UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Dr. Michelle S. Rodgers has been appointed director of Penn State Cooperative Extension and Outreach for the Capital Region, effective immediately.
As regional director, Rodgers will provide programmatic and administrative leadership for cooperative extension and coordination for university outreach programs in the region's seven counties: Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lancaster, Lebanon and York.
"The Capital Region, which encompasses Pennsylvania's agricultural bread basket as well as several urban centers, faces a unique set of issues," Rodgers says.
"With receipts totaling more than $2.5 billion, agriculture is the leading industry in the region," she explains. "The size of this industry means that there is intense demand for educational programming to help agricultural producers maintain cutting edge management and production skills and stay competitive in today's global economy.
"At the same time, these counties are home to more than 1.5 million people who have diverse program needs in youth development, family relationships and community development," she adds. "I hope to foster extension education efforts that will focus on these issues in a balanced way."
After receiving her B.S. in home economics education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1980, Rodgers spent about nine years as a Penn State Cooperative Extension home economics agent in Lancaster and Berks counties. From 1989 until her appointment as regional director, she served a combined eight years as assistant to the regional directors of the Capital and Southeast regions. In that capacity, she assisted in staff development, program planning and development, budgeting and personnel matters. From July 1994 to April 1995, she was interim regional director for the Capital Region.
Rodgers received her M.S. in rural sociology in 1988 and her Ph.D. in agricultural education with a minor in public administration in 1997, both from Penn State. She is a member of numerous professional organizations and has received several national and regional awards and honors, including a National Extension Leadership Development internship in 1996-97.
A resident of Akron, Pa., Rodgers will be based at the Capital Region cooperative extension office at Penn State Harrisburg.
The Capital Region was one of eight restructured regions created as part of an overall effort to enhance cooperative extension and engage the entire university in a broadened outreach effort. Cooperative extension, with offices in each of Pennsylvania's 67 counties, transfers research-based information to Pennsylvania's citizens through non-formal educational programs designed to meet locally identified needs.
###
EDITORS: For more information, contact Contact Michelle Rodgers at (717) 948-6326.
Contacts: Chuck Gill Chuck_Gill@agcs.cas.psu.edu 814-863-2713 814-865-1068 fax