NORTHERN PLAINS AREA
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NPA Award of Excellence for Secretarial Support

A Secretarial Review Task Group was established in 1992 by the USDA-Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Deputy Administrator for Administrative Management. The purpose of the Task Group was to review the secretarial structure within ARS to identify “key” functions secretaries should or could perform in support of the ARS mission, and to identify suitable incentives which could be used to reward high-level performance. One of the Task Group’s recommendations was that the ARS Incentive Awards Program include an annual National Secretary of the Year Award. ARS adopted the recommendation and Areas were encouraged to establish a Secretary of the Year Award if they did not already have one in place.

The Northern Plains Area Secretarial Advisory Council (NPASAC) was established in 1996 along with the NPA Award of Excellence for Secretarial Support. Since that time NPA has given seven annual Awards of Excellence for secretarial support from 1996 to 2002. In 2004 it evolved into a biennial award in order for it to be presented at a short ceremony following a banquet held during the Area's Leadership Conference.

Below is a list of recipients:

Year	Name	Location
2006	Jill Miller	Northern Plains Agricultural Res. Lab. Sidney, MT
2004	Linda Kelly	U.S. Meat Animal Research Center Clay Center, NE
2002	Alicia Meyers	Red River Valley Agricultural Res. Ctr. Fargo, ND
2001	Jan Preston	Wheat, Sorghum, & Forage Res. Unit Lincoln, NE
2000	Sharon Peterson	Human Nutrition Research Center Grand Forks, ND
1999	Audrey Myers	Northern Great Plains Research Lab. Mandan, ND
1998	Diona Austill	Livestock and Range Research Lab. Miles City, MT
1997	Sandy Mathewson	Grain Marketing & Production Res. Ctr. Manhattan, KS
1996	Polly McMichael	Red River Valley Agricultural Res. Ctr. Fargo, ND