The Southwest Area of K-State Research and Extension is composed of 24 counties with 45 agent positions, 3 program assistants and 27 office professionals.
The Southwest Area office is located in the Southwest Research-Extension Center at 4500 E. Mary Street in Garden City. There are eight specialist positions with extension assignments, three office professional positions, an Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) agent and two program assistants.
Area staff include:
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Jonathan Aguilar, water resource engineer (beginning January 2013);
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Debra Bolton, family and consumer sciences;
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Rod Buchele, 4-H and youth development;
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Troy Dumler, agricultural economics;
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John Holman, cropping systems;
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Justin Waggoner, beef systems;
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Bertha Mendoza, EFNEP agent;
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Yolanda Varela, EFNEP program assistant;
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Kent Shaw, extension assistant, Mobile Irrigation Labproject coordinator;
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Lynn Harshbarger, office professional; and
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Norma Cantu, office professional.
We are currently recruiting for a field crop entomologist and a crops and soils specialist.
The area director provides administrative assistance to the 24 counties in the area and supervision for the area office faculty and staff. The area specialists provide program assistance to 26 counties (24 in the southwest area plus Harper and Kingman in the Northeast administrative area) and often contribute to the statewide educational efforts in their areas of expertise. Local units provide timely, relevant, and effective educational programming for the residents of their counties.
