Burkham earns honors as Administrator of the Year
Texas Educational Support Staff Association recognizes AgriLife Extension leader
Angela Burkham, Ph.D., executive associate director for Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, recently received the Texas Educational Support Staff Association’s Administrator of the Year award.
The Texas Educational Support Staff Association is the only professional association specifically for paraprofessionals working in education in Texas.
Burkham has served in an educational administrative leadership role for 30 years within AgriLife Extension, including as regional program director for 4-H, state program leader for family and community health, and, for the past three years, as executive associate director of the agency.
She leads and oversees all agency operations, ensuring the goals of the AgriLife Extension are met. Among her achievements are creating the Office of Data and Accountability. Her responsibilities include overseeing the agency budget and the Disaster Assessment and Recovery, DAR, unit, which assists communities in disaster preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery.
Her nomination states that Burkham strongly supports the Texas Educational Support Staff Association and the Brazos Valley Educational Support Staff Association. According to her nominators, Burkham encourages employees to engage in external professional development opportunities and allows them the time and resources they need to participate in these activities.
Equipping employees to serve Texans
Burkham devotes much time and effort ensuring that AgriLife Extension employees are well trained and have all the necessary resources to be effective and efficient. Her nomination states that she provides her support staff with every opportunity to succeed in their jobs.
Also highlighted was the value Burkham places on volunteerism, as she has demonstrated throughout her career. For example, Burkham developed the Master Volunteer framework for AgriLife Extension volunteer programs. And, she implemented the Youth Protection Standards program, which conducted criminal background checks on more than 25,000 volunteers over four years.
Recently, Burkham championed an initiative that resulted in all Texas A&M AgriLife personnel obtaining no-cost access to LinkedIn Learning. On this online platform, more than a thousand courses and trainings are available around the clock, covering numerous topics relating to workforce and technology.
Monty Dozier, Ph.D., DAR program director, described Burkham as being most concerned with improving the efficiency and effectiveness of her staff.
“She is always researching new technologies and training opportunities to improve the productivity and technical skills of her support team,” Dozier said. “I would classify Angela as an innovator in adopting new technology to improve our agency’s ability to address the ever-changing needs of our diverse state.”
An acclaimed leader
Burkham has previously been honored with numerous awards, including the AgriLife Extension Superior Service Award for Leadership and the Texas A&M AgriLife Vice Chancellor’s Award in Excellence for Diversity.
She has served on many of the agency’s statewide committees, including the Texas A&M AgriLife State Conference Committee, Onboarding Committee, Workforce Development Initiative, Cooperative Research, Extension and Education Team, and the North Region Program Excellence Academy.
Burkham earned her bachelor’s in home economics and a master’s in agricultural education from Texas Tech University and a doctorate in agricultural education and communications from Texas A&M University.
