By Mary Hightower
U of A System Division of Agriculture
CONWAY, Ark. — Mary Beth Groce and Joy West took two very different paths to wind up as award-winning family and consumer science agents for the Cooperative Extension Service.
West of Jackson County and Groce, the Faulkner County extension staff chair, were honored by the University of Central Arkansas as distinguished alumni. West earned the Distinguished Alumni Award for graduates of the Nutrition and Family Science Department, while Groce was recognized with the department’s Young Achiever Award in a ceremony on March 5.
From left, Joy West, Jackson County extension agent, Nina Roofe, head of FCS for the Cooperative Extension Service, and Mary Beth Groce, Faulkner County extension staff chair. Taken March 5, 2024. (UCA image)
Family and Consumer Sciences, formerly known as home economics, covers a broad range of topics including personal finance, health, family living and nutrition. The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture conducts outreach for this discipline in all 75 counties of Arkansas through the Cooperative Extension Service.
Mary Beth Groce
Groce was recognized with the Young Achiever Award, which is presented to alumni within 15 years of graduation who demonstrate emerging leadership and professional achievements in FCS. After graduation, Mary Beth was hired by the Cooperative Extension Service and will celebrate her 10 years with the Cooperative Extension Service in September.
"I am incredibly excited for Mary Beth and her achievements,” said Sherry Beaty-Sullivan, Ozark District director for the Cooperative Extension Service. “What an honor to be named Young Achiever of the Year from UCA's Department of Nutrition and Family Sciences! We are proud of her and all of her accomplishments as an agent and young professional.”
Kevin Lawson, a long-time co-worker and Faulkner County extension agent, praised Groce for her mentoring skills and continued partnership with UCA.
“She has been interning students from UCA for several years and we have gone on to hire those interns as agents,” Lawson said. “I am super proud of how hard she works and her partnership with UCA has been beneficial to UCA and to extension. She has given so much knowledge to FCS majors at UCA and her impact will always be with these young FCS professionals.”
Working for the Cooperative Extension Service was almost a foregone conclusion for Groce who graduated in 2104 with a bachelor’s degree in family and consumer science.
“I grew up in 4-H from a Cloverbud through an Ambassador, and was always involved with extension, but it wasn't until I had Mrs. Judy Riley as a teacher at UCA that I considered it as a career,” Groce said. “Mrs. Riley asked what I wanted to do with my degree, and I told her that I wanted to help people in the most practical ways possible.
“She naturally started the conversation about becoming an extension agent, and almost 10 years later with my master’s degree and as a staff chair, I think she was right,” Groce said.
Riley was Delta District director for the Cooperative Extension Service and is an adjunct instructor at UCA. She continues to be involved as a member of the Arkansas 4-H Foundation Board of Directors.
Joy West
UCA’s Distinguished Alumni Award is for graduates of the Nutrition and Family Science Department who demonstrate outstanding accomplishments and leadership in family and consumer science professions.
West graduated from UCA with bachelor’s degree in home economics in 1990, something that almost didn’t happen.
“Just four years before, the UCA board had thought to dismiss the department thinking it was no longer needed,” West said. “My father, James Griffith, was the superintendent of South Side, Bee Branch and spoke at the hearing with other school superintendents to request the program stay.
“Dr. Mary Harlan, department chair, told me he said, ‘I have a sad little girl at home right now’,” West said. “I’m not sure his argument swayed the board, but the department stayed and actually grew much larger during my time at UCA.”
West’s extension career almost didn’t happen either.
“When I graduated, I had no intention of working for extension,” she said, adding that she had planned to teach high school family and consumer sciences for my entire career. “But life changes your intent sometimes.”
West took a break from teaching to focus on her children but couldn’t find a school where she wanted to teach. A suggestion from one of her sisters steered West toward extension.
“After accepting the position in Yell County I learned this type of education was quite gratifying,” West said. “I was attracted to the continual change and freedom to choose programs that were of interest to the many different groups I could serve.
“Although I miss the school atmosphere and influence you can have on the lives of so many students, having 4-H responsibilities gives me back a sense of this,” she said. “I plan to stay with extension and continue using the knowledge I was gratefully given while at UCA.”
Carla Due, Ouachita District director for the Cooperative Extension Service and a former family and consumer science agent, said West is an exceptional agent who serves in leadership roles in her professional organization both in Arkansas and on a national level.
“Joy is innovative in addressing the clientele’s needs,” Due said. “We are happy to have her in Jackson County.”
To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu. Follow on X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk.