University of Florida

Department News Archives

Stories here are at least 6 months or older. Any stories older than 18 months are deleted.

New workspace for AEC Students

Posted July 23, 2007

The computer lab in Rolfs 409 has had face-lift with all new computers and more work stations. This space will serve as a teaching lab for some of the hands-on agricultural communications courses.

Wedgworth Leadership Institute recognized nationally

Posted July 23, 2007

At the 2007 Annual Meeting of the Association of Leadership Educators, the Wedgworth Leadership Institute for Agriculture and Natural Resources was presented with the "Outstanding Leadership Education Program" for its impact on future leaders. It is important to note that this award spans all leadership programs, from high school, to universities, to communities, industries and disciplines. It is a huge honor for the WLIANR.

Still rackin' them up: AEC faculty and students win awards at 2007 ACE Conference

Posted June 28, 2007

At the Association for Communication Excellence conference in Albuquerque, the University of Florida was well-represented with awards. Departmental faculty and students were recognized for outstanding research and in some of the Critique and Awards Program categories. Following is the list of awards received by AEC faculty and students (and recent graduates):

Research Paper Presentations

First place faculty research paper: recent UF alum Emily Rhoades
Second place faculty research paper: Amanda Ruth and Ricky Telg
First place graduate student research paper: Katie Chodil, Tracy Irani, Courtney Meyers
Second place graduate student research paper: Courtney Meyers and Tracy Irani

ACE Critique and Awards Program

Gold award for Solutions for Your Life marketing campaign: Team includes Liz Felter & Tracy Irani Gold award for Solutions for Your Life website: Team includes Liz Felter & Tracy Irani
Tracy Irani was also voted Vice Chair of the Academic Programs SIG

AEC faculty and students win awards at 2007 AAAE Conference

Posted June 4, 2007

Congratulations to the following award winners from the 2007 National AAAE Conference. The conference was held in Minneapolis, MN the week of May 16 – 18, 2007.

  • Dr. Wendy Warner (2006 PhD graduate and currently at California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo) and Dr. Shannon Washburn received 2nd runner up on their paper entitled: A Grounded Theory Description of Novice Urban Agriculture Teachers’ Career Experiences
  • Dr. Ed Osborne received the 2007 Outstanding Agricultural Educator award
  • Dr. Ed Osborne was nominated and inducted as a AAAE Fellow
  • Dr. Brian Myers and Dr. Jim Dyer received the Outstanding Article for the Journal of Agricultural Education Volume 47 1st runner up award

AEC graduate student wins two teaching awards

Posted April 7, 2007

acheivementNick Fuhrman, Ph.D. candidate in the AEC Department, has been selected to receive a UF Graduate Student Teaching Award for 2006-07. This is a very prestigious award, as typically less than 20 of the nearly 2,000 teaching assistants at UF are selected to receive this award each year. Even so, Nick joins former AEC graduate students Hannah Carter, Amanda Ruth, and Travis Park as recipients of this award since 2001. A reception for award recipients will be held in the Friends of Music Room in the University Auditorium on April 26 at 3:30 pm. For the first time, recipients of this campus teaching award will also be recognized in the UF Commencement program.

Nick has also been chosen to receive the Jack L. Fry Award for Excellence in Teaching in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. This award is presented annually to recognize teaching excellence among graduate students in the college. Nick will receive this prestigious CALS award at the 2007 Scholarship and Leadership Awards Banquet on Friday, 13 April, at 6 pm in the Harn Museum.

Wedgworth Leadership Institute board member wins award

Posted April 2, 2007

Janice Barner wins awardJanice Barner, Executive Secretary for the Wedgworth Leadership Institute for Agriculture and Natural Resources, was one of this year’s recipients of an UF/IFAS Superior Accomplishment Award presented on March 22, 2007.

Janice was chosen for this award based on her excellent work with the Wedgworth Leadership Institute. The success of this program is due in large part to all of Janice’s efforts and her continued enthusiasm for the people she works with to accomplish the goals of the program. Janice’s enthusiasm doesn’t end with the program, even though her position is with the leadership program, she is a great asset to the AEC department and can always be counted on for a cheerful smile when students stop by the leadership program offices.

Janice epitomizes what a “Superior Accomplishment Award” winner should be and the Department, IFAS, and UF are fortunate to have such an outstanding employee!

Graduate program growing

By Bonnie Pell
Posted Feb. 13, 2007

The graduate program for the Department of Agricultural Education and Communication is growing in more ways than one. The master’s and doctoral programs currently have almost 80 students enrolled.

Associate professor and former AEC graduate coordinator Nick Place said the growth of the graduate program has not only been in numbers, but also in quality. “The University of Florida is a great school that is respected both nationally and internationally,” Place said.

With more students, the department has more opportunities to seek grant funding for research. Professor Ricky Telg said the research done by students and faculty together gives the department recognition.

Today, the department is one of the top third- or fourth-ranked in the nation, Place said.

“UF is the place to be for graduate school,” said associate professor Tracy Irani. Irani, recently appointed as graduate coordinator, said that master’s and doctoral students in the department can receive Graduate Program Experiences Growth a holistic experience throughout their education.Students are partnered with faculty and get exposure to the industries in which they are interested.

The doctorate program has seen much expansion since it was started in 2000. More than 20 students are enrolled, most of whom will seek careers as university faculty. Doctoral graduates have been successfully placed in faculty positions at universities like The Ohio State University, Texas A&M University and Louisiana State University, Irani said.

Students have options with the diverse specializations offered by the department: agricultural communication, agricultural education, Extension education and leadership development. Place said the majority of students seeking their master’s degree will pursue careers in human resources, Extension, communications, marketing or education.

The newest addition to the department’s graduate program is the distance-delivered master’s program. About 30 students are enrolled in the program, designed for Extension agents and agriscience teachers.

Return to top

Faculty and students win awards at SAAS Conference

Posted Feb. 13, 2007

Congratulations to the following faculty and graduate students in the Department of Agricultural Education and Communication for receiving the following awards and recognitions at the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists (SAAS) Convention held February 3-6 in Mobile, Alabama:

From the Ag Communication Section of SAAS

Outstanding Graduate Student Research Presentation
Katie Chodil, Courtney Meyers, Dr. Tracy Irani, and Dr. Ricky Telg
The New Other White Meat: Selected Consumers’ Attitudes and Taste Perceptions of All-Natural Pork

From the Ag Ed Section of SAAS (presented by the American Association for Agricultural Education - Southern Region)

Outstanding Young Member Award
Dr. Anna Ball

Outstanding Teacher Award
Dr. Jim Dyer

Outstanding Agricultural Educator Award
Dr. Ed Osborne

Elections
Dr. Brian Myers was elected to a three-year term as Consultant to the National FFA Board of Directors. Dr. Anna Ball was elected as to a two-year term as a Southern Region representative on the AAAE Research Committee. Dr. Jim Dyer completed year one of his two-year term as AAAE Southern Region Vice President.

Dr. Carter becomes assistant professor

Posted Jan. 17, 2007

piggy bankDr. Hannah Carter has been appointed to a tenure-accruing, assistant professor position in the department. Dr. Carter joined the department as Lecturer and Director of the Wedgworth Leadership Institute in July 2004. She will continue her role as WLI Director and instructor of several undergraduate and graduate courses in our leadership specialization. Her assignment has been changed to 75% extension / 25% teaching. The position title change also allows Dr. Carter to be considered for Graduate Faculty status, which, once received, will permit her to advise graduate students and serve on graduate committees. The department will begin this process immediately. Congratulations to Dr. Carter on this adjustment in her position!

Return to top

AEC receives USDA grant for teacher recruitment

Posted Nov. 29, 2006

piggy bankA large majority of the university agriculture teacher preparation programs in the U.S. are unable to meet the annual demand for middle school and high school agriculture teachers. In Florida this teacher shortage is due to the combination of normal teacher attrition, an inadequate number of newly qualified teachers, and the state’s growing demand for agriscience instruction in schools.

The AEC Department has just received a three-year, $150,000 competitive grant from USDA Higher Education Programs to develop a new model for more effectively marketing pre-service agricultural teacher preparation programs in U.S. colleges of agriculture, with potential application in other agricultural disciplines. The proposed work will focus on developing and testing an adaptation of Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) for recruiting prospective students into the agricultural education major at the University of Florida. The IMC approach is fully developed in the private sector but has not been applied to the recruitment of students into academic majors.

Focus group data collected from prospective student target audiences will be used to tailor recruitment messages and materials specific to the needs, interests, and concerns of prospective students. In addition, the adapted IMC model will be converted to an open-access, web-based recruitment toolkit for implementation by other university departments of agricultural education. Co-Principal investigators for this project include Drs. Shannon Washburn, Brian Myers, Tracy Irani, Jim Dyer, and Ed Osborne.

AEC alumni receive CALS awards

Posted Nov. 29, 2006

Erin Best Receives CALS Horizon Award

The College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Alumni and Friends Association has honored Erin Freel Best of Weirsdale, Florida, with its 2006 Horizon Award. Erin was recognized at the CALS annual TailGATOR held on Nov. 11 in the O'Connell Center on the UF campus. Erin received her B.S. degree in 1996 in Agricultural Education and Communication and accepted a position upon graduation as Director of Marketing and Public relations for the Florida Strawberry Growers Association. In 2001 Erin formed her own agricultural communications and marketing company, The Market Place. She currently serves on a number of councils and boards, including the Florida Ag Hall of Fame, Florida Farm Bureau Federation, State Women's Dairy Alliance, and UF's Department of Agricultural Education and Communication Advisory Council. The Horizon Award is presented annually to an outstanding CALS alumnus who graduated from UF no more than 10 years ago.

Pat Cockrell Receives CALS Alumni and Friends Award of Distinction

Pat Cockrell, of Archer, Florida, has received the 2006 Award of Distinction presented by the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Alumni and Friends Association. The award was presented at the CALS annual TailGATOR held on November 11 in the O'Connell Center on the UF campus. Pat received his B.S. degree in Agricultural Education from the University of Florida in 1968 and began his career as an agriculture teacher in Bartow, Florida, where he was recognized as one of five outstanding agriculture teachers in the nation. In 1975 he joined the Florida Farm Bureau Federation, where he currently serves as Director for Organization and Programs. In addition to his work with FFBF, Pat has served on many committees, task forces, and advisory boards for agencies such as the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the Florida Department of Education, CALS, and IFAS. He also just completed a five-year term as a charter member of UF's Department of Agricultural Education and Communication Advisory Council.

Return to top

Meet the AttaGator & AggreGator

Posted Nov. 12, 2006

For those new to the department, we have two really cool stuffed Gators, named AttaGator 1 and AttaGator 2, that circulate around the department to acknowledge a job well done by grad students, staff, or faculty members. We also have a third Gator, dubbed AggreGator, which circulates in the same way but provides a pat on the back for someone who has done something special to build teamwork and camaraderie in the department.

We ask that the recipients of the Gators keep them no more than two weeks, and then pass them on to someone else who has achieved a milestone or completed a special project in an exceptional way. (Keeping these cool Gators for only two weeks is tough - it’s futile to resist bonding to these fun creatures, which also convert into snazzy pillows.) When the Gator is handed off to another person, we ask that the giver send a brief e-mail note to everyone in the department, so we can all celebrate the significant achievement of the new caretaker of the Gator.