The Ultimate Ag Ambassador: Alverson Retiring After 32 Years of Helping Students

By: Jamie Creamer

Please excuse Bill Alverson if he gets just a little emotional these days.

On Aug. 31, the one man who has touched more Auburn University College of Agriculture students' lives than anyone in its history will retire after 32 years and four months of recruiting, advising, counseling, encouraging, challenging and endearing himself to literally thousands of individuals.

And while he and wife Snooky are looking forward to spending more time together visiting grandkids, and fishing, and traveling the country and maybe the world, Alverson admits there's going to be a sizable void in his life.

"I'm going to miss it; I'm going to miss it a lot," the CoAg assistant dean says in his trademark Sand Mountain drawl. "For me, this hasn't been 'just a job.' It's been a whole lot more.

"I can honestly say," he continues, "that there has never been one morning I couldn't wait to get to the office, to see what opportunities would come along that day. Just helping people-that's what it's all about."

And as anyone who has passed through the College of Agriculture during Alverson's tenure can tell you, that isn't just talk. Alverson's work is his passion.

Whether pitching the College to high-school students at an Ag Career Day or going to bat to get a marginal student past enrollment hurdles, whether lighting a fire under a struggling student or helping a graduating senior in a job search, Alverson has taken a sincere interest in every individual he has encountered.

His goal with them all: to make sure they get that college degree.

"A lot of the students I talk with, all they need is just a little encouragement," Alverson says during a rare moment when his Comer Hall office is free of students.

"But with some, I have to get them in here and say, 'If you don't turn this around, you're going to be out,'" Alverson says.

And, even though the flunk-outs distress Alverson, he acknowledges that often, that's the best thing that can happen to a student.

"It gives them the chance to grow up a little bit more and get a little more serious," he says. "But I always tell them, 'Just be sure you come back and get that college degree.' And odds are, they'll come back and do very well.

"I don't bet on horses," Alverson says. "I bet on people."

Although Alverson has a razor-sharp memory, the sheer volume of contacts through the years-he's conducted final graduation credit checks one-on-one for close to 6,000 students during the Alverson era-means he can't always put a name with a face. But his face and voice and actions are etched in countless folks' memories.

"I met a fellow the other day who asked me if I remembered him, and I told him he was going to have to help me out," Alverson says. "He told me his name and said, 'You helped me get a job 31 years ago, and I haven't ever forgotten that.'

"That kind of thing—that's a big reason why I've never had job burnout."

That no two days are alike is another.

"Every day, you're dealing with so many different people and so many different circumstances," says Alverson. "I have never once been bored."

Alverson's connection with Auburn and the College of Ag goes way back to the summer of 1963, when the Albertville native transferred to AU from Snead State Community College in Boaz. He earned his bachelor's degree in agricultural science in '65 and went straight to work as an Alabama Cooperative Extension Service (now System) farm agent in Lee County, working primarily with 4-H.

"That job was right up my alley because when I was growing up, I was influenced very heavily by Extension agents and 4-H leaders, and I'd imagined myself doing what they did," Alverson says. "I really enjoyed working with young people."

While working the Lee County job, Alverson took advantage of being in Auburn and returned to AU for his master's in adult education, a degree he received in 1971. Then he and Snooky, whom he'd met at Snead State and married in 1965, moved with Extension to DeKalb County, where he was county agent for livestock and adult programs—for a little while, anyway.

"Five months after I got there, the 4-H agent left and they needed someone in that position because that program was really big in DeKalb County, so I wound up back in 4-H," he says.

Though he enjoyed the job, the Alversons missed Auburn, and in 1974, when the assistant to the dean slot in what is now the College of Agriculture came open, Alverson went for and got it, and the Alversons and their two children, Jay and Amy, returned to the Plains.

Alverson arrived an upbeat, energetic 29-year-old, ready to promote the College and make a difference in students' lives.

The only thing that's changed through the years has been his age. He's still the eternally optimistic go-getter, the ultimate ambassador for his beloved College of Ag.

"And I'm going to continue this from now on," Alverson says. "I'm going to keep in touch, and I'm going to keep selling the College of Agriculture."

When he makes his exit Aug. 31, Alverson won't leave a legacy in the College of Agriculture; he'll leave about a half dozen of them.

He's the man who started the College's highly successful Ag Ambassadors program, for example, and its Ag Career Days recruitment events held at high schools statewide; he was the founding force behind the AU Agricultural Alumni Association, Ag Roundup and the Alabama Agricultural Hall of Honor; and he established the ag communications program and has served as adviser for dozens of ag communications students.

Alverson's never-ending devotion to his students and their success has earned him accolades. Among his honors, he received the Honorary American FFA Degree in 1993; in 2000, the Ag Alumni Association recognized his many years of service to students in the College of Ag by establishing the Ag Alumni Bill Alverson Scholarship; and in 2004, he won AU's highly coveted Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award for humanitarian leadership and constant helpfulness to others.

The nomination guidelines for that latter award noted that newspaper articles about the nominee and his or her accomplishments could be submitted in support of a nomination.

Wrote CoAg associate dean Bill Hardy in his nomination letter:

"The kind of work that Bill Alverson does will never appear in the newspaper. He works quietly in the background, helping to ensure that our students and many others who enter the doors of the university receive the best counseling available to help them achieve at the highest possible level."

Alverson leaves an extra-large pair or two of shoes to fill, but to whoever succeeds him in the position, he leaves one key piece of advice:

"You've just gotta care."

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