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Smith
Ends 36-Year Extension Career
Auburn, Feb. 7--Dr.
James L. Smith, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System’s
associate director for Human Resources, retired recently after a
36-year career.
As associate director of Human
Resource Development, Smith was responsible for managing Extension’s
statewide personnel system. This included responsibility for
employee recruitment and selection as well as wage and salary
administration in all of the state, regional and local Extension
offices located throughout the state.
After his appointment by
the US District Court in Montgomery as associate director for human
resources of the newly created Alabama Cooperative Extension System,
Smith faced the daunting challenge of merging the Extension
personnel systems at Auburn and Alabama A&M Universities. The
appointment followed a landmark federal court ruling in which
District Judge Harold Murphy decided to merge the Extension programs
of Auburn University with those of the historically black Alabama
A&M University.
Part of his duties
involved serving as a court-appointed liaison between the two
universities, helping heal animosities that festered through more
than 10 years of court litigation between these two universities.
Born and raised in
Bullock County, Smith received a B.S. in social science from Edward
Waters College, Jacksonville, Florida, in 1962. The following year,
he earned an M.S. in agricultural economics from Tuskegee
University.
Smith began his
Extension career as an "assistant Negro county agent" (as
the position was then called) in Macon County in 1965 – a title
later changed to "Extension farm agent," following the
integration of the black and white Extension staffs in February,
1966.
While serving as an
Extension farm agent, Smith was strongly encouraged by Extension
district and state administrators to pursue a doctoral degree and
was granted study leave for this purpose. He received his doctorate
in adult education, guidance and counseling from The Ohio State
University in 1971, after maintaining a grade-point average of 3.9
on a 4-point scale.
Upon completion of his
doctorate in 1971, Smith returned to Alabama to serve as a 4-H
volunteer leadership specialist with the Alabama Cooperative
Extension Service’s statewide staff.
In 1975, Smith was
appointed head of Staff Development for the Alabama Cooperative
Extension Service as part of the Extension reorganization plan
approved by a Federal District Court in the aftermath of Strain vs.
Philpot, another landmark federal ruling affecting hiring practices
with the Extension Service.
One of Smith’s
responsibilities involved developing a new personnel management
system to conform to the legal standards established by this ruling.
Smith received
widespread national acclaim for his efforts and subsequently was
invited to several national conferences to discuss his management
approach.
Recalling this challenge
years later, Smith credits much of his success to the emphasis he
placed on openness and maintaining good communication.
"Human relations in
management is essential," he said. "An administrator who
possesses the knowledge of all of the principles of management, yet
can’t communicate with people, will be counterproductive in
directing the organization."
Candor and openness,
coupled with an unusually resilient optimism, was a Smith trademark
that apparently served him well throughout his long tenure – a
fact not lost on Dr. Stephen Jones, Alabama Cooperative Extension
System director, who reflected on Smith’s legacy at a retirement
luncheon held January 29 in Auburn.
"I’ve worked
around a good many people who occasionally, without hesitation, said
what was on their mind," Jones recalled. "But I’ve never
before worked around anyone who, almost without fail, always said
what was on his mind."
"I’ve worked with
many people who were upbeat and seldom saw the glass half
empty," he adds. "But few have always been upbeat, with
the glass never half empty. James Smith is an enthusiastic,
incurable optimist."
Smith, who is involved
in numerous civic and professional organizations, is a member of the
Masonic Lodge and the Washington Chapel A.M.E. Church, where he has
served as a Sunday School teacher, steward, treasurer and choir
member.
He and his wife, Bea,
have four children.
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