Dr. Douglas C. Bachtel, professor of Housing and Consumer Economics, was named the 2001 Walter Barnard Hill Distinguished Public Service and Outreach Fellow, while Dr. Elizabeth Andress, professor of Foods and Nutrition, and Judy Bland, FACS Extension Agent for Tift, Turner, Irwin and Ben Hill counties received the Walter Barnard Hill Awards for Distinguished Achievement in Public Service and Outreach.

Comparable to a distinguished professorship, the fellowship is the highest award offered in service and recognizes faculty who have made extraordinary contributions to university public service and outreach programs.

The Hill Awards recognize distinguished achievement in public service and outreach by faculty members and service professionals. 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 as well as a supplemental fund for use in the advancement of his or her program of work.

Bachtel is highly regarded for his ability to turn statistical data into valuable assistance and comprehensible information for elected leadership, business groups and citizens. In addition to the well-known Georgia County Guide, he has developed the Georgia Municipal Guide and the Georgia Housing Guide. He recently prepared a statistical report formulating strategies to provide employment services to former welfare recipients, provided a statistical sampling frame to monitor illegal tobacco sales to minors in Georgia, and assembled a comprehensive profile of rural Georgia, highlighting the economic conditions of 149 Georgia counties.

Andress is recognized as the foremost expert on home food preservation in the United States and Canada. She serves as project director for the National Center for Home Food Processing and Preservation and is co-author of the Complete Guide to Home Canning. She also is a recipient of the D.W. Brooks Faculty Award for Excellence in Extension and other awards.

Bland serves as an agent trainer for Family and Consumer Sciences. She has certified 89 professionals in food service management and developed the curriculum “Handwashing and Food Safety” for young children. As chair of the Tift County Youth Leadership Committee, Bland helped develop a leadership program for high school students. In 1995, Bland was recognized as a recipient of the D.W. Brooks Faculty Award for Excellence in Extension.
Heather Buckner, Public Relations Student Assistant

IHDD Receives Grant and Award
The Institute on Human Development and Disability, in partnership with the national Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered organization, has been awarded a grant for more than $410,000 from the Corporation for National Service to make the inclusion of adults with cognitive disabilities in national service a reality.

The grant, organized as the Everyone Can Serve! Project, will assist national service program directors to encourage greater participation of people with disabilities in their programs, and provide information about opportunities for national service to self-advocates with cognitive disabilities.

The project will be directed by Katie Ford, who presently directs the IHDD’s Georgia PAS Corps/AmeriCorps project, with support from Dr. Jenny Manders and other IHDD staff members, and national leaders of self-advocacy organizations.

“The awarding of this grant is a reflection on IHDD’s inclusive projects,” said Ford. “We include self-advocates with cognitive disabilities in all our projects and on our consumer council. Self-advocates have been involved with the development of this grant since its inception. They will be co-coordinators of this project, assisting in all aspects of the project’s implementation. The project will enable us to show others in the South how our inclusive policies benefit all people.”

In a separate recognition, IHDD was recognized by the inaugural Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partnership Award for Campus-Community Collaboration for its work with People First of Georgia, the state’s largest self-advocacy group for people with disabilities.

IHDD was one of the top seven of 40 applicants, representing 31 Georgia colleges and universities. It was the only nomination from the University of Georgia.

Awards were announced in a November ceremony at Georgia State University attended by the former president and first lady, Gov. Roy Barnes, and U.S. Senator Max Cleland.

People First of Georgia, Inc., has 29 chapters and more than 600 members across Georgia. Since collaboration began in 1993 with the IHDD, membership has increased 42 percent and the number of chapters increased by 50 percent. In addition, more than 2,500 people with disabilities, family members, advocates, and service providers have received training and information on important issues provided by self-advocates.

“Self-advocacy is defined as people with disabilities speaking for themselves and working together to make change,” said Dr. Jenny Manders, project coordinator. “People First promotes the full inclusion of people with disabilities as contributing members of their communities. It is part of the national and international self-advocacy movement for men and women with disabilities.”
John Weber

Guide Contains "Final Answers" About State
It might not make you a millionaire, but you can find the answer to almost any question about Georgia in the latest Georgia County Guide.

Begun in 1981 by Doug Bachtel, a professor in the Housing and Consumer Economics Department, data in the guide is arranged by subject with county-level and state statistics on agriculture, crime, economics, education, government, health, housing, labor, natural resources, occupations, populations, public assistance, religion, transportation, veterans and vital statistics.

The guide includes handy information on education (Cobb County students received the most HOPE scholarship awards, $17,529, 620; the Chickamauga city school system in Walker County had the highest high school graduation rate, 91.9 percent.)

And, there is information you never know when you’ll need: There were more deer-related accidents on Henry County roads than in any other county –346; military veterans showed the greatest increase in Union County from 1990 to 1999 –20.9 percent; and the Catoosa County marriage rate was highest –52.1 percent 1,000 population.

This year’s guide is available in book form or electronic data sets in Microsoft Excel format. The data sets include individual county-state profiles in Adobe Acrobat format with free software available on the Web. The book is $15 and data sets are $50. Complete book and ordering information is available on-line at www.agecon.uga.edu/~countyguide.
Faith Peppers