6/19/01
SMITH NAMED TO HEAD ALABAMA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SYSTEM
AUBURN -- Auburn University Interim President William F. Walker has appointed Gaines Smith as acting extension director of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, effective July 1.
Smith, who has been associate director of ACES since 1990, replaces Stephen Jones, who resigned to become vice chancellor for extension and engagement at North Carolina State University.
"Gaines Smith's experience with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System makes him uniquely qualified to manage ACES -- a vital part of Auburn's fulfillment of its land grant mission," said Walker. "Under Gaines' leadership, we expect the myriad services that ACES provides the citizens of Alabama to flourish and grow."
Walker added that his appointment of Smith was finalized after consultation with John T. Gibson, president of Alabama A&M University, whose extension programs also fall under the ACES umbrella.
Smith was interim director of ACES from September 1994 to December 1996. He is one of few in ACES to have served the system at all levels -- county, district and state. He was county agent in Jefferson County for 11 years and district agent in Selma for 15 before joining the state ACES staff at Auburn.
Drawing from that experience, Smith says he plans to focus on extension programs.
"That's where we've got to keep our focus," he said. "If we lose our focus on programs, (we lose) our reason for being. True, we've got to deal with proration, budget reductions, (our) public image, constituent relations, support group relations -- all of these are an important part of our work. But the focus has to stay on programs.
"To do that, we're in the process of reconfiguring our extension projects. We've gone through a rather intense discussion with the program leaders both at Alabama A&M and Auburn. We've got the basic framework together and, right now, we're in the process of program leaders and specialists writing some of the details on what some of these projects will include."
A native of Autauga County, Smith holds a bachelor's, master's and Ed.D., all from Auburn. He received his B.S. in agricultural education in 1964, his master's in production agriculture in 1971 and his Ed.D. in adult education in 1981.
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CONTACT: Smith, 334/844-5323.