Family Life
Meet the Staff

Back Row (left to right): W. Goddard, J. Marshall, C. Hughes, and J. Hubbard Front Row (left to right): M. Potter, K. Randall, T. Johnston, S. Jones and L. Smith

Melissa Potter M.S.

Melissa Potter is the Marriage Education Program Associate with the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service in Little Rock, AR. She assists Dr. Marshall and Dr. Goddard with the “Marriage Garden” curriculum. She graduated from The University of Central Arkansas with a Bachelor’s of Science in Family and Consumer Sciences in 2005, and completed her Master of Science in Family and Consumer Sciences in 2006. Melissa and her husband have been married for 3 years, and have a little girl named Emma Grace. In her spare time, she loves playing with Emma, and sewing. Melissa can be reached at mpotter@uaex.edu or 501-671-2123.

Katy Randall

Katy has been with the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service in Little Rock since April 1, 2002 as a Child Care Program Technician. She works on The Best Care, child care training program handling evaluation, reporting and data entry, as well as works on the Marriage Parenting and Family Life Team.

She attended the Salt Lake Community College where she received an Associate of Science Degree in Business. She also attended Utah State University where she received a Bachelors of Science Degree in Psychology.

She worked for the Salt Lake Community College previously for 8 years in Registration and later worked in Academic Advising where she served as an Orientation Leader. She also volunteered for a High School Counselor at the Salt Lake Community College, working with students on completing their High School credit.

Katy and her husband Todd previously lived in Utah and San Antonio, Texas before the Air Force transferred them to Arkansas where they settled in Cabot. Katy enjoys playing piano. She enjoys spending time with her husband of eight years, taking a drive around town, watching movies, working out, watching Todd play soccer, laughing together and just talking. Todd is my best friend and a great companion.

You may contact Katy at krandall@uaex.edu  or 501-671-2069 for more information about Extension’s child care training programs.

Traci A. Johnston, M.S.

Traci Johnston is a child care program associate for the University Of Arkansas Division Of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service. She has coordinated The Best Care and Best Care Connected, early childhood professional development programs for almost ten years. She writes grants, administers grant funding, writes early childhood curriculum, trains family and consumer science agents, and teaches early childhood educators. Traci is a member of the Marriage, Parenting & Family Life initiative team where she has worked on publications like: The Parenting Journey, Choices in the Personal Journey and the Marriage Garden.

Traci presents at local, state and national early childhood and parenting conferences on a variety of subjects like: The Preschool Scientist, Math Made Fun, Stress Management, The Parenting Journey and Attitude is Everything. Traci is an active member of AECA, SECA and NAEYC. Traci served two consecutive terms as First Vice President of Publications for AECA and has been conference program chair on three different occasions. She is currently President of the Arkansas Early Childhood Association.

Traci has a BA in Child Development from Harding University and a MS in Human Environmental Sciences from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

Traci and her husband reside in Conway with their three-year-old daughter, Tori. They enjoy running, scrapbooking, playing golf and spending time with family and friends.

For additional information about The Best Care and Best Care Connected programs, visit arfamilies.org/child_care.htm. Traci can be reached at 501-671-2364 or tjohnston@uaex.edu

Sherry Jones, RD

Sherry is a Child Care Program Technician and she designs and maintains the online course, Best Care Connected. She also designs many of the promotional items and writes nutrition curriculum for the Best Care Programs. Sherry has a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Nutrition from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and is a Registered Dietitian. In her spare time, Sherry likes to paint and she also sings in the Arkansas Chamber Singers. Sherry and her husband, Kevin Jones, are expecting their first child May 2008. Sherry can be reached at sdjones@uaex.edu or 501-671-2108.

Lindsey Smith

Lindsey Smith, Child Care Program Technician, graduated from Harding University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Family Life Education. Currently she is working with Dr. Wally Goddard coordinating the Guiding Children Successfully program, a self-study child care training program. Lindsey is an active board member of the Arkansas Early Childhood Association as well as the Arkansas Association of Family and Consumer Sciences. For more information about the Guiding Children Successfully program, you may contact Lindsey at gcs@uaex.edu or 501-671-2103.

Wally Goddard, Ph.D.

H. Wallace Goddard is a professor and Extension Family Life Specialist for the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. He develops programs on parenting, marriage, youth development, and family relations. He is also involved in writing books, web articles, and developing national Extension programs.

He taught high school including general science, filmmaking, folklore, gifted and talented, media and literature for about a dozen years. After earning a PhD, Wally served as an Extension Specialist at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama for six years. During that time he studied teen behavior (surveyed 14,000 teens), developed a widely-used parenting program (Principles of Parenting), participated with a national team to develop a model of parent education (The National Extension Parent Education Model), and created a respected youth development program (The Great Self Mystery).

Wally took leave from Auburn University to help Stephen Covey write "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families" and to develop application activities for improving family life. He also taught courses for Utah State University.

Wally came to Arkansas in order to work again as an Extension Specialist, a work that he loves. "Extension work allows me to be involved in the best current research and to translate those discoveries into real life for Arkansans," says Dr. Goddard. He has developed a wealth of family resources that are posted on the University of Arkansas Extension web site. He also provides training to county Extension agents, speaks to public groups, and, with Arkansas public television, developed the nationally-aired series of television programs entitled Guiding Children Successfully.

Wally also worked with Alice Ginott, widow of Haim Ginott, to update Haim Ginott's classic parenting book "Between Parent and Child" and, with co-author Steve Duncan has written a textbook, Family Life Education: Principles and Practices for Effective Outreach.

Wally had recently published a new book that many parents find useful: Soft-Spoken Parenting: 50 Ways to Not Lose Your Temper with Your Kids.

Wally has been awarded the specialists’ career achievement award and been elected a fellow of the National Council on Family Relations.

Wally has many family experiences to draw on. He and his wife, Nancy, have three children and nine amazing grandchildren. Wally and Nancy have cared for 20 foster children. They report that their experience with mostly troubled teens taught them advanced lessons in humility.

In their free time, the Goddards paint their house, build wood projects, work in the yard, volunteer in the community, and write. Wally travels nationally and internationally as an Extension representative and as a private consultant. Audiences appreciate his creative insights, practical recommendations, extensive knowledge, and energetic presentation.

Dr. Wally can be reached at (501) 671-2104 or wgoddard@uaex.edu.

James P. Marshall, Ph.D., L.M.F.T.

Dr. James P. Marshall is an Assistant Professor and Extension Family Life Specialist with the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service in Little Rock, AR.

James is a native Virginian who received a B.A. in Spanish and a M.S. in Instructional Science from Brigham Young University. James worked as a corporate trainer for two years for the nation’s third largest food and drug store chain prior to pursuing a doctoral degree.

James received his doctorate in Marriage and Family Therapy from Texas Tech University in 2001. He is a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) and a clinical member and approved supervisor of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. While at Texas Tech he had the opportunity to work in a variety of settings as a therapist, including a domestic violence shelter and a substance abuse treatment center.

Upon graduation, he worked for one year as a therapist for the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Southwest Institute for Addictive Diseases. James then spent three years working as an Extension Family Life Specialist with Utah State University.

James conducts applied research and does curriculum development and programming in the areas of marriage strengthening, parenting, individual development, and child care. His work focuses on helping people create and maintain quality relationships.

He and his wife, Kathie, are the proud parents of five children. They enjoy jogging, hiking, family vacations, eating out, and reading together. Dr. Marshall can be reached at (501) 671-2202 or jpmarshall@uaex.edu

Chris Hughes

Chris is a Program Technician, providing support for the DWS funded Fatherhood Education program. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Speech Communication from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He is currently working on a Masters Degree in Interpersonal and Organizational Communication at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and hopes to graduate in May of 2008. He and his wife Allyson have been married since May of 2001 and do not have any kids…yet. In his free time he enjoys playing drums, guitar, and piano, writing and recording his own songs, and sorting through his large collection of music. He’s also a bit of a movie geek.

You can reach Chris at chughes@uaex.edu or 501-671-2022.

Jennie Hubbard

Jennie joined the Marriage, Parenting & Family Life Team in 2005. She works with Wally on his various projects like finding articles to reference while working on publications. She also summarizes the latest books about marriage, parenting and family life to add to references for publications. She has helped with projects like writing the 7 Travel Guides that accompany the Parenting Journey and the Marriage Journey.

Jennie has a B.S. in Family Sciences from the University of Central Arkansas. She has minors in dietetics, social work and early childhood education.

Before moving to Little Rock in 2004, she volunteered with different organizations in Fayetteville including the Children’s Safety Center (providing counseling and medical services to sexually abused children) and with LifeStyles (living community for mentally handicapped adults that teaches life skills). Since coming to Little Rock, she has continued volunteering with children by helping to plan and administer the Sunday school lessons for the children at her church. 

She enjoys walking, scrapbooking, reading, gardening and cooking. She also enjoys spending time with her husband Jon and their young son, Hultz.

Jennie can be reached at jhubbard@uaex.edu or 501-671-2242.