State extension council elects new officers

ROLLA, Mo.– The University of Missouri Extension State Council elected new officers at its monthly meeting April 11 in Rolla.

H.C. Russell, who has served as council chair for the last four years, announced earlier this year his intention to step down as chair. Russell led the nominating committee that proposed a new slate of officers.

Russell will continue to represent MU Extension’s Northeast Region as a member of the state extension council and will remain a vigorous advocate and spokesperson for MU Extension, said Tony DeLong, extension county council coordinator.

The new council officers, who assume their duties starting May 1, are:

• Anita Hampton, Chair. A business owner from Bolivar in Polk County, Hampton is a 2011 recipient of the University of Missouri System Alumni Alliance Award and has represented MU Extension on search committees for the UM System president and MU chancellor. She has served as state extension council secretary and vice chair of extension relations.

• Dolores Howard, Vice Chair of Administration. Howard, who has been re-elected to a second term, is an office administrator for the Memorial United Methodist Church in Farmington and a member of the Farmington R-7 district school board. She chairs the committee drafting a guidebook on the MU Extension district option.

• Glenn Coleman, Vice Chair of Extension Relations. Coleman, of Cass County, has served as state extension council secretary and was a 2012 inductee into the Missouri 4-H Hall of Fame.

• Ronda Elfrink, Secretary. Elfrink, of Leopold, is Bollinger County assessor and chair of the University of Missouri Alumni Alliance.

Russell said all four officers have represented MU Extension at the Joint Council of Extension Professionals’ Public Issues Leadership Development (PILD) conference in Washington, D.C., and regularly interact with state legislators, county commissioners and MU administration on the value of MU Extension to the people of Missouri.

University of Missouri Extension State Council (UMESC) comprises individuals who currently serve or have served on a county extension council and are elected by regional extension councils.

UMESC promotes the common interest of county councils through support for research and extension programs of MU and Lincoln University at all levels of government, and disseminates information on the need for and advantage of research and extension.

For more information on county, regional and state extension councils, go to extension.missouri.edu/extcouncil.