CAES Newswire

 College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences UGA Cooperative Extension
Menu
Published on 08/17/16

UGA Extension building its leadership bench with Extension Academy of Professional Excellence

By Merritt Melancon

University of Georgia Cooperative Extension will launch the 2016-2017 season of UGA’s Extension Academy for Professional Excellence — an internal program meant to develop the next generation of leadership — this September in Athens, Georgia.

Extension Academy gives early- and mid-career county Extension agents, state specialists and UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and College of Family and Consumer Sciences personnel the opportunity to develop new leadership skills and improve their ability to fulfill UGA Extension’s mission of helping Georgians become healthier, more productive, financially independent and environmentally responsible.

“One of our most important goals as an organization is to empower emerging leaders so that they are ready to take the reins as a generation of veteran agents, specialists and administrators retire,” said Laura Perry Johnson, associate dean for Extension in CAES and director for UGA Extension. “We have a young workforce, and we’re investing in them because they represent the future of UGA Extension."

According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, 10,000 baby boomers retire each day in the United States, thinning the experienced leadership benches at many companies and institutions. In an effort to prevent the loss of skilled leadership inside UGA Extension, administrators have developed Extension Academy, among other programs, to prepare leaders to enter roles as long-serving Extension agents and program managers retire.

In September, the 2016-2017 cohort of Extension Academy will gather in Athens for their first of three leadership institutes. Each three-day institute will offer intensive personal and professional development training facilitated by the CAES Office of Learning and Organizational Development.

This year’s Extension Academy participants serve in a variety of roles. They include:

  • Lindsey Barner, CAES business office senior budget analyst
  • Greg Bowman, Gordon County Extension coordinator
  • Stephanie Butcher, Coweta County Extension coordinator
  • Tim Daly, Gwinnett County Extension coordinator
  • Terri Fullerton, Newton County 4-H Youth Development agent
  • Kevin Livingston, Douglas County Agriculture and Natural Resources agent
  • Stephanie Myers, Evans County Extension coordinator
  • Abby Smith, Effingham County Extension coordinator
  • Rachel Stewart, Tattnall County Extension coordinator
  • Chris Tyson, Tattnall County Agriculture and Natural Resources agent
  • Tim Coolong, state Extension vegetable specialist
  • Mandy Marable, state 4-H Youth Development specialist
  • Scott Carlson, Tift County Extension Coordinator
  • Ashley Davis, Tift County 4-H Youth Development agent
  • Mitzi Parker, Sumter County Family and Consumer Sciences agent
  • Julia Steed, Lanier County 4-H Youth Development agent

For more information on UGA Extension’s impact in Georgia, visit extension.uga.edu.

Merritt Melancon, a public relations manager for the UGA Terry College of Business, previously served as a public relations coordinator for the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and UGA Extension.

Authors:
Merritt Melancon
Experts/Sources:
Laura Perry Johnson
Lauren Ledbetter Griffeth
A leadership development class within the Extension Academy for Professional Excellence works on a classroom exercise.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.
Download Image
Kaytlyn Cobb is now spearheading a historic partnership between the University of Georgia and Fargo, North Dakota-based Grand Farm as regional assistant director. CAES News
Kaytlyn Cobb joins UGA Grand Farm to boost agricultural innovation in Georgia 10/30/24 Sean Montgomery
Growing up in north Georgia’s Franklin County, Kaytlyn Cobb knew her aspirations in agriculture would always lead her to new opportunities. Inspired by her dedicated community and diverse background, Cobb is now spearheading a historic partnership between the University of Georgia and Fargo, North Dakota-based Grand Farm as regional assistant director. Hired in August, Cobb hit the ground running to continue development of the fast-forming ecosystem between Grand Farm, the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and global strategic partners.
Combining data collection and analysis with plant pathology, precision agriculture and robotics, the UGA team will build a photographic library of the foliar symptoms caused by onion diseases and other physiological disorders, feed them into the AI software, and use machine learning to identify the diseases based on pattern and color recognition from the images. CAES News
UGA uses AI, robotics to improve Georgia’s Vidalia sweet onion crop 10/23/24 Jordan Powers
A multidisciplinary team of UGA researchers aims to enhance the competitiveness of Vidalia onion growers in Georgia by providing them with the ability to confidently detect onion diseases early, enabling them to make management decisions on their crop at a critical time. These abilities, researchers say, should result in increased yield and quality of marketable onions and an overall increase in efficiency and productivity.
Associate Professor Rhuanito Ferrarezi poses with a Gerber daisy grown by students in his 4050/6050 Greenhouse Management class in fall 2023. CAES News
Upcoming UGA plant sales bring color to fall 10/15/24 Maria M. Lameiras
Fall weather means fall gardening, and several groups at the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences will be offering the fruits of their labors at ornamental plant sales across campus this semester. On Friday, Oct. 18, the Trial Gardens at University of Georgia will hold its annual Fall Houseplant Sale, and on Wednesday, Nov. 20, greenhouse management students will offer their ornamental plant sale at the South Milledge Greenhouse Complex.
Although it may not fit the traditional image of a well-kept lawn, this landscape is the result of careful planning and a deep commitment to ecological stewardship. CAES News
Done with mowing? How to transform your lawn into a native, perennial landscape 09/12/24 Emily Cabrera
On a tour of her Blairsville, Georgia, home, Becky Griffin navigates a swaying maze of perennial grasses interspersed with pussy willows, switchgrass and boneset. Although it may not fit the traditional image of a well-kept lawn, this landscape is the result of careful planning and a deep commitment to ecological stewardship. As a native plant enthusiast and coordinator of the Great Southeast Pollinator Census, Griffin hand-selected each of these native plants for the countless ecological services they provide year-round.
Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium CAES News
Keep on the grass 08/29/24 Emily Cabrera, Scott Michaux
When the University of Georgia Bulldogs step between the hedges at Sanford Stadium, the grass on Dooley Field needs to look perfect. More importantly, though, it needs to help safeguard the health of athletes who compete on it. Gerald Henry plays a big role in the latter. The UGA Athletic Association’s endowed professor in environmental turfgrass leads a research team in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences committed to creating sports fields that look good and perform well to limit the occurrence of injuries.
Student interns at UGArden in 2017. (PHOTO: Andrew Davis Tucker, UGA MarComm) CAES News
UGArden receives $10K from Kubota, votes can raise to $50K 08/07/24 Isabella Farris
Just a short drive from UGA’s downtown campus sits 10 acres of land known as UGArden. Rows of carrots, okra, kale, squash and much more line the fields. An average of 15,000 pounds of produce is grown on the student farm each year, and that food gets distributed to community members in need. But that capacity and those partnerships could soon grow, thanks to a $10,000 Kubota Hometown Proud Grant, which comes with a valuable additional component: a vote competition that could get UGArden an additional $40,000 and one lucky voter a Kubota mower.