Anna Scheyett

What can you tell us about your career path?

I’ve had a very atypical career path, and jokingly tell students I am “the accidental academic.”

I started my career in genetics, but after getting my master's realized I was not cut out for lab work and needed a job helping people.

I began doing health social work with Latinas (I’m bilingual because my mom’s Puerto Rican), and decided to get formal training for it and got my master's of social work at the University of North Carolina.

I practiced as a therapist in a mental health clinic for about 5 years, then started teaching social work part time and fell in love with it, eventually getting a full-time position as clinical faculty. I established and ran a training program for the state of North Carolina through UNC called the Behavioral Healthcare Resource Program and later got my doctorate.

My dean at the time thought I was good at administration and asked me to be his associate dean — so I began as associate dean in July and only defended my dissertation the following October!

For the next 15 years I was in academic administration, as associate dean at Chapel Hill, then as dean of social work at University of South Carolina, and then as dean at UGA from 2016-2021. I recently stepped down to engage in research and am truly committed to research on farmer stress and wellness.

How does your work supporting vulnerable populations tie into UGA Extension's outreach mission?

My work as a social worker has always been about helping vulnerable individuals become successful members of their community, and helping communities become welcoming and successful places where everyone can thrive.

This seems like a direct tie-in to Extension’s mission — helping the people of Georgia thrive.

More specifically, my work examining farmer suicide and stress, and working to develop interventions to support farmers as they do one of the most important and hardest jobs in the world, is really synergistic with Extension’s mission to support the agricultural endeavor in Georgia.

What would you most like the public to know about your work?

In my work I’m blending the values of social work, the mission of Extension, and the goals of the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication (ALEC, which is my academic home in CAES).

All three disciplines are about growing leaders, serving the community, and working in a collaborative way with all our partners to find solutions.

I guess the thing I would most like the public to know is that my work is grounded in a firm belief that people and communities know their needs and possible solutions best. My work isn’t to be the expert, it is to listen hard, work together with others, and co-create solutions that will promote fairness, success and improve the lives of Georgians.

What project have you been most proud of, and what was its end goal?

The project I am most proud of is the part I have played in the Rural Georgia: Growing Stronger initiative.

Under this umbrella there are brilliant researchers from CAES and FACS, Cooperative Extension, Public Health, Pharmacy, and Social Work, and we’re all focused on improving the well-being of rural Georgians — and in my lane, specifically the well-being of farmers and farm families.

The end goal of this work is to find collaborative, interdisciplinary, empowering ways to promote the health, mental health, and well-being of farmers and farm families.

I’m also proud of the fact that this collaboration between CAES and Social Work is novel — there are very, very few universities in the country where our two disciplines meld and work together the way we do at UGA.

How do you see your expertise in social work improving Extension's initiatives in improving Georgians' health and wellness?

As a psychiatric social worker, I bring expertise in adult behavioral health, in community collaboration, and in peer support that I think will be helpful to Extension.

Even though Extension has always focused on health and well-being, I believe expanding the conversation to include behavioral health (mental health and substance use health) is newer for Extension and is a place where I can contribute.

Also, social work has a deep commitment to justice and advocacy for vulnerable populations, and because of this I may frame issues in a way that that is slightly novel and that enriches Extension’s work.

What does joining UGA Extension mean to you?

Joining UGA Extension has meant finding a second home that I never imagined I would have.

Working with the dedicated people in Extension, and being welcomed as a colleague both in Extension and in ALEC, has been wonderful.

My collaborative work here, focusing on the well-being of farmers and farm families, is a new and meaningful way for me to contribute. It is giving me the opportunity to be creative, productive, and impactful. I’m very excited about what lies ahead.