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Dr. Nick T Place
Associate Professor, Associate Dean/Associate Director, UME
University of Maryland Extension (UME)
Associate Professor, Associate Dean/Associate Director, UME
Animal & Avian Sciences (ANSC)
Dr. Nick Place started as the Associate Dean and Associate Director of University of Maryland Extension (UME) in August 2007. In this role, Dr. Place is administratively responsible to the Dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Director of UME for meeting the mission and goals of the extension program, and serves on the College Administrative Team. UME has appoximately 200 faculty and 200 support staff located at University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP); University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES); 23 counties; Baltimore City; four regional centers; and the Maryland Sea Grant program. UME also supports faculty positions in the Colleges of Chemical and Life Sciences, Health and Human Performance, and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences. In Maryland, there is one extension program supported by both the 1862 (UMCP) and 1890 (UMES) land grant institutions; this partnership adds to the strength of the extension efforts.
Some primary duties of the UME Associate Dean and Associate Director include: (1) developing, implementing, and evaluating of statewide extension programming including 4-H youth development, FCS, AGNR and Sea Grant; (2) serving as liaison and provide leadership to the county extension advisory councils; (3) assisting with annual MCE budget preparation; (4) providing statewide communication with the extension user community, key statewide leadership, and state and federal agencies; (5) fostering an environment supportive of interdisciplinary programming with the research and instructional components of the college; (6) providing visionary leadership to develop an extension program to meet societies current and future needs; and (7) fostering interactive programs between extension specialist, county faculty and clientele.
Prior to the University of Maryland, Dr. Place was a faculty member at the University of Florida in the Department of Agricultural Education and Communication (AEC) where he had a 60% teaching / 40% extension appointment. At Florida, he served as the AEC Graduate Coordinator, and he served as the Coordinator for the Program Development and Evaluation Center for two years. Specializing in Extension Education, Dr. Place taught undergraduate and graduate course on the role and development of extension, extension methods, adult education, extension administration and supervision, and extension systems. As a Graduate Faculty member he advised M.S. and Ph.D. students focusing on extension; to date, he has been on 69 graduate committees, of which he has chaired 30. The primary focus of his extension appointment was in the area of professional development. This included coordinating new faculty orientation and training, extension mentoring, professional development needs assessment, extension in-service programs and extension leadership development.
Dr. Place also has experience and a strong interest in international extension programs and comparative extension systems. He has received numerous teaching and extension awards. Most recently this includes: 2006 AIAEE Outstanding Achievement Award, 2006 NAAE Outstanding Early Career Award, 2006 AAAE Southern Region Outstanding Young Agricultural Educator Award, 2005 NACTA Teacher Fellow Award, 2005 CALS Graduate Teacher/Advisor of the Year Award, and the 2002 John and Marilyn Woeste Extension Professional Recognition Award. Dr. Place earned his B.S. in dairy husbandry at Delaware Valley College. He earned his M.S. in dairy and animal science and his Ph.D. in agricultural and extension education, both from Penn State University.
Background Information: Dr. Place is a native of Pennsylvania, having grown up on a dairy farm in northeast PA. Prior to the University of Florida, Place was a Multi-county Extension Agent for 12 years in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. His Extension Agent work included conducting educational programs in dairy, livestock, 4-H / youth development and community development. During this time, he also served as the County Extension Director for seven years and as an Assistant Regional Extension Director (Northeast PA) for two years. Additionally, he was selected by USDA to work in Poland as part of the Polish-American Extension Project for six months on extension education methods and dairy/livestock technologies.
Nick T. Place, Ph.D. Associate Dean and Associate Director University of Maryland Cooperative Extension Tel: 301-405-2907 Email: nplace@umd.edu