Levy Randolph has been hired as an assistant professor in agricultural communications and journalism. He will join the Department of Communications and Agricultural Education this summer and begin teaching during the fall semester.
Randolph has degrees from California State University and the University of Florida in agricultural education and communication. He has experience as a conference facilitator for National FFA and owns and operates a video production company with his wife, Tiffany. He has taught multiple media production courses and business writing. His research agenda focuses on science communication through narratives
Randolph’s office will be located on the third floor of Umberger Hall.
Participants listen at the annual CREE Insight Summit. Dr. Lauri M. Baker presents about social media use and analysis.
The Center for Rural Enterprise Engagement hosted its third annual new-media marketing conference, the Insight Summit. The conference featured topics related to new-media marketing, including storytelling across platforms, basic and advanced analytics, social media strategy, visual content, e-newsletters, and selling online.
The 2019 Insight Summit differed from past events by hosting agricultural communicators and researchers from across the country to present recent research to participants. Academic researchers included: Courtney Meyers, faculty at Texas Tech University and 2003 K-State agricultural communications and journalism alumna; Angie Lindsey, faculty at the University of Florida; and Shuyang Qu, faculty at Iowa State University. Graduate student researchers included Deanna Reid, K-State; Levy Randolph, University of Florida; Brittany Bowman, Oklahoma State University; and Maggie Elliot, Texas Tech University.
Attendees of the 2019 Insight Summit.
The center is a unique resource for rural and agricultural businesses because of its interdisciplinary partnership of founders: Lauri M. Baker, agricultural communications and journalism; Cheryl R. Boyer, horticulture; and Hikaru H. Peterson, agricultural economics. CREE is an institutional collaboration between K-State and the University of Minnesota.
Additional team members include Allison Wakefield, intern and current ACJ student, and Mikhayla DeMott, audience engagement specialist and 2017 ACJ alumna.
The Insight Summit, previously known as the New-Media Marketing Boot Camp, was February 12 and 13 at the K-State Alumni Center.
By Deanna Reid, agricultural education and communication master’s student
K-State agricultural education students and faculty attended the annual Kansas Corn and the Kansas Association of Agricultural Educators symposiums in January.
The Kansas Corn Symposium celebrated the accomplishments of Kansas Corn and focused on topics including trade, ethanol, and research.
Katelyn Pinkston, Rachel Bellar, and Zachary Callaghan were awarded Kansas Corn Next Generation scholarships funded by the Kansas Corn Growers Association and Kansas Corn Commission to provide opportunities for college students of all majors to learn more about the corn industry, explore issues facing agriculture and embrace the ways they can influence the industry through career path choices. Students and faculty also participated in a poster session.
The symposium was on Jan. 23, 2019, at the K-State Alumni Center in Manhattan.
Agricultural education students also received scholarships at the Kansas Association of Agricultural Educators (KAAE) Symposium in Dodge City, Kansas, Jan. 24–26, 2019. In addition to new teacher and student intern meetings and tours of local agricultural businesses, Representative Roger Marshall spoke about the farm bill and status of agricultural trade. Seventeen K-State agricultural education students were awarded scholarships, as listed below.
Jim Patry Agricultural Education Scholarship
Katelyn Pinkston
Teach Ag
Zachary Callaghan
Trenton Smedley
Seitz Fundraising
Trent Johnson
Eric Koehlmoos
Matthew Schick
CHS Foundation–Through the Kansas FFA Foundation
Rachel Bellar
Nikole Cain
Hannah Fry
Christina Hoffman
Trent Johnson
Ashley Lauinger
Steven R. Harbstreit/Howard R. Bradley Teacher Education Scholarship–Through the Kansas State University Foundation
Allyson Dorrell
Hofbaurer Scholarship
Eric Koehlmoos
Kansas Association of Agricultural Educators Scholarship–Sponsored by KAAE
Sydney Cullison
Allison Dix
Tim Kennedy
Caitlyn Thompson
Mackenzie Tynon
KAAE, the Kansas FFA Foundation, the Kansas State University Foundation and Seitz Fruit sponsored scholarships for agricultural education students.
By Deanna Reid, agricultural education and communication master’s student
Kelsey Tully, Mariah Bausch, Dr. Lauri M. Baker, and Anissa Zagonel presented research at the 2019 NACS Conference.
Agricultural education and communication graduate students attended the 2019 National Agricultural Communications Symposium (NACS) in Birmingham, Alabama, February 3–4, 2019. Students Anissa Zagonel, Mariah Bausch, and Kelsey Tully along with faculty sponsor Lauri Baker presented papers and posters focused on current research and professional development. Bausch and Baker’s poster titled “Student perspectives of agricultural communications research” won second place in the poster competition. The paper by Rumble, Wu, Tully, Ruth, Ellis, and Lamm titled “A mixed-methods comparison of self-reported and conversational trust in science” placed second among academic paper presentations.
Papers presented included:
Beyond the post: Equine operators’ communication processes for conservation practices
Anissa Zagonel, Lauri Baker, Shelly Ingram, Jon Ulmer, and Joann Kouba, Kansas State University
Student perspectives of agricultural communications undergraduate research
Mariah Bausch and Lauri Baker, Kansas State University
A mixed-methods comparison of self-reported and conversational trust in science
Joy Rumble, Yu Lun Wu, The Ohio State University; Kelsey Tully, Kansas State University; Taylor Ruth, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Jason Ellis, Kansas State University; and Alexa Lamm, University of Georgia
How consumers contrast and assimilate information about agricultural biotechnology
Taylor Ruth, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Joy Rumble, The Ohio State University; Alexa Lamm, University of Georgia; Jason Ellis, Kansas State University
Coauthor network analysis of Journal of Applied Communications articles from 2008 to 2017
Audrey King ’13, ’16 and Quisto Settle, Kansas State University
Professional Development Session presentations included:
What are reviewers looking for?
Quisto Settle, Oklahoma State University; Lauri Baker, Kansas State University
Posters presented included:
Scholarship in action: Student perspectives of undergraduate research in agricultural communications
Mariah Bausch and Lauri Baker, Kansas State University
Communicating through chaos: A quantitative content analysis investigating the prepared responses of articles about zoonotic disease on the CDC and USDA websites
Topanga McBride, Lauri Baker, and Mariah Bausch, Kansas State University; Angela Lindsey, University of Florida
Dr. Lauri M. Baker and Mariah Bausch with their winning research poster.
We’re pleased to announce that Levy Randolph will be our new assistant professor in agricultural communications and journalism. He will join the department in summer 2019 and begin teaching during the fall semester.
Levy earned a bachelor’s degree from California State University in agricultural education and master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Florida in agricultural education and communication. Along with experience as a conference facilitator for National FFA, he and his wife Tiffany own and operate a video production company. He has taught multiple media production courses and business writing. His research agenda focuses on science communication through narratives. We look forward to his arrival and having a full faculty.
His office will be located on the third floor of Umberger Hall.
To hear Richard tell it, he became a broadcaster because a fraternity brother told him he should get into the media business because he likes to talk.
With those inspiring words, Richard set off on his quest, studying at K-State and working at several radio stations across Kansas in the 1960s and 70s. He was running a black radio station in Omaha when legendary K-State broadcaster Ralph Titus called him looking for a new news director at KSAC, the college’s radio station that would later become KKSU. Richard ran the news operation for the radio station from 1977 until 2002, when the university lost the station, to the regret of many. At that point, Richard was offered the opportunity by our former department head to transition to teaching agricultural communications, which he did from 2002 until this week.
Throughout his four decades at K-State, Richard also produced a weekly interview program called Perspective. His original charge was to share information that people would not otherwise have easy access to, so for decades, Richard has hosted a wide array of thought-provoking authors on topics from astrophysics to xenophobia.
Whether working by serving the Kansas listening audience or working with students, Richard has held to – and taught – his personal ethics of fact-based reporting, fairness, quality and transparency. He’s never been afraid to ask the tough questions – and as a good journalist, he actually relishes those moments. Iron sharpens iron, and Richard, to his credit, helped many a colleague and student sharpen their skills and thinking.
The department thanks Richard for his four decades of service at Kansas State University!
By Gaea Hock, ’03, ’08, associate professor of agricultural education
Eric Koehlmoos, senior in agricultural education, was named the 2018 National FFA Star in Agriscience.
As a high school student at South O’Brien in Paullina, Iowa, Koehlmoos used his home ATF-approved ethanol facility to research the processes used in a commercial ethanol plant. In high school, his research competed nationally and internationally. While at K-State, Koehlmoos has conducted research on teacher perceptions of the Kansas FFA Agriscience Fair.
Doug and Sabrina Kruse have given a gift to create 15 matching scholarships in the College of Agriculture as part of the new K-State Family Scholarship Program. Doug graduated in 1988 with a degree in feed science and management.
This match means an individual, group of individuals or an organization can donate $30,000, and it will be matched with $30,000 from the Kruse contribution to form a college scholarship.
The Kruse K-State Family Scholarship will be used to match at least 15 new gifts for student scholarships. New gifts of $30,000 will be matched with $30,000 from the Kruses’ gift. $10,000 will go into an expendable scholarship fund, making $2,000 scholarships immediately available to students for up to five years. The remaining $50,000 will go into the endowment, ensuring future generations of Wildcats will receive scholarships as well. The $30,000 donation can be one lump sum or contributed in five annual contributions of $6,000.
If you are interested in participating in the K-State Family Scholarship Program, visitwww.ksufoundation.org/familyfor more information or contact John Morris, senior vice president of development, at 785-532-7587.
On October 28, the Kansas State University Meat Judging Team brought home the first-place cup from the Cargill High Plains Meat Judging Contest in Friona, Texas. K-State won overall team as well as first place in beef grading, total beef and specifications. The team scored an impressive perfect score of 400 in specifications, a difficult feat that rarely happens.
K-State had three students place in the top 10 individuals. Twelve schools from across the nation competed at the Cargill contest.
The contest consists of placing 10 classes including beef, pork and lamb carcasses, two classes of beef cuts and two classes of pork cuts. Students also must write reasons on five of those classes, identify specification defects and quality and yield grade 15 beef carcasses.
Certain specifications are set by the USDA to ensure meat is similar by different companies. Contestants must know these specifications and identify any defects the cuts may have. Grading beef carcasses determines the value the carcass has to the consumer. In the contests, students grade the quality of carcasses based on the degree of marbling in the ribeye. Yield grades must be calculated to the nearest tenth while factoring in the carcass’s ribeye size, fat and weight.
Each part of the competition is timed, which forces students to be concise and accurate in their decision-making process. Along with decision-making skills, students gain knowledge of the meat industry and make connections with other students, professors and industry professionals.
“Achieving a perfect team specification score and being only the second K-State meat judging team to win Cargill made this contest the most memorable of this fall,” said Kaci Foraker, junior in agricultural communications and journalism. “This contest had some of the most challenging classes we had encountered all year. It was rewarding to have our hard work and long hours spent practicing pay off.”
The team competed in their final competition on November 11 at the International Intercollegiate Meat Judging Contest in Dakota City, Nebraska.
Travis O’Quinn, associate professor of animal sciences and industry, coaches the team. Members include: Cole Liggett, Dennison, Ohio; Grace Luebcke, Marysville, Kansas; Hannah Taylor, Arlington, Wisconsin; Kaci Foraker, Burrton, Kansas; Keayla Harr, Jeromesville, Ohio; Leah Parsons, Leavenworth, Kansas; and Sam Davis, Madison, Kansas.
By Rachel Waggie, agricultural communications master’s student
Kansas State University hosted its second annual Science Communication Week Nov. 5–10, 2018. The Nov. 8 graduate student poster session focused on “Research and the State.” About 50 K-State graduate students, representing five academic colleges and 25 graduate programs, presented research posters. Approximately 17 presenters were from the College of Agriculture, two were from the Department of Communications and Agricultural Education. Mariah Bausch and Anissa Zagonel presented posters titled “Undergraduate Research Perceptions in Agricultural Communications” and “Printing and Mailing for the Brand: An Exploratory Qualitative Study Seeking to Understand Internal Branding and Marketing within University and Extension Communication Services Units,” respectively.
Anissa Zagonel’s research focused on “Printing and Mailing for the Brand: An Exploratory Qualitative Study Seeking to Understand Internal Branding and Marketing within University and Extension Communication Services Units.”
Experiences such as these are great chances for graduate students to present research in a more relaxed setting. “Opportunities like these are helpful for me to practice communicating my research, as well as learning from other disciplines,” says Zagonel, a second-year master’s student from Girard, Kansas. “Additionally, during this poster session, I enjoyed connecting with other graduate students from across campus.”
Both students presented their posters to a panel of judges, as well as other students and interested individuals, for the chance to earn a spot at the Capitol Graduate Research Summit hosted in Topeka this coming February.
Other events throughout the week included communications workshops, lectures, panel discussions, and other activities to engage graduate students across campus.
Mariah Bausch’s research focused on “Undergraduate Research Perceptions in Agricultural Communications.”
Levy Randolph has been hired as an assistant professor in agricultural communications and journalism. He will join the Department of Communications and Agricultural Education this summer and begin teaching during the fall semester.
