic and workforce development strategies that improve job quality and the competitiveness of workers in the rural South  Assist in developing strategies for addressing the challenges associated with the expansion of urban and surburban localities into rural areas

New SRDC Goals  Expand efforts to improve health care access in the rural South, and explore strategies for reducing the prevalence of food insecurity and hunger  Explore the prevalence of a “digital divide” among various populations and communities in the South

Some Current Activities

Educational Curricula and Resources  Southern Perspectives Newsletter  CD Institute  Take Charge Training Curriculum  Ca$hing in on Business Opportunities  Community Choices Public Issues Education  Economic Development Curricula Resources  Public Conflict Resolution: Turning Lemons into Lemonade  E-commerce curriculum resources  E-commerce reports

Training Activities COMPLETED  Sustainable Development Conference  Southern Region Health Institute  Mid-South Delta Consortium  Building Tomorrow’s Workforce  Examining the Rural/Urban Interface 3 reports being finalized  Southern Region CD Institute UPCOMING  Southern and Delta Regional Rural Conference (Sept.)  E-Commerce: Impacting the way we do business (Oct.)  Southern Region Health Institute (Oct.) Video on the community’s health care system  Southern Institute for Rural Development (Nov.)  State of the South Forums (MS)  National Community Economic and Resources Development Conference (Feb. 2001)

Applied Research Activities  Workforce Investment Areas: GIS Map and Data  SSARE/SRDC Sustainable Community Innovations Grant Program  Rural Schools Initiative  Latino Population in the South  New policy series: “Food Assistance Needs of the South’s Vulnerable Populations”

Millennium Series... “The Rural South: Preparing for the Challenges of the 21st Century”  21 issues published to date  Has been one of our most popular series  At least 4,000 electronic requests for various issues of the series were made in the Year 2000  Being integrated into classroom teaching, being used by CSREES with Congressional staffers, and by selected state and regional organizations

Website Enhancements (Monthly Statistics, June July 2001)

Sabbatical Leave and Senior Fellows Program  Requested proposals from faculty wishing to undertake a sabbatical working with the SRDC Host institution provides salary SRDC provides up to $20,000 to support activity relevant to the priorities of the Center  Funded a Senior fellows program Sought innovative proposals designed to build on the five new SRDC goals. Funds of up to $6,000 for a one-year period were being made available Expect to fund 4 projects

SRDC Funding FY 2000 Base Funding Extramural Funding $342,692 $255,880

Extramural Funding Since January 2001  Approximately $267,000  Submitted Fund for Rural America Application for nearly $600,000  Other resources being sought (such as the Ford Foundation)