NCEA 2025 Conference

NCEA is the Nebraska Cooperative Extension Association. We are a professional organization for faculty and staff who work in University of Nebraska Extension.

In the fall, we renew membership within NCEA and the different sections and we hold an annual conference. Please register to join/renew your membership and to participate in the annual conference. Pay your conference registration fee to join us in Kearney. The fee covers the conference costs (meals, speakers, social events, etc.). As an individual conference for 2025, note that the extended time together will slightly increase the fee for accommodations.

Wondering about what committee to join within NCEA? These committees include: Advocacy, Audit and Budget, Diversity, Member Services, Policy, Professional Improvement, Recognition and Awards and Technology! Check out the descriptions for each specific committee HERE!

NCEA serves as the umbrella organization for the different professional sections. The sections underneath the NCEA umbrella are:

• National Association of County Agricultural Agents (NACAA)
• National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (NEAFCS)
• National Association of Extension 4-H Youth Development Professionals (NAE4-HYDP)
• Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals/National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals (ANREP/NACDEP)
• Association for Communication Excellence in Agricultural and Natural Resources (ACE)
• National Association of Extension Program & Staff Development Professionals (NAEPSDP)
• Epsilon Sigma Phi (ESP)

2025 NCEA Fall Conference Tentative Agenda

Wednesday, November 19

9:30-10:30 a.m. NCEA Registration Conference Check In (Lobby)

9:30-10:30 a.m. Professional Headshots Available (Pre-function Area)

10:00-11:00 a.m.  ESP Section Meeting (Ruby 5)

11:00-12:00 p.m.  Opening/General Session- Keynote Speaker Maggie Malone Hardin 'An Olympic Mindset' (Crystal 4)

12:00-1:00 p.m. Lunch (Crystal 4)

1:00-1:15 p.m. Networking Break (set up for committee meetings)

1:15-2:15 p.m.  Committee Meetings- Advocacy (Ruby 1), Audit & Budget (Ruby 1), Diversity (Ruby 2), Member Services (Ruby 6), Policy (Ruby 3), Professional Improvement (Ruby 7), Recognition & Awards (Ruby 5), Technology (Ruby 4) 

2:15-2:30 p.m. Networking & Refreshment Break 

2:30-5:00 p.m. NCEA Section Meetings (Ag Section (Ruby 7), 4-H (Diamond 4), FCS (Ruby 4), ANREP/NACDEP (Ruby 5))

5:00-6:00 p.m. Networking Break 

6:00-7:00 p.m. Dinner & NCEA Awards Presentations (Crystal 4)

7:30-9:00 p.m. NCEA Social Event - 'Office Olympics' (Younes Center- (Crystal 4))

Thursday, November 20

7:30-8:30 a.m.  Breakfast on your own -(At your hotel), Past Presidents Breakfast (Fairfield)

8:30-9:30 a.m. Breakout Sessions

• Nebraska Beginning Farmers and Ranchers: Beginning, Managing, and Transitioning Presenters: Anastasia Meyer and Jessica Groskopf   - Ruby 4
• • A critical aspect of transition planning is ensuring smooth asset and management transfer to the next generation, yet management transitions are often overlooked. The Center for Agricultural Profitability (CAP) developed Nebraska Beginning Farmers and Ranchers to address challenges like intergenerational communication, financial management, and employee retention, offering targeted education and resources to support successful farm and ranch transitions. This project was selected as a NACAA Search for Excellence National Finalist.
• Tai Chi for Energy: Cultivating Vitality and Balance through Movement Presenters: Ashley Fenning, Brittany Spieker, Ann Fenton, Julie Boyle, Pamela Slaymaker, and Thays Silva  - Diamond 1
• • This workshop introduces participants to Dr. Paul Lam’s Tai Chi for Energy Program, a sequence blending Chen and Sun style tai chi to promote vitality, balance, and inner calm. Backed by research showing tai chi improves balance, reduces pain and stiffness, lowers fall risk, and enhances overall quality of life, the program offers an evidence-based approach to wellness. Through demonstration, guided practice, and reflection, participants will learn accessible movements, explore health benefits, and gain practical strategies to reduce stress and boost energy in daily life. The workshop is suitable for adults of all ages and experience levels, and all movements can be adapted for comfort and ability.
• Take Five to Thrive: You are Worth the Pause Presenters: Soni Cochran and Kim Bearnes  - Ruby 6
• • In the high-care and sometimes high-stress work of Extension, it's easy to focus so much on helping others that we forget to pause for ourselves. The Take Five to Thrive Kit is designed to help faculty and staff decompress, reset, and re-center through therapeutic play and mindfulness activities. This kit provides simple, evidence-based tools to promote emotional well-being and stress regulation. During this hands-on session, participants will: 1) Learn about the purpose, foundational research, and development of the Take Five to Thrive Kit; 2) Explore what's included in the pilot kits and how to use a kit in the workplace; 3) Have time to interact directly with kit resources; 4) Share feedback to inform statewide implementation. Each workshop participant will leave with practical strategies for incorporating small moments of mindfulness and play into their day - and ideas for supporting personal and team well-being across Extension.
• ROOTED in Ag: Virtual Reality Approach to Ag Literacy Presenters: Brandy VanDeWalle and Sarah Paisley  - Ruby 5
• • ROOTED in Agriculture (Respecting Our Origins in Technology through Education in Agriculture) engages 9th-12th graders to explore agri-science through a historical lens to see the development of technology in agriculture while making connections to local cultural practices. The technology-focused learning experiences provide youth with an understanding of agriculture and technology within the larger context of food systems and local agriculture. This new virtual reality program is a collaboration between Nebraska, Alaska, and Hawai’i Extension and actively engages youth in local agriculture across the country. Participants discover where their food comes from, investigate techniques to grow food, and explore how technology improves agriculture. Youth create their own virtual reality tour after visiting other locations through VR goggles.

9:30-9:45 a.m. Networking Break

9:45-10:45 a.m. Breakout Sessions

• Nebraska Beginning Farmers and Ranchers: Beginning, Managing, and Transitioning Presenters: Anastasia Meyer and Jessica Groskopf  - Ruby 4
• • A critical aspect of transition planning is ensuring smooth asset and management transfer to the next generation, yet management transitions are often overlooked. The Center for Agricultural Profitability (CAP) developed Nebraska Beginning Farmers and Ranchers to address challenges like intergenerational communication, financial management, and employee retention, offering targeted education and resources to support successful farm and ranch transitions. This project was selected as a NACAA Search for Excellence National Finalist.
• Tai Chi for Energy: Cultivating Vitality and Balance through Movement Presenters: Ashley Fenning, Brittany Spieker, Ann Fenton, Julie Boyle, Pamela Slaymaker, and Thays Silva  - Diamond 1
• • This workshop introduces participants to Dr. Paul Lam’s Tai Chi for Energy Program, a sequence blending Chen and Sun style tai chi to promote vitality, balance, and inner calm. Backed by research showing tai chi improves balance, reduces pain and stiffness, lowers fall risk, and enhances overall quality of life, the program offers an evidence-based approach to wellness. Through demonstration, guided practice, and reflection, participants will learn accessible movements, explore health benefits, and gain practical strategies to reduce stress and boost energy in daily life. The workshop is suitable for adults of all ages and experience levels, and all movements can be adapted for comfort and ability.
• Hands-On Teaching Methods for Ag Topics Presenters: Leslie Johnson, Animal Manure Management Extension Educator; Chuck Burr, Wayne Ohnesorg and Amy Timmerman, Water and Cropping Systems Educators  - Ruby 7
• • This workshop introduces four innovative, hands-on teaching strategies designed to engage learners in agricultural topics. Participants will explore methods for different ages that include: a board game and choose your own adventure-style scenario to teach Integrated Pest Management (IPM), 3D models to estimate soybean defoliation, and sponges and balls to explain different soil textures and their impact on water infiltration.  Participants will come away with approaches and resources to implement in their own programs.
• Open Road: You Drive the Discussion Presenter: Megan Patent-Nygren  - Ruby 5           
• • No slides. No script. Just real conversations that matter. Open Road is your space to speak up, spark dialogue, and share ideas that don’t always fit neatly into traditional sessions. Whether you want to tackle emerging trends, raise pressing challenges, or float bold ideas, this is your chance. The agenda? Driven by you. The outcomes? Unexpected, energizing, and potentially game-changing. Bring your questions, your passion, and your perspective— because on this road, the direction is up to all of us.

10:45-11:00 a.m. Networking Break

11:00-1:30 p.m. NCEA Business Meeting & Lunch Buffet Meeting (Crystal 4)

1:30 p.m. Safe Travels Home

Hotel Information: 

A block of rooms has been reserved at the Fairfield Inn & Suites, 510 W Talmadge Rd, Kearney, NE 68845. Phone: (308) 236-4200. The Block Rate is $124.95 before taxes. The code the for the block of rooms is: CEA

For those of you who need hotel accommodations for the NCEA Annual Conference you will be responsible for those charges.   If using your county direct pay or CONCUR for your hotel expenses, please double check current travel policies.  NOTE:  if booking rooms through CONCUR, it is not part of the Room Block and room rates most likely will be higher. 

Make your reservation by October 22 to guarantee you get into the Fairfield Inn & Suites along with your colleagues.

Join us for our Evening Social!-  Office Olympics-

Join us for our Evening Social 2025 – Wednesday, November 19th, 2025, at the Younes Center from 7:30 p.m. -- 9:00p.m.

• NCEA Social is going to get competitive - get excited for "Office Olympics"! 
• RSVP for this event during the registration process. Teams of 4 are encouraged to come up with a team name and costumes are welcomed!

NCEA Members Slideshow!

NCEA Membership Committee would like Nebraska Extension to become more familiar with the faces and roles across the state (new and existing employees). To help with this, we invite employees to right click and duplicate the provided slide template (it should be the last blank slide), customize it to fit YOU, and fill it out accordingly. These slides will be played on a rotating loop during our dinner.