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Department of Communications and Agricultural Education

Tag: Agricultural Communication

Professor Spotlight: Tiffany Rogers-Randolph

by Jessica Schaeffer, agricultural education and communication master’s student

 

The department welcomes one of the newest agricultural communications professor, Tiffany Rogers-Randolph. Throughout her life, Rogers-Randolph has been involved in agriculture and is now helping students find their inner communicator.

Tiffany Rogers-Randolph found her love for agriculture at a young age, which led her to a career that includes the agricultural community. Growing up on a hobby farm in southwest Michigan, taking care of draft horses introduced her to agriculture. Participating in 4-H and FFA in junior high and high school led Rogers-Randolph to understand what she loved most about agriculture. She fell in love with the people and serving within the agriculture community. Being able to affect the daily lives of those in agriculture and serve beyond the community led her to become involved in the leadership side of FFA. From 2010-2011, Rogers-Randolph served as the eastern region vice president for the National FFA Organization. Her time as a national officer shaped her perspective on the agriculture industry and helped her believe in the people who work within it. Helping those within the industry become empowered fueled her passion.

“I saw the people working and communicating within the industry and thought, I want to do that,” said Rogers-Randolph.

After earning her Bachelor of Science in agribusiness management at Michigan State University, she went on to earn her Master of Science and doctorate in agricultural education and communication at the University of Florida, with an emphasis in communication. Rogers-Randolph’s research focuses on developing the human side of communication. She helps students become more comfortable communicating about agriculture, professionals understand the tools to use when communicating, and organizations improve their communication campaigns. She researches the newest technology and how to make sure the agriculture industry stays up to date. To help students, professionals and organizations be better communicators she also researches strategies and techniques to improve agriculture communication.

While she is busy moving and settling in as professor, Rogers-Randolph still finds some time to dive into her own hobbies. She enjoys being a dog mom to two golden retrievers, Beckett and Collins. When she has time, she enjoys reading and running. She also is the co-owner with her husband, Levy Randolph, of Paradigm Productions, a video production company. They use their video and communication skills to help give those in agriculture a voice that may not otherwise be heard. Rogers-Randolph finds it rewarding to share someone’s voice through Paradigm Productions and also rewarding to help her students find their voice.

ACT photo contest

by Rachel Waggie, agricultural education and communication master’s student

 

K-State’s Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow chapter hosted a photo contest for students, faculty, staff and friends of the program to select the cover photo for the 2020 ACT calendar. The calendar serves as a fundraising opportunity for the ACT chapter. Wyatt Minihan, ACJ senior, had the winning photo, pictured below. Follow K-State ACT on Facebook (@kstate.act) to learn more about ordering a 2020 calendar to support K-State ACT.

Internship highlight: Mary Marsh

by Mary Marsh, agricultural communication and journalism student

 

For my final summer of college, I decided to go home to California and get a job close to home. This summer, I am working as a field inspector for the California Crop Improvement Association. I am checking sunflower fields in my home county of Colusa. My role is to go to the sunflower fields around the county and make reports about what I see to make sure the crop is high quality, since these flowers are going to be harvested for seed.

I do three inspections throughout the growing season. My initial check is pre-bloom when the buds are just beginning to form. I look for different weeds in the field and for different varieties of sunflowers that may have grown in the field or within a mile to two-mile radius. Although it is not in the job description, I also keep an eye out for different pests causing problems in the sunflowers. During the two bloom checks, I walk out into the field and make sure there are no off-varieties that might affect the quality of seed. Being in the field is important to me, this job is all about getting in the thick of the sunflower action. I have about 90 fields to check around my county. Needless to say, I have been busy and have learned quite a bit about sunflower production!

Although my job is heavily focused on agronomy, I have found ways to keep my communication skills polished. I have brought my camera along with me and have made it my goal to document the various maturity stages in my fields. I also get to interact with agronomists and growers occasionally. So far, I have noticed a growing confidence in talking about field crops since taking this internship.

This job has allowed me to see more of my county and learn a whole new commodity. I will be a stronger communicator because of this hands-on experience in production agriculture.

The Agriculturist selected for national award

by Rachel Waggie, agricultural education and communication master’s student

Lisa Moser, instructor in agricultural communications and journalism and marketing and communications specialist for the IGP Institute, has two publications up for awards in the Publications & Projects Contest at the National Agricultural Alumni Development Association (NAADA) Conference this year. In the print media division — magazine produced by students category, the Kansas State Agriculturist is a finalist. Also in the print media division — annual reports/strategic plans category, the IGP Institute 2018 Year in Review is a finalist.

The first and second places will be announced at the NAADA Annual Conference, June 10-13, 2019, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Holcombe’s Career Celebrated at Retirement Party

Gloria Holcombe, long-time editor in the Department of Communications and Agricultural Education, put away her red pen on Feb. 28. The publishing unit hosted a retirement party for her on Friday, March 1. Family, friends, and colleagues shared cake, punch, and stories. Steven Graham, former assistant to the dean, and Ernie Minton, interim dean and director, gave special remarks in honor of Gloria’s retirement. Dan Donnert presented Gloria a photo taken on one of their many road trips.

Gloria began her career with the College of Agriculture in the mid-1980s and served in a variety of roles. Her unique skills led her to being promoted quickly from secretary to office assistant to information writer for the Agricultural Experiment Station Editorial Office. She moved to the Department of Communications as a writer and editor in 1994 when communications staffs for the Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service were combined. She coordinated the semiannual K-State Ag Report magazine and annual report to the Kansas Legislature, as well as collaborating on special projects for K-State Research and Extension and the College of Agriculture, including an integral role in the organization and implementation of the K-State Research and Extension annual conference.

She served as state representative for the Association for Communication Excellence, a professional organization for communicators. This organization recognized her talents by awarding multiple submissions over the years as top quality nationally. She has been recognized by receiving the Award of Excellence for publishing and graphic design in 2016 and the Service Award in 2008.

Gloria has also served on the K-State Faculty Senate and Faculty Senate committees.

The Department of Communications recognized her as employee of the year in 2007. She received K-State’s President’s Award of Excellence in 2015.

We wish Gloria all the best during her retirement.

Lauri Baker presents at annual KSPA fall conference

By Allison Wakefield, agricultural communications and journalism junior

“Research isn’t just lab coats and chemicals,” said Lauri Baker, as she spoke at the annual Kansas Scholastic Press Association (KSPA) fall conference in the Kansas State University Student Union. 

Baker, associate professor of agricultural communications and journalism, explained to high school students the needs and benefits of conducting and distributing research. She introduced the Center for Rural Enterprise Engagement (CREE) and its research mission to help people conduct their businesses, especially in rural areas. Baker is a co-founder of the center.

Students received data from two research projects CREE conducted with K-State undergraduate students. Baker detailed the step-by-step process to conduct a quantitative content analysis looking at e-commerce sales in the horticulture industry, which included reading literature about online sales in advertising and related to e-commerce and developing a codebook that was reliable to gather data.

Baker presented the research gathered from the quantitative analysis. The students were amazed at the horticulture websites’ lack of accessibility. Of 498 horticulture businesses, only 19.2 percent were selling online and half of those companies did not have fully functional shopping cart systems for customer purchases.

During her presentation, Baker asked the students what they would want from an online plant-buying experience and compared it to the data collected from the focus groups, known as qualitative research. The groups ask potential consumers what they want from an online plant-buying experience, such as 360-degree video imaging and the use of more pictures.

The students listened to the challenges these businesses were facing and the improvements they could make from the research conducted.

Baker discussed how the millennial generation – those born between 1981 and 1997 – did not love the ideas that were created. She described how their findings helped business owners understand that potential customers wanted many resources when looking to purchase and care for a plant. She also mentioned the pitfalls of not having an engaging, high-quality 360-degree video for the focus groups to view the plants.

Focus group research confirmed that millennials prefer going into a business to purchase plants instead of buying online. It helped researchers understand and communicate to the businesses that they needed more deal pricing to get customers in the door.

The presentation concluded with Baker reiterating the importance of research and how it can help companies boost revenue. Several students said they were inspired by her presentation and asked Baker how to conduct their own research.

Thank you, alumni, for helping me along the way

Story by Maggie Seiler, senior (ACJ)

Maggie

The communications world is a small place, and it sparkles with K-Staters. I realized this when I stepped off the plane for my first assignment as a traveling communications intern for ZimmComm New Media, LLC. At the time, I had just finished my sophomore year studying agricultural communications and journalism at Kansas State University, and I was still incredibly intimidated by the world of communications. Continue reading “Thank you, alumni, for helping me along the way”

NACT Officers Attend NAFB Conference

Story by Briana Jacobus, senior (ACJ) and National ACT Member Relations Coordinator

NACT Officers at NAFB
K-State ACJ seniors Briana Jacobus (far left) and Maggie Seiler (far right) are both National ACT officers.

I am serving as a national officer for the Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT). Our team was elected at the Agricultural Media Summit (AMS) in August. Since then, we have been busy meeting via conference calls. On November 12-14, we attended the National Association of Farm Broadcasters (NAFB) conference in Kansas City, Missouri. We bonded as team members, planned activities for the year and networked with professionals.

Continue reading “NACT Officers Attend NAFB Conference”