Within the 1890 land-grant system, Virginia State University (VSU) already had an excellent working reputation with its sister land-grant 1862 institution, Virginia Tech (VT). Perhaps that’s because unlike many states in the South, the Commonwealth has one Cooperative Extension system that is funded, managed and administered jointly by the two land-grant institutions. 

The unprecedented challenges COVID-19 brought to our doors in March pushed the Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) system off its business-as-usual trajectory, resulting in the two universities working closer together than ever before. It has set us on a new, more collaborative path that will ultimately benefit our staff, faculty and most importantly, the diverse publics we serve. 

As we began to understand the severity of the coronavirus situation in early spring, leadership teams from each institution, headed up by 1890 Extension administrator, Dr. M. Ray McKinnie, and 1862 Extension director, Dr. Edwin Jones, began meeting daily by Zoom. They made decisions about closures, safety, signage and more that could work across the entire system. To share the outcomes of these meetings, a daily email was sent to all VCE staff and faculty at both institutions signed jointly by “Ed and Ray.” 

To enhance these communications, Drs. Jones and McKinnie led a weekly Zoom meeting called “Ask Ed & Ray Anything.” VCE employees were invited to participate and to submit their questions up to a day before. During the meeting, the two Virginia Extension leaders would respond to the questions, give updates, share concerns and give words of encouragement. 

Meanwhile, the hundreds of VCE face-to-face public programs and workshops held throughout the year quickly morphed into virtual ones, and VCE agents and specialists needed help pivoting to these new delivery methods. The VCE communications departments at both institutions worked together to quickly develop an online tool kit, assist with messaging, and conduct new weekly VCE staff and faculty Zoom training programs on topics like Facebook Live, using Canva, capturing analytics, videoing with a mobile phone and more. 

The Virginia Master Gardener program, led by Virginia Tech, also needed to turn to virtual program delivery and decided to develop a new weekly Zoom to Facebook live series. Because the VCE faculty at VSU were among the first adopters of Facebook Live to deliver Extension programming, the Virginia Master Gardeners asked the VSU-VCE communication team for assistance. As a result, VSU helped name and market the Get Gardening! program, which subsequently continues to feature many VSU Extension specialists and Small Farm Outreach Program regional program assistants. Additionally, each episode is co-hosted on VSU’s Extension Facebook page, which has led to VT inviting VSU to co-host many other Facebook Live programs on its Facebook page. This level of virtual program collaboration between VSU Extension faculty and staff is unprecedented and helps the public access these new digital resources. 

Another example of the Virginia 1862 and 1890 land-grant institutions’ stronger collaborative initiatives is exemplified by the joint decision that VT’s VCE website would house and update all of the COVID-19 VCE information and resources, while VSU’s VCE website would feature a prominent banner at the top of its homepage driving visitors to click through to the other website. 

Similarly, but in reverse, VSU’s VCE website now houses all of the VCE emergency preparedness news and resources, and VT’s website directs visitors to click through to the VSU page to access them. Using two websites to manage and share one set of information for the public makes that valuable information easier for the public to find and easier for VCE staff to update than ever before. 

So, while most of the world social distanced this year, Virginia’s two land-grant institutions developed ways to work more closely together than ever before. We believe that this stronger commitment to partnership will empower us to more effectively achieve our joint mission to bring university-based, scientifically-proven information to diverse audiences to help them improve their quality of life. 

Connection is published by Virginia State University’s College of Agriculture. Special thanks to everyone who contributed content, photos, ideas and time to this edition.

Executive Editor: Michelle Olgers; Writer/Editor: Lorraine Blackwell; Art Direction, Graphic Design: Brittany R. Hughes

Send address changes and circulation inquiries by email to molgers@vsu.edu. Editorial inquiries and other comments should be sent to Executive Editor, Connection, P.O. Box 9081, Virginia State University, VA 23806 or molgers@vsu.edu.

©2020 Virginia State University College of Agriculture

Dr. M. Ray McKinnie, Dean/1890 Extension Administrator; Dr. Wondi Mersie, Associate Dean/Director of Research; Dr. Janine P. Woods, Associate Administrator VSU Virginia Cooperative Extension; Dr. Michelle Corley, Interim Chair, Associate Professor Department of Agriculture; Dr. Crystal Wynn, Chair and Associate Professor Department of Family and Consumer Sciences; Dr. Berkita Bradford, Chair and Associate Professor Department of Hospitality Management

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