Extension Advisory Council Chair Karen Cedzo

Spotlight: Extension Advisory Council Chair Karen Cedzo

Much like a juggler with multiple balls in the air at once while balancing on a unicycle, outgoing Extension State Advisory Council Chair Karen Cedzo has been picture of perpetual motion since she came to Alaska more than three decades ago.

With a master's degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Karen decided to drive to Alaska by herself in 1975 to visit relatives in Anchorage. As is the case with many Alaskans, what started out as a short visit ended up as a life-changing experience.

Wanting to stay in Alaska, and needing a job, she started working as a reporter for television station KTVF in Fairbanks, advancing to news director by the time she left in 1979.   Karen became the director of public affairs at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, building the office from a two-person shop to a unit overseeing alumni relations, development and university relations. She retired from UAF in 1998 as vice chancellor for University Relations and Advancement.

During her time at UAF she initiated the very popular summer guided tours of the Fairbanks campus for visitors, coordinated the 1984 visit of President Ronald Reagan to UAF, initiated the university's first-ever private fundraising campaign and oversaw coordination of a series of celebrations marking the 75th and 80th anniversaries of the founding of the university.

In the midst of all that she found time to serve on the boards of the Bureau of Land Management's Northern Advisory Council, the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, and the Public Relations Society of America's Alaska Chapter and national section. She is an accredited member of PRSA and was elected as a Fellow with the Society in 2001 based on her exceptional performance and leadership in the public relations field.

After living in Fairbanks from 1975 until 1985, Karen and her husband decided they wanted to live a more rural lifestyle and moved to Delta Junction. She commuted to Delta from Fairbanks every weekend while she was with UAF, living in a small apartment near the UAF campus during the week. She says she doesn't miss the commute one bit, and loves the space she has and her view of the mountains. Karen calls the area south of Delta where she lives “Sawmill Creek Alternative Livestock Way” because her neighbors raise bison, yak, and elk. She also points out an advantage of living away from the city. “We have no ice fog and I can cross-country ski right out my front door,” she says.

In 2000 she was approached by Delta Junction Extension Agent Phil Kaspari to serve on the Extension advisory council. Karen says that being on the advisory council was a gratifying way to be involved with the university again after her retirement in 1998. “It's been a great way to learn more about Cooperative Extension. I've come to believe that Extension is the heart of the university.”

"I've come to believe that Extension is the heart of the university.”

She's most proud of the role she's played in helping Extension market itself and encouraging the advisory council members to take a more active role in talking to legislators and others in advocating for Extension.

Her term as advisory council chair ends in April of this year. “I would hope that the advisory council will stay focused on helping and advocating in a way that serves Extension in the long term – and that isn't afraid to tackle some of the difficult issues, “ she said.

While Karen's term on the Extension advisory council may be ending, she will continue to be tireless champion of UAF. As she has since 1991, she teaches classes in public relations for the Tanana Valley Campus in Fairbanks. Karen is an independent public relations counselor under contract to the University of Alaska Museum of the North on the Fairbanks campus, helping them with their grand opening and development program. She is also a major player in the Delta Partners for Progress, an educational consortium created to deliver training and education for career advancement, university degrees or continuing education credit in the Delta Junction area, and serves on the TVC advisory council, providing a small community perspective to the other members of the group.

With all this you might think that Karen doesn't have time for fun, recreational activities. That's hardly the case. In addition to the previously mentioned cross-country skiing, she and her husband are involved in cowboy action shooting (which sounds like an interesting story in itself). She's a voracious reader and a master gardener. And she's learning to quilt.

As a self-propelled, perpetual motion machine, Karen says she has no intentions of slowing down any time soon, or leaving the Alaska she came to visit for a “short time” 30 years ago. “You either love it or leave it – and we love it here – especially the Interior.   We're here for the long haul.”