Dr. Smith Lever, Ph.D

Talk amongst yourselves. I’ll give you a topic. The Extension Foundation is neither extension nor a foundation. Discuss.

Way to go, Mr. President! Now I have to go schmooze a bunch of new legislators and governors.

For Halloween, all trick-or-treaters will be given one of these awesome goodies!! Recruitment challenges are a thing of the past!!!

I’m sure you’re thinking that I’ve been shockingly quiet during National 4H Week. You would be too if you had to field calls and emails from all the parents whose kids didn’t win at the fair. This might be an unpopular opinion, but I’m not so sure it’s worth a whole week.

All of us are celebrating National 4-H Week but only us Extension Deans know the challenges of 4H. Your kid didn’t get a ribbon???? Call the whaaaaaambulance!!

The next person that says something like “I didn’t have that on my bingo card!” will be punished by serving on a committee chaired by the Associate Director. Stop that nonsense!!

I just watched an interview with two players in the Little League World Series. One young man continually adjusted his cup in what appeared to be a nervous reaction to the interview. If he’d have been a 4-Her, he would have learned other ways to channel that energy.

If there’s anything in this whole, wide world that I dislike more than a fully promoted professor, I can’t name it. #entitled #lazy #entitledandlazy

The Associate Director is to me what Toby Flenderson is to Michael Scott.

Alright, Extenders… Please share all social media posts from me, the Big Dean, and other college dignitaries. We need your followers to like/follow/friend us, too.

I’ll stop drinking when my Director days are done. Until then, keep ‘em comin’!!

Our communications lead has taken so many selfies that they will soon be taking leave for a minor arm surgery. They’re in more social media pics than the Big Dean and I, combined.

AI is going to put Extension out of business. Agree or disagree??

Market research indicates it’s time for a rebranding. I hope it goes better than Cracker Barrel’s did!

I’m going to present the next monthly extension update webinar as Kenny Powers would. The Associate Director will be my Stevie. The over/under on number of minutes before HR shuts us down is currently at 3. #eastboundanddown

At this time of year, I automatically decline calls from our state 4-H program leader. If they leave a message, then it’s bad. If they immediately call me back, it’s really bad. Might as well start a 3-way call with our attorneys. #campshenanigans #someoneskidlosttheircontest

I spent the weekend coming up with the next three phases of organizational change to be rolled out over the next five years. ChatGPT has been very helpful in this endeavor.

Our evaluation team just had a paper accepted at the Journal of Extension. The authors have been told it is slated to be published in early 2032. It’ll be worth the wait!!

The Associate Director is on a two week vacation. I am collecting data to test my hypothesis that we can do without them. It’s important that our decisions be data-driven!

I’m seeking a federal earmark to fund a future Artemis crew to learn how to grow veggies on the moon. Can you imagine the fact sheets, videos, online courses, and webinars that will follow??? Screw national and international impacts! We are headed toward galactic impacts!!