BRYAN — Misty Cathey, lead office assistant for the Texas 4-H Youth Development Program in College Station, has received a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Award in the category of office support – state/district.
Superior Service Awards recognize AgriLife Extension faculty and staff members who provide outstanding performance in Extension education or other outstanding service to the agency and to Texans. The award was presented Jan. 12 during the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Conference awards dinner at the Brazos Expo Center in Bryan.
Cathey joined the State 4-H Office staff in fall 1999 as a temporary worker, and after demonstrating her organizational, technological and customer service skills was asked to apply as a full-time employee.
According to the award nomination, Cathey quickly learned the many facets of the 4-H program and was able to become a valued team partner in the initial stages of the implementation of 4-H CONNECT. She has continued that role for 15 years and serves as the primary customer service contact for 4-H CONNECT, receiving more than 6,000 phone calls and 4,000 emails annually on questions, requests for help or general inquiries about the system.
Her efforts have allowed the 4-H program to expand the 4-H CONNECT system into a total 4-H management system to include youth enrollment, volunteer enrollment and screening, club chartering, volunteer reporting and federal reporting, plus event registration and management. Today, the Texas system has over 226,365 youth and adult profiles, more than 161,660 event registrations and generates more than $2 million annually for 4-H and AgriLife Extension.
The nomination also cited Cathey for her work in organization through other programming efforts, including the use of the Formsite system to collect data for a variety of areas in 4-H such as applications, evaluations, financial records and data related to the Texas 4-H Opportunity Scholarship program.
She was described as being “a team player” who devotes personal time to work projects and provides hands-on assistance to efforts such as helping load Texas 4-H Roundup materials on Sunday morning for transport to Reed Arena at Texas A&M or coming to the office in the evening to unlock the building so a 4-H club can have their meeting.
“…Misty has picked up additional duties in other areas with the creation of new programs such as Texas 4-H Technology Team, One Day 4-H and 4-H Day at the Capitol,” wrote Kelli Lehman, AgriLife Extension 4-H youth development program specialist and lead office assistant, Vernon. “Misty has met each new challenge with confidence and a dedication to the task. She demonstrates loyalty to the mission and objectives of AgriLife Extension by not only readily adopting changes, but also by her personal commitment to excellence in carrying out those new assignments.”
Over the past 15 years, Cathey has helped plan and arrange transportation, lodging and other details for 4-H trips to Washington D.C., Atlanta and various locations in California, helping more than 1,200 4-H members have experiences they may not have elsewhere, the nomination stated. In the office, she also has overseen the work of at least 12 student workers, as well as providing direction to 10 graduate students on various projects and tasks, including serving as a mentor to many of them.
Cathey’s technological expertise was also put to use in developing an online judging program for photography contests which allow judges to view photos on their computer monitors, write comments and evaluate the photo simultaneously. According to Dr. Chris Boleman, statewide director for Texas 4-H, when One Day 4-H began seven years ago, she used her experiences in other programs and projects in 4-H to develop online sign-up, as well as project reporting forms that allow real-time monitoring of the process for the event, plus the ability for clientele to upload photos and videos of their projects.
One of Cathey’s primary responsibilities since joining the State 4-H Office has been working with the 4-H website. More than 35,000 people visit the website each month, and for the past five years Cathey has been the sole manager for the site. Currently, there are more than 4,000 documents and 325 pages on the Texas 4-H website, and she has included an integration of a statewide calendar component and an online submission form for clientele.
Bolemen noted that the 4-H program is currently developing a new website, and Cathey has been at the forefront of that effort, offering suggestions, recommendations and thoughts on what needs to be incorporated to address the needs of employees, volunteers and current and potential 4-H members.
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