By Heather Buckner
hbuckner@uga.edu
Douglas C. Bachtel, a professor in the department of housing and consumer economics of the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, was named the 2001 Walter Barnard Hill Distinguished Public Service and Outreach Fellow at the annual Public Service and Outreach Conference held at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education on Jan. 30.
Comparable to a distinguished professorship, this fellowship is the highest award offered in service and recognizes those faculty who have made extraordinary contributions to university public service and outreach programs.
Also recognized at the conference were the recipients of the Walter Barnard Hill Awards for Distinguished Achievement in Public Service and Outreach: Elizabeth I. Andress, College of Family and Consumer Sciences; Judy Bland, Cooperative Extension Service and College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences; Job P. Dieleman, Business Outreach Services/Small Business Development Center; P. Elizabeth Pate, College of Education; and William P. Russell, Business Outreach Services/Small Business Development Center.
The Hill Awards, inaugurated in 1992, recognize distinguished achievement in public service and outreach by faculty and service professionals. Each recipient has been judged to have contributed to improving the quality of life in Georgia or elsewhere beyond the normal accomplishments of a productive faculty member.
Each awardee receives a permanent salary increase of $2,000 and becomes eligible for appointment as a Walter Barnard Hill Distinguished Public Service and Outreach Fellow. The fellowship recipient receives an additional salary increase of $1,000 and a supplemental fund for the advancement of his or her program of work.
Douglas C. Bachtel
Bachtel is highly regarded for his ability to turn  statistical data into comprehensible information and thus valuable assistance for elected leaders, business groups and citizens as they make decisions about the future of their communities. Since 1980 the county-level data he has gathered has been published in The Georgia County Guide, and he has developed two additional reference books, The Georgia Municipal Guide and The Georgia Housing Guide.
Bachtel has worked extensively with the Division of Family and Children Services, in conjunction with the Georgia Department of Labor and the Department of Adult and Technical Education, to prepare a statistical report formulating strategies to provide employment services to former welfare recipients.
For the Georgia Department of Human Resources, Bachtel recently completed a statistical sampling frame to monitor illegal tobacco sales to minors in Georgia. He has also assisted the Governor’s Council on Rural and Economic Development in assembling a comprehensive profile of rural Georgia, highlighting the economic conditions of 149 Georgia counties.
Elizabeth I. Andress
Andress is recognized as the foremost expert on home  food preservation in the United States and Canada. She is responsible for several publications that are definitive works in home food preservation and food safety.
In recent years, Andress has been instrumental in coordinating the delivery of the ServSafe program of the National Restaurant Association throughout the state. The Cooperative Extension Service uses the program to reach the food service industry in Georgia.
Andress also works closely with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to ensure that home economists working with the meat and poultry hotline in the Food Safety and Inspection Service are up-to-date. She is the co-author of the “Complete Guide to Home Canning,” a bulletin published by the Cooperative Extension Service and the USDA, and she serves as project director for the National Center for Home Food Processing and Preservation.
Andress recently edited major sections of “So Easy to Preserve,” the definitive source of information on home food preservation and a primary reference in over 30 states. She is also a recipient of the D.W. Brooks Faculty Award for Excellence in Extension.
Judy Bland
As the county extension agent for Family and  Consumer Sciences in Tift, Turner, Irwin and Ben Hill counties, Bland has focused on nutrition, food safety, chronic disease prevention and child and family development. She also serves as the state’s FACS supervisor for agents-in-training.
Bland has certified 89 professionals in food-service management through the ServSafe certification program of the National Restaurant Association and currently serves on the statewide Extension FACS Food Safety Team. Furthermore, she developed the curriculum “Handwashing and Food Safety,” piloted with first-grade students in Tift County during fall 2000 to meet Georgia Quality Core Curriculum standards.
Under Bland’s leadership as chair of the Tift County Youth Leadership Committee, the Tift County Commission of Children and Youth developed a leadership program for high school students. Since the 1997 pilot, over 60 county youth have participated in the program.
In 1995 Bland received the D.W. Brooks Faculty Award for Excellence in Extension. In 2000 she was elected to represent Extension on the college’s faculty council and was appointed by the dean to serve as a counselor for the Equal Employment/Affirmative Action Program. That year she also served as the president of Epsilon Sigma Phi, the professional association for extension.
Job P. Dieleman
 For 12 years, Dieleman has been an international trade consultant with the Business Outreach Services/Small Business Development Center. In 1996 the International Trade Division received a national award for program excellence from the U.S. Small Business Administration, and the National Association of Small Business Development Center Certification Review Team singled out Georgia’s international trade program as an outstanding example of public service in higher education.
Since joining BOS/SBDC, Dieleman has provided consulting for 450 companies and conducted 250 seminars. His crowning achievement is “ExportGA,” a program he co-developed in 1998. This intensive year-long program specifically addresses the needs of export-ready companies and has already resulted in $22 million in international sales.
In 1988 Dieleman initiated an internship program with the Terry College of Business to integrate juniors and seniors into the workforce. Since its inception, 75 students have had the opportunity to work directly with companies to assist in penetrating foreign markets.
P. Elizabeth Pate
As an associate professor of elementary education and the middle school program, Pate defines  public service and outreach as “the application of academic skills to solving real-life problems in the community.” She teaches undergraduate and graduate students using service learning.
Pate has been recognized through 10 university and national awards in teaching, research and service. Most recently she received the Thomas Ehrlich Faculty Award for University Faculty Committed to Enhancing Service Learning in Higher Education for 2000. Also in 2000 she was honored by Campus Compact as one of the nation’s “Top Ten” college and university faculty committed to enhancing service learning in higher education.
Pate advises professors from the School of Law, the College of Veterinary Medicine, the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences regarding the integration of service-learning activities. In the Institute of Ecology, she is currently team-teaching a series of service-learning courses in environmental education.
Pate also serves on the Leadership Certificate Advisory Committee for the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and has assumed a leadership role in the preparation of the proposed Office for Civic Engagement designed to connect students, faculty and staff with local, national and international communities.
William P. Russell
 Russell was initially assigned as a rural economic development consultant for five rural counties in southwest Georgia, but he immediately created regional networks of local leadership teams and linked them with funding resources. His special expertise is in revitalizing the deteriorating downtown districts of rural Georgia.
Under the economic development program Russell helped to define, the resources of UGA have effectively been brought to rural communities lacking the financial resources to hire their own economic development staffs. His program serves as a model for other Small Business Development Centers around the nation, and he has held seminars in Alabama and Arkansas. Most recently, Russell delivered his “Five Steps to Downtown Revitalization” at the national conference of the Association of Small Business Development Centers.
Last year, as a result of the impact of Russell’s program on Parrot, Ga., Gov. Roy Barnes called it “the best example of what rural Georgia can do in economic revitalization!” Russell has also received the “Business Outreach Services Consultant of the Year Award,” given by the Georgia BOS/SBDC. |
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