Dr. Janet Fox as assistant dean of UT Extension and head of the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture. Fox has more than fifteen years of experience as an administrator. Fox began her career as a middle school family and consumer science teacher. Being an advocate for outreach, she started her Extension career as a 4-H youth development agent and as the 4-H volunteer and leadership specialist intern with the Mississippi Cooperative Extension Service. With more than 35 years of experience, Fox has served at the county, multi-county, district, and state levels in three different state Cooperative Extension systems, including Mississippi, Nebraska, and Louisiana. Now she adds Tennessee to her list.
Fox received a bachelor’s degree in home economics and a master’s degree in extension education from Mississippi State University. She earned her Ph.D. in adult and vocational education with a concentration in human resource development from the University of Nebraska. Her dissertation is titled “Balancing family, volunteer, and work roles: The relationship among strategies, situations, and satisfaction.”
Dr. Christopher T. Sneed is a leader in community engagement and passionate advocate for families of limited resources, Christopher T. Sneed, PhD has been offering financial and consumer education through The University of Tennessee (UT) for close to 20 years. His outreach, creative achievements, research, and public engagements have made demonstrable impacts improving financial capability of Tennessee families. The uniqueness of his work lies in Dr. Sneed’s commitment to participatory, community-based education and engagement through the Extension network.
As Assistant Professor and Consumer Economics Specialist, Dr. Sneed designs, develops, implements, and evaluates financial education programs and resources used by Extension educators and trained volunteers. From senior centers to middle school classrooms to transitional housing, Extension educators use these materials to educate and improve the financial capability of Tennesseans including underserved families located in rural Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta region. His educational curricula and materials are prized by Extension educators for ease of implementation and presentation of financial concepts in simple, non-threatening ways. On average, approximately 40,000 adult and youth contacts are made yearly using educational materials developed by Dr. Sneed and team.
Dr. Sneed is sought after not only in his department and across the UT system but by other public and private institutions for his knowledge of families with limited-resources and passion for improving financial capability. According to one seasoned Extension Agent, “Dr. Sneed gets it and gets people.”