News: Southscapes Fall 2008

Brown: The incredible diversity of Georgia agriculture coupled with the amazing changes that technology is bringing to modern agriculture have combined to put a lot of pressure on UGA Extension's ability to continue programming excellence. Positioning our faculty, staff and physical resources to maximize our efforts has always been a challenge. We're faced with a wave of retirements in the next five years that will cost us some of our best human capital. Continued urbanization, competing needs for water, a budding biofuels industry and escalating production costs will pressure us to provide the information and services necessary for Georgia agriculture to thrive. My challenge is to make sure our educational and service programs are relevant, coordinated and flexible enough to meet the needs of our clients.

West: Getting my arms around the entire job. There are a broad range of duties, so I am working on balance and trying to give the big jobs the appropriate attention without letting the little tasks steal too much time. The pace, variety and the opportunity to interact with a wide array of people . are some of the reasons that I was attracted to the position. So despite it being a big and hectic job, it's challenging and full of opportunity.

Brown: I hope that I've laid the groundwork to begin addressing the long-neglected area of Agriculture and Natural Resources programming. ANR covers a lot of ground in Georgia. I've been busy establishing relationships with all the key players that must be engaged for us to do our job. Associate Dean Beverly Sparks and Director of County Operations Tony Tyson have been very supportive during my transition. I think our different backgrounds in UGA Extension mesh very well and I hope I can enhance their already effective administration.

West: We're working on a number of initiatives, including a design study of space for our teaching program and developing funding for the renovation of the two original buildings on campus. Our biggest projects and needs will take some time to complete, so getting these initiatives started is crucial. There is one area that I feel really good about, and that is how the campus has received me. I believe that we are coming together as a campus, that there is a feeling of unity. I don't attribute this to anything concrete that I have done, except that I try to be open and transparent in communications.

Brown: I've initiated an evaluation of how we're distributing our resources among UGA Extension ANR programs and how we're currently supporting our ANR programs. I don't envision drastic programming changes, but we must be flexible enough to change as agriculture changes. If we know where we are and where we're trying to go, we can make smart adjustments when normal attrition of our faculty and staff gives us opportunities to do so. We don't need a study to conclude that we're already spread extremely thin. We've absorbed retirements and budget cuts for quite some time without substantially reducing our output. I don't think that trend is sustainable. We will eventually face some difficult decisions regarding ANR programming, which will determine the future of Extension.

West: Physical facilities are one of our greatest needs. Renovation of the ADS and Tift Buildings will create much-needed office space. Renovation of the RDC to teaching space will give our academic programs a much-needed home. Funding initiatives will be a key focus in the coming year. I want to initiate planning studies to see where this campus needs to be in the next five to 10 years and how to get there. Studies of our facilities and IT needs are planning initiatives that we'll undertake. I have no illusion that we'll complete the physical aspect of these initiatives soon but we must have a plan, a roadmap. It'll then be my job, with the help of many others, to fund and implement those plans. That's what will make this job the most rewarding, and which hopefully will position this campus for continued success in furthering the agricultural sciences.